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Examples Of Obsession In The Great Gatsby

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Another factor contributing to the struggle of Both Holden and Gatsby is their obsession with an immature ideal they hold for the future. This obsession is identified in the concluding words of the novel, The Great Gatsby. Nick Caraway writes, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And then one fine morning— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” This quote is definitely one that takes the reader back into understanding, that Gatsby uses his collection of the past as a source of inspiration for the expectations he holds for the future. For example …show more content…

In more depth, this quotes shows his need to save children like his sister phoebe or his dead brother Allie from losing their childhood innocence and becoming adults which he believes are all phonies. In reality, Holden is one person so he can not be the catcher in the rye; despite that he keeps trying to be till he reaches a loin where he is truly lost in touch with reality and blinded. He does however realize that in the back of his mind, which is what leads him on such a destructive path of competing with himself constantly on meeting the idea he believes he is. He does this by drinking, smoking, becoming involved in fights and even attempting to have meaninglessness sexual encounters. However in the end he comes to the realization that he can not be the catcher in the rye despite what he’s done, and what triggers this realization for him is when he sees the word “Fuck you” on the walls of phoebe’s school. He fights this realization by attempting to wipe the vulgar words off the wall, but then acknowledges that couldn’t protect the children from such vulgarity due to “If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn’t rub out even half the “Fuck you” signs in the world. It’s impossible” (Salinger, 202). In saying this he finally admits to the fact he could never be the catcher in the

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1039 Words | 5 Pages

“ I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids and nobody’s around - nobody big, I mean- except me and I 'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff I mean if they 're running and they don 't look where they 're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them that 's all I do all day I just be the catcher in the rye and all…”(Salinger 173). Holden doesn’t want to grow up, and he doesn’t want anyone else to grow up.

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1225 Words | 5 Pages

Holden Caufield so passionately hates phonies because he believes they are ingenuine hypocrites who do immoral things to get what they desire and act or think according to the rules of society- which everyone does at one point. People often want what they can’t have or haven’t earned, and when circumstances don’t go their way, they pursue what they want in other forms. Maurice, described as the “pimpy elevator guy” (132), unjustly hurts Holden for money. When he offers Holden a prostitute in exchange for five dollars, Holden willingly takes the deal. A few minutes after the paid prostitute comes and goes, Maurice pays a visit to Holden and asks for five more dollars to which Holden refuses.

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1180 Words | 5 Pages

Time’s Inevitable Alteration of Perspective In the novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, representable characters such as Gatsby, Daisy, and Nick exemplify personal changes and a change in their realistic perspectives. The main character, Gatsby, is a prominent example of one’s perspective and characteristics being altered by time. In turn, his failure to accept the beauty of present time and to only want to relive the past negatively impacts his future planned actions. In regards to Daisy and Nick, and factually many others, understanding their true character and beliefs is entirely dependent on the factor of time and its indefinite length.

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481 Words | 2 Pages

It's shown in his attempt to erase the F-word off of public places so kids won’t see it. When his younger sister, Phoebe, asked him what he wants in life, Holden responds with, “What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to fall over the cliff” (Salinger 173). Holden wants to be the “catcher in the rye”. He wants to catch the children as they fall into adulthood, when they lose their innocence. He wants to be a hero but doesn’t want the recognition.

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246 Words | 1 Pages

In the novel, “The Great Gatsby” written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the use of figurative language used towards the end of chapter IV on page 83 contributes greatly to the overall meaning of the novel. The imagery and metaphors used give the reader a better understanding of Nick’s view toward Gatsby and how his interaction with Jordan Baker changed his view of Gatsby substantially. The imagery in the passage helps the reader get a better understanding of what the surroundings of the conversation are, describing the setting and giving the reader an idea of what the mood is. Nick mentions “the clear voices of little girls, already gathered like crickets on the grass, rose through the hot twilight,” gives us an image of the girls playing at nightfall

