The question is can you “repeat the past” like Gatsby wanted to do with Daisy. Though to be honest yes you very well could try to repeat the past; but in all realization it would never be one-hundred percent the same as it was the very first original time it occurred. In my opinion I wouldn’t like going and repeating the past. To begin with, my life five years ago was very swell. I was fourteen years old and in the eighth grade. I hadn’t got a job yet, I didn’t have very many friends, I was very shy and antisocial and was always on the computer. I was getting excited about my Washington D.C. trip with my school but I was also very nervous about having to share a room and a bed. I was even more nervous because I knew what shorty was going to follow; which was me going over to the high school to become a freshman. I was only so nervous because it was going to be a new place, a new school and a bunch of new faces around me. Then again I was very happy in life because I had set goals but I am also very happy in life now. To add, if it wasn't for my decisions that I made within the last five years I might not be here where I am today in life. With all my amazing grades, all the organizations I am apart of and all my other accomplishments. The best motto to keep in mind is “the past is the …show more content…
Such as a mother giving birth to their little ones, a man and woman on their wedding day, when their loved one asks them to be theirs or when they get down on knee and ask that special someone a special question or when the guys hears the “I Do “. Then again I don’t see the importance of Gatsby going back in time to try to keep Daisy, they have two different life styles, to much of a personality difference it just would not be worth the trouble to go back and relive it knowing that it still wasn’t ever going to happen again or go back to
In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby functions under the illusion that Daisy is perfect and is living in such distress because she was forced to marry Tom due to Gatsby being away at war and being poor. This illusion leads Gatsby to spend his entire adult life pining after Daisy and cheating his way up the social and economic ladder in order to win her over. Gatsby believes that Daisy will someday come back to him because she loves him so much and they will live happily ever after together.
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.
Crossing the porch where we had dined that June night three months before, I came to a small rectangle of light which I guessed was the pantry window. The blind was drawn, but I found a rift at the sill.
Recreating the past will only result in sorrow and misfortune. Leave what happened long ago where it is and create a new future and make this new life whatever is desired. If only Gatsby believes in this. Daisy knew this to be true and even Nick knew that reliving the past will never truly result in happiness. Gatsby pushed his ideals onto Daisy and made her do something she does not want to do. Gatsby wants to go back five years and live this life again whereas Daisy just wants to create a new life. The uncertainties of the past are not grounds to repair a current situation in an individual’s life. The basis of the future is that what is created in the present. The future is not created in the memories of days before, the future cannot the same as the past once was. The future is the life of an individual, this present day reflects how the individual feels now and not how they felt five years ago. Using what has already occurred to change the future will never end well and individuals who seek to use memories to fix the present will only dig their own grave. Gatsby slowly digs and digs as he attempts to win over Daisy and even when he does, he will take nothing less than to go back five years and start
Daisy is not pure and perfect like Gatsby thought she was in the past. From Gatsby's illusions of the past preoccupying all his thoughts, he forgets about the key dimension he exists in which is the present. Although Gatsby was persistent on reliving the past, Gatsby vaguely lived for the present. This is apparent when he cancels his biology by leaving home, changing his name, and leaving his heritage behind which was not done by following the past.
This is evident when Gatsby states, “Can 't repeat the past?...Why of course you can”(cite). Gatsby implies here that the past can be repeated, in this case with Daisy. Gatsby does not realize, however, that she is now married and has a child. Thus the past cannot be repeated and he is being way too overambitious. .....This is evident when Nick and Gatsby state, “Was Daisy Driving?....Yes...but of course, I 'll say I was”(cite). Gatsby implies here that he is taking the blame for the car accident, even though Daisy was driving. This was overambitious of him and led him to his tragic downfall, as
During Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, it is apparent to be an absurd time for the wealthy. The shallowness of money, riches, and a place in a higher social class were probably the most important components in most lives at that period of time. This is expressed clearly by Fitzgerald, especially through his characters, which include Myrtle Wilson, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, and of course, Jay Gatsby. This novel was obviously written to criticize and condemn the ethics of the rich.
Damn. I wish I was in one of the bigger classes. At least in there there’s a lower probability of me being called on.
According to the dictionary, the definition of dissatisfaction is the quality or state of being unhappy or discontent. Dissatisfaction is a disease that theoretically knows no prejudices, has no cure, and almost everyone has it. This is a global epidemic, that can destroy a man in the time it takes to snap your fingers. Physically most people will be alright but discontent will rot you to the core on the inside. Unfortunately, not being content seems to be a very common part of society today and in the past. The theme of not be satiated by life is especially seen in the famous novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. All the characters in this novel seemingly have achieved the american dream but they are all unhappy and never get what they really want in the end. Also, no character is satisfied with their marriage, with love, and with life in general. They are all unhappy with their lives and they destroy the lives of others in order to satisfy themselves. The Great Gatsby teaches us that even being wealthy and powerful, people can still be dissatisfied and will do anything in order to be happy. Therefore, despite believing that we have it all, dissatisfaction still plagues the human spirit.
