Examples Of Lust For The Past In The Great Gatsby

lust for the past In the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby seeks love from the past with a girl bright and beautiful who's name is daisy; who is now married to Tom Beucanon. Though they are married, Gatsby's desire for her shows that he will stop at nothing to be reunited with his past lover. In the midst of night nick goes outside for air and to look at the stars, in his relaxed state his eyes wander and he finds a figure in the mansion next to him staring at the same stars as himself. Nick sees him “stretching out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and as far as I was away I could have sworn he was trembling”.(Pg.20-21) In this passage Gatsby is wanting, seeking, longing for something; looking into the distance at a “single green light.”(Pg.20-21) The green light is the nature of lust, symbolized by Gatsby; given his gestures towards this single green light across this

But in Gatsby's way is Tom who is the only one who knows the truth about Gatsby, but as the story progresses Tom reveals Gatsby by saying “"I found out what your 'drug-stores' were." He turned to us and spoke rapidly. "He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter”(Pg 133). In this statement by Tom, additions of Gatsby's unfolding past are revealed by his overwhelming sense of greed. Shown by his ways of obtaining what he wants. Having to succumb down and mask his scars so that he may have his past life shows that he cannot trust her to accept him for who he is now. To have to lie shows that he doesn't care for what she thinks, in this crazed selfish mindset Gatsby is selfish just wanting what was then instead of what is now lustful though he is all he wanted was to have a love life where everything would be perfect without