Examples Of Unhappiness In The Great Gatsby

The characters in the novel pretend that they have their lives all figured out, but through their successes their downfalls and emptiness can be seen, to prove that money cannot buy happiness. Jay Gatsby is the newest and upcoming star in New York during the 1920’s. Through his business and inheritance he is one of the richest men of his time. One may think that his abundance of wealth would lead him to be eternally happy, but he is the opposite. Gatsby longs for his love of Daisy, which is his personal American Dream. Gatsby knows that Daisy is a high-class individual who cares very much about status and wealth, so his entire life has been dedicated to being the best so that she will notice him. When Daisy, Gatsby’s one desire, and Nick, Gatsby’s

Daisy is shown through her expensive house, rich husband, and luxurious attire, to help mask her ultimately unhappy identity. She has had so many opulent experiences due to marrying Tom, yet she feels so empty and wanting more with her life: “’You see I think everything’s terrible anyhow’ she went on in a convinced way…‘I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything’” (Fitzgerald 17). Daisy’s true character is revealed shortly in the story when she tells Nick how she has seen and done everything, yet feels empty and that everything is terrible. Daisy believes that money can buy happiness, which is why she has to purchase everything to fill a potential void in her life. Through money Daisy thinks she can truly be happy and content with her life, and she is selfish by putting money as her source of happiness instead of her daughter or family. Daisy proves that her character is surrounded by materialism when she goes to Gatsby’s house: “He took out the pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel…Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily” (Fitzgerald 92). Daisy is so overwhelmed with the excessive amount of upscale shirts in front of her she starts crying. Daisy is reuniting with Gatsby at this time, which should be the reason for her tears, but instead she is feeling pure happiness from the pile of materialistic