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The importance of individuality
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The importance of individuality
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During a family reunion, I hear my parents and family member gossip about other families and problems. I would always tune them out or ignore them. However, on one of those reunions, I heard them talking about, a family friend, Ajay. They were saying that he left his family, friends, and his country for a girl. He went to a foreign country to have a fresh start in life or the American word, “personal rebirth.” He did that because he got rejected by the girl's family. Her family rejected him because he was not in their social class-“old money”. He believed that he could go to a new place, where no one knows him and start a new life. He thought he could make money and one day come back and ask her to marry him. After two years, he returned to India, with the money he earned. But when he got to India he found out that the girl was married to a man in his village. All his hope were lost, and he did not know what to do because all his life he had one goal: to marry this girl. He lost his beliefs in “personal rebirth.”
Just like Ajay, many men in society at first, think that personal rebirth is possible, but when met with failure they give up. In The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald, the main character, Jay Gatsby, spends most of his life believing in possibility of personal rebirth. Gatsby believes that in order to achieve his dream of having a life with Daisy he needs to be "someone"/wealthy which causes him to withhold from the reality. (leading to his destruction).
Even though Gatsby archives other dreams throughout his life, yet his main focus has always been a life with Daisy. Nick learns about Daisy and Gatsby's relationship from, Daisy's close friend, Jordan. Nick believes it is a coincidence that Gatsby bought the house acr...
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...evident that possibility of personal rebirth is a failure. In todays society, possibility of personal rebirth is very low. The chances of getting away with personal rebirth is very small. Society is always trying to bring these people down by making them feel bad about their decisions. Like Ajay, there are many people out there, who are trying to achieve something in their life. Meanwhile, people around they are discouraging them.
Dalai Lama once said, “Whether one believes in a religion or not, and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn't anyone who doesn't appreciate kindness and compassion.” Even though he is not referring to the American Dream. His point here is that men and women, have to show kindness and compassion towards their fellow citizens. If he wants to change, or be a new person, appreciate him and motivate him rather than discouraging him.
The two were young lovers who were unable to be together because of differences in social status. Gatsby spends his life after Daisy acquiring material wealth and social standing to try and reestablish a place in Daisy’s life. Once Gatsby gains material wealth he moves to the West Egg where the only thing separating he and Daisy is a body of water. It is through the eyes of Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, that the reader gains insight into the mysterious Jay Gatsby. In Nick’s description of his first encounter with Gatsby he says, “But I didn't call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone—he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock.” The reader soon discovers that the green light is at the end of Daisy’s dock, signifying Gatsby’s desperation and desire to get her back. Gatsby’s obsessive nature drives him to throw parties in hopes that his belonged love will attend. The parties further reveal the ungrasping mysteriousness of Gatsby that lead to speculations about his past. Although the suspicions are there, Gatsby himself never denies the rumors told about him. In Nick’s examination of Gatsby he says, “He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced, or seemed to face, the whole external world for an instant and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself.” This persona Gatsby portrays shows how he is viewed by others, and further signifies his hope and imagination
Gatsby is unrealistic. He believes he can relive the past and rekindle the flame he and Daisy once had. He is lost in his dream and accepts that anything can be repeated, "Can't repeat the past…Why of course you can!" (116, Fitzgerald). For Gatsby, failure to realize this resurrection of love is utterly appalling. His whole career, his conception of himself and his life is totally shattered. Gatsby's death when it comes is almost insignificant, for with the collapse of his dream, he is spiritually dead.
