Normally when you feel something really good in your life you wish you could feel that way forever, but how far are you willing to go for that feeling? In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, the theme of a character's attempt to recapture the past is explored through Jay Gatsby. Gatsby's view of the past is characterized by a mixture of bitterness and longing as he tries to recreate a lost love and regain his former self. Through Gatsby's pursuit of Daisy Buchanan and his relentless pursuit of wealth and social status, Fitzgerald develops the theme that the past cannot be recaptured, and the pursuit of one's past can lead to tragic consequences. Gatsby's bitterness towards the present is a result of him not being able to fully let …show more content…
This bitterness is evident when Gatsby exclaims, "Her voice is full of money" (Fitzgerald, 120), highlighting his deep hate towards the materialistic values of the upper class. Gatsby's bitterness towards the present prevents him from finding true happiness and fulfillment. Gatsby's longing for a lost dream is the main reason behind his non-stop pursuit of wealth and social status. He believes that by obtaining wealth and throwing extravagant parties, he can impress Daisy and win her back. Gatsby's longing is exemplified when he tells Nick, "I'm going to fix everything, just the way it was before" (Fitzgerald, 110). However, Gatsby's longing is ultimately pointless, as he fails to recognize that his dream of recapturing the past is an illusion. His longing blinds him to the emptiness and mindlessness of his lifestyle, leading to his tragic downfall and death. Through the character of Jay Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald explores the theme of a character's attempt to recapture the past. Gatsby's view of the past, characterized by bitterness and longing, serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of clinging to an idealized
Gatsby’s explanation of this dream focused on money and social status. He has always yearned for this, even when he was a child. Fitzgerald frequently emphasises Gatsby’s desire, throughout the entirety of this novel. Though, Fitzgerald accentuates this desire when Nick discovers the truth of Gatsby’s past. During this elucidation, Nick explains that “his [Gatsby’s] parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people-his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all.” (Fitzgerald, 98) This shows the reader Gatsby’s lifelong determination for wealth and power. Even in his adult life, he strives for more than what he has. In John Steinbeck’s essay, he explains that “we [Americans] go mad with dissatisfaction in the face of success” (Steinbeck, 1) This is exactly how Gatsby feels, he is not content with his success, the amount of money he has, or the height of his social status and is constantly wishing for more than he has. Though, once he meets Daisy he no longer strives for wealth, but rather for her. As shown in this novel, even though Gatsby has achieved all he had wanted when he was growing up, he will not be content until he is able to call Daisy his
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby provides the reader with a unique outlook on the life of the newly rich. Gatsby is an enigma and a subject of great curiosity, furthermore, he is content with a lot in life until he strives too hard. His obsession with wealth, his lonely life and his delusion allow the reader to sympathize with him. Initially, Gatsby stirs up sympathetic feelings because of his obsession with wealth.
“Money can’t buy happiness” is a saying that is often used to make one understand that there is more to life than wealth and money. Jay Gatsby was a man of many qualities some of which are good and bad. Throughout the book of “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, we learn of his past and discover the true qualities of Jay Gatsby. Starting from the bottom, with little money, we learn of why Gatsby struggled so hard all his life to become wealthy and what his true goal in life was. When reading this story, the true reasons behind Gatsby’s illegal actions reveal themselves and readers can learn a great life lesson from this story and the actions the characters take. Readers can see through Gatsby’s contradictions of actions and thoughts that illustrate the theme of the story, along with his static characteristics, that all humans are complex beings and that humans cannot be defined as good or bad.
