Obstacles can come in many forms; they can be a person, a thing, or a concept such as the glass ceiling. Sometimes, a person can have a mental blockade that keeps them from achieving their goals. Illusion often clouds one’s perception of reality and makes it difficult to distinguish what’s real from what’s imaginary and this is represented in many forms of media, including pieces of literature such as The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Illusions have been melded into our society, especially through media. On social networks, only the highlights of people’s lives are captured, which creates unattainable standards for those who are exposed to the content. In movies, televisions and novels, people …show more content…
Aside from what the others think of Gatsby, his true intentions with the over-the-top parties are to reclaim Daisy to where he believes she belongs: with him. Relating to modern times, this is similar to many forms of social media because people are only exposed to the extravagant parts of Gatsby’s life which is also true for internet influencers. The pedestal that is consistently growing larger keeps people from reaching out to Gatsby since they view him as unreachable and out of their league. No one besides Nick Caraway knows the true Gatsby. People constantly start outrageous rumors such as “…he killed a man once” (44) or “…that he was a German spy during the war” (44). These imaginary concepts intimidate many people, but in reality Gatsby is a beautiful cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure, that needed protection from the harshness of reality and so he hides in his imagination. Nick was the only person who saw Gatsby for who he truly was: a desperate sad boy willing to go to any lengths to keep Daisy—even taking the blame for a murder she committed. The Gatsby persona that is created by the imaginations of the gossiping population builds a wall between the people and the real facts about Gatsby since they refuse to believe anything but the extrodinary. One of Gatsby’s many fantasies is that Daisy is his and always has been. He thought that Daisy loved only him during the five years he was
He throws large parties to compensate for his lack of friends. In the beginning sentences of the story the readers get a negative connotation of the upper class by Nick Carraway’s father “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone...just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” (p.1) This advice tells us that Nick at one point in his life thought he was more important than others by criticizing them. Materialism becomes apparent again with the thought that money can deteriorate the moral standards of people. Throughout the story, Fitzgerald describes Gatsby as having “new money” slang from the era, which means he has a desire to display his wealth extravagantly and let people know how rich he is. However, everyone around him appears to be oblivious as he throws these large parties to gain Daisy’s attention in hopes that one day she will attend his massive blowouts. This suggests that Gatsby believes the only way into Daisy’s heart is through money and material items.
He has always thought and looked at her like she was the center of his universe. “ Gatsby was overwhelmingly aware of the youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves, of the freshness of many others and of Daisy, gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor ” (Fitzgerald 131). This quote from the book reveals that he sees he as something that is beautiful and comfortable. She always came first and he based his actions and feelings on her. This is why he is confused when Daisy says that she loved him too. “ You loved me too? ” (Fitzgerald 118). He hadn’t loved anyone else and doesn’t understand how she could have loved anyone other than him. He loved her since day one and to the
Does this mean that Gatsby thinks he loves Daisy but actually not? Or he is just one of the people who loses desire to things/persons he
In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald he shows Gatsby’s obsessive feelings for Daisy by all the unremarkable actions he displays, and his incapability to love someone else. It all started in autumn of 1917 in Louisville, Kentucky. Gatsby was a lieutenant in the war and Daisy was just 18 years old. Even then Gatsby bestowed the same infatuation for Daisy that he does now, five years later. Over the course of those five years Gatsby did everything he could to become wealthy so that maybe he could find his way to Daisy again. What he is unaware of is that Daisy hardly remembers her time with him, and shows little thought towards him. His obsession for Daisy never changed, but his lifestyle certainly did.
Regarding Gatsby, it is his lack of emotional satisfaction that shapes his obsession and greed toward Daisy. Gatsby’s goal is to regain his former romantic relationship he shares with Daisy, as he truly believes that it is possible to repeat the past (Fitzgerald 110). In fact, during the last five years, he builds himself a facade through illegal means to impress Daisy. Nevertheless, his greed for the exclusivity of Daisy backfires. Daisy says that “ ‘[he] [wants] too much!’... ‘[she] [loves] [him] now--- isn’t that enough?’ ” (132). When Gatsby asks Daisy to affirm that she only loves him, she could not confirm the statement truthfully, thus reducing Gatsby’s efforts throughout the years to naught. Gatsby’s commitment for Daisy’s affection is the very cause of Daisy’s rejection.
These parties that no one is directly invited to, showcase his main goal in life of being loved by Daisy, as the only intent for them is to hope that she appears. Gatsby’s second encounter with being held hostage comes when he lies about his poor upbringing proclaiming to Nick that he “was brought up in America but educated at Oxford”(Fitzgerald 69). Clearly Gatsby’s poor upbringing brings him great embarrassment, and he doesn’t want to speak about his difficult past in front of his newly found friend Nick. Gatsby’s poor past brings him to such a high need for money and affection that it puts him in an anxious state often. Gatsby insists Nick invite Daisy over to tea with them, but as Gatsby’s anxiety kicks in he feels the need to make sure Daisy knows of just how rich he is. Nick’s house isn't up to Gatsby’s standards and he makes it clear to him that “I want you and Daisy to come over to my house”(Fitzgerald 95). Obviously this is a cry out to Daisy, he clearly wants to show off his riches to once and for all to prove to her that he’s no longer the poor boy she knew 5 years ago. Third and finally, Gatsby is held hostage when he continuously sprinkles in lies about his past life throughout
In the novel “The Great Gatsby” Fitzgerald expresses how Gatsby loves Daisy. How Gatsby throws parties for Daisy, how he lives across the lake where Daisy lives. Gatsby loves Daisy very much, even keeps track on how long it's been since they have seen each other. Gatsby loves Daisy dearly even if it's been five years he still loves her since the day he first saw her. Though in the novel “The Great Gatsby” Fitzgerald shows how much Gatsby loves Daisy, though really it's more of an obsession than love.