The central focus of the story is the enigma of Gatsby, his past life, and his perusal of Daisy. Desperate to rekindle their former love, Gatsby works tirelessly to achieve the pinnacle of the American dream, settles in a large, posh house, throws lavish parties, and seems on excellent terms with the world at large. That, however, is not what makes him truly happy. All he did, he did in pursuit of Daisy, and initially it appears to work. She insists that she still loves him ardently. However, when pressed, she chooses Tom once more, and Gatsby is shattered. Nick says that, “If that was true, he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream,” (161). In the end, Gatsby’s dream turns on him, betraying him to the caprice of the world. He had sincerely believed in the American Dream, and believed it would help him secure Daisy’s love. When both failed him, he was left with a lavish but empty house, and to Gatsby, his wealth and prosperity were nothing without someone to share them with. The final nail in the coffin is Gatsby’s funeral, where it becomes clear what his immense wealth gained him in terms of the human affection he was truly after. Nick Carraway jumps through all sorts of hoops and harasses many people in order to get them to go to Gatsby’s funeral, to no avail. When it came time for the burial,
In addition to Gatsby’s dishonesty with others, he is dishonest with himself. Gatsby has fabricated a dream—a fictional reality—in his mind. He wants Nick’s cousin, Daisy, whom he met five years prior to the story’s beginning, to marry him. However, this marriage could never happen, because Daisy is already married to an East Egg man named Tom, with whom she has a child. Despite the odds, Gatsby continues to push Daisy towards breaking it off with Tom.
... Nick makes a small funeral for Gatsby and Daisy does not attend it. He took the blame for her, and he is dead all because of her, he sacrificed for her. She and Tom decide to travel and take off. Also Nick breaks up with Jordan, and he moves back to Midwest because he has had enough of these people, and hates the people that were close to Gatsby and for bareness, emptiness, and cold heart they have of the life in the middle of the wealthy on the East Coast. Nick realizes, and reveals that Gatsby’s dream of Daisy was ruined by money and un-loyalty, dishonestly. Daisy all she cared about is wealth, she chased after the men that have a lot of money. Even though Gatsby has control, influence, and authority to change his dreams into making it into real life for him this is what Nicks says makes him a good man. Now both Gatsby’s dream and the American Dream are over.
By dreaming, Jay Gatsby develops a false world that can never completely capture the grandeur of its original place in time. An attraction exists between Gatsby and the past, for Gatsby’s past holds the source of the dream that molds the individual he becomes. Thus, the beginning of Jay Gatsby is marked by the beginning of his dream when he falls in love with Daisy Fay. "He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God" (Fitzgerald 112). From this moment, Gatsby is forever held captive by his dream of Daisy and their love. Imprison...
...’s perfect and carefree lifestyle. Although Nick tries to cover up with his frustration with criticism for his house, he is ultimately jealous of Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship. Readers must ponder: is Gatsby’s lifestyle really so “perfect”? At the end of the novel, Gatsby’s ultimate death is certainly not “perfect”. Gatsby ultimately dies due to his excessive cheating and lying. His death is a type of payback for his actions. This is something that Nick should not be jealous of. If Nick were not such a shallow character, focusing on Gatsby all the time, he could spend more time focusing on himself and he would end up having a happier life. In the end, Nick moves to the Midwest to seek a fresh start for his life, and terminates his relationship with Jordan. Nick’s ultimate jealousy forces him to rethink his life’s objectives and start a new beginning.
