Examples Of Emotions In The Great Gatsby

Have you ever made bad decisions because of your emotions? You probably have. The New York Times writes, “Anger can lead to impatience and rash decision-making. But other emotions can often lead to the accomplishment of personal goals.” The application of this quote can be directly examined in the famous work of literature, The Great Gatsby. This book follows the story of Jay Gatsby, a wealthy and powerful white male with no intentions apart from finding true love along with the stories of many other wealthy characters. In The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald shows how strong desires and emotions can either lead to both good and bad outcomes for many characters.

One of the strongest examples in this book of how desire can affect someone's actions

He starts by going out of his way to invite Nick to his house, who is Daisy’s cousin. “‘This is an unusual party for me. I haven’t even seen the host. I live over there——’ I waved my hand at the invisible hedge in the distance, ‘and this man Gatsby sent over his chauffeur with an invitation’” (Fitzgerald 52). Nick is not usually invited to extravagant parties as such, however Gatsby is determined to strengthen relations with Daisy he once had before. He had already gone through so much such as working to become wealthy to gain Daisy’s attention. His love for Daisy led to the accomplishment of his goals and he continued to look for true love by getting closer to Nick. Nick is clueless at first, but continues to gain admiration for Gatsby’s determination. Nick is eventually able to set up a meeting between the two at Gatsby’s house. Gatsby then uses his wealth and riches to impress Daisy. “He hadn’t once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes ” (Fitzgerald 98). This description by the author depicts Gatsby as someone who will go to extreme lengths to accomplish his goals which are driven by his emotions for Daisy. His feelings for Daisy dictate his value for everything in his house which shows how everything Gatsby has done in his life to attain his

Tom is of the most irrational of them all as can be seen by his actions towards Myrtle (his wife). “Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke [Myrtle’s] nose with his open hand” (Fitzgerald 41). Tom uses force in order to assert his power over Myrtle, who continued to bring Daisy’s name into the conversation. This enraged Tom who very clearly can't think rationally when dealing with emotions. Because of his relationship with Daisy, Myrtle and Tom argue whether Myrtle has the right to use Daisy’s name. As Tom used violence on Myrtle, it is shown Tom’s power and arrogance who won’t accept any way other than his way. This can be seen once again in the later half of the book with Goerge Wilson. “It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house that the gardener saw Wilson’s body a little way off in the grass, and the holocaust was complete” (Fitzgerald 173). Goerge Wilson, who is dealing with the death of his wife, blames Gatsby. Because of this, he blindly does whatever comes to his mind, which in the case was killing Gatsby. However, despite his “revenge,” he believed he has nothing to live for anymore and decided to end his life. The situation could have been avoided if the characters had taken a more subtle approach. George and Gatsby might’ve avoided their demise should they have acted rationally. The emotions the characters felt in