Attempting to Attain Love while Neglecting Reality An individual’s quest for luxuries is a natural phenomenon, in which they have to develop certain intangibles, in order to achieve a safe and a satisfying result. There has to be a balance however, in which they have to be able to differentiate between a healthy and an unhealthy goal. Failure to comprehend the miscellaneous nuances of their respective goals can have a devastating effect on all parties involved. In the novel, “The Great Gatsby”, by F. Scott Fitzgerald effectively establishes the amount of self-sacrifice that each character has to make, in order to fulfill their respective objectives in life. The extent of the sacrifice needs to be controlled and subdued, such that the individuals …show more content…
Gatsby’s is bold in sacrificing his morals and principles, he is successful in finding a shortcut to amassing an incredible amount of wealth in a short period of time. Daisy’s husband describes Gatsby a “bootlegger”, giving the reader an idea of the misappropriate actions taken by Gatsby in his quest for Daisy. Tom further describes Gatsby’s to be selling illegal “alcohol over the counter”, the extreme insinuation which is prevalent in Gatsby’s mind is that he cannot lose Daisy. An inference can be made that Gatsby has taken it upon himself, to indulge in something that is not natural, while failing to realize the potential ramification of his ill-advised actions. Gatsby’s has failed to realize the self-sufficiency of Daisy, in terms of being able to think for herself, while choosing to align with a man that can benefit her at a given moment. The recklessness of Gatsby’s evaluation of Daisy is lackluster at best, he has failed to realize that her love for him is artificial, thus Gatsby’s pursuit of her is inadvertently flawed due to the love being not mutual. Her artificialness of love is evident when she admits half-heartedly as “having loved” both Tom and Gatsby, this expedites the …show more content…
Individuals must balance their emotions so that it has a minimal lingering effect on their sense of rationality, when it comes to pursuing potential life altering dreams. Gatsby displays a lack of control over his emotions as he sacrificed his morals and principles by resorting to illegal activities, without properly evaluating whether if Daisy’s love of him was equally as strong. Gatsby’s determination and the piety of his love can be commended, as he had displayed unrivaled commitment to attaining the love of his life. Furthermore, Gatsby has failed to realize that Daisy was doing what was best for her, she was only interested in finding a sustainable man who was wealthy. Daisy and her husband were “careless” of other people, they would ultimately “retreat back to their money” after finding hardship, leaving other people to “clean up the mess” they had made. This was clearly evident when Gatsby allowed his love for Daisy cloud his sense of judgment, when he decided to take the blame on Daisy’s behalf after she hit and killed Myrtle. Nick asked Gatsby if “Daisy was driving” during the accident, to which Gatsby confirmed by saying “yes”. Gatsby made it clear that he has stern on taking the fall for her, as he still values his true love for her. The irony of the entire
Self-sacrifice is the act of forsaking one's personal interests or well-being for the sake of others. When we love someone, we place the other person's interests and needs before our own as we prioritise their happiness over our own. Hence, loving someone truly requires self-sacrifice. This essay will be looking at The Great Gatsby, authored by F S Fitzgerald, and Cartagena, authored by Nam Le. There are several instances in which an individual self-sacrifices in the interests of another person they love and care for.
“Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, but bears it out, even to the edge of doom.” These words were said by famous playwright William Shakespeare in Sonnet 116. Selfless protagonists in literature will make sacrifices regardless of their consequences for what they strive to achieve or for who they’re captivated by. In the infamous American novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald explores how making sacrifices for what you know is wrong won’t always lead to success through his characterization of Jay Gatsby, the symbolism of Myrtle and Tom adopting a dog, and his use of dramatic irony in the deaths of his two major characters Myrtle and Gatsby. Jay Gatsby marches forward to give up his reputation, time, and eventually, his life
Money can’t buy love but it certainly can buy your indiscretion. Humanity is the doing of goodwill and altruism but Gatsby’s goal of gaining Daisy initiates his loss of
he Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates that the immoral living can lead one to loose sight of what is important in life. The characters throughout the novel are filled with infidelities, dishonesty and greed, as the novel progresses they continue to show signs of immoral living. All of them are dishonest, even Nick is dishonest even though he believes “[he is] one of the few honest people that [ he has] ever [known]”(39). He was dishonest when he helped Gatsby met with Daisy.
