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The Great Gatsby Research Paper

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Considered one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, The Great Gatsby unfolds the tale of Jay Gatsby’s extravagant life through the eyes of Nick Carraway. Amidst the chaos and prosperity of the “Roaring Twenties,” Gatsby finds himself in pursuit of his long-lost love, Daisy Buchanan, who he had “fallen in love” with before he went off to fight in World War I. However, Gatsby was not pursuing Daisy for love, but rather because she represented his ideal lifestyle. His growing obsession with Daisy drove his illogical actions throughout the novel, which led to his eventual demise. Through rigorous detail and extreme circumstances, F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates how the pursuit of love and wealth can lead people astray. Although Gatsby’s …show more content…

Nick says Tom looked, “afraid they would dart down a side street and out of his life forever” (Fitzgerald 134), referring to Daisy and Gatsby riding in the car together. This event is the beginning of the downfall of not only Tom and Daisy, but Gatsby as well. In his pursuit of Daisy, Gatsby was not concerned with the fact that Daisy was already married. He was not blinded by love, but rather blinded in the pursuit of wealth. As Gatsby’s pursuit of wealth becomes greater through his infatuation with Daisy, his logical thinking becomes skewed. His “entire life revolved around making more out of himself, in terms of wealth” (Bunce 3), which corrupted his thoughts and led him down a path of many poor decisions. When Gatsby fell in love with Daisy before the war, his love corrupted his morals. Instead of being truthful about his poor background and current struggles, Gatsby decided to lie to Daisy. In lying to her, he hoped to not only seem more like her, but also impress her enough to wait for him throughout the war. Furthermore, most people would see that the person they are interested in already has a significant other and accept they are too

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When Gatsby says, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made”(Fitzgerald 137) he should have known getting intertwined with their relationship was a bad idea. As much as Gatsby loved Daisy, he only knew the old her; he did not know who she was now and what getting into a relationship with her would cause. As well as wanting a relationship, Gatsby wanted as much money and to experience as many things as possible. When describing his desire and fascination with life, Gatsby says, “I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life”(Fitzgerald 9). Gatsby is captivated in a way by wealth and success.

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Sometimes, too, he stared around at his possessions in a dazed way, as though in her actual and astounding presence none of it was any longer real” (Fitzgerald 5.112). It is sad that no matter how hard Gatsby tries to win back Daisy, she will not commit to anything. It is for the best, though. They would eventually become miserable if because the only reason they married was because of his money and gifts to her. Daisy’s character teaches readers that they do not have to succumb to people’s ideals of

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(p.83). Earlier in Gatsby's life, he met Daisy and fell in love with her, then he went off to war, and once he came back, she was all he could think about. When he became wealthy, he wanted Daisy to be his wife, but this dream never became a reality. Thereon in the book, Gatsby tries to have Daisy leave Tom and become his wife, but she will not do it; no matter what he tries, she still loves Tom. According to Fitzgerald (1995), “‘Oh, you want too much!’

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Gatsby has never once let go of the past he and Daisy shared before he went off to war, he has also never left behind his hopes and dreams of the future that he and Daisy would have together someday. Gatsby has dedicated his life to getting back together with Daisy, but Daisy’s relationship with Tom has always been in the way, that is, until Daisy decided that it wouldn’t be in the way anymore. “ Daisy comes over quite often in the afternoons.” (Fitzgerald, 114). Daisy’s marriage to Tom that has been falling apart has overtaken her emotions and is causing her to impulsively throw herself into an affair with Gatsby.

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