Theme Of Relationship In The Great Gatsby

Relationships in The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel The Great Gatsby is considered a classic in American literature. The story follows a young man, Nick Carraway, and his journal entries as he writes about his eccentric, millionaire neighbor Jay Gatsby and the course of events that took place during their Long Island summer. While Nick Carraway is treated like a friend of Gatsby’s, in reality, Gatsby strikes up their relationship so he can use Nick for his own personal gain, meaning the relationship is never naturally formed. This, forming relationships artificially, along with superficial relationships are prevalent throughout the novel. The Great Gatsby shows that in a time of great prosperity and success, relationships oftentimes

To Nick, Gatsby’s relationships with Wolfsheim and Klipspringer appear to be friendly - Gatsby introduces Wolfsheim to Nick, saying, “Mr. Carraway, this is my friend Mr. Wolfsheim” (Fitzgerald 69). Wolfsheim goes on, in private, to Nick: “There’s the kind of man you’d like to take home and introduce to your mother and sister” (Fitzgerald 71). This leads Nick to assume Wolfsheim is a friend of Gatsby’s. However, this relationship is purely artificial - Wolfsheim is a business partner of Gatsby’s; early into meeting Nick, Wolfsheim tells Nick, “I understand you’re looking for a business gonnegtion” (Fitzgerald 70). The reader truly understands the full scope of Wolfsheim’s relationship with Gatsby when he writes back to Nick after learning of Gatsby’s death: “I cannot come down now as I am tied up in some very important business” (Fitzgerald 166). Wolfsheim, by writing that he won’t be attending his funeral, explains that he and Gatsby were not truly friends. Wolfsheim even verbally tells Nick that the friendship between him and Gatsby was thin when he tells him bluntly, “When a man gets killed I never like to get mixed up in it any way” (Fitzgerald 171). The same goes with Ewing Klipspringer - Nick also assumes Klipspringer is a friend of Gatsby’s; at one point, Klipspringer was a guest in Gatsby’s home, as noted when Gatsby tells an employee to fetch

However, even this relationship is artificial, thanks to Daisy’s social and economic standing. Nick explains that Gatsby was born into a poor family when he notes: “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people…” (Fitzgerald 98). Nick also explains Gatsby has a vivid and wild imagination, explaining Gatsby as someone whose “... imagination had never really accepted them as his parents...He was a son of God” (Fitzgerald 98). Gatsby holds himself in high regard, thinking he’s above the life he has been given. To Gatsby, Daisy is the epitome of everything he’s wished for himself - wealthy, socialite. When he first stumbles upon Daisy’s life, Gatsby was in awe of her life; Nick writes, “He had never seen such a beautiful house before...there was a ripe mystery about it…” (Fitzgerald 148), due to his poor upbringing. Gatsby even tells Nick, “Her voice is full of money…” (Fitzgerald 120) when describing Daisy - his first description of her is to bring up her wealth, the thing that captivated a poor, young Gatsby. Finally, Nick writes down that “He took what he could get, ravenously and unscrupulously - eventually he took Daisy…” (Fitzgerald 149). Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship also was artificially based - Gatsby was blinded by Daisy’s wealth and the mystery about her social class that he fell in love