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What Does Happiness Mean In The Great Gatsby

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What is something that everyone searches for but never finds? True happiness. The characters in The Great Gatsby have that goal even if they don't know it. They live extravagant lifestyles, in search of a meaning in their life. Tom Buchanan, Daisy Buchanan, and Jay Gatsby's goals and values show that they just want to be happy. Jay Gatsby tries to gain the love of Daisy throughout the book and thinks that it is all he needs. Gatsby throws a party almost every night in hopes that Daisy will end up at one and they will be reunited. When that does not work he has Nick invite her over. Daisy is reintroduced to Jay and she is shown around his mansion. As they walk around, Mr. Gatsby shows Daisy his huge collection of fancy and very expensive clothes. …show more content…

Tom is rich for his entire life, so he gets whatever he wants. First he got Daisy, the most beautiful woman in Louisville. For the entire time that Tom was married he was moving and looking for a good time. "They had spent a year in France for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together. . . I felt that Tom would drift on forever seeking, . . . for a dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game" (6). Mr. Buchanan is restless and is looking for joy in his life. When he can't find it in Daisy, he gets a girlfriend named Myrtle. Tom finds excitement in cheating on Daisy. Although this feeling is only temporary because Myrtle later dies, and Tom shows that he did not care too much about her in the end. Tom's search for happiness never seems to be in his grasp. Daisy is a smart character whose hunt for happiness is shown by her behavior and lifestyle. She finds contentment n her life when she first meets Gatsby. After Jay leaves for the war Daisy needs someone else to make her happy so she marries Tom. At first Tom is a dream, but he turns out to be too wild for

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Some people love something or someone so much that they are willing to do whatever it takes to obtain or keep that special thing or person? In the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the main character Jay Gatsby is willing to sacrifice his life in order to obtain the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan. Characters in this book play a major role in the events that occur in the writing. In fact, some character’s actions affect other character’s lives forever.

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Daisy “wanted her life shaped now, immediately-and the decision must be made by some force-of love, of money, or unquestionable practicality-that was close at hand” (151). Tom provides security when it came to money and he fit the status quo. Daisy is more concerned about her social status than love. She would rather be  high end and classy instead of waiting for someone she loves. Eventually Daisy and Gatsby reunite, but this relationship does not last.

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Due the human nature, the pursuits of liberty, justice, and happiness have always been major concerns of humans throughout the history regardless of the way individuals connected and organized. Before phones or emails were even invented, the underprivileged individuals or groups congregated through “close ties”. In the recent years, individuals with “weak ties” adopt a different approach on similar activism with the help of various social media. Although these events are meant for similar intentions, their different communication methods induce an enormous distinction on their impacts, says Malcolm Gladwell in “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted”. He depicts that the movements by people bonding with “strong-ties”(Gladwell 405) tend to impact the society with substantial advancement through “high-risk activism”.

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Gatsby is extremely eager to start a life with Daisy and does several things to try to speed up the process – he works hard to be able to own a huge mansion and throw big parties, he gets Nick to re-introduce Daisy to him , he gives Daisy a tour of his house in hopes of her loving it enough to imagine living with him,

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Tom, Daisy’s immensely rich husband, gets into an argument with Gatsby that helps reveal to Gatsby that he has been perpetuating a juvenile delusion by blindly pursuing Daisy. In the middle of the heated conversation Daisy admits, “‘Even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom’”(Fitzgerald 133). At this point in the The Great Gatsby, the futility of Gatsby’s dreams becomes blatantly apparent. Gatsby has always considered Daisy as worthy of his endless devotion and chooses to see past her flaws. Over time Gatsby’s dream becomes more about the idea of Daisy and being in love rather than Daisy as she actually is.

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It has long been said that money can’t buy happiness, but still people continue to use it’s acquisition to try to make themselves happy. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the title character struggles with this realization. The book is set in New York during the ‘Roaring 20’s’, a time famous for its parties and lavishness. The book examines the attitudes toward money within the upper particularly through the lense of the new-money title character, Jay Gatsby. Gatsby dedicated his life to the acquisition of money with the goal of eventually acquiring the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan.

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Daisy! Daisy!" shouted Mrs. Wilson. "I 'll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai——"Making a short deft movement Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand. (2.124-6) After Tom’s treatment towards Myrtle makes us readers to understand that for him Myrtle is just another affair.

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No matter how much money someone has or how much they’ve accomplished, they will always desire more. In the book The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author shows that the greediness of characters results in only bad things. Tom, Gatsby, and Daisy in the book were only focused on their own wants and lost appreciation for what they already had. The book shows us this a lot with daisy and Tom's relationship, Daisy betraying Gatsby, and Gatsby using Nick to get Daisy.

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Although Gatsby does not seem to be a selfish man on the surface, his intentions and success may. He builds a ginormous mansion and throws extravagant parties all to get Daisy and her love back. Gatsby does all this for his good since all it consists of is having Daisy all to himself. The corruption and obsession of wealth is displayed through the characters Daisy, Tom and Gatsby as they live their lives in

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She chooses the extravagant lifestyle that Tom is capable of providing instead of patiently waiting for her true love. The self-centered desires she displays demonstrates the lack of authetic love she promised Gatsby. Instead, she marries Tom “without so much as a shiver”, demonstrating her hedonistic mindset (76). Since Tom treats Daisy with minimal care, she thoughtlessly dives into an adulterous affair with Jay Gatsby. With no severe intentions towards marriage, she always “ought to have something in her life” to fulfill her heart (79).

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The Great Gatsby to me, is absolutely the strongest example of a man and his pursuit of happiness. Mainly because in today's society the wealthy are often portrayed as the most happy. They have the nicest homes, the nicest cars, the newest gadgets, the best clothes, etc. We are lead to believe that because of these lavish lifestyles, such as Gatsby’s, that one is only able to achieve happiness through gross wealth and materialism.

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As god can 't even blame for an individual wanting what was beyond their capability. Striving for Daisy, The girl he once loves, who married a man that you would call the reflecting of the emptiness generation. Creating the newly rich Gatsby, fill with an illusion of party, guest, and love. between gatsby requoted love and subsequent re-animation of the flaws of humanity. Tom Buchanan is a man with alpha appearance.

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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.

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Loneliness Many Americans today claim that if one works hard, then they will not find true love,; Marche states that, “The price of self determination and self reliance has often been loneliness”. Loneliness is one of the main themes in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Gatsby, the main character, searches for true love his entire lifetime. He throws many extravagant parties in his house to feel less lonely and does everything he can to try and rekindle his past relationship with Daisy. Gatsby exemplifies that loneliness is at the core of being American because, he, a man living the American dream, wants contentment in his life, something that he never obtains.

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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.

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