Hunter Olson 03/12/2023 Honors 10 English Hour 6 Behind the brains of the Great Gatsby “Desire is not bad in itself; attachment to desire is.” - Sirshree, a highly eligible spiritual master,Gatsby was definitely attached to his desire. The meaning of The Great Gatsby has been a topic for debate since the book's debut in 1925. Desire plays a role in many elements of the book, Gatsby yearning for Daisy, Nick wanting the glory of eastern life, Tom wanting both his wife and his mistress. The novel The Great Gatsby illustrates how focusing excessively on a particular desire can lead to a distorted, overly optimistic, idealistic perception of it, far removed from its actual reality. From the beginning Gatsby displayed this insistent need for Daisy early on in the novel, It affected nearly every aspect of his life “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay”(78). Keep in mind, when Gatsby purchased the house he and Daisy hadn't spoken in years. Gatsby still needed to be close to her, even if that …show more content…
He naively assumed no one would be bothered by his adultery, but it leaves Nick disgusted and hurts his wife. In the beginning of the book it is clear that everyone including his wife knows he is being unfaithful. Yet he carries on shamelessly, going as far as referring to her as “my girl” and introducing her to nick. His arrogance led to his wife being totally ok with beginning to see Gatsby. His mistress, on the other hand, was now being taken from him, about to head west with husband, “he had discovered Myrtle had some sort of life apart from him and it made him sick”(124). In this moment he was beginning to panic, the reality of the double life he was living was beginning to set in. When Myrtle is killed he sees this as a sort of wakeup call, and recommits to daisy. Snice Daisy committed the murder they flee, effectively running off into the sunset