Bang! A man flops into his pool with his blood contaminating the pristine water he lies in. Eventually the last breath is lifted and a lifeless body lies in the pool. This incident from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, focuses on one character: Jay Gatsby. Gatsby was known by the others for his parties, his wealth, and his love for Daisy, but Gatsby was also known for his illegal activities. By understanding that Gatsby made money to win Daisy back, the pool in the book represents two ideas: Gatsby’s love for Daisy and Gatsby’s obsession to marry Daisy. The pool represents Gatsby’s lost time with Daisy, which ultimately puts him in the crosshairs of a murder incident. Readers can understand this concept throughout the book, but is more …show more content…
However, to understand this concept it is crucial to understand where Gatsby’s wealth comes from. Gatsby’s wealth was obtained from selling “grain alcohol over the counter” (133) during a time when prohibition was enacted. He would then spend his money on parties where his guests would “dive from the tower of his rafts” (39) into his pools. From Gatsby’s parties it is evident that Gatsby allows his guests to enjoy his wealth through instances such as partying in his pool. Gatsby’s wishes to keep all of his guests joyous at his parties through his wealth resulting in there to be an alternative symbolic meaning for the pool. The pool may represent Gatsby’s want to express joy. Noticing that Gatsby wants to express joy is important, because it describes why Gatsby wants to marry Daisy. Due to Gatsby believing he would not be able to keep Daisy happy through events such as his parties and objects such as his pool, he bootlegged alcohol so he could marry Daisy. Gatsby may feel that money means happiness since when “He was poor … [Daisy] was tired of waiting for him” (130). However, by acquiring riches such as the pool, Gatsby believes he can win Daisy back, resulting in Gatsby to believe that his riches are the primary reason why Daisy will fall in love with him
“ Its attitude is one of disillusionment and detachment; Fitzgerald is still able to evoke the glitter of the 1920s but he is no longer dazzled by it; he sees its underlying emptiness and impoverishment” (Trendell 23)The story is narrated from the point of view of Nick, one of Gatsby’s friends. The problematic and hopeless romantic, Gatsby, sets out to fulfill his dream in acquiring Daisy, his lifelong love, through his many tactics and ideas. Gatsby is introduced extending his arms mysteriously toward a green light in the direction of the water. Later, Gatsby is shown to be the host of many parties for the rich and Nick is invited to one of these parties where Gatsby and Nick meet. When Gatsby later confesses his love for Daisy he explains she was a loved one who was separated from him and hopes to get her again explained when he says, “I hope she'll be a fool -- that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool”(Fitzgerald 56). There are several obstacles that Gatsby must overcome and the biggest one that is Daisy’s current fiancé but that still does not get in the way of him trying to recover Daisy’s old feelings. His attempts are made through money and wealth because he tries to buy her love back instead of letting it happen naturally.
Initially, Gatsby stirs up sympathetic feelings because of his obsession with wealth. Ever since meeting Dan Cody, his fascination for wealth has increased dramatically. He even uses illegal unmoral methods to obtain hefty amounts of wealth to spend on buying a house with “ Marie Antoinette music-rooms, Restoration Salons, dressing rooms and poolrooms, and bath rooms with sunken baths.” (88) His wardrobe is just as sensational with “ shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine fennel.” (89) Gatsby buys such posh items to impress Daisy but to him, Daisy herself is a symbol of wealth. Jay remarks, “[Daisy’s] voice is full of money.” (115). For him, Daisy is the one who is “ High in a white palace the king’s daughter, the golden gir...
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
...s motivation to reach into Daisy’s heart is the downfall that lead to Gatsby’s persistent nature which concentrate solely the past, Also, emptiness of existence with realization to taint ideal, Gatsby’s heart fill with illusions. As a great man his death overflows with generosity and kindness that people did not notice. The good man Gatsby’s death is a tragic, but in the end it’s another meaningless loss that buried as a lonely hero.