Gatsby is unable to understand the flaw in his plan, for in his mind Daisy “is frozen in time forever”and will always be as perfect and pure as when he first saw and fell in love with her (Miller 126). Gatsby realizes for the first time that his Dream cannot be a reality when it begins to crumble before him as a result of Daisy’s refusal to revert to the woman she had been when she was with him. When called into question, she finds herself unable to deny her marriage, the evidence of her past saying, “I can’t help what’s past … I can’t say I’ve never loved Tom” (Fitzgerald 140). Her life with Tom has become a part of her, and she can’t bring herself to ever cast that away. This revelation crushes Gatsby, leaving him feeling lost since all this time he had been “clutching at some last hope”, working for the Daisy she had been during their time together (155). Whenever he speaks of his goals, he says in a matter-of-fact manner, “Can’t repeat the past?... Why of course you can!” (116). Gatsby now sees that Daisy is not willing to change, and revert her life to fit into his Dream, instead “she [vanishes] into her rich house, into her rich, full life, leaving Gatsby--nothing” (157). Gatsby’s Dream has been taken from him by Daisy’s refusal and with his Dream gone, the phrase “you can 't live
...atsby reclines against the mantelpiece and “his head leaned back so far that it rested against the face of a defunct mantelpiece clock...” (Fitzgerald 86). As said by Abby Werlock in her article “The Great Gatsby”, “The novel... uses the symbol of a broken clock to demonstrate the folly of believing that one can return to the innocence of the past.” Gatsby wants to have Daisy love him again. He thinks that he can find a way to repeat the past. Later on in the novel Gatsby argues with Nick about how one can not return to or repeat the past. Being in love with Daisy has Gatsby under the impression that he can repeat the past and that if he fixes everything the way it once was that he will be able to win back the heart of Daisy. Unfortunately Daisy has moved on with her life and is married with a child. Despite this all Gatsby will not give up on returning to the past.
In the book Gatsby says, “Can’t repeat the past? He cried incredulously. Why of course you can!” (110). This quote explains one of mistakes leading to his downfall by stating that he does believe that you can repeat the pass when you can’t. In the book Gatsby tries his hardest to repeat his past relationship with Daisy and it leads him to trouble. He tries different tactics to gain her attention, like throwing the extravagant parties at his house. He hoped one night that Daisy would wonder in so he could see her again. The scene in the book where Gatsby, Nick, Tom, Daisy, and Jordan were in the apartment you can see how Gatsby’s actions had a toll on the other characters. Daisy specifically showed this when she said, “Oh, you want too much! She cried to Gatsby” (132). When Daisy said this it clarified that Gatsby was asking too much of her and that ultimately lead to his
Gatsby has many issues of repeating his past instead of living in the present. A common example of this would be his ultimate goal to win Daisy back. He keeps thinking about her and how she seems perfect for him, but he remembers her as she was before she was married to Tom. He has not thought about the fact that she has a daughter, and has been married to Tom for four years, and the history there is between them. The reader cannot be sure of Gatsby trying to recreate the past until the reunion between him and Daisy. This becomes evident when Nick talks to Gatsby about how he is living in the past, specifically when Nick discusses Daisy with him. “‘I wouldn’t ask too much of her,’ Gatsby ventured. ‘you can’t repeat the past.’ I said. ‘Can’t repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!’” (110). This excerpt shows how Gatsby still has not learned that eventually he will have to just accept the past and move forward with his life. If he keeps obsessing about Daisy, and trying to fix the past, more of his life will be wasted on this impossible goal. Througho...
Through lowering himself and basing the present off of unstable memories, Gatsby attempts to recreate his shallow past with Daisy. To show off the grandeur of his everyday life, he invites Daisy to his mansion. Nick observes that they are holding hands and notices that “she said something low in his ear [and] he turned toward her with a rush of emotion” (Fitzgerald 96). Also, when Nick points out that Gatsby cannot live in the past he says, “Can’t repeat the past… Why of course you can!” (Fitzgerald 110). Overall, "The Great Gatsby is very much a novel about
Gatsby is awakened by the distant laughter and and music carried by the soft wind. He opens his eyes to the night sky spotted with stars, he feels the cold, hard wood beneath him. Gatsby lifted his body up to see that he was sitting in a wooden coffin. He looks around the yard to see no one there, but in the distance Gatsby sees the light from his house illuminating the yard. He steps out of the coffin and his feet hit the cold, hard marble floor, in confusion, he looks up to see he is standing in the front foyaye of the mansion. There is a soft green glow to the whole house, he notices all of the light bulbs in the house have been swapped for green ones. Gatsby gazes down the hallway and sees blurry figures. As he approaches, he sees the house