Time In The Great Gatsby

And I thought that if you don’t make very much—You’re selling bonds, aren’t you, old sport?’ ‘Well, this would interest you. It wouldn’t take up much of your time and you might pick up a nice bit of money. It happens to be rather confidential sort of thing,’” (82-83). Here, Gatsby is trying to make it seem like he is doing Nick a friendly favor, when in fact he knows that Nick is Daisy’s cousin all along. Essentially, he assumes that if he can get closer to Nick, it will bring him even closer to Daisy. Gatsby’s absurd reasoning behind his illegal activity is solely due to his belief that it is all for Daisy. He truly is not a bad person at heart, nor are his intentions to harm anyone. He simply wants to be with Daisy and he is willing to do anything to make this dream a reality. He needs this money so that Daisy can be just as in love with him as he is with her. He thinks that if he is more wealthy and flamboyant, she will be amazed and come running back to him. He is clearly determined to change himself, as he goes as far as risking his life, and being put behind bars in order to reinvent himself. By the time he manages to become extremely wealthy, he returns back to the real world to find that Daisy has already moved on. He does not accept the fact that Daisy is no longer interested in him, which further infuriates him. His anger and frustration fuel his passion to get back with her. Furthermore, Gatsby is so at the mercy of

Daisy is a vain lady. She marries Tom for money and status, and turns her back on true love and happiness, which is represented by Gatsby. Her American Dream is to enjoy a luxurious and comfortable life given to her by, hopefully a man who truly loves her, and whom she also loves. The corruption of her human values begins when she decides not to wait anymore for Gatsby, her real love, but to take the opportunity that Tom Buchanan offers, which are money and status. Her choices reveal her vain and superficial nature hidden beneath her beautiful and innocent look. When Gatsby returns with wealth and status in order

The conception of time is an idea of a period of length that is constantly described based upon diverse periods and aspects. Although time is always consistently flowing in the same direction, it is broken up into the ideas of the past, present, and future. Throughout F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the character Jay Gatsby is shown as a character who constantly wastes his life in the past wishing for his idyllic vision. Fitzgerald presents the reader with the idea that over time, the course of reality destroys the romantic illusions that characters idealize. Although time is a constant force that creates, in The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses the character Jay Gatsby to illustrate the idea that time is in reality, a destructive force.

Gatsby makes it his life's mission to become rich, thinking this will be sure to win Daisy over. Daisy is married though, and his life's ambition of having Daisy fails. Gatsby surrenders his morals by breaking the law to earn the riches he thinks will buy her love but it is done for nothing, Daisy was not won over with his new wealth.

In Gatsby’s mission to attain wealth, power, and status he loses sight of his morals through his “dealings” with various shady people that are rumored to be lucrative and illegal. The extent of Gatsby’s criminal activities is confirmed by Tom Buchanan one hot summer night when Tom shares that Gatsby and “Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores…and sold grain alcohol over the counter,” (133) an illegal venture during prohibition. In addition to Gatsby’s business investments, his obsession with winning Daisy clouds his mind with thoughts of inspiring her to leave her husband and abandoned her child. Nick believes Gatsby would “want nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: ‘I never loved you,’” (109) and prove her marriage was a sham.

Gatsby has everything that he could wish for, except of love. Gatsby tried everything he could to achieve Daisy, but failed to do so. Gatsby always thought that Daisy actually loved him and that he was very close to achieving her. One time Gatsby showed Daisy all of his luxuries in the house. Daisy was impressed by how rich and wealthy Gatsby has become as time passed. Daisy says “never seen so many shirts like these” (87). This quote shows how Daisy likes materialistic things. Gatsby worked hard on his dream unlike Tom. Tom Buchanan who is the husband of Daisy has no purpose and goal in his life except his affair with Myrtle. He never really loved Daisy. On the other hand when Gatsby showed all of his English shirts Daisy begins to cry and they plan their future plans of meeting each other. We can see how Daisy is attracted to Gatsby simply because of his wealth. She loves Gatsby but she loves his money more then she actually loves him. This goes to show how people’s mentality worked in the 1920’s. Daisy, Gatsby, and all other characters live a very superficial life. Gatsby wants to achieve Daisy by the means of fortune and how Daisy is attracted to Gatsby because of his wealth.

Time is an idea described in diverse periods and aspects, for example philosophical, psychological, physical and biological. This time flows consistently but is broken into the past, present and future. Since we only live in the present forever in preparation for our futures and dreams, when we try to live in the past it restricts our future. Throughout F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby, Gatsby wasted time and his life for a single dream, and it was his illusion of his idyllic future that made time a key dimension in his life. Fitzgerald sees life in satiric-tragic dimensions, as a contest between romantic illusion and coarse reality. The reality slowly and viciously disintegrates the illusion.

In The Great Gatsby, the author, F Scott Fitzgerald depicts the post - war roaring 20’s, a time of overwhelming prosperity and a new found sense of hope for the future. While this novel is often perceived as a romance, it is also a criticism on the devastating nature of the elusive american dream. The story of Jay Gatsby is a representation of what had become the values of the individual at the time. With the progression of the early 1920’s the vision of the perfect life, or the american dream, had been skewed. It was replaced with greed, and an abundance of reckless spending in which the wealthier individuals placed their misguided ideas of happiness. In the Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald chooses to expose the hidden truth behind the illustrious concept of the American dream. Through his use of literary devices such as, symbolism, metaphor, and, irony the central idea of the truly unattainable American dream is supported throughout the novel.

