Fitzgerald's Blinding Downfall In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

1207 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Thematic essay for great gatsby

Gatsby’s Blinding Downfall On the last page of The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the second to last sentence is left unfinished ending in “And one fine morning --” (180) after alluding to themes used in the beginning of the book. This ending shows three primary characteristics of Gatsby that will eventually lead to his downfall. The first characteristic that Jay, the narrator, mentions is the platonic conception that Gatsby has of himself and, especially, Daisy. Next Jay brings up Gatsby’s longing for Daisy and Gatsby’s need to constantly surround himself with others to combat his loneliness. Finally, Jay mentions Gatsby’s blinding hope for his future adding on to Gatsby’s platonic conception of the world. It is these unfortunate characteristics that lead to Gatsby’s idyllic view of the world. Due to his platonic conception of the world, Gatsby becomes blinded from reason and responsibility to fix his persistent loneliness by taking risks and creating enemies that eventually …show more content…

The first impression that the reader gets of Gatsby is Jay’s initial explanation of him. Nick describes Gatsby as having an “extraordinary gift for hope” (2) or the ability to always be hopeful for the best outcome. This “ability” directly correlates to Gatsby 's platonic conception of himself and the world. Gatsby’s gift was not that he was able to see the best out of the worst situation but rather assume that the best situation would always occur for him. This “ability” lead Gatsby to take many risks especially the risk of believing that Daisy had only loved him. Gatsby also hopes that Daisy would call him back, leaving the phone lines open for Daisy when swimming in his pool. These acts only further lead to Gatsby becoming enemies with Tom, who gave Gatsby’s life up to Myrtle’s husband whose final act was shooting

Show More
Related

  • Similarities Between The Wizard Of Oz And The Great Gatsby

    1309 Words  | 3 Pages

    “ 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.

    Read More

  • Comparing The Great Gatsby And Passing

    1411 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    377 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Illusions In Ethan Frome

    1412 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is arguable, that it is this fantasy of attaining the unattainable woman that leads to Gatsby’s downfall and tragic death at the end of the novel. Throughout the novel it becomes increasingly clear that Gatsby either will not or cannot accept any realities that contradict his imaginings about how his reconciliation and courtship of Daisy should go. One of the passages in which his inability to accept such deviation is evident is his on the day of his long awaited reunion with Daisy, in which he is so distraught at the idea that it might not go according to his plan, he attempts to leave rather than risking the integrity of his illusions. ‘”Nobody’s coming to tea. It’s too late!” He looked at his watch as if there was a pressing demand on his time elsewhere. “I can’t wait all day”’ . It is extremely revealing that it is at this point that Gatsby’s cultivated veneer of civility slips. In his desperation to protect his illusions Gatsby betrays himself, behaving in a manner that echoes the behavior of a drug addict whose stash is under threat. The fact that Nick Caraway, who protects the ideal of Gatsby through his unreliable style of narration in the novel, notes this loss of control is an indication of its significance. Due to his fixation with illusion Gatsby is unable to function in the face of

    Read More

  • What Does The Color Green Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

    1216 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jay Gatsby lives across the bay from Daisy Buchanan and can see her green light at the end of her dock from his house. One night, Gatsby “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.” Nick describes Gatsby reaching out at the water at Daisy’s green light. Nick thinks that it is odd that Gatsby is trembling looking across the bay at Daisy’s light. Gatsby is deeply in love with Daisy and hopes that one day she will fall in love with him again.

    Read More

  • Obsession In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gatsby’s quest to acquire Daisy was enlarged by his colossal obsession with the idea of being reunited with her, until the time actually came in which something so simple as a tea date was all he asked for in order to meet her. The purpose of acquiring such wealth and an extravagant home seems so pointless when Gatsby decides to meet with Daisy in Nick’s underwhelming cabin. The extravagancy of his vision deeply contrasts the modesty of the acquisition of his goal in this case. This shows a different side of Gatsby and his visions on what he thought would happen when he reached his goal and what actually occurred. Gatsby starts to panic when his visions do not occur when Nick and Gatsby are sat in Nick’s home, waiting for Daisy, Gatsby argues “Nobody’s coming to tea. It’s too late...I can’t wait all day” Fitzgerald 85). Gatsby is clearly very antsy and nervous about seeing Daisy again. He was very deeply in love with her and after 5 long years of waiting to see her again and they are finally reunited. All of his plans will be put into action and all of this planning will make him terribly self conscious

    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 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

  • The Traits of Jay Gatsby

    1167 Words  | 3 Pages

    When reflecting on his memories of the man he knew as Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway recalls the unique individual’s finest quality: “It was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again” (Fitzgerald 2). Although Gatsby occasionally stepped off the straight and narrow, he never lost sight of his ultimate goal: Daisy’s love. Even when it seemed as though everything was working against him and that he would never regain his lost love, Gatsby kept going, knowing that the strength of his hope would see him through. His childlike determination, while ultimately his downfall, was what made Gatsby truly “great.”