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1028 Words | 5 Pages

Ironically enough, Holden has to face an inevitable consequence: the standards that he so heavily rallies against are the same standards he was going to have to build an identity from; his own being contradicts what he stands for. During war, people lose themselves; knowing this, Salinger may have created Holden as someone who struggles with his identity for this reason. It can be difficult to create an original identity, and so, just as a baseless identity does not represent the postwar public, Holden’s identity of “the catcher in the rye” doesn’t represent him. The catcher in the rye “is the only thing [he’d] like to be” because him being so is in direct contradiction with who he is (Salinger

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1160 Words | 5 Pages

Catcher in the Rye is a well-known book written by J.D Salinger, set in the fifties. It is narrated by the main character Holden Caulfield. Holden is portrayed as a subjective, narcissistic, and emotionally unstable seventeen-year-old boy. The world is seen through his eyes; readers witness Holden’s down fall foreshadowed throughout the book. His brutally honest opinions of those around him are oddly interesting.

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911 Words | 4 Pages

The Future of Hope F. Scott Fitzgerald ends The Great Gatsby with: “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther… And one fine morning—“. Gatsby always had elaborate hopes and dreams for the future that would always secede farther away, but no matter what he still had hope that one day he would eventually stand and bask in the future he’d always strived for. In the story, Gatsby dreams of the day that he and Daisy will recapture what they had in the past and have it evolve into something greater. Yet no matter how long he waits, no matter what obstacles get in his way, he never loses hope, and

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656 Words | 3 Pages

In Holden’s mind becoming “the catcher in the rye “means that he can still catch Allie from falling off the cliff. This is relevant to Holden’s depression because everything around him is telling him to grow up but instead he runs away from it in fear that is will pull him farther apart from his relationship with his brother Allie. Holden is on the edge of becoming an adult which creates more pressure and leads him to

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634 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, Holden makes very bad decisions. He is struggling with many things, and he has lots of complications in his life. Holden is growing up alone, his parents at home, far away. From boarding school to boarding school, he has nobody to support him. Throughout his teenage years, he has nobody to tell him how to handle the changes that are happening.

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775 Words | 4 Pages

In most stories and novels, there are primary characters and secondary characters. The primary characters are obviously the main person in the story who the reader listens to during their journey. On the other hand, the secondary characters, help the main character with their adventure. Most of the time, the secondary characters are included to help convey the deeper meaning or the theme of the story. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is a boy in boarding school who does not have a lot of friends.

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1756 Words | 8 Pages

This indicates that Gatsby was a man who believed in the “orgastic future” and a world that was superior to the one he found himself in. Furthermore, Gatsby 's attempt to pursue the American Dream is seen through his struggle to reach for the “green light” which symbolizes Gatsby 's dream of being with Daisy, This is demonstrated when: He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness (5).

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61 Words | 1 Pages

When Holden gets older he wants to protect children, specifically he wants to protect his sister, and in order to he aspires to become a catcher in the rye. He wants to defend the virtues of children by being a catcher in the rye, and because of that it becomes one of the ways that Salinger demonstrates the effects of trauma.

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819 Words | 4 Pages

We all like to believe that hard work and persistence pays off. The Great Gatsby is a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald that includes many themes such as wealth, love, dissatisfaction, and most importantly, the American dream, and how it’s really only a dream. The characters, especially Gatsby, are trying to achieve this dream of a perfect life throughout the entire book. It becomes apparent that instead of reaching the success they desire from the hard work that they put in, they destroy their entire lives and relationships with one another in the process. Unfortunately, this story is not too far off from something that could happen today.

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1303 Words | 6 Pages

Jay 's Obsession in The Great Gatsby There is a fine line between love and lust. If love is only a will to possess, it is not love. To love someone is to hold them dear to one 's heart. In The Great Gatsby, the characters, Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan are said to be in love, but in reality, this seems to be a misconception.

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