Theme Of Happiness In The Great Gatsby

1796 Words8 Pages
In the novel “The Great Gatsby,” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the illusion of happiness is a theme most apparent in the novel as it shows how far one will go the achieve their goals. The most evident way was through Gatsby, a rich and popular man who was known by all through the extravagant parties he threw. Throughout the novel, Gatsby was seen chasing Daisy, an elegant, materialistic, and married woman whom he had a romance with numerous years ago. Years after their fling, Gatsby was still very much in love with Daisy because she symbolized everything he had ever wanted and what he had always believed would make him happy. Gatsby believed that by alluring Daisy with money and his apparently luxurious and rich lifestyle she adored, he could have caused her to leave her husband and be with him. In the beginning, Gatsby did everything in his power to become the man Daisy would want to be with, from risking his reputation and obtaining his wealth in questionable ways, to buying a grand mansion across from her own and throwing parties in simple hopes of her attendance, Gatsby was willing to do whatever it took to acquire his illusion of happiness. However, Gatsby’s desire to have what, he assumed, would make him happy intensifies once he rekindled his affair with Daisy as he was even more determined to prove she never loved and her husband and would leave him for Gatsby without hesitation. This great aspiration became the sole focus of Gatsby’s life and caused him to do outrages