Great Gatsby Quotes

In the novel “Magic Seeds” V. S. Naipaul writes: “It is wrong to have an ideal view of the world. That’s where the mischief starts. That’s where everything starts unraveling.” This quote relates to the character Jay Gatsby from the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald in a negative way. Gatsby is a character who comes from nothing, and slowly makes his way in the world. He falls in love with a young heiress named Daisy, then loses her when he goes to war. Gatsby becomes obsessed with his wealth and appearance in order to get Daisy back. His ideals blind him from reality, and unravel his life.

The novel is set in the 1920’s during the prohibition era. When Gatsby was younger he was a soldier, and met Daisy before going off to war.

He wholeheartedly thinks he has all of the power because of his newfound status. Nick, the narrator and friend of Gatsby, tells him that he can not recreate the past. He can not reverse time. However, Gatsby does not listen. As said by Gatsby, ‘“Can’t repeat the past?”’ he cried incredulously. ‘“Why of course you can!”’ (Fitzgerald, Ch. 6). This shows that Gatsby is so caught up in the fantasy he created, and convinced of his ideal view, that he does not realize the reality of the situation. Daisy is not blinded by ideals like Gatsby, she knows she can not leave the father of her child for Gatsby. However, Gatsby is convinced that he can reset and go back five years to when they first got together. The idealistic world view Gatsby has makes him think he is untouchable, and that everything will go his way. However, his ideals start to crumble when Daisy will not tell her husband she never loved him. That's when the mischief begins. Nothing is going according to the ideals Gatsby was so sure of, and the timeline of his fantastical life where he gets Daisy back unravels. The climax of Gatsby’s delusion hits on a hot summer day in a hotel room. Tom has caught on to the affair, and discovered who Gatsby truly is. Tom says, ‘“I found out what your ‘drug-stores’ were.”’ He turned to us and spoke rapidly. ‘“He and this Wolfshiem bought up a lot of side-street

Trying to win back a married woman with his wealth and learned charisma pushed him to the edge of a cliff. The truth of Jay Gatsby revealed itself. The novel continues, and Gatsby is still convinced Daisy wants to run off with him. He is so sure he still has the upperhand, and that everything is fine. Gatsby’s ideals made him believe he could get away with it, but that was not the case. Tom was not happy about the affair, and decided to get revenge. This was the true unraveling point of Gatsby’s idealistic world. George Wilson, the husband of Myrtle, goes looking to avenge her. Tom too wants revenge: sending Wilson to Gatsby’s doorstep, leading him to believe Gatsby is the one Myrtle was cheating with. The consequences of his ideals finally catch up to Gatsby while he’s swimming in his pool, waiting for Daisy to call. Wilson shoots him dead, his ideals finally crumbling on top of him. To elaborate, “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, Ch. 8). Despite his ideal world view, Gatsby still ended up getting murdered. This proves that Gatsby’s actions caught up to him, and that his ideal world view led to his