Dreamers often dwell on a distorted version of reality. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby devotes his adult life to pursuing his idealized love, Daisy, before realizing that he can not go back in time to restart their relationship and that his dream was destroyed by reality years ago. Gatsby’s initial warped perception of reality morphs into an eventual epiphany that his idealized dreams are unrealistic. Each time Gatsby is faced with the possibility that his dream may not be attainable, he persists in believing in and pushing for it, all the while growing toward the realization that he cannot attain Daisy, swaying alternately between utter disappointment and sheer joy. Gatsby’s growing disappointment throughout the novel stems from uncomfortable encounters with Daisy as well as interactions with Daisy that do not live up to his idealized dreams.
Tom Buchanan is a very rich man, who lives in a big mention in West Egg. ‘“His family was enormously wealthy even in college his freedom with money was a matter for reproach—“’(6). This quotation is referring that Tom comes from a wealthy family.. Daisy marries Tom because of his money. It shows that she wants to get her success easily. In other words, she takes it for granted.
He tries to win over Daisy’s heart by repeating what they did in the past because he thought that’s when everything was perfect. Gatsby is too hard headed to realize that Daisy is a different person now and the circumstances are completely different. What Gatsby didn’t realize was that it was never destined for him to win over Daisy because then the pain and misery he suffered from losing her before would last much longer this time around. Jay Gatsby fails at achieving the American Dream because his mind set of trying to achieve love by repeating past actions is the reason he doesn’t win over Daisy. Gatsby’s dream is to be with Daisy, he uses his wealth, the wealth that he never has when he first met Daisy.
However, her sons death is something she won’t accept due to the implications it might have, displaying that she is trapped in the past. She claims that “some things can never be”, even after Ann repeatedly questions how her he could possibly still be alive after 3 years of absence; “why does your heart tell you he’s still alive?” Furthermore, Miller uses stage directions to describe Kate as having an “overwhelming capacity for love,” this could be seen as the reason for her stubbornness and failure to agree with something that is almost a certainty. Moreover, she uses examples of other soldiers coming home after several years as fuel for her thoughts and as a form of continuously convincing her that her son is alive. Within Kate’s wild beliefs include that desire and need for the people surrounding her to have the same thought on the situation. Hence why she gets so defensive and frustrated when others such as her son and Ann suggest that Larry is dead.
This is evident in chapter five, “There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams – not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion.” Gatsby believes he is seeking true love, though the journey to this holds inevitable despair leading to death, loneliness and life without love. Ideal love and despair are both evident in Gatsby’s chase for Daisy; he believes Daisy
The Influence of the Jazz Age on the 1920s "If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to," - Dorothy Parker. Dorothy had the right idea when she made this statement about the wealthy people of the 1920s. These socialites thrived under the post war prosperity. Famous for jazz music, wealthy people, and glittering parties, the 1920s were a magical time for privileged Americans. Prohibition was still the law of the land but it was a known fact that liquor was being consumed in secret.
He set himself up for failure in dedicating his life to achieving an unreachable goal. Gatsby suspected in brevity when he first reunited with Daisy that she "tumbled short of his dreams", though "not through her own fault but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion"(101). He suspected his image of her may have become disproportionate with reality over the years. However, the uncompromising, obstinate nature of his pursuit refused to let Gatsby surrender Daisy when he "seemed so very near to her"(98). This fabricated image "had gone beyond her, beyond everything"(101).
The second moment is a little later where he says “Bryce: After a year of applying, interviewing, jumping through all the hoops, I finally realized nothing I did mattered. I just couldn’t take another rejection. The bottom line is, no one wants me.” He is feeling as if he has no worth anymore, he has tried and no one seems to be interested, no one wants him anymore. He has been rejected over and over, and you get the feeling that perhaps he has completely given up. What is going to happen to his wife and children?
Jay Gatsby is one of those people who cannot get over what happened in the past. Time can be our friend but it can also be our biggest enemy if you live in the past, forget the present and fear the future. Gatsby also could not grasp the reality of life because he wanted his reality to be his past and his past to be his future. In the novel Gatsby struggles with forgetting the past and in his case the past is his long lost love Daisy, who will unfortunately be his untimely demise. One of his confidants through the book is a man named Nick Carraway and when he hears of Gatsby’s dilemma he is appalled and he expresses those feelings by saying, “ Almost five years!
He tells Nick, "'Can’t repeat the past…Why of course you can!’”(110). Gatsby’s dream never could be fulfilled no matter how hard he tried. He was so involved in his dreams that he did not know what to do other than to try to win her back. When he finally met with Daisy and she shows some affection he is in shock. “Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her.