ipl-logo

Cages In The Great Gatsby

530 Words3 Pages

It was a perfect dream that, in reality, was nothing more than a perfect illusion. Gatsby had high hopes, but he trapped himself in a cage that ruined it all. He had “an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness” (Fitzgerald 2), but the reality was that his hope came from being tied to his past and that led Gatsby on a endless run to catch what has already left him. He was always trying to take back his dream- represented by the green light- but it was always too far out of reach. Francis Scott Fitzgerald wove Gatsby’s cage using his unattainable dream, his distance from Daisy, and his elusive past. In doing so, Fitzgerald combines the images of distance and the green light to show Gatsby’s desire for the past, and his inability to …show more content…

Gatsby has been yearning for Daisy and their old love since he left her. However, he cannot have her because their love has become history. Gatsby had a dream, but once Daisy was in his reach again, the dream disappeared. “Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it has seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was once again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one” (Fitzgerald 93). Gatsby does not have to reach out so far to have Daisy now, but he did not consider Daisy or how she changed. Without the dream of Daisy, Gatsby has nothing. Even though he is so close, Daisy was still as far away as the green light on her dock. Then, when Nick tells Gatsby that he can’t repeat the past, he just insists that he can (110). It is impossible to recreate the past as exactly how it was, but Gatsby is determined to. His determination to bring back something that is gone and so far away from him now shows that he is really dreaming and almost delusional. It has been five years since Gatsby has been with Daisy

Show More
Related
1147 Words | 5 Pages

The green light on Daisy's dock symbolize Daisy and Gatsby reaches out to “Daisy” to try and be close to her, yet she is still across the waters of Long Island Sound. Gatsby’s dream is only a small boat ride away. Another example of Gatsby being a dreamer would be when he said, “Can't repeat the past? Why of course you can!”(110). Gatsby claims he can change the past, but in reality he can’t.

Read More
1051 Words | 5 Pages

Although Gatsby cannot see it, Nick Carraway, Gatsby’s friend, can see the inalienable effect his past has on Daisy. Fitzgerald wrote, “He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to causal moths so that he could ‘come over’ some afternoon to a stranger’s garden” (Fitzgerald 78). After all these years without seeing Daisy, Gatsby concocts a perfect plan to reunite with her. As much as Gatsby wants Daisy, he cannot make her feel the way she once did. Fitzgerald wrote, “’You can’t repeat the past.’… ‘Can’t repeat the past?’

Read More
1621 Words | 7 Pages

When Gatsby first sees the green light on Daisy’s dock, he feels like his dream is “so close that he [can] hardly fail to grasp it” but he is unable to see that it “[is] already behind him” and impossible to reach (180). He lives a life of optimism “running faster and stretching his arms out further”, expending all his energy for a goal that only gets further away (180). Rather than sailing closer to the greatness of his goal, Gatsby is “borne back ceaselessly into the past,” drifting further and further away from his dream (180). Gatsby obsessively crafts an ideal image of a life with Daisy in his head, but the reality of the situation is much different. When Daisy comes over for tea Gatsby is a mess despite spending everyday preparing for her arrival.

Read More
1376 Words | 6 Pages

He wants not only wants to erase the past but also wants Daisy to confess that she has only loved him. This would give him confirmation that repeating the past is obtainable. Gatsby reluctantly criticizes Nick on his way of thinking with the phrase, “Can’t repeat the past?... Why of course you can!” This passage shows how strongly Gatsby lusts for the idea that he can repeat the time in which Daisy only ever loved him and she did not have a family of her own.

Read More
1396 Words | 6 Pages

He not only wants to erase the past but also longs Daisy to confess that she has only loved him. This would give him confirmation that repeating the past is obtainable. Gatsby reluctantly criticizes Nick on his way of thinking with the phrase, “Can’t repeat the past?... Why of course you can!” This passage shows how strongly Gatsby lusts for the idea that he can repeat the time in which Daisy only ever loved him and she did not have a family of her own.