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby Chapter 8 Essay

    379 Words  | 1 Pages

    While Gatsby has yet to be seen in chapter two, the reader learns some of what people believe about the titular character. Chapter two portrays Gatsby as a figure shrouded in mystery with an extraordinary past; Catherine, Myrtle’s sister, tells Nick rumours surrounding Gatsby’s heritage. It is believed that Gatsby is part of the German royalty--that he is relative of Kaiser Wilhelm. Gatsby's image is followed by intrigue as well as fear; Catherine mentions how she is “scared of him” and does not want to know what he is capable of doing. Chapter eight mirrors chapter two in the way where the reader gets to know Gatsby again, however, this time the reader finds the truth about “Jay Gatsby”; this chapter reveals Gatsby’s true backstory as a “penniless young man”, son of a farmer from Nebraska and Gatsby stops being a mysterious figure. In chapter eight, the audience learns about the ordinary man that Gatsby truly is and he ceases being greater than life. The image of Gatsby as a dangerous man is also destroyed when he becomes a powerless victim killed by the deranged George Wilson. By shattering the illusion of Gatsby, the perfect image of the self-made man, Fitzgerald shows his belief that the type of man Gatsby was, was an unattainable dream that was no longer achievable by the 1920’s.

    Read More

  • Social and Moral Values in Relation to the Downfall of Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby

    907 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gatsby downfall came when he sacrificed his morality to attain wealth. Gatsby realises that the illusion of his dream with Daisy, demands wealth to become priority, and thus wealth becomes the desire overriding his need for her [Daisy’s] love. Gatsby claims to others that he has inherited his wealth, but Nick discovers "[h]is parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people" (Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, pg 104) and that Gatsby has lied about his past. In a society that relies on luxuries, Gatsby throws parties to attract Daisy’s attention. Also, Gatsby expresses that same need to keep busy, just as Daisy does, in a society of the elite. Nick describes Gatsby as "never quite still, there was always a tapping foot somewhere or the impatient opening and closing of a hand" (Fitzgerald, pg 68). Gatsby fills his house "full of interesting people...who do interesting things" (Fitzgerald, pg 96). Gatsby's dream is doomed to failure in that he has lost the fundamental necessities to experience love, such as honesty and moral integrity.

    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

  • Jay Gatsby

    774 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...n the end Gatsby depicts all of these traits which are the reason why he faces such a tragic end. In the eyes of the narrator, Nick states, “Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men,” (2), which expresses what his perspective of Gatsby was. It is never suspected that one must face death so abruptly but everything happens for a reason. Gatsby’s traits are illuminated throughout all of his reactions towards the incidents he faces, the statements he makes and the developments he undergoes through the course of the novel. Even though he made his living by participating in immoral things, Gatsby did have good intentions. But in the end he confronted consequences he, himself, had never anticipated.

    Read More

  • Essay On The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

    729 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the beginning, Gatsby was a poor army boy who fell in love with a rich girl named Daisy. Knowing from their different circumstances, he could not marry her. So Gatsby left to accumulate a lot of money. Daisy, not being able to wait for Gatsby, marries a rich man named Tom. Tom believes that it is okay for a man to be unfaithful but it is not okay for the woman to be. This caused a lot of conflict in their marriage and caused Daisy to be very unhappy. Gatsby’s dream is to be with Daisy, and since he has accumulated a lot of money, he had his mind set on getting her back. Throughout the novel, Gatsby shows his need to attain The American Dream of love and shows his determination to achieve it. You can tell that Gatsby has a clear vision of what he wants when Nick says, “..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 gla...

    Read More

  • Who Is Responsible For Gatsby's Death

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jay Gatsby envy’s  Tom Buchanan because his importance in Daisy's life, Tom is also jealous of Gatsby. Tom Buchanan is jealous of Gatsby because his wife is in love with him. Tom is hypocrite because he is in love with Myrtle Wilson, his mistress that Daisy does knows about, but he is angry when he see’s  that his wife is in love with  Gatsby. Tom has envy for Gatsby because both Daisy and Gatsby have known each other for five years, and along that period of time, they have had a romantic past.  Therefore, both Gatsby and Tom are jealous and envy each other. Towards the end of the novel, Tom and Gatsby have a moment of pure envy. The are both making Daisy which of them she loves more. Tom, her husband, or Gatsby, someone she has loved for the past 5 years. Gatsby insists that she tells Tom she never loved him, but Daisy says "Oh, you want too much!" she cried to Gatsby. "I love you now--isn't that enough? I can't help what's past." She began to sob helplessly. "I did love him once--but I loved you too." (Fitzgerald) This quote completely shatters Gatsby’s dream he has been living for 5 years. When forced to choose between Tom and Gatsby, Daisy remains with her wealthy husband and doesn’t react at all when Gatsby is  murdered. I believe this shows Daisy’s true character and the about of selfishness she has. Daisy never loved Gatsby for him, she loved him for his money, reputation, and the

    Read More

More about Fitzgerald's Blinding Downfall In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Open Document