Even after Gatsby does achieve his dream of prosperity, he is left unsatisfied always wanting something more. “He talked about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy” (110). Gatsby remains dissatisfied with what his life has become; instead of attempting to change it, he tries to relive the past through Daisy. In addition, earning his money untruthfully leaves Gatsby with a feeling of discontent since he cannot pride himself in hard work by means of earning it. The material possessions in Gatsby’s life bring him temporary happiness and satisfaction unaware that Daisy will fulfill the void of eternal longing for love. Humanity views material possessions as a symbol of wealth despite the many other ways an individual can be wealthy. This corrupted view reveals why Gatsby could not be content and accept his past as a part of him. In the passage of time, Gatsby continuously strives for his dream unaware that it has already passed, symbolic for the realization that one can’t relive the past. “‘You can’t relive the past.’ ‘Can’t relive the past?’ he cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!’” (110). Despite the fact that he was poor in Louisville, Gatsby was rich in love and experienced genuine contentment. For the duration of his life, Gatsby
Mansions, cars, jewels, and extravagant parties- what more could a person want? Gatsby had it all, yet he was still empty inside, craving more. All the riches Gatsby has mean nothing without his great love, Daisy. Gatsby strived to become successful for the sole purpose of capturing Daisy's heart. However, Gatsby's dream is an unattainable and hopeless dream for he can never win her love. Daisy and Gatsby live only miles apart, but their relationship is eons apart, as Daisy is already attached. Gatsby is pursuing "a transcendent significance outside of society and beyond the notability of history" (Lynn 180). Gatsby is dreaming "the American dream" that anything is possible, but the tragic flaw within him is that he is living in the past and cannot see the destructive future that lies ahead. Gatsby says, "I'm going to fix everything just the way it was before,... She'll see," and he does not realize that he cannot make it the way it was before (Fitzgerald 114). When Gatsby does get the chance to prove himself to Daisy, it is already too late. According to Fitzgerald, "the whole caravansay had fallen in like a card house at the disapproval in her eyes," (Fitzgerald 114). Gatsby's downfall is in the fact that he is unable to determine the fine line that divides reality and illusion in his life. The green light at the end of Daisy's dock burns bright for Gatsby, but Gatsby does not realize that he cannot ever capture the light. He continues to dream blindly. This is evident when Nick tells Gatsby that he cannot relive the past and Gatsby replies, "Why of course you can, old sport!" (Fitzgerald 116). Gatsby's dream of capturing Daisy's love is based on a fantasy of romance, but the truth is that Daisy is already taken and no amount of money or popularity can change that.
Jay Gatsby is an enormously rich man, and in the flashy years of the jazz age, wealth defined importance. Gatsby has endless wealth, power and influence but never uses material objects selfishly. Everything he owns exists only to attain his vision. Nick feels "inclined to reserve all judgements" (1), but despite his disapproval of Gatsby's vulgarity, Nick respects him for the strength and unselfishness of his idealism. Gatsby is a romantic dreamer who wishes to fulfill his ideal by gaining wealth in hopes of impressing and eventually winning the heart of the materialistic, superficial Daisy. She is, however, completely undeserving of his worship. "Then it had been merely the stars to which he had aspired on that June night. He came alive to me, delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendor" (79). Nick realizes Gatsby's estate, parties, shirts and other seemingly "purposeless" possessions are not purposeless. Everything Gatsby does, every move he makes and every decision he conceives is for a reason. He wants to achieve his ideal, Daisy. Gatsby's "purposeless splendor" is all for the woman he loves and wishes to represent his ideal. Furthermore, Gatsby believes he can win his woman with riches, and that his woman can achieve the ideal she sta...
Many individuals believe that history repeats itself and is on a never ending loop doomed to be repeated once again. However, the past cannot be recreated. The past is the past and while some characters in the novel The Great Gatsby realize this others simply do not. Gatsby has spent the better part of five years trying to recreate the time when him and Daisy were together. Furthermore, Gatsby fails to realize that things have changed and are no long the same as five years ago. The uncertainties of times before are not grounds to repair a current situation in an individual’s life. Reality now is not the same as once before. The old days should be left in former times and when an individual attempts to reconcile these events then corruption
Based on the consequences of the past, Gatsby’s priority is to earn a place in high ranks in order to win Daisy. Remaining faithful through the years he endures apart from her, Gatsby builds a reputation of being affluent, for her. He expresses his loyalty towards Daisy through the wealth he establishes, for her. In the hopes that she will return to him after seeing his newly gained assets, Gatsby flaunts his mansion and possessions to Daisy. Everything he earns plays an important role in displaying his wealth to Daisy, as well as his dedication to her. Gatsby devotes several years to earning a fortune for Daisy, never deviating from his original motive of living the past, except with Daisy. However, Gatsby becomes “dazed” because her physical existence erases the importance of his belongings. Even though Gatsby’s valuables once signified the path to Daisy, because Daisy is now with him, the items mean nothing. Gatsby proves consistency in his love for Daisy as she is the motivating force that occupies his life. Gatsby’s persistent hope gives him the belief that he can and will live his happy ending with Daisy. When Gatsby’s imagination of Daisy does not align with the existing Daisy, he tells Nick, “Can’t repeat the past?...Why of course you can!” (110).