Read More
737 Words | 3 Pages

Gatsby’s own expectation influences his reaction to Daisy. " Daisy tumbled short of his dreams/colossal vitality of his illusion." (pg 96) he held such an unrealistic ideal for Daisy she falls short of what he constructed in his mind, his reunion with Daisy further disappoints him as he hoped Daisy would be who she was back then so they could start anew and fulfil his desire. Incapable of accepting the past Gatsby loses his composure when he realises Daisy does not like the party he threw, because Daisy

Read More
848 Words | 4 Pages

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a story set in 1920s New York City that focuses on the story of Jay Gatsby, a mysterious wealthy man who has his heart set on Daisy Buchanan, a wealthy woman and past lover, but this seemingly rejuvenated flame is complicated by Daisy’s husband Tom Buchanan. This story is told from the viewpoint of the narrator, Nick Carraway, and throughout the summer we see the story of love develop and end in a tragic turn. While many view following their dreams as life’s ultimate purpose, Fitzgerald reveals to readers that they should follow their dreams, but maintain balance and perspective in their lives. The novel reveals that while chasing one's dreams is admirable, becoming consumed by them, as seen in Gatsby's tragic story, can alter one's view and lead to disillusionment.

Read More
915 Words | 4 Pages

This lead to him thinking everything was perfect and heading off to war, leaving Daisy behind. When he returned, he still had the same dream that he had once accomplished, but it had become unrealistic because Daisy was married. Gatsby’s dream began to cloud his reality and he didn’t give up on it. Despite it being unreachable, Gatsby’s dream continued to be very important to him, as he felt “that if he had searched harder, he might have found her” (152-153). He didn’t know how to win Daisy over, but that didn’t stop him from trying and searching.

Read More
761 Words | 4 Pages

As Nick and Gatsby are talking about Gatsby’s relationship, Gatsby convincingly states to nick, “ Can’t repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously. ‘ why of course you can! I 'm going to fix everything just the way it was before, she see” (Fitzgerald 110). Gatsby is hopeful towards re creating his and Daisy’s past that he is often blind to the reality of things.

Read More
977 Words | 4 Pages

He builds his entire life around finding Daisy again. From the moment he moves to his home across the bay from Daisy, he creates the perfect narrative of resuming their time together. However, nothing is perfect. Gatsby’s fantasy’s of resuming the relationship they had 5 years ago are unrealistic: “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” (Fitzgerald 60). This section from the novel illustrates that Gatsby has put his expectations too high, hoping for something that is not possible.

Read More
803 Words | 4 Pages

“And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it” (180). This quote is about Gatsby’s dream to be with the woman he loves, Daisy. The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock symbolizes that dream. The dream he’s been grasping after for so many years.

Read More
1486 Words | 6 Pages

Gatsby feels as if his life is starting to fall apart. As his desire for her increases, she seems farther away. A quote that successfully represents that is, “.his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night” (193). His extensive pursuit of Daisy allowed Gatsby to create this perfect image of her in his head.

Read More
637 Words | 3 Pages

When Nick begins to doubt Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship he is told by Gatsby, “can’t repeat the past… why of course you can,” (Fitz 110). Gatsby strongly believes in repeating the past and never lets anything stand in his way to get what he wants. His desire to relive what happened over five years ago is almost unrealistic. Especially considering that Gatsby is supposedly dead

Read More
764 Words | 4 Pages

It was scary and uncertain, but it was all worth chasing after in order to grasp that final result of accomplishment. Nonetheless, according to Fitzgerald, our dreams are constantly in front of us and we continue to chase after them, therefore elucidating the impression that the green light is a symbol of the American dream to which Gatsby is reaching out for. Furthermore, at this point after Gatsby’s death, the light has ceased and completely has disappeared. His goals can no longer be accomplished and there is nothing left for him to reach out for. His desire for greed, the longing for Daisy, and the aspiration for the American Dream has also died with Gatsby alongside

Read More
793 Words | 4 Pages

For Gatsby was living in the past and when he comes to the present, he is no longer there. Preoccupying Gatsby with what the past represented, the present and the past has become inexorably mingled. Gatsby tries very hard to separate the present and the past, and he only wants to grasp the past. But It is as if the past memories of Daisy are blue and the present is red. Once they are mixed together they can never separate them into red and blue again.

Read More

More about Cages In The Great Gatsby

Related Topics

Open Document