Gatsby holds extravagant parties every weekend hoping that his love of his life visits. Gatsby has a blue gardens where “men and girls came and went”(Fitzgerald 39). Gatsby hopes to see Daisy walk through his gardens at one of his parties, but his fantasies do not come true. Gatsby’s blue gardens symbolize his loneliness and inner depression because he dreams about Daisy having fun at one of his parties, but his dreams never come true. Another thing that symbolizes Gatsby’s sadness is the bay that separates east and west egg. This blue body of water symbolizes Gatsby’s sadness because it separates him from Daisy, his one and only true love. Most nights, Gatsby looks across the bay at Daisy’s green light wishing that he could be with Daisy again, but they are separated by the “blue lawn” that is impossible to cross (Fitzgerald 180). The color blue symbolizes Gatsby’s inner depression and sadness because of the separation of him and
As a young man, Jay Gatsby was poor with nothing but his love for Daisy. He had attempted to woe her, but a stronger attraction to money led her to marry another man. This did not stop Gatsby’s goal of winning this woman for himself though, and he decided to improve his life anyway he could until he could measure up to Daisy’s standards. He eventually gained connections in what would seem to be the wrong places, but these gave him the opportunity he needed to "get rich quick." Gatsby’s enormous desire for Daisy controlled his life to the point that he did not even question the immorality of the dealings that he involved himself in to acquire wealth. Eventually though, he was able to afford a "castle" in a location where he could pursue Daisy effectively. His life ambition had successfully moved him to the top of the "new money" class of society, but he lacked the education of how to promote his wealth properly. Despite the way that Gatsby flaunted his money, he did catch Daisy’s attention. A chaotic affair followed for a while until Daisy was overcome by pressures from Gatsby to leave her husband and by the realization that she belonged to "old money" and a more proper society.
What is later revealed is that Gatsby’s wealth and luxurious lifestyle is all in the name of getting Daisy, Tom Buchanan’s wife, to fall in love with him. But in the end, even with all his money and power, Gatsby is not able to get the girl. What this brings to light is, was Gatsby’s money truly worth anything? “I love her and that 's the beginning and end of everything” (The Great Gatsby, Chapter ) This quote from Jay Gatsby shows that his entire life is centered around Daisy. That his only motive for the things that he does, for the massive parties that he throughs, for working to become incredibly wealthy, is to have Daisy fall in love with him. Gatsby’s life is one that is incredibly lavish. It is full of expensive amenities many would only dream of having. But Jay Gatsby is not living this fabulous lifestyle for himself. He is living it for Daisy, and only for Daisy. Gatsby’s only desire in life is to have Daisy be in love with him, and he chooses to live the way he does because he believes that is what she wants. Gatsby spends money at wild abandon simply to make an effort to impress Daisy. He throughs incredibly immense parties, with hopes that Daisy and Daisy alone will be impressed. But what is troubling about Gatsby is that, unlike most books, he doesn’t get the girl. Gatsby is, despite his entire life being dedicated to getting the one thing
Tom and Daisy are part of a “rather distinguished secret society” in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Unlike the main character, Nick Carraway, and his neighbor, Jay Gatsby, who lives in West Egg, a place associated with new money, members of this high-class society are found in East Egg, a place for old money. In the novel, Fitzgerald uses bodies of water to highlight Gatsby’s goal to integrate into a higher social class. Fitzgerald uses this water motif to illustrate that in a world where a person’s wealth along with their past experiences defines their social status, a person who comes from a poor background may attempt to escape their past to change their social status. Although they may succeed at obtaining wealth, they cannot succeed in escaping their past and in order to move into the future, they need to accept their past.
... in the pool that he’s “… never used all summer”, despite the fact that he’s lived there for a considerable time (Fitzgerald 153). Gatsby’s desire to finally bathe in the pool depict the fact that he has been so absorbed by his one single dream that it has completely blotted out any other aspect of his life. Jay Gatsby could only “… live in a world with a single, consuming mission [in life]”, a world where that one dream is “…act[ed]… on by ‘a willingness of the heart’” (Callahan 2). Since his motivation was only for that one single dream, he only seized the moment and took his opportunities in order to fulfill that specific dream only and when it was taken away he was left with little purpose in life. Gatsby is killed because he is unable to live on without the one thing that has enveloped his entire adult life and gave meaning to everything he held dear, Daisy.
