Examples Of Happiness In The Great Gatsby

The exploration of American Literature has informed me of the pursuit of happiness. How people pursue their own happiness and achieve it is different from person to person. Many people find that being happy means being with someone they love or care about. Another person’s idea of happiness can come from having money and owning lots of things that they enjoy. Most people though find happiness through love for another person. They love someone or something and that is what keeps them going and keeps them happy. If they were to lose this person it would be all they would think about and would strive to reconnect with that person. Loving someone is what makes people happy.

The Great Gatsby is a prime example of a story based on someone that pursues

happiness and that happiness comes from a woman he loves. Throughout the story, Gatsby’s entire goal is to get with Daisy who is the person he loves. Gatsby met Daisy when he was young, but then sadly left to go into the military. After he served his country, he did everything he could to make a lot of money so that he could impress Daisy when he finally reconnected with her. Whenever he feels he earns enough money, he returns to his country and lives in a place near where Daisy lives. He then throws many parties, trying to get Daisy to come to one of them so she would be impressed and meet him. Jordan describes this when she says “I think he half expected her to wander into one of his parties, some night” (ch. 4). It doesn’t work, but eventually they rejoice at Nick’s house. They see each other for a while but Tom, Daisy’s husband, eventually finds out and Daisy sides with Tom which basically ends Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship. Gatsby is devastated because he spent his whole life trying to be with Daisy and it ends up failing in the end. Nick tried to tell Gatsby that he couldn’t repeat the past, Gatsby says “Can’t repeat the past?” he cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!” (ch. 6). Gatsby believed this up until before the moment he died. His spent his whole life pursuing this woman, which would ultimately lead to his happiness, but in the end she doesn’t want him back and he is crushed.
Of Mice and Men is another extraordinary example of the pursuit of happiness coming from a love of a person.

George took responsibility for Lennie, a mentally handicapped person, after Lennie’s guardian died. George took care of Lennie and they worked together. They travelled together to find work and shared the same dream of owning their own home and farm. They weren’t related but they loved each other like they were brothers. George and Lennie always helped each other out. Lennie was accused of raping someone in Weed and George helped Lennie run away and then looked for another job together. Lennie forgets things fast which is the reason George has to help him through life. An example of this would be George saying to Lennie about Weed: “Oh, so ya forgot that too, did ya? Well, I ain’t gonna remind ya, fear ya do it again” (41). Lennie was not able to live on his own because of his condition which is where George helped him. In the end of the story, George ends up shooting Lennie because Lennie accidently kills a woman and everyone was after him. George was left with no choice but to shoot him. George felt really bad and he didn’t do this because he hated him. He did it so that he couldn’t hurt anyone else. It wasn’t Lennie’s fault he killed the woman, but what George did was for the greater good so no one else would be hurt. George also wanted Lennie to know that he wasn’t mad about Lennie killing someone because it wasn’t his fault so George says to Lennie just before

shooting him: “No, Lennie. I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an’ I ain’t now. That’s a thing I want ya to know” (147). Lennie felt bad all the time when he did something bad on accident and thought George was mad at him. George wanted Lennie to know that he wasn’t mad at him for what he did.
“The Devil and Tom Walker” is the final example of the pursuit of happiness learned from the exploration of American Literature.

This story is a little different because of the fact that the main character, Tom, is in love with greed and not another person. He is obsessed with money and will do anything to get more money, which includes making a deal with the devil. Tom and his wife do not have a decent relationship at all because of how greedy they both are. Tom eventually gets a chance to get a lot of money, but he has to give his soul to the devil in order to receive the money. Tom tells his wife of this deal and she tries to make this deal instead of him. Tom finds her dead a couple days later. Tom makes the deal and then later on in his life, he is asked for a delay on a mortgage payment because Tom used to make a lot of money off of him. Tom replies by saying: “The devil take me, if I have made a farthing!” (331). Tom is basically saying that if he had made any money from him then the devil would take him away right then. Not a minute later, the devil takes Tom away and Tom is never seen again. This story is telling readers to not be greedy. Tom was so in love with money and found happiness through money, that he ended up dying because of

it.
While people find happiness in many different ways, one major way is through love for someone or something. This love keeps them going throughout life and is what keeps them happy. American Literature has taught me this because of how a lot of the stories are about love. The stories from American Literature have taught me many things this year about the pursuit of happiness, but love for someone stuck out the most for how people pursue happiness.