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How Is The Past Presented In The Great Gatsby

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Thomas Merton once said, “The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.” What can be said about this is we need to embrace our person for who they are and not who we like to think they are. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby feels love is monogamous, through an idealized, obsessive pursuit in order to recover the past. Throughout the novel, Gatsby’s view on love is shown greatly idealized due to his romanticized memories of the past. In chapter 6, Nick reflects on Gatsby's obsession with the past. Nick observes, “He talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself …show more content…

Again in chapter 6, Gatsby got uptight about Nick’s comment on not being able to repeat the past. Gatsby cried, “I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before. She’ll see” (Fitzgerald 110). Gatsby’s assertiveness on being able to recreate the past as it was, aligning with his idealized view of Daisy, displays his perception of love. Additionally, Gatsby’s love for Daisy is seen to be an obsessive pursuit which motivates his actions throughout the novel. In chapter 5, Nick observes how Gatsby shows Daisy around his lavish home. Fitzgerald writes, “He hadn’t once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes” (Fitzgerald 91). Gatsby’s fixation on Daisy’s reactions to his possessions expresses his fluid opinions, dependent on her judgment and strong desire to impress Daisy. Another example of his obsession was told by Jordan Baker to Nick when talking about Daisy’s and Gatsby’s past. Jordan informed Nick, “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the

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Gastby’s romanization of the past with Daisy has been causing him to repeat the past to be able to impress her. Within The Great Gatsby, Gatsby has been romanticizing his past to Nick, while also trying to replicate it within the present. His way of looking at the past is through what is known as a Rosy Retrospection, which is known to give a person expectations that are difficult to follow. There are two parts of his past that make him the way he is today, in which he longs for Daisy.

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One example of his obsession with Daisy is when Nick and Jordan are talking about Gatsby. Jordan said, "When I said you were a friend of Tom's, he started to abandon the whole idea. He doesn't know very much about Tom, though he says he's read a Chicago paper for years just on the chance of catching a glimpse of Daisy's name." (pg. 79). Gatsby is so possessed by Daisy, he even looked in the Chicago papers for years to look for Daisy’s name.

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Gatsby wants everything to be like the past when Daisy was his lover but

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Gatsby is explaining to Nick all of the things he and Daisy did in the past and says he wants to do all of those things again and Nick replies with “you can’t repeat the past” , Gatsby disagrees with Nick and says he can fix everything with Daisy (Fitzgerald 110). No matter how hard anyone tries they will never be able to relive what has happened in the past. Gatsby tries to win Daisy over throughout the novel, but in the end he fails because you can't take back things that happened in the past. Also, Nick believes Gatsby will be unable to fix everything like he hopes to when he gathers “that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself” knowing that a person can't change themselves completely after things they have done. When someone is wanting to repeat the past they have to stay the same as a person.

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1200 Words | 5 Pages

“The Great Gatsby” is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, surrounded by the protagonist, Jay Gatsby, a fabulously wealthy young man but a dreamer with grandiose ideas. Jay Gatsby embodies the characteristics of a romantic hero through his relentless pursuit of love for Daisy Buchanan. First of all, Jay Gatsby is a character of extremes, specifically his obsession with Daisy Buchanan. “He had waited for five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths - so that he could ‘come over' some afternoon to a stranger's garden. " The quotation indicated that Gatsby has still not moved on from Daisy, as in the past five years, which is an excessive amount of time, he has stayed faithful to only Daisy and insisted on claiming her back.

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530 Words | 3 Pages

Then, when Nick tells Gatsby that he can’t repeat the past, he just insists that he can (110). It is impossible to recreate the past as exactly how it was, but Gatsby is determined to. His determination to bring back something that is gone and so far away from him now shows that he is really dreaming and almost delusional. It has been five years since Gatsby has been with Daisy

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In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, the relationship between Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby, the two main protagonists, is the focal point of the story. Even though it appears real, their love is chaotic and unpredictable. Daisy's love for Gatsby compared to Gatsby's love for Daisy can be considered erratic and insecure. Not only does the love for one another differ throughout the story it also reveals their true characteristics and shows the difference between the two characters.

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Gatsby’s character is only being reinforced in the next couple of chapters. When Nick talks with Jordan about the story behind the purchase and acquisition of Gatsby’s mansion the realization that its position right across Daisy’s estate has a much deeper value and significance fills Nick with admiration and fondness towards Gatsby: “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay. Then it had not been merely the stars to which he had aspired on that June night. He came alive to me, delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendor” (4.78). This unexpected revelation, that Nick firstly claims to be “a strange coincidence” (4.78) made Gatsby so much more interesting in the eyes of Nick.

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A prevalent theme in chapters 4-6 of “The Great Gatsby”, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is one of “History and New Mysteries”. This passage begins on a sunday afternoon at one of Jay Gatsby’s frequent parties. Gatsby comes to Nick and invites him out to lunch, which Nick accepts. On the way, Gatsby tells Nick a potentially false story of his life, one of inheritance followed by travels, which were themselves followed by war. Nick is doubtful of his story, but doesn’t dismiss it completely.

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This flashback creates an emotional connection for Gatsby from Nick and makes Nick willing to accommodate Gatsby’s favor moving the plot along.

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Jordan states, “ Gatsby bought that house to the Daisy would be just across the bay” (pg 78). Jordan goes on to say Gatsby says read Chicago paper for years on the chance of catching a glimpse of Daisy's name” (pg 79). Gatsby's whole being is devoted to nothing except

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747 Words | 3 Pages

Then he kissed her. At his lips’ touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete. ”(Fitzgerald, 6) This is the past the Gatsby wants to bring back; a past where he and Daisy are together. The use of flashbacks in “The Great Gatsby” is vital to how the story places importance on the past memories of its

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609 Words | 3 Pages

Jordan asks Nick if he will have Daisy (just Daisy, no Tom) over for tea so Gatsby can “run into” Daisy. • Gatsby offers Nick a job. • Gatsby has Nicks house and yard cleaned up, and food made for when Daisy comes to visit. • Daisy comes, Gatsby and she rekindle their friendship. • Nick and Daisy go to Gatsby’s house; you hear about Dan Cody, and Daisy starts crying because Gatsby’s shirts are so beautiful.

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724 Words | 3 Pages

In the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the past comes up quite a bit for a few of the characters and Fitzgerald shows how the past affects each of the characters. Each character in the book has their own unique characteristics that create who they are. In this book it is explained what happened in Gatsby’s past and how he was able to become the successful person that he now. Throughout the book, Fitzgerald shows us how Gatsby keeps looking back at his past, especially when Daisy is involved she is everything to him and the biggest reason that he wants what he had in the past to come back.

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645 Words | 3 Pages

More notably, Daisy’s attitude towards Gatsby directly affects him, causing Gatsby to lose control of his own life. In chapter 4, Jordan tells Nick about Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship. She explains to Nick that Gatsby bought his house “so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (78). She also infers that Gatsby throws profligate parties at his house expecting Daisy to attend. Gatsby makes significant decisions based on Daisy.

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