The Great Gatsby Essay Summary Example For Students

The Great Gatsby Essay Summary Wealth, Love, and the American DreamIt has been said that F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby is about the pursuit of the American dream. It has also been said that the novel is about love, ambition, and obsession. Perhaps both are true. Combined, these themes may be understood in their most basic forms among the relationships within the novel. After all, each characters reason for belonging to a relationship speaks very strongly of what really makes him tick; each characters manifestation of his own desires is found within his lover. Throughout the novel, what universally unites each character beyond anything else is the love of a dream or position and involvement in relationships for the success of that dream. Jay Gatsby has loved Daisy Buchanan since their romance of his youth. Beautiful, rich, and refined, Daisy serves as a symbol of Gatsbys wealth- she represents what 17-year-old James Gatz invented himself to be. The product of years of unfulfilled waited and longing by Gatsb y, she becomes a sort of trophy dream. Her voice is full of money, Gatsby says (Fitzgerald 127). This delightful figure of speech shows precisely what Gatsby desires. The poor boy from the mid-west hoped to be a great man; Daisy has become the manifestation of this desire. Thus, he believes that by impressing her and being accepted by her he can fully posses that dream. After all, Gatsby believes that with his fabulous wealth he can buy anything he wants, especially Daisy. Longing for the love of his youth, he shapes his whole life around this objective of becoming worthy of her. He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths so that he could come over some afternoon to a strangers garden (Fitzgerald 83). Daisy had become the be-all and end-all of his mad ambition, and yet, his approach is passive and wasteful. Instead of actively seeking Daisy, he throws lavish parties, hoping she will stumble in. He finally resorts to a poorly planned me eting, using Nick as an accomplice and stumbling through a reunion that he had planned for all the years she had been away. We will write a custom essay on The Great Gatsby Summary specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Unfortunately for Gatsby, Daisy has married in his absence the hulking, brutish Tom Buchanan, the sort of man one would have expected her to marry all along. Tom represents old money, American aristocracy, and a level of decadence that Gatsby, despite his lavish parties, cannot simulate. Nick notes that It was hard to realize that a man of his own generation is quite as wealthy as Tom really is (Fitzgerald 10). After all, Daisy married for money instead of love. Its made clear that she loves Gatsby far more than she loves Tom, but grew tired of waiting before she finally decided to marry Tom. By the night before her wedding, it was too late for her to change her mind. She groped around in a waste-basket she had with her on her bed and pulled out the string of pearls. Take em downstairs and give em back to whoever they belong to. Tell em all Daisys change her mine. Say Daisys change her mine! (Fitzgerald 81). Her pathetic, drunken attempt to break a commitment by returning a gift is t oo little too late; Daisys desire to remain rich through union to Tom could not counter-act her love for Gatsby. Tom Buchanan isnt satisfied in his beautiful Daisy, the object of another mans dream. Tom describes him as being victim of a permanent anti-climax, the result of the echo of a forgotten football game long ago. Perhaps this is why he has decided to take on a mistress. His lover, Myrtle Wilson, is also in a state of discontent. She doesnt think much of her husband, George. I married him because I thought he was a gentleman, she said finally. I thought he knew something about breeding but he wasnt fit to lick my shoe (Fitzgerald 39). George Wilson may not be a very interesting guy; an auto mechanic doesnt offer much excitement. However, this does not make him disgraceful or poorly bred. After all, this criticism tells more about Myrtles character than it tells about Georges. It is not unfair to say that Myrtle is involved in her relationship with Tom for the sake of climbing the social ladder. On similar lines, their overstuffed apartment symbolizes their desire to stuff value without r eal structure or meaning. Their apartment was on the top floor- a small living room, a small dining room, a small bedroom and a bath. The living room was crowded to the doors with a set of tapestried furniture entirely too large for it so that to move about was to stumble continually over scenes of ladies swinging in the gardens of Versailles (Fitzgerald 33). This ostentatious display of overstuffed, and florid possession shows a desire within Myrtle to make public her new station in life. Unfortunately, there is not much structure within the apartment or the relationship itself. Neither can support the goals and ambitions brought into the relationship. Just as their apartment seems cramped due to more furniture than the building allows, their relationship is crowded and messy without any