How Is Daisy Successful In The Great Gatsby

Success is defined as an accomplishment of a goal; however, there is the question as to what truly outlines the idea of success. The novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, revolves around Jay Gatsby, who is depicted as a man of great wealth. The theme, that changing your social class will lead to tragedy, is represented through Gatsby’s actions. As a matter of fact, Gatsby had to work his way up to a social class that was deemed acceptable for one person: Daisy. Daisy was his only motivation for all of his actions, which includes the parties he threw. However, not everything worked out in the way Gatsby first planned. Fitzgerald is able to portray how attempting to change your social class will end in devastation through the symbols of Gatsby’s house, the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, and the Valley of Ashes.

Symbolizing Gatsby’s love for Daisy, he throws these parties only for his unquenchable need for her compassion. Although Gatsby grew up having nothing, once he met Daisy, his only goal was to impress her and change everything in his life to accommodate for her needs. Daisy, on the other hand, sees how wealthy Gatsby was and every little item he has that represents wealth. When she walks into Gatsby’s bedroom and sees all of his shirts, “it makes [her] sad because [she’s] never seen such — such beautiful shirts before" (Fitzgerald 92). Daisy’s only desire in life is that she is wealthy, so she will do whatever possible to achieve that. Revolving around the theme, however, Gatsby does not get Daisy in the end because she decides to stay with Tom; therefore, even though Gatsby changed his entire lifestyle and social class, he did not accomplish what he set out to do, which was to get Daisy to fall back in love with