Desperation means to live in a state of despair, which usually leads to extreme behavior (Dictionary.com). In desperation, one will go to extreme limits to meet a goal. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby, in a desperate manner to reunite with Daisy, teaches the lesson through example to never act immorally for self-satisfaction. Daisy is Gatsby’s fundamental goal; consequently`, he dreadfully attempts to get her back. He even becomes a bootlegger so that he can attain wealth to attract Daisy. When Gatsby claims that Daisy does not love Tom, Tom reveals that “one of [Gatsby’s] little stunts” is that he sells “alcohol over the counter” (Fitzgerald 133). Gatsby’s life consists of performing “stunts” to achieve his goals. He arrives at the point where he does not care what he has to do to get to Daisy. In another instance, Gatsby completely uses Nick to set up a date for him and Daisy. According to Jordan, Gatsby “began asking people casually if they knew [Daisy]” at parties (Fitzgerald 79). Gatsby, with little respect to Nick, inconsiderately utilizes Nick’s connection to Daisy to spend a day with her. …show more content…
Gatsby seems to use Nick like a bridge to get to Daisy. Performing these immoral “stunts” verifies Gatsby’s motivation to reunite with Daisy. One can ultimately take away that Gatsby’s stunts led to his demise.
His troubling actions to reach self-satisfaction come back to sabotage him. Gatsby’s fatal consequence teaches that life is not meant to live by taking the easiest path. Actually, Gatsby never satisfies once he gets Daisy back. In life, selfish actions do not always satisfy. Additionally, Gatsby’s abundance of wealth cannot buy Daisy’s love or friends. As a matter of fact, hardly anybody shows up to his funeral. On the day of the funeral, only a “procession of three cars” station outside Gatsby’s house (Fitzgerald 174). His wealth does not buy him good enough friends to show up to his own funeral. He cannot win taking shortcuts in his life. Gatsby’s death warns the readers to refrain from doing illegal and dishonest actions, because it does not always end up the way one
plans. Gatsby thinks that he can buy everything, but he deeply mistakes that he could not buy friends or Daisy’s love. Gatsby desperately tries to cheat the game of life, but he fails miserably. He becomes too desperate for Daisy’s love, and that literally is the death of him. This story strongly advises the reader to not take shortcuts in life, because those shortcuts do not always end at targeted destination.
Deceit and its use to achieve one’s goals is a common theme in The Great Gatsby. However, as has been shown, many who use immoral means to obtain the things they want may find themselves in undesirable situations.
Her sequence of lies leads George Wilson to believe, senselessly, that this was all Gatsby’s fault. The shame of the affair eventually compels Wilson to shoot Gatsby and then commit suicide. Daisy, could have owned up to her mistakes and saved Gatsby’s life, but for Daisy Fay Buchanan, self-preservation is far more valuable than personal merit. This in fact proves “the greatest villain in the Great Gatsby is in fact Daisy herself, for her wanton lifestyle and selfish desires eventually lead to Gatsby’s death, and she has no regards for the lives she destroys” (Rosk 47). Nevertheless, Nick Carraway sees right through her disturbing ways and reflects upon the Buchanan’s. After Nick ponders a thought he muttered “They are careless people Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they made” (Fitzgerald 170). Many people see Daisy Buchanan as a poised, pure, and elegant woman who is happily married; however, few like her cousin, Nick Carraway, suffer from knowing her true self: careless, deceptive, and selfish. Daisy is able to use money to get her out of every situation she runs
Tom dives into a series of investigations diverging into Gatsby’s background in an attempt to destroy Daisy’s impression of Gatsby, and in the process discovers that Gatsby was running liquor shops during the Prohibition (123). However, it was not Tom’s concern for Daisy that drove him to carry out the investigation, but rather Tom’s desire to tarnish Gatsby’s character and exert his superiority over him. Tom demonstrates his true intentions when he unleashes this fact onto Daisy while he argues with Gatsby, and this fact causes Daisy to contemplate if Gatsby really is the great man he claims himself to be (123). Tom could have told Daisy any time, but he needed both Gatsby and Daisy to be present in order to destroy Gatsby’s image. Tom Buchanan feels threatened by Gatsby’s superiority, and instinctively responds selfishly by finding a way to eliminate Gatsby’s dominance while asserting his
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...
Unlike those cheesy romantic heroes from soap operas and films, Gatsby believes that by attempting to be someone he is not and by faking his identity, he will be able to win Daisy`s heart . Nick Caraway, the narrator of the novel, informs readers about Gatsby`s past and his first reaction to Daisy. He tells readers, “…he let her believe that he was a person from the same stratum as herself…that he was fully capable to take care of her. As a matter of fact, he had no such facilities…” (Fitzgerald 149). Gatsby basically lies about his social status to win Daisy`s heart, which shows how his relationship is based on dishonesty and lies rather than trust. Gatsby changes himself in order to make room for Daisy in his life. A romantic hero never lies beca...
The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, revolves around wealthy New Yorkers living in the 1920s, or the “jazz age”. Tom and Daisy Buchanan are incredibly rich from inheriting family money, unlike Jay Gatsby who worked his way, although possibly illegally, to his fame and riches. The only motive on his mind was to impress Daisy, whom he fell in love with years ago. What he fails to realize is that Daisy never wanted her husband, Tom, or her pursuer, Gatsby; she wanted whoever could meet her need for material wealth. She is very self-centered, desperate for attention, will act only for her own benefit, and can attract people easily with her charm. Nick goes as far as to tell her, “You make me feel uncivilized, Daisy,” (Fitzgerald, 12).
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.
