“I wasn’t actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity.”[said by Nick] (Fitzgerald 57) F. Scott Fitzgerald is the author of The Great Gatsby; He has integrated multiple characters in his book, including love interests. Although the love for a woman is essential, the evidence of Daisy and Jordan as her foil, reveal their insignificance in the overall plot in The Great Gatsby.
It is New York in the 1920s. Nick Carraway moves to the West Egg from Minnesota. He lives in a small house next to Jay Gatsby, a mysterious man who throws lavish parties, and decides he wants to know more about him. Then conflicts ensue about affairs and the secrets about all of the characters’ pasts. Nick, Daisy, and Tom (Daisy’s husband) “hang out” and later on, Gatsby joins on their travels. One day, when they are on an outing, Daisy hits Myrtle (Tom’s mistress) accidentally with Gatsby’s car and Myrtle dies. Tom then assures Daisy that they will cover up who killed Myrtle. Wilson thinks Gatsby killed his wife, so in a fit of madness goes to Gatsby’s house and kills him and
…show more content…
The only reason Daisy is in The Great Gatsby, is so that she can run over Myrtle. If she were to be removed, either the story would not have that conflict and therefore resolve it with another instance of Myrtle dying and blaming Gatsby for the death, or have a completely different character that would run over Myrtle. The only other important female character is Jordan Baker and how according to Nick he saw her picture connected to a “critical and unpleasant story”. “The reader later discovers this concerns a time she cheated in a major golf tournament. Her insincerity with Nick in their love affair is another example of her detached personality.” (Telgen) This shows that Jordan can be removed because of her detached personality and that her cheating in the golf tournament does not add any conflict to the
And for a moment I thought I loved her” (Fitzgerald 58).Even after the death of Mr. Jay Gatsby the author still puts in our head that maybe they still can have a relationship “Usually her voice came over the wire as something fresh and cool, as if a divot from a green golf-links had come sailing in at the office window, but this morning it seemed harsh and dry. “I’ve left Daisy’s house,” she said. “I’m at Hempstead, and I’m going down to Southampton this afternoon.” Probably it had been tactful to leave Daisy’s house, but the act annoyed me, and her next remark made me rigid. “You weren’t so nice to me last night.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s American classic, The Great Gatsby, tells a story of how love and greed lead to death. The narrator of the novel, Nick Carraway, tells of his unusual summer after meeting the main character, Jay Gatsby. Gatsby’s intense love makes him attempt anything to win the girl of his dreams, Daisy Buchanan. All the love in the world, however, cannot spare Gatsby from his unfortunate yet inevitable death. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald utilizes the contrasting locations of East Egg and West Egg to represent opposing forces vital to the novel.
“The Great Gatsby” was a extremely sophisticated novel; it expressed love, money, and social class. The novel is told by Nick Carraway, Gatsby’s neighbor. Nick had just moved to West Egg, Longs Island to pursue his dream as a bond salesman. Nick goes across the bay to visit his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom Buchanan in East Egg. Nick goes home later that day where he saw Gatsby standing on his dock with his arms out reaching toward the green light. Tom invites Nick to go with him to visit his mistress Mrs. Myrtle Wilson, a mid class woman from New York. When Nick returned from his adventure of meeting Myrtle he chooses to turn his attention to his mysterious neighbor, Gatsby. Gatsby is a very wealthy man that host weekly parties for the
Our story, The Great Gatsby, starts out when Nick, a stock trader, moves to West Egg. West Egg is a part of Long Island where the "new" rich people live. "New" rich is a term used to describe people who have recently acquired their wealth, and have no connections in East Egg, where the people who have established their wealth live. Gatsby befriends Nick for a good reason, to meet his long lost love, Daisy, Nick’s cousin and resident of East Egg. Unfortunately for Gatsby, Daisy is married to Tom, a boisterous man who has taken in a mistress and everyone in the novel knows about it.
There is a fine line between love and lust. If love is only a will to possess, it is not love. To love someone is to hold them dear to one's heart. In The Great Gatsby, the characters, Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan are said to be in love, but in reality, this seems to be a misconception. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrays the themes of love, lust and obsession, through the character of Jay Gatsby, who confuses lust and obsession with love.
A part of the novel that had heavy effect on Nick Carraway was when he hides Toms secrets and as well as Daisy and Gatsby’s. Tom reveals that he has an affair with another woman named Myrtle, but Nick doesn't tell daisy about it. Also, Gatsby was Daisy’s first love. Nick helped them meet, and have affairs behind Tom’s back. He was covering the mistake of others which can end up in huge problems if revealed. Sadly, Nick decides to stay silent from both side, and ended up getting along with everything. Because of this, another mess occurred; Myrtle dies in a car accident. Slowly, Nick becomes devastated with all this, and starts to change a bit.
