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Happiness is something humans have been pursuing for centuries. The quest for happiness is so cemented in the minds of human beings that it has been used as a method of control, and as a weapon against others. Humans are moths, ever drawn to the distant flame of joy. Over the past year I have learned much about this pursuit that has plagued humans for millennia. Pieces of literature like The Great Gatsby, Of Mice and Men and The Devil and Tom Walker all explore this pursuit in unique and diverse ways.
Another issue is that a partial amount of Gatsby's infatuation can be acquitted to the idea of Daisy rather than person herself. Gatsby equates his love for Daisy with the wealth of her surroundings. “Gatsby's, dream is established here:” States Gary Scrimgeour, “A combination of beauty, love, money, and success.” (Scrimgeour, 2). The conflation of all these ideas heightens his infatuation with Daisy.
After realizing he lost her love when he came back from war, he devoted his whole life to winning her back, and reviving the relationship and feelings they used to have for each other. For example he, committed himself to the sense of obtaining and having money, which used to be his real dream, before he met Daisy. The problem was Gatsby wanted a lot of money fast, so instead of being a true honest gentleman, Gatsby received his money through selling liquor illegally, and teaming up with the con, “Meyer Wolfshiem”. Gatsby's intense desire also drove him to acquire a house presently near Daisy and Tom’s home, a place where Gatsby can gaze and praise from. Then Gatsby starts to throw very popular parties in hopes that Daisy may notice and come to one, but she never does.
Gatsby had spent so much time and effort pursuing this unrealistic view of Daisy that it became impossible for her to live up to these expectations. He never made a real effort to find out who she actually is, or even simply respect that she had created a life apart from him. It’s unsurprising that he is disappointed by reality; he has been living in an elaborate dream, deluding himself to believe that his plan to win her over will work just because he wants it to, and ignoring the real factors that would break this illusion until it is broken for him. Gatsby is aware of the factors playing against him when it comes to his dream of being with Daisy, such as her marriage and commitment to her family, but he creates a mental version of events that serve him when he cannot accept this reality. Subsequently, he suffers from realizing that his imagined perfect version of Daisy and their perfect life together is not real or reasonable.
Money doesn’t buy happiness A review of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ Nowadays, the elderly are often quoted saying that everything was better in the past. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby lets the reader become acquainted with one of the wealthiest periods in American history, meeting some of the richest people that the Roaring Twenties have ever known. They appear to be cheerful and friendly towards their friends and family, while they actually stab them in the back in order to achieve more wealth and thus more happiness.
By attracting Daisy, “Gatsby sees the potential for future happiness, acceptance, and the resumption of a stalled love” (Heise 58). Gatsby also attempts to remove Daisy’s husband, Tom, by arguing that Daisy has never loved
Gatsby has spent his whole life trying to prove to Daisy and everyone around him that he is worthy of her. The only way to be on the same social level as her is to turn himself into new money. Since this is not possible, he has to try to convince to others that he truly is old money. To do this, he becomes rich, and lies about his past, but the only way for him to complete this idea is if he is with Daisy. She is the final piece in his American dream.
Daniel Crites Mrs. Michaud English III 18 April 2023 Disillusionment in The Great Gatsby Finally achieving goals is underwhelming, the feeling that more could be done always present, the chase of the goal is significantly more entertaining than reaching goals. This concept is portrayed beautifully in The Great Gatsby, Gatsby has wanted Daisy for nearly 5 years and once he has her he is underwhelmed by her and misses chasing her. Gatsby was completely disillusioned with Daisy. When he was younger he was chasing money and status, when he was older he was chasing Daisy.
Great Gatsby essay Gustavo pd 6 Happiness: a state of well-being and contentment (Mariam Webster dictionary). People pursue wealth trying to find what they believe is happiness, however the story "The Great Gatsby" by F Scott Fitzgerald clearly shows that money cannot buy happiness and if anything leads to people living unfulfilled lives. The story revolves around wealthy characters and their lives, but it is shown throughout the book that relationships cannot be bought. Examples of people attempting to "buy" relationships are shown in the multiple occasions where upper class members socialize with each other despite not always liking each other but simply because they are upper class members. Another example of a "bought" relationship is the relationship between Tom and Daisy because she fell back on him when Gatsby went off to war because he was an upper class member even though she did not truly love him.
The Effect of Pursuing an Illusion of an Individuals Happiness What is the difference between happiness and desire? Happiness is an emotional state of joy, satisfaction, and fulfilment, while desire is a feeling of wanting to possess something or wishing for something to occur, and pursuit is an attempt to achieve or complete a goal over time. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel “The Great Gatsby”, the idea of how individuals pursue their happiness is seen best through the character Jay Gatsby. When individuals hold an illusion as the focus of their happiness and chase that happiness, it results in them demanding more from themselves than they are capable of, which leads to self-destruction. Jay Gatsby is portrayed by F. Scott Fitzgerald as
Fitzgerald makes it apparent throughout the novel that Gatsby does everything in hopes to compete against Tom and impress Daisy. For example, Gatsby throws lavish parties every weekend with the hope that Daisy will stumble in, and then they will be reunited and return to their old ways. Additionally, when Gatsby moves to the West Egg, he purposefully purchases an extravagant mansion near the Buchanan’s mansion where he can view their emerald light on his dock. Throughout the duration of The Great Gatsby, Gatsby noticeably envies Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s husband, for seizing the life that Gatsby was not able to achieve. Gatsby longs to return to the passionate relationship they had five years prior and maybe even create a family similar to the family Daisy has with Tom.
Gatsby had a forbidden love named Daisy who was married, but this did not stop Gatsby from achieving what he wanted. He thrived off of his lust for her and her world of seduction that captivated him. Gatsby had a belief that he may win Daisy’s heart if he was able to possess wealth. He was “devoted to the obsessive pursuit of wealth”. In Fitzgerald’s writings, the parties thrown by Gatsby kept his sense of youthfulness as he was still prime enough to enjoy the extravagant lure of women, alcohol, and other youthful people as well.
The characters in the novel pretend that they have their lives all figured out, but through their successes their downfalls and emptiness can be seen, to prove that money cannot buy happiness. Jay Gatsby is the newest and upcoming star in New York during the 1920’s. Through his business and inheritance he is one of the richest men of his time. One may think that his abundance of wealth would lead him to be eternally happy, but he is the opposite. Gatsby longs for his love of Daisy, which is his personal American Dream.
Gatsby had known Daisy for a long period of time. Gatsby realized when he first met Daisy that she was the love of his life. Though they were separated for a lengthy interim, Gatsby had devoted his entire life to gaining the love of Daisy. In fact, his mind was "full of the idea so long, dreamed it right through to the end, waited with his teeth set, so to speak, at an inconceivable pitch of intensity” (Fitzgerald 88). Gatsby's only goal in life was to achieve Daisy's love; therefore, he was filled with excitement when his chance came to prove his love to Daisy.
Throughout the novel, Daisy is a critical character that acts as a symbol to Gatsby’s broken American Dream. A prime example of this is when Gatsby continuously attempts to impress Daisy, in hopes to get back together and re kindle the short relationship they once had before he was sent off to war. This leaves Gatsby feeling rejected, from being unsuccessful at capturing Daisy’s love again, ultimately supporting the false promise the American Dream offers. A long time ago when Gatsby was in love with Daisy, her parents never approved or liked Daisy dating Gatsby, because he didn’t have any, “pomp and circumstance” (75) like the man Tom Buchanan who Daisy ends up marrying.