Gatsby is a dreamer, he dreams that one day he and Daisy will be able to be together once again. To achieve this dream Gatsby has made himself a rich man. He knows that in order to win Daisy back he must be wealthy and of high social stature. Gatsby becomes rich, has a beautiful mansion, nice things, things like shirts “They’re such beautiful shirts. . . it makes me sad because I’ve never seen such-such beautiful clothes” (pg.98).Gatsby believes his dream will come true because of all the money and nice things he has. The way that Gatsby becomes rich is in a way the demise of his dream. Gatsby becomes wealthy by participating in organized crime, including distributing illegal alcohol and trading in stolen securities. Daisy eventually learns about this and it is one of the reasons she will never again be with Gatsby. The other reason is Daisy a...
Gatsby has all the money yet he is not happy when he throws gigantic parties at his house. Daisy, the one he tried to lure in with his parties, never cared to show up. The love shown by Gatsby towards Daisy, “’I want to wait here till Daisy goes to bed. Good night, old sport.’ He put his hands in his coat pockets and turned back eagerly to his scrutiny of the house as though my presence marred the sacredness of the vigil. So I walked away and left him standing there in the moonlight – watching over nothing” (Fitzgerald 145).
Scott Fitzgerald, his characters are well drawn, and the plot of the story is engaged and fast paced. Jay Gatsby always throws party’s at his mansion in Long Island, New York. Gatsby intention in the book was to be with Daisy as he threw party’s and he wanted to impress her by his Luxury house and car. Mrs. Wilson then was killed and Mr. Wilson thinks Tom knows who did it and threatens his to say what he know, Tom tells him that Gatsby hit her with his car and Gatsby later is found dead in his pool, Mr. Wilson is seen at his home and the one held responsible is
In the story the great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a mysterious character by the name of “Jay Gatsby” throws extravagant, exotic parties in hopes of having his love, Daisy, show up. In the end, Gatsby takes the blame for a horrible murder because of his love for Daisy. As a result, George Wilson kills him because he thought that he was the lover of his wife, and her killer. As the titled, and the most interesting character, Jay Gatsby was most greatly impacted by the events throughout the book because of his tragic love for Daisy and the control this love had over his life. Though every one of his other “dreams” came true, Gatsby could never fully possess Daisy. Also, he learned that a person cannot be someone else just by pretending to do so.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a dramatic love story of how Jay Gatsby one of the important characters tries to get back together with Daisy. Daisy is Gatsby's American Dream. She’s all Gatsby wants and he goes through so much trouble to get rich and finally be with her. Yes, he works very hard for her and throws huge parties that all the famous or rich people come to on the weekends but Daisy never shows up. Later on Nick the main character moves next to Gatsby and they become friends. Gatsby uses Nick to invite her cousin Daisy over for tea so he can talk to her after not seeing her for five years. Fitzgerald talks about the symbolism of like the American dream, moral Decay, and the rich recklessness.
Jay Gatsby, who lives in West Egg, best represents the need of a wealthy and lavish lifestyles. Gatsby’s overflowing amount of wealth is represented with his use of his expensive items. A description of his party states, “ 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” (Fitzgerald 39). This signifies that Gatsby’s has so much money that even the most fanciest cars he has, he uses them like taxis for people who attend his party. The numerous amount of parties Gatsby hosts also represent materialism. An article states, “Fitzgerald uses Gatsby’s elaborately staged weekend parties as another metaphor for the greed, material excess, and the unrestrained desire for pleasure that resulted in the corruption and disintegration of the American Dream” (Tunc 4). Gatsby’s big and lavish parties every weekend was the center of materialism. Some of his guest who attended did not know him or came without an invitation. Gatsby’s main purpose of these grand parties was only to impress Daisy. As previously stated, Gatsby wanted to show Daisy all the wealth he had to win her back from Tom. He uses his grand party to show off his wealth and fortune to impress Daisy. In the end, Gatsby’s materialism and wealth caused