As human beings, we tend to search for happiness in material wealth and money because it is often portrayed that the more belongings we have, the happier we will be. However, wealth is not the most important thing in our lives and with too much power and money, it can lead to extreme carelessness and greed. This obsession with wealth will not only have a negative impact on one’s life, but the others around them. The dependency on wealth and status is greatly seen throughout the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, as Daisy Buchanan, a self-absorbed prosperous young women, revolves her life around power and materialistic relationships in order to maintain her high social standing. Her actions are solely driven based on what is best
Loving to Ashes in The Great Gatsby Questioning love and all of it’s virtues is a taunting task most people tend to avoid altogether. Although it is a rather complex term, it can mutually be under the consideration of relentless, selfless, forgiving adoration and affection. On another note, it’s also agreeable that we only question what we lack or don’t have. Love in The Great Gatsby isn’t always “ideal”, but is rarely in question- undoubtedly present.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses various themes such as love, symbolism, materialism, and underlying tones to help develop the reader’s understanding of Gatsby’s fatal flaw. His fatal flaw lies in the pursuit of his dream and ideal of Daisy. He tried to win Daisy back with his newfound wealth; it got Daisy’s attention, yet it wasn’t enough. Gatsby was naive, he saw Daisy’s change in personality, he saw she only wanted to be with those who could satisfy her needs. Despite of all these detrimental signs Daisy exhibited, Gatsby wanted to still be with her, because at least he could still hold on to a glimpse of his past when things were simpler.
When one thinks of performing an act of great sacrifice, their immediate thought would be to surrender an item of close personal attachment: one’s earnings, his/her place of residence, even a treasured family possession. However, by definition, sacrifice does not necessitate a loss of a physical entity; rather, one could surrender upon an emotional level, such as sacrificing one’s personal happiness for the sake of another, or surrendering one’s hope in a project’s potential, in order to pursue a different route. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, the titular Gatsby sacrifices a great deal; however, such sacrifice is not conducted upon a physical plane, and Gatsby remains a social and economic success throughout the course of the story. Rather, it is Gatsby’s sacrifice of his own potential that illuminates his moral values, and provides readers with a deeper understanding of Fitzgerald’s novel as a whole. Jay Gatsby, more an enigma than a man, known for his great foresight and ambition, sacrificed his desire for success in hopes of rekindling his romance with the beautiful socialite Daisy Buchanan.
Similarly to the revealing of the criminal activities that Gatsby was involved in, Gatsby’s lack of “intimacy” can be reasoned with possible embarrassment, shame, and even worry that Daisy will no longer love him is she finds out information about him and his past. While it seems that Gatsby is considerably concerned with Daisy’s opinion, which can arguably be said to be because “He projects onto her a kind of royal status” (Mitchell 64) and thinks highly of her, the same
A strong ambition for something can lead to a corruption of one’s American dream. During Gatsby and Daisy’s first meeting after five years, Gatsby was extremely nervous that “the clock took this moment to tilt dangerously at the pressure of his head, whereupon he turned and caught it with trembling fingers” (Fitzgerald 86). The
From enduring the perpetual pain and loneliness over the years, she is numb to the true feelings of her heart, and as a result, she has not experienced the sensation of true happiness because she has nothing to compare the feeling to. When Daisy openly admits to Gatsby, “Oh you want too much!” she implies that Gatsby is asking for an answer to a problem that for once cannot be resolved by money (139). In other words, the request of Gatsby brings Daisy into reality and requires her to acknowledge her true feelings within her heart, which is numb to the sensation of happiness and love because of her craving for wealth; money will not mend this issue of love. On the other
Gatsby possesses a trait that many yearn for, an impalpable optimism. Gatsby wholeheartedly believes in his childish dreams. He remains confident when he could’ve lost sight of his true goal, having a future with Daisy: “an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which is not likely I shall ever find again” (2). Although Gatsby hadn’t seen this woman for five years and she had started a family with another man, he believed that deep down Daisy never stopped loving him: “both of us loved each other all that time,” (131). He went so far to think that Daisy would tell Tom she had never loved him and she would come live in the perfect world that Gatsby created for her.
Some people love something or someone so much that they are willing to do whatever it takes to obtain or keep that special thing or person? In the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the main character Jay Gatsby is willing to sacrifice his life in order to obtain the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan. Characters in this book play a major role in the events that occur in the writing. In fact, some character’s actions affect other character’s lives forever.
What does Gatsby realize about Daisy ’s feelings towards the
As Dan Groat once stated, “The weak thrive on indulgence”, referring to the lack of strength and health self indulgent people experience as consequence of their actions. Persistent attempts to commit selfish endeavors may have detrimental effects. Throughout The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald communicates the modernist perspective of loneliness and the decay of mental stability, as ramifications of self indulgence. Both Fitzgerald and William Golding convey the themes of a character’s mental decay while attempting to prove themselves, the loss of mental stability in attempt to achieve companionship, and the physical destruction that is associated with one’s self indulgence, throughout The Great Gatsby, and, Lord of the Flies. Both authors