Nick finds out a few days after his move that an adored man by the name of Jay Gatsby lives next door to him. He hears about the parties that he throws and such from a friend of his cousin Daisy. He meets Daisy Buchanon, her husband Tom Buchanon, and friend Jordan Baker, at their house in East Egg. This is when everything begins to unravel. Nick is then invited to Gatsby 's party and attends it. After the party it is very apparent that Nick is intrigued in Gatsby. He even watches the party unwind, "There was music from my neighbor 's house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and he champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his motor-boats slid the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before." (3.1) Nick eventually meets up
At the end of the book, it is revealed that all of Tom, Daisy, and Nick are extremely careless. Nick’s carelessness detriments his reliability as a narrator. Because of Nick’s deep and familiar connection with Gatsby, Gatsby is “the exception” and Nick cannot be a reliable narrator towards him. Nick really admires and appreciates Gatsby as a friend, although it seems that Gatsby may not feel nth same way ads Nick. Gatsby may have befriended Nick solely because of his connection with Daisy. Nicks obsession with Gatsby and Gatsby’s obsession with
While they are hanging out, Gatsby introduces himself to Nick, so they talk for a little while. Gatsby then requests to speak to Jordan alone, and Nick is somewhat jealous. After their meeting, Jordan informs Nick about Gatsby’s past and how he knew Daisy. Gatsby told Jordan that he and Daisy met in Louisville, Kentucky in 1917, and he has loved her ever since. The reason that he stares at the green light across the bay is because it is a green light from Daisy’s dock. The only reason Gatsby throws such extravagant parties is because he wants Daisy to notice them and to pull her in. Unfortunately, she has not come to one party of his. Gatsby shares this information with Jordan and asks her to ask Nick if it would be okay to make a rendezvous at Nick’s house for Gatsby and Daisy. Nick is fine with the idea, so he invites Daisy over for tea without telling her that Gatsby would be there. The reunion was awkward at first, but they restore their love connection and begin an affair.
In the famous great American novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the main character Jay Gatsby is portrayed as a romantic hero, hopeful dreamer, and as someone who is completely unforgettable. What makes Gatsby so great was not his wealth, position in society or his personal belongings, but his determination to make something of himself during a time in which moral corruptions were common. Jay Gatsby’s personal greatness was exemplified in his struggle against his own fate, devoted love towards Daisy, and self sacrifice.
When this dream doesn't fall into place like he planned, he asks around if anyone knows her. Soon, he meets Nick Carraway, a cousin of Daisy, who agrees to set up a meeting, "He wants to know…if you'll invite Daisy to your house some afternoon and then let him come over (p83)." Gatsby's personal dream symbolizes the larger American Dream where all have the opportunity to get what they want.
Nick Carraway, Gatsby’s neighbor and close friend, considers Gatsby to have achieved greatness. Nick sees greatness in Gatsby that he has never seen in any other man; unfortunately, all great characters do not always have happy endings. Gatsby’s ambition from a young age, along with his desire to please others, pave the road to his prosperity, but, ultimately, his enduring heroic love for Daisy, steers him to his demise. Several individuals mark Gatsby as a man of great wealth, with a beautiful estate, and an abundance of friends.
Nick shifts from being an outsider in the story to actually being involved in everyone secrets. In chapter 5 Nick describes Daisy's feelings about the green light that connects Gatsby to Daisy's house by saying “Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one”. This quote shows how Daisy is still living in this happy thought and is still in awe of Gatsby. Daisy thinks the green light is a very romantic gesture. The green light had shown Daisy that Gatsby had always thought of her throughout the years they have been separated. This green light symbols something romantic to Daisy but now to Gatsby the green light symbols loss. Gatsby now realizes that all of his ideas he’s had about Daisy throughout the years are now reality and Gatsby isn't sure about how he feels about this reality with Daisy. Nick watches as Gatsby is realizing the reality of this romantic fantasy that he wants deeply. Nick watches Daisy as she is in awe and realizes how this relationship could end up in everything but
Daisy is Gatsby’s fundamental goal; consequently`, he dreadfully attempts to get her back. He even becomes a bootlegger so that he can attain wealth to attract Daisy. When Gatsby claims that Daisy does not love Tom, Tom reveals that “one of [Gatsby’s] little stunts” is that he sells “alcohol over the counter” (Fitzgerald 133). Gatsby’s life consists of performing “stunts” to achieve his goals. He arrives at the point where he does not care what he has to do to get to Daisy. In another instance, Gatsby completely uses Nick to set up a date for him and Daisy. According to Jordan, Gatsby “began asking people casually if they knew [Daisy]” at parties (Fitzgerald 79). Gatsby, with little respect to Nick, inconsiderately utilizes Nick’s connection to Daisy to spend a day with her.