In, “The Great Gatsby,” we learn about many different themes and ideas that are presented to us in the book. The themes and ideas are presented to us through the results of the choices and actions that the characters make in the story, ranging from Tom’s adultery to Gatsby’s nostalgia. One theme Fitzgerald teaches to his readers, is that nostalgia (an extreme longing for the past) can cause many problems in a person’s life, through the use of several literary elements that are found within the story.
“Gatsby makes pure ideal of loving money than before, because he wants to make up for the past. He believes that he can buy the love of Daisy” (Na). Little did he know that one can’t repeat the past because the past is already behind him. Gatsby has a grand vision for his life and Daisy was part of his plan; he wants Daisy’s love but aims for a social high status and power by marrying her. In the F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, a central theme involves the idea that money can’t buy love; this is portrayed by Nick Carraway’s narration of the infidelity in the novel, Daisy’s betrayal of Gatsby and the ending result of Gatsby’s death.
Gatsby is determined to relive his past, but Nick points out, “You can’t the past,” and Gatsby replies with, “Why of course you can!” (Fitzgerald 110). Gatsby has dedicated his whole life reliving the past with Daisy. Gatsby whole-heartedly believes he can repeat the past, “I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before,” he says (Fitzgerald 110). In Gatsby’s fantasy, he believes that Daisy and him can be together now that he has the money she wished he had in the past. “In the end, it is this romantic idealism that destroys Gatsby; he refuses to relinquish the illusion that has propelled his life,” Gatsby’s inability to let go of a fantasy built upon events from past, Daisy, is ultimately what led to his death (Hickey). There is one character in the Great Gatsby that proves to be the only one not drowning in a fantasy, Nick. “They’re a rotten crowd. You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together,” Nick says to Gatsby (Fitzgerald 162). He says this because he realizes that everyone around him is corrupt and living in a fantasy world, including Gatsby, but Nick realizes that this is the very thing that is destroying
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.
Dwelling on the past will make the future fall short. When longing for the past one often fails to realize that what one remembers is not in actuality how it happened. These flashbulb memories create a seemingly perfect point in time. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s modernist novel the Great Gatsby, the ill-fated Jay Gatsby wastes the present attempting to return back to that “perfect” time in past. Acknowledging the power of the imagination, Nick states that, “No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart” (Fitzgerald 101). Nick realizes that because the past is irretrievable, Gatsby’s struggle, though heroic, is foolish. Gatsby’s great expectations of Daisy leads to great disappointments. Through Gatsby, Fitzgerald tries to instill his
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald has become one of my favorite books because it is full of life lessons, plot twists, and love. This novel clearly shows how people can take their life and loved ones for granted without thinking twice about what they are doing. Gatsby is living in the past, and in the end it destroys him, while other characters are living recklessly without thinking about the consequences. So many of the characters live in a material world and they are rarely happy because, in their eyes, they do not have enough material gain to satisfy their appetites for luxury or attention. I found myself constantly questioning the...
Gatsby’s obsession of his love for Daisy and wealth prove his dream as unattainable. Throughout the novel, he consumes himself into lies to cheat his way into people’s minds convincing them he is this wealthy and prosperous man. Gatsby tries to win Daisy’s love through his illusion of success and relive the past, but fails to comprehend his mind as too hopeful for something impossible. In the end, Nick is the only one to truly understand Gatsby’s hopeful aspirations he set out for himself but ultimately could not obtain. In the novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald is able to parallel many themes of the roaring twenties to current society. The ideas of high expectations and obsession of the material world are noticeable throughout the history and is evident in many lives of people today.