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Void In The Great Gatsby

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Eldrich David Ms. Tomatis English III - F March 27, 2023 The Insatiable Materialistic Void F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a novel that follows the life of Nick Carraway as he lives in West Egg, a person whose life is surrounded by a plethora of wealth, yet an ever-growing void is created through the emptiness of an abundance of wealth. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald diminishes the value of material wealth to depict the pursuit of a relationship as a desperate attempt to fill the void brought by materialism. Ultimately, Fitzgerald uses the shortcomings of relationships to fill the void of wealth to suggest that excessive materialism is a hindrance to relationships that’s fatal. Fitzgerald uses grandiose language, and larger-than-life …show more content…

As Gatsby gives a tour to Nick and Daisy of his house, Nick notices changes in Gatsby’s mannerisms in response to Daisy’s reactions. Saying that “[Gatsby] revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from [Daisy’s] well-loved eyes” (91). Gatsby’s revaluation of his material wealth in response to Daisy shows that his love is embedded in his material possessions. He values only what Daisy values and Daisy tends towards expensive and extravagant things. Nick depicts Gatsby, saying that “in her actual and astounding presence none of it was any longer real” (91). Gatsby is so infatuated with Daisy, that his materialistic wealth fades from view. The emptiness brought by excessive wealth appears to fade away as Daisy fades into his life again. However, Gatsby’s materialistic wealth becomes a hindrance to his relationship with Daisy, once she stops being amazed by the wealth and extravagance. Daisy eventually goes back to Tom, leaving Gatsby to die, unable to fill the void of materialism with his failed relationship with Daisy. In the next scene, Gatsby shows Nick and Daisy his room and clothes. Nick portrays the scene by saying that Gatsby “ took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel, which lost their folds as they fell and covered the table in many-colored disarray” (92). Gatsby’s many shirts made of “linen,” “silk,” and “flannel” are expensive fabrics that add to the materialism that left Gatsby empty, longing for more, longing for Daisy. Now that Daisy is in his life, he believes that he no longer has a need to fill his emptiness with material wealth. Gatsby throwing his shirts shows that he doesn’t have a need for them anymore, they’re unimportant in the presence of Daisy, not only are his shirts losing their folds, they

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First, Daisy and Nick join Gatsby at Gatsby’s house next door where her and Gatsby get some time to recollect themselves, “He hadn 't once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes. 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. Once he nearly toppled down a flight of stairs,” (pg.112). First, in this part of the book is when Gatsby’s attitude throughout the rest of the story completely changes; therefore, the whole world seems to disappear causing him to fall for Daisy. Then, he doesn’t even compensate the rest of his house and how glorious it is due to Daisy taking over his whole entire attention span; this almost caused him to fall down his own stairs.

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After acquiring his wealth, Gatsby started investing it into materialistic objects that he believed would impress Daisy. When he revealed the reason behind the masquerade of wealth to Nick, Nick was blunt; “The modesty of the demand shook me. He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths—so that he could ‘come over’ some afternoon to a stranger’s garden” (Fitzgerald 83). The fact that Gatsby had invested so much time and wealth into acquiring his house filled with impressive objects just to impress a girl he loved five years ago shows how self-absorbed Gatsby is. He was living in the past, trying to recreate a feeling he once experienced.

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He becomes obsessed with recapturing their past relationship, leading him to building himself a new life centered around Daisy. Wanting Daisy to believe that he is “in the same strata as herself” Gatsby turns to a life of crime and deceit, illegally earning money and becoming the ostensible epitome of wealth and success (149). This new Gatsby buys a magnificent mansion in West Egg “so that Daisy would be just across the bay”, the green light on her dock an infinite reminder of his ever so close yet far away goal (78). Everyday, people flow in and out of his “road house”, constantly attending his extravagant parties that’s sole purpose are to catch Daisy’s eye and perhaps draw her back to him one day (64). After years of this intricate display that becomes his reality, Gatsby expresses a want for Nick to invite Daisy over for tea.

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When Gatsby, Nick, and Daisy are in Gatsby’s house, Gatsby “[revalues] everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes”(91). Gatsby’s mission is to make sure Daisy amazed and that she approves of his luxuries. Daisy is materialistic and Gatsby because he has the power(money) is able to buy and impress her with materialistic things. Gatsby “[takes] out a pile of shirts... shirts of sheer linen and thick silk

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Gatsby travels back to the first time he saw Daisy at her grand home and goes into vivid detail of her house, “There was a ripe mystery about it, a hint of bedrooms upstairs more beautiful and cool than the other bedrooms of gay and radiant activities taking place through its corridors and of romances that were not musty and laid away already in lavender but fresh and breathing and redolent of this year’s shining motor cars and of dancers whose flowers were scarcely withered”. Gatsby goes into the nitty-gritty details of Daisy’s home, calling it ‘beautiful’, ‘gay and radiant’ and ‘breathing’ in order to demonstrate how symbolic the home is to him. This is the first taste of the upper class that Gatsby has ever experienced and serves as the true epitome of wealth to Gatsby. He falls in love with the newness of her home and the activities of the rich. Because of Gatsby’s love for the home, when he sees Daisy become consumed by her own luxuries, he feels betrayed; “She vanished into her rich house, into her rich full life, leaving Gatsby-nothing”.

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Even though Daisy used to know Gatsby, she does not show up at Gatsby’s enormous party until Jordan and Nick set her up to go and meet him (Jeanpierre 48). Daisy then wants to be with Gatsby when she tours his house and sees how lavish and extravagant his lifestyle is. Daisy lets her view of classes influence who she chooses to give her love to. Hand in hand with Daisy is Gatsby’s skewed perception of materialism and things. He watches Daisy go through his possessions and re-evaluates himself and his items of importance based on her response to them (Bevilacqua 52).

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After Nick invites Daisy to tea at his house, Gatsby makes an appearance to show Daisy who he has become, and the feelings and relationship between Gatsby and Daisy revitalizes itself. While Nick is having tea with Daisy, Gatsby invites Daisy and Nick over to his house so that he can give Daisy a tour. Gatsby was showing Daisy his shirts and on page 92 Daisy says, “It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such beautiful shirts before”. Daisy is not really sad about the shirts, but is actually sad about the fantasy life she could have had with Gatsby. Soon enough Daisy and Gatsby are having an affair.

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Through money Daisy thinks she can truly be happy and content with her life, and she is selfish by putting money as her source of happiness instead of her daughter or family. Daisy proves that her character is surrounded by materialism when she goes to Gatsby’s house: “He took out the pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel… Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily” (Fitzgerald 92). Daisy is so overwhelmed with the excessive amount of upscale shirts in front of her she starts crying. Daisy is reuniting with Gatsby at this time, which should be the reason for her tears, but instead she is feeling pure happiness from the pile of materialistic

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