Ben Stein’s quote: “The first step to getting the things you want in life is this; Decide what you want.” The quote is the key element of the The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, such as the point where different individuals are after something and are even willing to give their own life over it even if it seems like a small goal in our eyes.Through Gatsby’s and Myrtle’s goals, Fitzgerald illustrates his agreement with Ben Stein’s quote: “The first step to getting the things you want in life is this; Decide what you want.” Because of Gatsby’s desire for wealth, this paragraph is arguing that Fitzgerald would agree with Ben Stein.Nick realized as soon as he said his name was “Jay Gatsby” Nick had a deep sense of doubt he thought with his Nick is thinking out loud one night remembered Gatsby’s biggest wish is that he wants nothing less from Daisy but to go tell Tom: “I never loved you” (Fitzgerald 109). Apparently being wealthy was not all Gatsby wants, but also wants love from Daisy. He loves her so much he wants her to break Tom’s heart and come with him. This man is clever and cold hearted like Lord Voldemort and Sauron. Jordan glanced at Nick and told him in a calm tone: “ Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (Fitzgerald 78). Gatsby’s way of being in love with Daisy is to be a creepy stalker never giving her space and always spying on her. He wants Daisy and overlooks the reality of her being married and having a daughter. This man’s creepy romantic gestures for Daisy just happened to get Gatsby a house across from Daisy’s house. When Gatsby wants something he really goes after it, he was head over heels in love with Daisy that he would do anything to get her he truly is a man who gets what he One of Myrtle’s friends saw Myrtle in an expensive, yet mesmerizing dress that projected her wealthy persona in every angle. Myrtle simply smirked and replied in a carefree tone: “ It’s a crazy old thing, I slip it on when I don’t care how I look like” (Fitzgerald 31). Myrtle may be significantly poor but has a smart and cunning mind abilities to bend people to her will. Myrtle always wanted to be wealthy and to do that she uses Tom to get what she wants. Her arrow is accurate like Hawkeye’s and fast as Green Arrow. When all the disappointed guest questioned Myrtle about where the ice was for their alcoholic drinks, in a quickly and annoyed voice said: “I told that boy about the ice, These people! You have to always keep after them” (Fitzgerald 32). For a low-class woman, whose home is the valley of ashes, Myrtle has a very snooty personality as if she was a European monarch getting their daily diamond embedded into their crown. She is convincing her friends and won Tom’s heart, this filthy woman is one step closer to achieving her goal. Myrtle also knows what she wants, due to her acting like a European monarch and getting the heart of a rich man to be her
In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald displays Tom Buchanan as a significant character in his novel. Being a former Yale football player, Tom is blonde-haired, muscular, typically referred to as a “brute of a man” (Boyne 12), and around thirty years old. He was raised in an extremely wealthy family and owns an extravagant mansion in East Egg. As a result, Tom believes he is superior over society and allowed to abuse his wife, Daisy. Looking through the eyes of arrogance and racism, Buchanan views the white race as dominate and feels as if it will be diminished if other ethnic groups and cultures become popular. Although he claims to love Daisy, he owns a secret apartment that contains another mistress awaiting him in New York City and only
I sometimes regret bringing gatsby and daisy together for that afternoon of tea or even meeting Gatsby in the first place or even moving next door to him, of course I didn't know I was going to live by the most interesting and complicated man I have ever met in my life. His yellow roadster was ripping throw the street, the glissining of his bright yellow paint job as it ripped through the trees and brush just as a Warbler would.
Gatsby is a very goal oriented man so “he could hardly fail to grasp it”(180), unfortunately “he did not know that it was already behind him”(180). His goal is to have Daisy as his wife and his strategy is to devote everything he will ever do to Daisy. He thinks this is love but it is certainly obsession. He becomes so obsessed that he objectifies her by thinking she's just another thing he has to obtain and call his own. Gatsby shows his obsession for Daisy when he tries to degrade Tom by saying, “your wife doesn't love you… she's never loved you. She loves me”(130). Gatsby is so obsessed that he finds it necessary to emasculate Tom by putting himself on a pedestal and saying that Tom’s own wife has never loved him. His obsession eventually leads to objectification. Gatsby says “oh you want to much”(132), which is ironic because Gatsby has the problem of being materialistic and he then says that Daisy wants to
HOST: Robbie’s loss of innocence was significant in the novel. Was it important to include his trauma in the novel?
Nick and Jordan are intrigued to discover who Gatsby was. Unexpectedly, Nick discovers a man who remembered him from WWI was Gatsby. Nick illustrates the idiosyncratic Gatsby’s exquisite appearance, his solitude since he is a non-alcoholic, and his reputation. Nick crafts Gatsby’s description, “His tanned skin was drawn attractively tight on his face and his short hair looked as though it were trimmed every day...the fact that he was not drinking helped to set him off from his guests...no one swooned backward on Gatsby, and no French bob touched Gatsby’s shoulder, and no singing quartets were formed with Gatsby’s head for one link” (Fitzgerald 50). Nick’s fascination for Gatsby is clearly evident during the chapter. Since Nick’s fascination for Gatsby is insatiable and he is neighbors with Gatsby, a bond may be established between each other. Also, Gatsby’s solitude is caused by the misinterpretation of his guests of his true persona and there oblivious of his existence. This solitude is displayed in the gratitude he received from the opportunistic, unloyal women. From the information asserted, Tom and Gatsby’s personalities are clearly
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...