The story of The Great Gatsby took place five years after Gatsby and Daisy had first met and gotten in a relationship. Though it had come to an abrupt end, Gatsby still tried to reunite with Daisy throughout the next five years, though he had no success. One day, at one of his massive parties, which he throws just hoping that Daisy would show up, he meets Nick. While he was there, Gatsby found out that he and Daisy were cousins and that he knew Daisy’s best friend. Seeing an opportunity, he asked Daisy’s friend to explain to Nick his situation and requested that he “invite Daisy to your house some afternoon and then let him come over.” (Fitzgerald, page 76). Despite Gatsby’s efforts, he had been unable to effectively to reunite with his lover. Finally when he found a connection to Daisy, he wanted to use Nick to prove to Daisy that he was the man that she should be with and that he had the money to take care of her.
In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a man named Nick Carraway recounts his relationship with his next-door neighbor Jay Gatsby over the course of the summer of 1922. Nick quickly learns that 5 years prior to his meeting Gatsby, Gatsby had fallen in love with Nick’s extravagantly wealthy cousin Daisy Buchanan. However, after Gatsby went to fight in World War I, Daisy quickly moved on to marry her husband Tom, leaving Gatsby behind to fantasize about what their relationship could have become. Gatsby, who was once a poor farm boy from North Dakota, worked underhandedly in the five years leading up to the events of the book to gain the wealth and status he believed would win him Daisy’s love. Nick eventually reintroduces his
All throughout his life, he’s been chasing after an impossible life with Daisy, and this obsession shows in his throughs and actions. This jealousy toward Tom for ‘stealing’ his girl shows when he says to Tom that Daisy “‘doesn’t love you,’ said Gatsby. ‘She’s never loved you. She loves me’” (Fitzgerald 130). Gatsby’s hope of turning Daisy towards him and away from Tom consumes him, and he acts as if he’s the main character of the world’s story, and that no one else’s life matters so long as he reaches his goal. His hope of achieving the perfect life with Daisy has blinded him to the reality that surrounds him. He doesn’t realize that some goals, no matter how noble or pure, such as love, are unreachable and his chance, had it existed in the first place, slipped by him long ago. When Nick tells him that it’s impossible to repeat the past, Gatsby respond with disbelief saying “‘Can’t repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!’” (Fitzgerald 110). The futility of his life’s hope has maddened him so that even the most ridiculous ideas are seen as acceptable. The single-mindedness he’s shown towards his dream has fooled him into believing that he has nowhere else to turn if his hope fails him, so he decides to persevere in the face of everything out of perceived necessity rather than a genuine love of Daisy. Childish beliefs and impossible hopes and dreams such as these have shaped Gatsby’s whole life,
Gatsby’s dream of wealth and achieving his lost love, Daisy had consumed his life. He was caught in the illusion that one day he could be like the people who lived in East Egg, rich and famous. Along the way, Gatsby had lost sight of himself. His past was left to the strangers that attended his parties. “He’s a bootlegger,” (60) Young Ladies had gossiped to Nick. Giving Nick the rumours of Gatsby’s past and how he used to be. During which time, Gatsby’s view
The style in which characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby conduct their relationships shows how ambition and lack of it causes destruction.
Nick being the only person he has ever gave an invitation to, he does this to get closer to Daisy. This shows how Gatsby’s obsession is. He even does illegal things to get wealthy so she will notice him. Daisy says to Gatsby in their earlier relationship, “rich girls do not date poor boys.” By throwing his huge, lavish parties, Gatsby tries to attract Daisy. He wants to show her his great wealth he has accumulated since they last met. Gatsby’s obsession has taken over him, he sees Daisy as sort of a goal he wants to reach. Daisy and Gatsby have not been together long enough to grow into a love relationship. She is so consumed in having wealth she does not know what love really is. She leaves Gatsby during the war to be with someone who has great
Nick and Gatsby journey into the city one day and there Nick meets Meyer Wolfshiem, one of Gatsby 's associates and Gatsby 's link to organized crime. On that same day, while having tea with Jordan Baker, Nick learns the amazing story that Gatsby told her the night of his party. Gatsby, it appears, is in love with Daisy Buchanan. They met years earlier when he was in the army but could not be together because he did not yet have the means to support her. In the intervening years, Gatsby made his fortune, all with the goal of winning Daisy back. He bought his house so that he would be across the Sound from her and hosted the elaborate parties in the hopes that she would notice. It has come time for Gatsby to meet Daisy again, face-to-face, and so, through the intermediary of Jordan Baker, Gatsby asks Nick to invite Daisy to his little house where Gatsby will show up
Sitting alone and observing the intoxicated crowd, Nick points out that “most of the remaining women were now having fights with men said to be their husbands” (51). Through the night, Fitzgerald shows the general discontent among those gathered at Gatsby’s house. Even with all the wealth, the unsettling dissatisfaction of his guests with their significant other evoked by the seemingly endless stream of liquor is a precursor to the love affair of Gatsby and Daisy. Although Gatsby lives alone, he always “[keeps] [his house] full of interesting people, night and day” (90). Despite not knowing half of the people who attend his gatherings, Gatsby allows anyone to show up. Gatsby becomes disconnected with his personability because he does everything for show and as a ploy to attract the public eye. During his last party at Gatsby’s house, Nick notes that he “[has grown to accept West Egg as a world complete in itself, with its own standards and its own great figures, second to nothing because it had no consciousness of being so, and now I was looking at it again, through Daisy’s eyes” (104). Nick is for the first time realizing how Gatsby’s parties are carefully planned in order to attract Daisy’s attention. Gatsby needs to capture Daisy’s interest with his extravagant lifestyle to fulfill his imagined dream even though she is married. Jay Gatsby’s