Examples Of Rainbows In The Great Gatsby

It is no secret that life is a constant cycle of thunderstorms and rainbows. Undoubtedly so, both precipitate inspiration. Author Francis Scott Fitzgerald took the thunderstorms and rainbows of his life and splashed them onto paper. While he does this in many of his famous works, it is especially obvious in his 1925 work, The Great Gatsby. Perhaps the reason it has escaped the notice of the masses for so long is because it is not concentrated solely into a single character. Fitzgerald takes aspects of his life and splits them up among his three main male characters in The Great Gatsby: Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby, and Tom Buchanan.

Through Nick, Fitzgerald shares his upbringing and views of society. Like Nick, Fitzgerald came from a wealthy

Much like Gatsby, during the young adult stage of his life, he was a quite poor man who had to create his own prosperity for himself. Amid these destitute years in both men’s lives, they fought in World War I and fell in love. For Fitzgerald, the lovely lady’s name was Zelda Sayre. She became his wife, his muse, and his inspiration for Daisy. Drawing from his personal story of meeting and charming Zelda, Fitzgerald formed Gatsby and Daisy’s story to match. In their youth, Zelda and Daisy were identical. Both grew up wealthy and needed a husband who could support their extraneously materialistic lifestyles. This is seen when Gatsby tells Nick of how he lost Daisy, “She wanted her life shaped now, immediately--and the decision must be made by some force--of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality--that was close at hand. That force took shape in the middle of spring with the arrival of Tom Buchanan” (Fitzgerald 151). This rings true in Fitzgerald’s life, too. Zelda refused to marry Fitzgerald until his first book, This Side of Paradise, had become a commercial success and they could live according to the materialistic

In the very first chapter, Daisy says “‘Look!’ she complained; ‘I hurt it.’ We all looked--the knuckle was black and blue. ‘You did it, Tom,’ she said accusingly. ‘I know you didn’t mean to, but you did do it’” (Fitzgerald 12). While this can be written off as nothing at the beginning, it later becomes more clear that it may not have been an accident. Tom shows his abusive side when he hit Myrtle for saying Daisy’s name. Though Tom’s abuse did not permanently damage his wife, Fitzgerald’s maltreatment ultimately led Zelda to become very cynical and have a mentally destructive breakdown. This may be due to the varied abuses. He would shut himself away while he wrote his books, completely neglecting her. Fitzgerald also attacked her verbally, which was seen when he accused Zelda of stealing his content for her own book. Despite the appearance of the situation, Zelda was not a perfect wife to him either. Both had at least one affair. Like Tom, Fitzgerald was extremely hypocritical about being unfaithful and was overcome with jealousy. Regardless of their problems, the Fitzgeralds remained wed just as the Buchanans