The Great Gatsby”, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays a world filled with rich societal activities, love affairs, and dishonesty. Nick Carraway is the busy narrator of the book, a curious choice considering that he is in a different class and almost in a different world than Gatsby and the other characters. Nick relates the plot of the story to the reader as a part of Gatsby’s circle. He has hesitant feelings towards Gatsby, despising his personality and corrupted dream but feeling drawn to Gatsby’s wonderful ability to hope. Using Nick as an honorable guide, Fitzgerald attempts to guide readers on a journey through the novel to show the corruption and failure of the American Dream. To achieve
Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a novel of ambiguity – we rarely see his characters for who they truly are. They are often masked, hidden behind façades of insincerity and ill integrity. Just about every person involved in the complex plot of the novel seems to have their own agenda, trampling others underfoot in wake of their own pursuit of romantic, social or monetary gain, and the narrator is no exception. Although he makes ample attempts to convince the reader otherwise, Fitzgerald’s Nick Carraway is a dishonest narrator.
Gatsby’s obsession with his relationship with Daisy makes him blind to the fact that she doesn’t love him alone, and that she cares too much about her social standing to really run away with him. Gatsby believes that he can repeat the past, but he ignores the fact that Daisy chose Tom over him even after she read Gatsby’s
All in all, as presented through this work, Gatsby was indeed in love with Daisy for the most part, in the beginning of their relationship, but it all change when Gatsby lost Daisy and so he let himself believed that his past was the one to blame for this circumstances. It is after this, that Gatsby became rather obsessed with the idea of Daisy and having a lovely future with her, because having her meant having it all: stability, confidence, love, happiness and so on. Also, it meant that he had succeeded in life as a whole. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . And then one fine morning— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” (Chapter 9) All his life, Gatsby intended to escape
Due to Gatsby 's perception of the world and what he believes to be the right thing to do he undergoes physical and psychological changes, the people surrounding him also change their opinions on Gatsby due to his endeavours. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s intent with the construction of “The Great Gatsby” is to bring to light the complications viewed in believing and putting forth goals and values over concrete realities. Nick Carraway 's observations of Gatsby and his life show this. From Nick’s perspective, Gatsby is ceaselessly chasing a person who only exists in Gatsby’s mind contrasting from the Daisy existing in Nick’s mind. Fitzgerald also outlines how the opinions pertaining to truth and existence vary among people and how depending on one individual’s opinion other opinions can clash and create negative views. The world that exists for Gatsby competes with the world observed by others, such as Nick, Daisy, Tom, and Jordan. Because Gatsby’s world is largely different than other people’s the interpretation of Gatsby becomes a madman with crazy ambitions and unattainable goals, this creates negative opinions on Gatsby even though for Gatsby he is going after what he loves and does not mind the heartache that comes along with it. Fitzgerald’s novel outlines the judgment held by society and how people tend to try and dictate how another person should live their
When considering Nick’s reliability as a narrator, several contradictions also exist concerning the consistency and dependability of his thoughts about Gatsby. Although Nick states that “Gatsby represented everything for which I had an unaffected scorn” (2) he also describes how Gatsby is “worth the whole damn bunch put together” (154) and that “there was something gorgeous about him [Gatsby]” (2). The above quotes contrast both Nick’s unfavorable and positive opinions of Gatsby and further add to his volatility and unpredictability. The greatest inconsistency occurs when Nick conveys how “Gatsby turned out all right in the end (2)”, despite later saying that he “disapproved of him from beginning to end” (154). It seems that by frequently changing his opinions on Gatsby, Nick is unsure and hesitant on portraying Gatsby’s character.
After the war, Gatsby’s only goal was to posses enough wealth to bring Daisy back. He acquired millions of dollars from businesses he did. “Gatsby bough this house so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (78). His love for Daisy was the only thing that made him the man he was. He was intelligent, rich and even famous, all because of her. He threw big parties were many celebrities went and were thousands of dollars were spent in liquor and food just to call Daisy’s attention. “I think he half expected her to wander into one of his parties, some night…” (79), recalled Jordan, Gatsby’s friend, one night. All that Gatsby possessed was only and exclusively to show Daisy he could give her the life she wanted.
Jay Gatsby, the title character of the novel The Great Gatsby, is a character that the reader can either love or hate. Throughout the story of Gatsby’s life raises questions about identity, moral standing, and aspiration. Whether the reader agrees with Gatsby’s life choices, depend on their opinion on these topics. Nick, the narrator, sides with Gatsby saying that he turned out alright in the end. But within the book, you learn some details about Gatsby’s story that make you question whether he really “turned out alright in the end”.