The Great Gatsby Love Essay

America has this belief that love is a symbol of success, and that love strengthens people to be more successful. Many people aspire for true love in America and associate it with perfection and success, critical values of American citizens. However, the truth is that love just as much strengthens as it does distracts someone from success. This kind of love that distracts someone can be easily seen through the eyes of Jay Gatsby after pursuing his love for Daisy in the Great Gatsby. The novel takes place in the 1920s through the eyes of the narrator, Nick Carraway, focused on the destructive, distracting, and unsuccessful affair between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchannan. In the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald conflicts Gatsby between his greed

He struggles with this choice of wealth and love for years, extending back to five years before when he first met Daisy. Fitzgerald flashes back to a moment in the past when Gatsby is about to kiss Daisy, but his inner thoughts are described moments before the kiss, “he could climb to it, if he climbed alone [...] he knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God” (110). Fitzgerald, allows the reader to hear and experience Gatsby’s inner thoughts and feelings before he kisses her. This description shows how his thoughts are battling against each other, offering all the possible outcomes if he makes the one decision to kiss Daisy. Fitzgerald emphasizes this moment as if Gatsby will be finalizing his choice of whether he wants to pursue wealth or love. Furthermore, Gatsby sees Daisy as a hurdle, ruling out the possibility of fulfilling the wealthy, all-powerful Jay Gatsby he aspires to become. Additionally, his egotistical personality shows he thinks of himself as having a superior “God” like mind that would diminish by giving into his love for Daisy. Although, he is forced to ignore his urges and temptations to pursue his love for Daisy when he goes to fight in the war. Five years later, however, Gatsby has rebranded himself. Armed with wealth and confidence, his thoughts

All the wealth and power Gatsby has developed over the past five years is all to win Daisy over. That is the picture that Gatsby tries to paint for everyone and himself. However, he cannot break free from his desire for wealth and power. He is continuously greedy for more money. Gatsby is talking with Nick when he realizes “her voice is full of money” justifying his motivation to love Daisy (120). His greed for money and power is always present. Interestingly, Gatsby describes her voice as “full of money” displaying his desire for Daisy as really just a further desire for wealth and money. He is objectifying Daisy by equating her to more money and power. Fitzgerald exposes Gatsby for solely thinking about the benefits to his wealth. Furthermore, Nick realizes how Gatsby fails Daisy, saying he had “taken her under false pretenses [...] he let her believe that he was a person from much the same strata as herself—that he was fully able to take care of her” (149). Nick observes this after Daisy has killed Myrtle. Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship has weakened and he now understands that Gatsby was never prepared to reciprocate the same care and commitment into the relationship. Gatsby doesn’t want Daisy. Instead, he had only “taken” her for his benefit. He desires wealth and money, but all Daisy seeks is a genuine relationship with real love. However, Nick understands