Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Emotions of the great gatsby
Emotions of the great gatsby
Emotions of the great gatsby
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Emotions of the great gatsby
In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Daisy’s deceitful actions prove that wealth does not guarantee emotional security. Daisy herself lives in a foolish way, and she feels that, “‘that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.’”(Fitzgerald 21). Daisy feels that there is no hope in living genuinely. This is why she flaunts her money, It is easier for Daisy to be a fool and play people to get what she wants than to work for what she wants. Daisy is searching for emotional security and she thinks that she could find it in her money. She has lost hope in finding her emotional security in the right ways. Daisy tries to cover up this recurring insecurity but Nick sees right through all of her attempts, “Sophisticated-
In this day and age, money is a very important asset to have. One needs to have at least enough to live on, though great amounts are preferable. In The Great Gatsby, by Thomas F. Fitzgerald, having a large amount of money is not enough. It is also the way you acquire the money that matters. Gatsby and Tom both have a lot of money yet Daisey picks one over the other, not because of the difference in the amount they have, but because of the manner in which it is attained.
Daisy's greed can best be seen in her choice of a husband, and in the circumstances
Life is about making a positive impact on those around you, not trying to accumulate vast wealth. However, it is well-known that members of society are bound to choose riches over one's own or others happiness. To add, it is important to acknowledge, especially when considering selfish women like Daisy Buchanan. Studies show, that often people are unaware that their actions have an affect on those around them. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan is corrupt through her materialistic, obsessive views on life, despite Gatsby’s dysfunctional views on his version of the American Dream. With this, one can prove that Daisy Buchanan is a self-absorbed, vacuous socialite whose decisions lead to the destruction of both Jay
The Great Gatsby is an emotional tale of hope of love and “romantic readiness”(1.2) that is both admirable and meritorious .Yet, the question of Daisy ever being able to measure up to Gatsby’s expectations is one that reverberates throughout the course of the novel. Be that as it may, Daisy is never truly able to measure up to Gatsby’s expectations because the image of Daisy in Gatsby’s mind is entirely different from who she actually is. Even during his younger years, Gatsby had always had a vision of himself “as a son of God”(6.98) and that “he must be about his fathers business, the service of a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty”(6.98). Gatsby’s desire for aristocracy, wealth, and luxury is exactly what drives him to pursue Daisy who embodies everything that that Gatsby desires and worked towards achieving. Therefore, Gatsby sees Daisy as the final piece to his puzzle in order realize his vision. Gatsby’s hyperbolized expectation of Daisy throws light on the notion if our dreams as individuals are actually limited by reality. Since our dreams as human beings are never truly realized, because they may be lacking a specific element. Daisy proves to be that element that lingers in Gatsby’s dreams but eludes his reality.
Because of his wealth, everything in Gatsby’s life hints at having power through status and money, but he is not happy because all he wants to do is be with hard to reach Daisy; she is the reason why he acquires the materialistic things he does in the first place.
He writes, through the voice of Gatsby, that “her voice is full of money” (127), implying that Daisy speaks with an eloquence and elegance found only in the voice of those born wealthy. Gatsby inherently connects Daisy with the idea of wealth and money, and shows a desire to be seen as one born with money. Hence, the reader can conclude that Gatsby is in love with what Daisy represents: wealth and the high class. By associating Daisy with the high society, Fitzgerald indirectly reveals his attitude towards America of the 1920s. He implies that similar to how Daisy chooses material pleasure and societal benefit as opposed to a real feeling that brings true joy, the people of the 1920s prioritize wealth and fleeting pleasure over concrete feelings that bring true happiness. He even takes his commentary a step further, as the “true” feeling represented in The Great Gatsby is love. Ironically, the love depicted in this society is corrupt and fake. Thus, Fitzgerald states that the ideologies and values of the American 1920s will result in its downfall, just as the corrupt and fake love between Gatsby and Daisy results in the downfall of Gatsby. Furthermore, through his portrayal of Daisy’s inadvertent cruelty towards both Myrtle and Gatsby, Fitzgerald parallels the unconscious depravity of the high society and its negative impact on America. This is seen
Daisy's dependence on men with wealth and status, and Gatsby's underhanded attempts at gaining it illustrate America's belief that money and extravagance are the easiest means of finding success and happiness. The following statement from page 149 strongly illustrates Gatsby's belief that his only means of captivating Daisy would be through deception. "He might have despised himself, for he had certainly taken her in under false pretenses. I don't mean that he had traded in his phantom millions, but he had deliberately given Daisy a sense of security; he let her believe he was a person from much the same stratum as herselfthat he was fully able to take care of her. As a matter of fact, he had no such facilitieshe had no comfortable family standing behind him, and he was liable at the whim of an impersonal government to blow anywhere about the world (p. 149, paragraph 2)."
