Outline For The Great Gatsby

767 Words4 Pages

Addy Smith
Angel Dean
Honors English 10
3 March 2023
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Dreams are almost always seen as a positive thing, but if they are unobtainable, reality can hit like a slap to the face. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway narrates a story about characters chasing after their dreams, most of which tend to be irrational. Nick is able to bring to the reader’s attention the importance of recognizing if a dream is worth chasing after. Tom Buchanan, Daisy Buchanan, and Jay Gatsby are static characters who are unable to change. They are stuck in a dream that is directing their lives in a negative way, and they aren’t able to recognize it. The Great Gatsby emphasizes the value of having a dream and the risks that come with …show more content…

This is important because Tom is showing Nick his house and land, explaining how successful he has become, and portraying to Nick that wealth equals power. In chapter 2, he demands control and management over his mistress, Myrtle. When she was screaming Daisy’s name to bother him, he “broke her nose with his open hand”(30). Furthermore, towards the end of the book, Tom realizes that he has lost control over Myrtle, and quite possibly over Daisy as well. Nick noted that “Tom was feeling hot whips of panic” (77), and was afraid of how he would continue to live without power over them. …show more content…

Since he met Daisy, all Gatsby had dreamed of was creating a life with her. While Nick pointed out that he was stuck in the past and one can’t repeat the past, Gatsby responded with “Why of course you can!” (69). Gatsby’s dream caused him to disconnect from the world- he had no interest in making friends. The parties, the money, and the house-they were all for Daisy. His dream of having Daisy took control of him, and wouldn’t allow him to see that she had moved on. In the end Gatsby is shot and dies, all too late realizing he “paid a high price for living too long with a single dream” (98). While Gatsby struggled to form his dream into his reality, he was too proud to realize the task was impossible. Yet, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us” (109). If Gatsby had been able to pull away from his dream of Daisy, he could have achieved a more realistic dream that would’ve helped him to enjoy his