In the Great Gatsby, we are faced with two extremely wealthy men, a beautiful wife, and a mistress. Jay Gatsby, a very mysterious man, who is extremely wealthy and well known for his parties, is very interesting as well as spontaneous. Tom Buchanan, a man made wealthy by being a professional polo player as well as having a gracious inheritance, is very bitter and somewhat cynical. Daisy, a beautiful young lady and the wife of Tom, is very light hearted but is also in love with Gatsby, almost as much as she loves Tom’s money.
What is it like to live in a world that revolves around money and wealth? What does it mean to be grateful for how fortunate you are? Nick Carraway has a mindset that not everyone is as fortunate as him from the start of the book, The Great Gatsby. The reason Nick has walked through life with this great mindset is due to his father. The things someone tells a young one at a young age can have a huge impact on the rest of that person’s life. For example, the following quote:
Many characters in The Great Gatsby show how love can affect a person’s behavior or plans for the future. He pull out quotation characters said in the book and give his own reactions to each and every quotation. Quotations from The Great Gatsby and from a “Plot Summary of The great Gatsby.”
He’s aware that he’s been going through it for quite a while now. He know’s he’s made and is continuing to make mistakes in his life, but he has no desire to work hard and change how his life is panning out. His depression has left him with no hope. Gatsby on the other hand doesn’t seem to understand that he’s throwing his life away for a girl he met years ago. He illegally made tons of money in order to win Daisy over. He spent years altering his lifestyle with hope of someday stealing her from her husband. His hope and his blinding love shield him from the truth of what he’s really doing. He’s changed for the worst because of his obsession of obtaining money and flaunting it for all to see. Especially the woman he loved, in which he watched from afar at his mansion right across from hers. Money was corrupting him. The only thought running through his mind was to make money and win Daisy back. He lost himself in finding and attaining her. When Daisy first came over to Gatsby’s mansion to take a tour, Nick recalled that “He hadn't once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes. Sometimes, too, he stared around at his possessions in a dazed way, as though in her actual and astounding presence none of it was any longer real. Once he nearly toppled down a flight of stairs.” (Page 88) She altered his thoughts with
Nick begins the novel with wise advice his father once told him, “‘Whenever you feel like criticizing any one...just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had”’(1). Nick starts off by reminding himself and informing that throughout the story, save your judgements to yourself and try to put yourself in his or her position. His words are also a reminder that in society today, people tend to judge too quickly and we need to remember that everyone is not in the same position as we are. There will always be someone more or less fortunate than us, and we must be grateful for what we are given.
However, Patricia Highsmith and F. Scott Fitzgerald also present us with a negative outlook of fluid identity by indicating that it is fake-which means that there is the threat of someone discovering the truth because it isn’t permanent or secure. Gatsby changes his immigrant name ‘Gatz’ to the melodious ‘Gatsby’ which illustrates that identity is plastic and can be remade or rebranded. This links to the setting of the novel because the jazz age is known to have an element of artificiality despite its glamour and allure. Furthermore, Nick describes Gatsby’s personality as “an unbroken series of successful gestures”; from this, we can infer that Gatsby performs an act. Similarly, Tom is able to copy someone else’s voice, way of speaking and
The significance of this quote is to always try and reach your goals no matter what. As well you can often fail or it can be a struggle but always try to achieve them. This has a couple meanings depending in what way you look at it. The main one to the book is often times many people want to go back to the past, and really you often can’t because everything is in the past for a reason, whether if it’s to fix something or just live it one more time. Many people tend to tell themselves that they’re unable to move forward. This quote related to the book because the characters in this book such as Gatsby, Daisy being the main ones. They wanted to have the relationship they once had in the past, and she saw that Gatsby was wealthy as well.
“I know how she looked, but the dress was humiliating!” I laughed along with Mrs. Van Kendall, the horrible, vapid woman. No one in Philadelphia had any class, and truly, it was my own fault for throwing the dinner party.
Nick stood outside and watched Gatsby reach to something across the pond. It seems strange that Nick was standing there observing what Gatsby was doing. It must have been that he knew Gatsby was reaching over for Daisy and wanted to try to prevent it because he loved Gatsby. On page 20, as Nick watches Gatsby, he says, “... suggested that it was Mr. Gatsby himself… I decided to call to him… But I didn’t call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone…” In this scene, Nick puts Gatsby on higher level than himself by saying “Mr. Gatsby himself”, portraying that Gatsby is better than he is and there is something he wants to gain and get from Gatsby. When Nick decides not to talk to Gatsby, it is possible that Nick became to scared to talk to his love. It is just like a little kid wanting to tell their crush that they like them, then chickens out because they think the other person is better than them and will be able to turn them down. And since they are better, there is nothing you can do to make it happen. It is almost as if Nick is scared to be rejected by Gatsby. The quote then continues to say “When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness.” This can be interpreted to mean that Nick is now comparing himself to Gatsby by saying he is alone. Nick sensed that Gatsby wanted to be alone,