Gatsby’s story, to many, is one of perseverance and determination at its finest. He devotes all his money and energy to the relatable dream of making life as fulfilling as possible. Gatsby is named “great” because of the desirable prosperity that he accumulates in a short time. Despite this material accomplishment, he should be condemned for turning into a criminal to actualize his dream. Secrets about his money are only revealed later in the book, horrifying readers who were kept in suspense about his past. “He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter” (Fitzgerald 133) is one example of confirmation that Gatsby was involved in illegal activities. He is an immoral man. There is an absence of discretion or guilt when Gatsby spends his unlawful earnings on lavish parties and a mansion. Clearly, he is not ashamed. Readers understand the statement

     Gatsby earns his money, not through hard work, but it is hinted that he is bootlegger and deals in illegal things because of his relationship with Meyer Wolfsheim, a known gangster. During Prohibition, when the consumption of alcohol was illegal, people could make a lot of money providing alcohol illegally, and they were called bootleggers. Jay Gatsby was even going against American laws in order to achieve his American Dream of getting enough money to buy Daisy's love.

To accomplish his one main goal, Gatsby would do anything to make money, so he did it illegally. Gatsby is a very rich man, but he did not earn his money the way that most of America did. “[Gatsby] differs from the other newly rich members of society in that he did not earn his money in an honorable way.” Gatsby made his money out of illegal bonds and bootlegging. Bootlegging is when one illegally sells alcohol under-the-counter, at a time where alcohol is banned. His main goal left in life is to win back Daisy Buchanan, and to accomplish that he needed money. All that he could do was to get into illegal business, which at that time in his life, was the only easy way to get wealthy fast. Gatsby could not wait any longer to reunite with the girl he had thought about every day since he had left to fight in World War I.

James Gatsby is constantly trying to change time. In the book the word time is mentioned hundreds of time showing its definite importance. James Gatsby continued to dwell on the past with his relationship with Daisy which blatantly ruined and future chance she had with him. Gatsby felt as if something was missing from his life and F. Scott Fitzgerald makes the reader conclude that the “thing” is in fact Daisy. He wanted her so much that he wanted to erase the last five years that he didn't spend with her. Assumptions could be made that Gatsby's whole reason in living the life he did was to for lack of a better word impress Daisy. His whole purpose for living was to be with Daisy and that didn't work out his whole life was a waste. He died for the thing he was living for. Gatsby is a pathological control freak, and the one thing he couldn't control with his money, alcohol, a manipulation was time. A clock is a symbol for consistency and and control because it never changes, 12 hours, 60 minutes, 60 seconds, it never changes. So when the clock in the scene with Daisy, Nick, and Gatsby falls and breaks Gatsby begins to feel uncertain about what he is doing and believes that everything was a mistake. Everybody seems to have an obsession with time. People are always looking for a way to travel in time, or change what happened previously in time. Jay Gatsby, in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby", is one of these people. The whole novel is centered on the idea of the past,

In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the element of time is prevalent and essential to the story being told by the narrator Nick Caraway. So important that the actual word “time” is used 87 times and there are hundreds of other words that are time related. Even Fitzgerald’s use of the seasons lends itself to the element of time and what mood the season represents. The characters are living in the present while focusing either on memories of the past or troubles of the future. In addition, there is an underlining presence of fate in the lives of the characters and what is actually within their control. No matter how hard one tries, they cannot turn back the hands of time. Time had different meanings for Gatsby, Daisy, and Nick Caraway.

Like Jane, Jay Gatsby lacks the equality needed to rekindle a relationship with the love of his life. However, unlike Jane, Gatsby is already rich and is longing for a true identity with which he can become a prominent figure in society. Gatsby was a Lieutenant stationed at the base near Daisy's home when they started dating and fell in love. Gatsby lied to Daisy and "let her believe that he was a person from much the same strata as herself" (Fitzgerald 156). He told her that he was a wealthy and prestigious man who can take care of her. Gatsby was soon called off to the war and Daisy promised to wait for him. She ends up marrying Tom Buchanan who has a solid social position and the approval of her parents. Since then, Daisy has moved on with her life with Tom in East Egg, but Gatsby's obsession with her has only grown. Nick learns of Gatsby's fixation when Jordan tells him that "Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay" (Fitzgerald 83). His fixation with her has caused him to completely change his life to try to be near her. Like Jane Eyre, Gatsby longs for a position of equality with his loved one. When Gatsby was young, he worked on a yacht owned by a wealthy man named Dan Cody. Gatsby immediately fell in love with wealth and luxury, and when Cody died, he

Gatsby remembers Daisy as the pretty girl from North Dakota he fell in love with when he was in the military. He soon sees that she is different, although he denies it, even to himself. In order for Daisy to have a relationship with Gatsby, when they first meet he lies and says his parents are actually wealthy. This is the first example of how society dictates Daisy’s life. Because of her social status, Daisy must marry a rich man, preferably from old money, according to society. When Gatsby leaves, Daisy promises that she will wait for him, yet she instead marries Tom Buchanan, an extremely wealthy man who her parents approve of. Even when Tom cheats on Daisy, and she is fully aware of it, she refuses to leave him. She loves her status and money so much she will not give it up even at the expense of her happiness.