The only things money could not buy were love and happiness. It could even buy a person’s attention, but not their feelings, which is what happened with Daisy and her husband. “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” (Fitzgerald 179) Money was more important than family or friends, explaining why Gatsby’s only friend was Nick Carraway. The parties were great distractions and social events, and the people who attended them often just wanted a break from their everyday lives, or they wanted to flaunt their money, often coming to the parties without knowing or meeting Gatsby. Gatsby himself was not interested in the parties he threw and only became a garish person after he knew where Daisy lived, vying for her attention with all his possessions. For example, in The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby had extravagant parties, just hoping Daisy would see the lights and hear the music from across the water and stop by, as well as driving gaudy cars and wearing flamboyant
Based on the consequences of the past, Gatsby’s priority is to earn a place in high ranks in order to win Daisy. Remaining faithful through the years he endures apart from her, Gatsby builds a reputation of being affluent, for her. He expresses his loyalty towards Daisy through the wealth he establishes, for her. In the hopes that she will return to him after seeing his newly gained assets, Gatsby flaunts his mansion and possessions to Daisy. Everything he earns plays an important role in displaying his wealth to Daisy, as well as his dedication to her. Gatsby devotes several years to earning a fortune for Daisy, never deviating from his original motive of living the past, except with Daisy. However, Gatsby becomes “dazed” because her physical existence erases the importance of his belongings. Even though Gatsby’s valuables once signified the path to Daisy, because Daisy is now with him, the items mean nothing. Gatsby proves consistency in his love for Daisy as she is the motivating force that occupies his life. Gatsby’s persistent hope gives him the belief that he can and will live his happy ending with Daisy. When Gatsby’s imagination of Daisy does not align with the existing Daisy, he tells Nick, “Can’t repeat the past?...Why of course you can!” (110).
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, tells the story of a man of meager wealth who chases after his dreams, only to find them crumble before him once he finally reaches them. Young James Gatz had always had dreams of being upper class, he didn't only want to have wealth, but he wanted to live the way the wealthy lived. At a young age he ran away from home; on the way he met Dan Cody, a rich sailor who taught him much of what he would later use to give the world an impression that he was wealthy. After becoming a soldier, Gatsby met an upper class girl named Daisy - the two fell in love. When he came back from the war Daisy had grown impatient of waiting for him and married a man named Tom Buchanan. Gatsby now has two coinciding dreams to chase after - wealth and love. Symbols in the story, such as the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, the contrast between the East Egg and West Egg, and the death of Myrtle, Gatsby, and Wilson work together to expose a larger theme in the story. Gatsby develops this idea that wealth can bring anything - status, love, and even the past; but what Gatsby doesn't realize is that wealth can only bring so much, and it’s this fatal mistake that leads to the death of his dreams.
Nick describes Gatsby as “one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life(Ch.3).” Such description unifies the appearance of Gatsby with people’s expectation of a man who accomplished the American dream. The obsession with wealth often blinds people from the potential crisis. The crisis of having everything they worked and struggled for redefined if the reality fails them. Just like strivers who chase the American dream, Gatsby also spent his whole life in pursuit of his American dream, which Daisy was a major component of.
"I hope she'll be a fool-that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool." Daisy admits this to Nick on page 17. This short statement reflects a great deal on what the society of that time thought about women. They were supposed to marry money and be happy the rest of their lives. This represents a theme in the Great Gatsby that many people believe that money can buy you happiness and love. Many characters in this book try to buy things that they think will make them happy. For Tom it was Myrtle, and for Gatsby it was Daisy. Money only increased their problems, for instead of realizing that the thing they wanted would not satisfy them they continued to push at happiness with money expecting results. At the end of the book the reader comes to realizes that happiness and love is one thing money can’t buy for most people. There are many examples of this throughout this book.
At first glance, The Great Gatsby is merely a classic American tragedy, portraying the story of a man's obsession with a fantasy, and his resulting downfall. However, Fitzgerald seems to weave much more than that into the intricate web of emotional interactions he creates for the reader. One interesting element is the concepts of greatness each has. For Daisy, it lies in material wealth, and in the comfort and security associated with it. Daisy seems to be easily impressed by material success, as when she is touring Gatsby's mansion and seems deeply moved by his collection of fine, tailored shirts. It would seem that Tom's relative wealth, also, had at one time impressed her enough to win her in marriage. In contrast to that, Gatsby seems to not care a bit about money itself, but rather only about the possibility that it can win over Daisy. In fact, Gatsby's extreme generosity gives the reader the impression that Gatsby would otherwise have never even worked at attaining wealth had it not been for Daisy. For Gatsby, the only thing of real importance was his pursuit of Daisy. It would seem that these elements are combined, too in the character Myrtle.
In “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Daisy struggles between her desire to be with someone she truly loves and her rational to be with someone who will give her social and financial stability. Ultimately, Daisy chooses Tom over Gatsby as he is the safer option once Gatsby is revealed to be untruthful, showing that she is predominately interested in a steady life.
Gatsby’s greatness is downplayed by his questionable methods of obtaining wealth, his detachment from his former life, and the failure of his American Dream. Gatsby automatically assumed that by gaining wealth, he too would regain his life prior to entering the war: a life spent with Daisy. He however, fails to account for Daisy ’s dreams and instead miscalculates if her dreams would match his. Gatsby begins to realize Daisy’s original intentions when he perceives that “[Daisy’s] voice is full of money” (Fitzgerald 128).