Examples Of Obsessive Love In The Great Gatsby

641 Words2 Pages

Despite being one of the most powerful emotions, the definition of love cannot be encompassed in one, singular statement. However, it can be said that love is a fundamental life force experienced by all beings, humans and animals alike. The complexity of love can be explained by the fact that there are many different types of love that exist. Romantic love is characterized by feelings of desire and affection between two people. Parental love highlights the protective, caring relationship shared by parent and child. Platonic love is the supportive, closely-knit connection that occurs among friends. While love in all forms is beautiful, the nature of love can sometimes become obsessive, and fog all other thoughts that an individual has. This obsessiveness, in turn, can have disastrous effects on the individual and those around him or her. In literature, the obsessive love often serves as the central focus of books, short stories, plays, and poems. The Great …show more content…

Gatsby’s gestures for Daisy throughout the novel exhibit his unconscious struggle with obsessive love for her. Gatsby’s struggle can be seen in the sacrifices he makes for Daisy, which result in his ultimate downfall. A clear instance of sacrifice driven by Gatsby, occurs in the final chapters of the novel, when Gatsby takes the blame for hitting Myrtle, despite the fact that Daisy was the one who was driving. In conclusion, this essay has effectively examined the nature of obsessive love in The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby’s obsessive love for Daisy serves to create conflict and thus, stimulate the narrative of the novel. Perhaps Fitzgerald’s intention was to comment on the dangers of overly-obsessive love as a warning to readers, encouraging them to examine the presence of love in their lives and ultimately ask the question, how much is too

Show More
Related

  • The Modest Beliefs, Genuine Heart, and Generous Will of Jay Gatsby in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

    821 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...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.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Adultery In The Great Gatsby

    858 Words  | 2 Pages

    Even though at first when they finally got together after all those years and everything seem great and romantic but good things always come to an end. The affair effected Gatsby in his life by having him back the old love he first had for Daisy even hoping for a lifetime future together. His dream is very much vivid about his romantic hopes about Daisy in his mind, “There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams, not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion” (95). He seems to be falling deeper in love with her even maybe more than the love she really had for him even though through the end of the chapters her love that she claims to have for him seemed not truly. In New York, the truth comes out more about she feels about Gatsby by being questioned and feeling guilty when Tom gets to the fact that she loves him and not Gatsby but Gatsby rejects his sayings and tells Daisy to say how she truly feel about him. Over all the excitement, Daisy tells how she truly feel about the whole love affair, “I did love him once but I loved you too” (132). It is possible that the leading of Gatsby’s death was caused from Tom’s jealousy of his wife’s confessed love for Gatsby. Tom would had told Wilson that Gatsby was the driver of the car that killed Myrtle and her secret

    Read More

  • Theme Of Pathos In The Great Gatsby

    825 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nothing is more important, to most people, than friendships and family, thus, by breaking those bonds, it draws an emotional response from the readers. Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan had a relationship before he went off to fight in the war. When he returned home, he finds her with Tom Buchanan, which seems to make him jealous since he still has feelings for Daisy. He wanted Daisy “to go to Tom and say: ‘I never loved you” (Fitzgerald 118) Gatsby eventually tells Tom that his “wife doesn’t love [him]” and that she only loves Gatsby (Fitzgerald 121). But the unpleasant truth is that Daisy never loved anyone, but she loved something: money. Daisy “wanted her life shaped and the decision made by some force of of money, of unquestionable practicality” (Fitzgerald 161). The Roaring Twenties were a time where economic growth swept the nation and Daisy was looking to capitalize on that opportunity. Her greed for material goods put her in a bind between two wealthy men, yet they are still foolish enough to believe that she loved them. Jay Gatsby is a man who has no relationships other than one with Nick Caraway, so he is trying to use his wealth to lure in a greedy individual to have love mend his

