Scott Fitzgerald. Gatsby is a self made man and his character inhibits everything someone during this time could wish for. He has fame and fortune and ginormous parties quite frequently. But when you dig deeper into the opaque life of Jay Gatsby you will find that his motivation for almost everything he does is not for show, but is instead for a girl that he is hopelessly in love with.
“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but thats no matter- tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our farther…. And one fine morning- So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (180). Jay Gatsby wants nothing more than to relive infatuation with the one and only Daisy.
‘The great Gatsby’ composed by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel in which the author effectively explores several themes including the shallowness of money, and the divide between new money and old money. The story spans across one summer during the ‘roaring twenties’ and follows the enigmatic Jay Gatsby as he tries to re-kindle his love with daisy Buchanon. At the beginning of the novel Fitzgerald uses green light to symbolise Gatsby’s hope of getting back together with Daisy. The narrator Nick makes this observation, the light is something Gatsby physically reaches for as though touching it will lead to a reunion with Daisy.
Gatsby had felt so close to the one thing he wanted the green light at the end of the dock. “Gatsby Believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.” (Fitzgerald 180). The green light was Daisy, and the future he wanted with her. He worked to become rich shady or not he worked day and night for it.
Jay Gatsby, actually known as James Gratz, was a young dreamer who came from North Dakota. Gatsby was a mysterious and charming man whom everyone talked about. Most people knew of him; few knew him personally. He was born under his father's poor farmer life and dreamed of a better one. Later in his young years, he joined the military during World War 1 and later in the war, Gatsby became Major in the U.S. Regiment.
Gatsby hoped and dreamed of Daisy, but the evils of the American dream spoiled it for him. The green light represented Gatsby’s hope for his future with Daisy, but the corruption of the American dream and the expectations it brings on society lead to his
Also, people have inspirations to encourage them towards their goals and the greenlight is Gatsby’s. For when Jordan says, “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay.’” (78). While the American dream is the hope of many, Gatsby’s consuming desire to achieve it, blinds him of its reality. The green light
Jay Gatsby, the title character of the novel “The Great Gatsby” is a man that can not seem to live without the love of his life. Trying to win Daisy over consumes Gatsby’s life as he tries to become the person he thinks she would approve of. What most readers do not realize is that Jay Gatsby’s character mirrors many personality traits and concerns that the author of novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald, had. In fact, Gatsby and Fitzgerald are similar in that they both had a girl they wanted to win over, took a strong stance on alcohol, and ironically both had similar funerals, also, both people also symbolize the American dream.
Fitzgerald exemplifies the elusiveness of the American Dream through Gatsby’s reaching for the green light, which delineates his aspirations. Despite Gatsby’s accomplishment of his lifelong goal by winning over Daisy’s affection, “the colossal significance of that light...vanished forever... His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one” (Fitzgerald 98). Over the years, Gatsby gradually builds up an unrealistic image of Daisy, idealizing her as an enchanted object that he could fit into his self-envisioned life. Essentially, Gatsby tries to reap more than he could sow; he forces Daisy to conform to the fabricated conception he had of her in his younger years, but when she inevitably fails to do so, Gatsby debases to a melancholy state where he is hopeless for the future.
John A. Pidgeon says that, “The theme of Gatsby is the withering of the American Dream”(Pidgeon 179). The prime example of this is Gatsby, who “believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther” (Fitzgerald 180). The green light symbolizes Gatsby’s dream to be upper class with Daisy, but he can never reach it. Furthermore, it is frustrating for him that when he does attain wealth, Daisy is still out of his reach.
Two words that describe Gatsby perfectly, hopeful and envious. The green light that Gatsby sees over the water is the most hopeful thing in Gatsby’s life. It reminds him of Daisy and gives him hope that one day they will love again like they did before. Nick describes how “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us” (171). Gatsby shows that he will always continue to follow his dream and hope that one day he can relive the greatest times of his life, the time he spent with Daisy Buchanan.
Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is motivated by his envisioned love for his dream girl Daisy. In order to show this motivation, Fitzgerald symbolized this motivation with a green light at the end of Daisy’s dock which Gatsby could see from his property, “If it wasn’t for the mist we could see your home across the bay … You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock,” (Fitzgerald 92). The entire reason for Gatsby becoming rich illicitly and moving across the bay from Daisy was because he is madly in love with her or at least the idea of her. Gatsby’s absorption with Daisy is the cause for him to have changed who he is.
Jay Gatsby was actually born James Gatz, growing up in a poverty-ridden area in rural North Dakota where he longed for wealth and class. He proceeded to attend St. Olaf”s College in Minnesota but dropped out after just two weeks because he could not endure to keep working as a janitor, the job in which he was paying his college tuition with. “Jay Gatsby” was born the day James Gatz met Dan Cody, a very wealthy man, on his yacht. That day marked the beginning of his new life with a new identity. Cody became Gatsby’s mentor and best friend after he was hired to assist him, the young man was taken under Cody’s wing.
“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us”(Fitzgerald 180). This essay is based on The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Jay Gatsby was a dreamer, the type of dreamer that never sleeps, but that also never knows when to give up. He had one dream. The dream of love, but when he finally got it, he lost it.
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