Nick Carraway has his epiphany at the end of the novel. When Gatsby passes away, Nick is the only by his side the whole time. When the police comes to investigate how Gatsby died Nick was the only “family member” that was there to answer questions. He says, “But all this part of it seemed remote and unessential. I found myself on Gatsby’s side, and alone.” (Fitzgerald 175) The whole process while Nick is trying to contact people for Gatsby’s funeral he starts to realize a couple things. He first notices how shallow his cousin Daisy is and the greed of the upper class. Daisy is truly the murderer of Myrtle Wilson but she lets Gatsby take the blame knowing it is not true and wrong. When Nick calls Daisy a half hour after they found Gatsby she was nowhere to be found. He says, “But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and take baggage with them.” (Fitzgerald 175)They both knew what was going happen so they left town to avoid the investigation and funeral in order to save themselves from being caught without thinking of the others they would hurt. Nick next realizes that although Gatsby has these luxurious parties that so many people attend but no one wants to attend his actual funeral. When Nick asks Gatsby’s father to attend the funeral, Gatsby’s father says, “Well the fact is-the truth of the matter is that
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
In chapter 1 of The Great Gatsby the narrator reveals himself to be Nick Carraway, a man from Minnesota. Nick moved to New York to get a job in the bond business and he rented a house in the West Egg. The West Egg is considered “Less fashionable” (5), than the East Egg where all the people with connections live. Nick was invited to dinner at the home of his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom Buchanan who lived in the East Egg. At dinner Nick meets Jordan, Daisy’s rather laid-back friend, and learns that Tom is having a very open affair with another woman. At the end of the chapter Nick goes home to see his neighbor, Gatsby, reaching out across the bay to a distant green light.
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
Fitzgerald’s character Daisy was created as a girl who is sweet with the intent to help Nick out from the world and a traitor because she goes against the romantic side that Fitzgerald created for her (Washington). Daisy loves being surrounded by masculine men, who escorts away from a low class life to a bigger status in society, which puts her in a position where she is unable to control who she is around or what she looks like physically (Washington). She soon meets a man, Jay Gatsby, who also finds interest in her. Gatsby thinks that Daisy is one of the best things he has ever heard (Fitzgerald 128). Gatsby became very interested in her ever since he laid eyes on her.
It follows a stranger in the town of West Egg known as Nick. Nick is labeled as the new kind of rich, having lots of money but not for long. He lives the lavish lifestyle, going to big parties, attending fancy dinners, and enjoying time with people without doing any work. While at a party, he hears rumors about the man who threw the party. The rumors, like usual, are not good. The attendees claim that he murdered a man, something the mysterious figure will not disprove or prove. Suddenly, the mysterious man appears and talks to Nick. Nick learns that his name is Gatsby, a person under the group of old rich. Gatsby talks and talks, seemingly without end about truly nothing. However, Nick learns that the reason behind all these expensive parties is for a girl who goes by the name of Daisy. Daisy and Nick are relatively close, so Gatsby asks for a favor of Nick, and that is to ask Daisy for a chance with Gatsby. Gatsby and Daisy had a thing before Gatsby went off to war, but things change during that time. When Gatsby returned Daisy was a mother with another man, even though she promised to wait for Gatsby. Gatsby, obviously still wants Daisy so he posses the deadly sin of lust. His lust for Daisy will eventually be his demise when he lies for her safety. Lust isn’t only shown through Gatsby however, Nick also shows lust in a way. His form of lust is for acceptance, he strives to be loved by everyone in
A soft breeze lifts off the Sound and brushes Nick Carraway’s face as he emerges from the shadows into the moonlight. His eyes first gaze across the bay to the house of Tom and Daisy where Nick sees past the walls to people who “...smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back to their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together...” (Fitzgerald: 187- 188). Nick’s head then turns to his side where he views Gatsby’ s mansion. His heart swells for the man who was unable to let go of the past, and move toward his future. With the two houses juxtaposed in his mind’s eye, Nick ponders his experiences in the East, and enters the car to take him home with a new perspective on life. Nick’s maturity becomes evident as his perspective of society becomes more realistic as a result of his observing the consequences which occur in unhealthy relationships.
The Great Gatsby presents the main character Jay Gatsby, as a poor man who is in love with his best friends cousin, Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby was in love with Daisy, his first real love. He was impressed with what she represented, great comfort with extravagant living. Gatsby knew he was not good enough for her, but he was deeply in love. “For a moment a phrase tried to take shape in my mouth and my lips parted like a dumb man’s”(Fitzgerald 107). Gatsby could not think of the right words to say. Daisy was too perfect beyond anything he was able to think of. Soon Gatsby and Daisy went their separate ways. Jay Gatsby went into the war while telling Daisy to find someone better for her, someone that will be able to keep her happy and provide for her. Gatsby and Daisy loved one another, but he had to do what was best for her. Gatsby knew the two might not meet again, but if they did, he wanted things to be the same. “I 'm going to fix everything just the way it was before”(Fitzgerald 106). He wanted Daisy to fall in love with him all over again. Unsure if Daisy would ever see Gatsby again, she got married while he was away. The two were still hugely in love with one another, but had to go separate ways in their
While in a New York City hotel room one evening late in the summer with Nick, Daisy, Tom, and Gatsby, there is a massive confrontation during which Tom exposes Gatsby's corrupt business dealings. Jay and Daisy leave to drive back to Long Island together with her driving Gatsby's car "to calm her down" when she accidentally hits and kills Tom's mistress. The car doesn't stop after the accident and speeds on towards Long Island. Gatsby's charm has faded with his exposed corruption. While Nick goes off to work in New York City the next day, the dead woman's vengeful husband, told that it had been Gatsby's car that killed his wife by a vengeful Tom Buchanan, shoots Gatsby to death in his own swimming pool and then kills himself.