    Read More

  • Theme Of Cruelty In The Great Gatsby

    1136 Words  | 3 Pages

    When he first meets Daisy, Gatsby becomes infatuated with his idea of her, or rather, the false persona that she creates of herself. In fact, Gatsby reveals that “she was the first ‘nice’ girl he had ever known” (155). Gatsby was so impressed with Daisy mainly because of her wealth and her status; it is what he wants. However, Daisy chooses Tom Buchanan over Gatsby, solely because of his social status. As a result, Gatsby revolves his whole life around her: he becomes wealthy, creates a new image of himself, and buys a house across the bay from Daisy. For instance, he fabricates lies about how “ [he is] the son of some wealthy people in the middle-west” (69) and how “ [he] was brought up in America but educated at Oxford” (69) in order to impress her. These lies end up altering others’ perspectives of him - not necessarily in a positive way - and impacting his life as a whole. Daisy unwittingly transforms Gatsby into a picture-perfect image of the 1920s: lavish parties, showy cars, and a false illusion of the attainment of the American Dream. Despite Gatsby’s newfound wealth and success, he never fully accomplishes his dream: to get Daisy. Gatsby’s final act for the sake of Daisy has no impact on her feelings towards him. When Gatsby claims that he crashed into Myrtle and killed her, Daisy carelessly lets him do so, which ultimately results in his death. To make

    Read More

  • Infatuation In The Great Gatsby

    850 Words  | 2 Pages

    Romance novels have been around for centuries and they seem to be getting more popular as the years pass. It seems as if most readers do not realize what true love is and mistake infatuation for true love. A good example is Jay and Daisy in the Great Gatsby. It was clearly a one sided love story but some still do insist they both loved each other the same amount. It’s evident that as the years passed Jay became infatuated with her for he was so obsessed with the idea of getting her back after the war. He was so involved he even became wealthy just for her, meanwhile she had moved on and gotten married. Gatsby’s main motivation was to get her back and she was always in his head while Daisy had created a whole new life for herself. After a while

    Read More

  • Examples Of Obsessions In The Great Gatsby

    1758 Words  | 4 Pages

    As defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, an obsession is “a persistent disturbing preoccupation with an often unreasonable idea or feeling” or “compelling motivation” (Obsession). Gatsby was obsessed with gaining wealth in order to draw Daisy back to him and he lived an illusion of love with Daisy. Though Jay Gatsby’s obsessions are the most prominent, they are not the only ones present. Tom and Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson also have obsessions, but it is the combination of them that causes problems. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the fixations of wealth and love of many characters, lead to the downfall of many lives and create chaos in others.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Unrequited Love In The Great Gatsby

    1088 Words  | 3 Pages

    “...there’s a pattern of unrequited desire running through Gatsby. One person in every couple in the novel stretches out to grasp the other, who remains forever out of reach”(Corrigan 180). The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates through subtle yet powerful details in the writing that shows how different relationships between characters in the novel could be considered an unrequited love. Some relationships that demonstrate this include Jay Gatsby “reaching out” to Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson “reaching out” to Tom Buchanan. As the story unveils this idea out reaching out starts to occur more and more as Fitzgerald clearly tries to portray that the relationship between Tom

    Read More

  • Examples Of Madness In The Great Gatsby

    1223 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fitzgerald creates the madness due to the corruption of the desire for wealth in the form of Jay Gatsby, who possesses “an extraordinary gift for hope”, is the “son of God”, and is also a man consumed by his desire for wealth (6, 104). This desire comes full force with the introduction of Daisy into Gatsby’s life. Daisy is representative of Gatsby’s true desires: wealth and love. Gatsby and Daisy meet and fall immediately for one another; Daisy “blossomed for him like a flower” and Gatsby became “forever wed” (117). Fitzgerald is specific in his diction when saying that Gatsby is “forever wed”, because the phrase explains to the reader that Gatsby is bound to Daisy for the eternity, whether she continues to blossom or not. Gatsby and Daisy are separated, but upon their reunion he recounts their departure from one another as exactly “five years next November,” whereas Daisy describes it much more unattentive way, saying that it has been “many years” since they last met (92). “The automatic quality of Gatsby’s answer” demonstrates to the reader that Gatsby engrosses himself in loving Daisy (92). This causes the reader to begin questioning the reasonable qualities of Gatsby’s desire for wealth as it uncovers itself as a madness. This continues as Gatsby begins to integrate Daisy back into his reality. For example, as Gatsby shows Daisy his

