The Great Gatsby Loss Of Innocence Quotes

As humans, we often cling to the familiar and yearn for the past and the way things were, but what happens when innocence is lost, and the world seems to lose its glow? This question is explored in J.D. Salingers, The Catcher in the Rye, F. Scott Fitzgeralds, The Great Gatsby, and Robert Frost's poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay”. In these texts the theme of loss of innocence and repeating the past are conveyed through the characters Holden and Gatsby as well as through symbolism in the poem. J.D. Salinger, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Robert Frost, in each of their texts respectively, imply the overarching idea that while a loss of innocence might seem daunting, it is necessary for growth and that trying to repeat the past, attempting to regain this

This idea is represented in a quote from the Great Gatsby in which Daisy Buchanan and Nick Carraway are having a conversation about her baby girl at her house in East Egg. The quote reads; “I hope she'll be a fool - that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (Fitzgerald 17). Daisy's expectation of women to be "beautiful little fools" demonstrates a desire to preserve her daughter's innocence for as long as she can. Daisy's quote serves as evidence for the idea that the loss of innocence is necessary for personal growth because, ultimately, Daisy knows that, just like her, she will need to lose her innocence in order to grow up. This idea of loss of innocence in order to grow up is represented in the Catcher in the Rye in a scene with Holden and Phoebe. In this scene Holden and his younger sister Phoebe are at a carousel and Holden is watching as Phoebe is trying to grab a gold ring, which is a game played on the carousel. Holden says, "The thing with kids is, if they want to grab the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off

F. Scott Fitzgerald explores this idea that repeating the past is ultimately futile and can lead to a loss of innocence in his novel The Great Gatsby. This claim is supported by a scene in The Great Gatsby. The setting of the quote is the mansion of Tom and Daisy Buchanan, located on the blue lawn of their estate in East Egg. Gatsby had been attending one of their parties and had just left to return to his own home. Nick Carraway narrates: “I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night" (Fitzgerald 180). This quote demonstrates how Gatsby's pursuit of his dream; to be with Daisy, is ultimately futile, as he is unable to recreate the past and must face the reality that his dream is already "behind him." The inability to let go of the past and move forward is a major factor in Gatsby's struggle to mature and grow. This quote clearly depicts the overarching idea that as long as Gatsby keeps holding on to the past, the more his innocence will slip away. This idea that repeating the past is futile