real feeling or structure. .uaadca6505a3a55ac7349c37956cd7616 , .uaadca6505a3a55ac7349c37956cd7616 .postImageUrl , .uaadca6505a3a55ac7349c37956cd7616 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uaadca6505a3a55ac7349c37956cd7616 , .uaadca6505a3a55ac7349c37956cd7616:hover , .uaadca6505a3a55ac7349c37956cd7616:visited , .uaadca6505a3a55ac7349c37956cd7616:active { border:0!important; } .uaadca6505a3a55ac7349c37956cd7616 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uaadca6505a3a55ac7349c37956cd7616 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uaadca6505a3a55ac7349c37956cd7616:active , .uaadca6505a3a55ac7349c37956cd7616:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uaadca6505a3a55ac7349c37956cd7616 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uaadca6505a3a55ac7349c37956cd7616 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uaadca6505a3a55ac7349c37956cd7616 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uaadca6505a3a55ac7349c37956cd7616 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uaadca6505a3a55ac7349c37956cd7616:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uaadca6505a3a55ac7349c37956cd7616 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uaadca6505a3a55ac7349c37956cd7616 .uaadca6505a3a55ac7349c37956cd7616-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uaadca6505a3a55ac7349c37956cd7616:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Child Abuse Can Kill EssayWhat is common in these relationships is the desire for the attainment of ones dream through the use of ones lover. Gatsby loves Daisy because she represents wealth and success, Daisy loves Tom because he holds the promise of a continued place as a member of American aristocracy, and Myrtle loves Tom because she believes that her relationship with him will grant her a place in high society. Although these relationships may exhibit pure ambition they do not exhibit pure love. Perhaps the novel is making a statement about the nature of ambition itself. When intertwined and mistaken with love, ambition causes hurt, disillusionment, and tragedy. And t hus, perhaps Fitzgerald is saying that when the American dream is one based on money and mistaken for love, tragedy occurs. Words/ Pages : 996 / 24 The great gatsby Essay Summary Example For Students The great gatsby Essay Summary Important Note: If youd like to save a copy of the paper on your computer, you can COPY and PASTE it into your word processor. Please, follow these steps to do that in Windows: 1. Select the text of the paper with the mouse and press Ctrl+C. 2. Open your word processor and press Ctrl+V. Religious Influences in The Great Gatsby During the 1920s, sometimes referred to as the Progressive Era, political and social changes surfaced in society in efforts to progressively improve the nation. However, the 1920s can accurately be described as the decade of selfishness. Society was material oriented and, as a result, there was a decrease in religious practices. This is vividly displayed in The Great Gatsby by Fitzgeralds use of mortal characters as religious influences. There are three significant occurrences in the novel which show the loss of spirituality of the time, beginning with Gatsbys watch over Daisy the night of the hit and run. Gatsby spends the entire night watching for Daisys sign, just as knights risked their lives in pursuit of the Holy Grail. His desire for Daisy to come for his help and live happily ever after with him is misplaced because of the goal he hopes to attain: Daisy. Next, there is underlying symbolism presented shortly before Gatsbys death as he s truggles with the swimming equipment. When offered assistance from his butler, Gatsby refuses and must bear the cross alone. Finally, Gatsbys murder is portrayed as a process of purification, which is of great religious importance. Shot in his chlorinated pool, Gatsby overcomes his shortcomings and is cleansed of his sins. The immoral efforts that were put against American pop culture in the 1920s are best summarized as Wilson stares into the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg of a vast wasteland, You may fool me, but you cant fool God! His neighbor must remind him, Thats an advertisement (Parker 33). Another symbolic aspect of the Valley of Ashes is that it is the home of the Wilsons, a place where the average person has some type of religious practices. Myrtles murder is a blatant example of the pointlessness of religion in the Twenties society. Fitzgerald suggests that in Twentieth-Century America God has become a thing of cardboard, ineffectual and passive, robbed of power by a short-si ghted materialistic displacement of spiritual values (Moyer 224). The religious efforts of individuals were no match for the selfish society. Works Cited Moyer, Kermit W. The Great Gatsby: Fitzgeralds Meditation of American History. Rpt. in Critical Essays on The Great Gatsby Ed. Scott Donaldson. N.p. n.p., 1984. Parker, David. Two Versions of the Hero. Amsterdam: Swets Zeitlinbger B. V., 1973. Back to Search Results Return to 123HelpMe.com We will write a custom essay on The great gatsby Summary specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now