    Read More

  • Obsessiveness In The Great Gatsby

    1704 Words  | 4 Pages

    Jay Gatsby is not a real person. Instead, he is a persona created by James Gatz, with the simple dream of recreating himself and becoming successful. Eventually, he becomes extremely wealthy, and although he has reached his goal, Gatsby remains focused on one person: Daisy Buchanan. Some critics argue that Jay Gatsby 's devotion to Daisy Buchanan in Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby is obsessive and dysfunctional; I believe that some of his actions, although ultimately tragic, prove Gatsby to simply be a man blinded by love.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Love In The Great Gatsby

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    The title of the song shines surprisingly clear, though it creates a feeling of being unpleasant and obnoxious for the listeners. The man in this song either feels rejected or disappointed at the world as it seems to be so cruel and also beautiful. Obviously, the world itself always has an equal balance of good and bad and you can never have both. Even though the man got his girl but he feels they are falling apart.

    Read More

  • The Traits of Jay Gatsby

    1167 Words  | 3 Pages

    For five years, Gatsby was denied the one thing that he desired more than anything in the world: Daisy. While she was willing to wait for him until after the war, he did not want to return to her a poor man who would, in his eyes, be unworthy of her love. Gatsby did not want to force Daisy to choose between the comfortable lifestyle she was used to and his love. Before he would return to her, he was determined to make something of himself so that Daisy would not lose the affluence that she was accustomed to possessing. His desire for Daisy made Gatsby willing to do whatever was necessary to earn the money that would in turn lead to Daisy’s love, even if it meant participating in actions...

    Read More

  • Gatsby As A Fake, Desperate Hero In The Great Gatsby

    1371 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ces throughout the novel demonstrate how he is not as innocent or quiet as readers think. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrays Gatsby as not being a Romantic hero due to Gatsby`s attempts in faking his identity, his selfish acts and desperation for Daisy`s love and his fixation with wealth, proving that love is nothing like obsession. Gatsby does not understand love; instead he views Daisy as another goal in his life because he is obsessed with her and is willing to do anything to buy her love. Obsession and love are two different things: love is something that sticks with a person till his or her death, while obsession can cause a person to change his or her mind after reaching their goals. Thus Gatsby`s story teaches people that a true relationship can only be attained when there is pure love between both people, untainted by materialism and superficiality.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Childhood In The Great Gatsby

    1432 Words  | 3 Pages

    At the hotel gathering, Gatsby struggles to persuade Daisy to confront her husband and she responds with “Oh, you want too much! . . . I did love him once--but I loved you too” (Fitzgerald 132). Daisy desperately tries to satisfy Gatsby but his imagination blocks his mind to such a degree that it eliminates his chances of learning how to comprehend reality. After Myrtle’s murder, Nick advises Gatsby to leave town but instead he realizes that “[Gatsby] wouldn’t consider it. He couldn’t possibly leave Daisy until he knew what she was going to do. He was clutching at some last hope and I couldn’t bear to shake him free” (Fitzgerald 148). No matter how hard Nick attempts to help him make the better choice, Gatsby continues to skew his priorities like a juvenile. Unfortunately for Gatsby, Daisy stays with Tom, a more secure and experienced adult, leaving Gatsby alone. As Gatsby’s life loses his vitality, he obviously needs learn how to act like an adult and survive in the world; but unable to accomplish this, Wilson kills him soon

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby Love Essay

    501 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel , The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby is shown loving Daisy throughout the novel, but is it real? Gatsby thinks he is loving Daisy, but it might just be her filling in a hole in his life. Gatsby’s actions and characteristics make it seem like he cannot actually love Daisy. He is too bent on the past Daisy rather than focusing on the Daisy in front of him. Gatsby says it is love that is shown for Daisy, but it is also obsession and her filling in a piece of his dream.

    Read More

  • The Results of Keeping Secrets in the Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...are shown that Gatsby is prepared to do everything in his power to acquire Daisy’s adoration again, even let her get away with murder and will blindly go to jail for her. This however only leads him to his ultimate doom, as he is killed by Myrtle’s husband, Wilson. He may be a liar, but readers empathize with him as his only fault for being dishonest is his love for Daisy and being so blind to see that she is not worthy of that adoration.

    Read More

More about Examples Of Obsessive Love In The Great Gatsby

Open Document