The Great Catsby Themes and Motifs

Book Analyss

F. Scott Fitzgerald the author of "The Great Gatsby" reveals many principles about today's society and the "American dream." One of the biggest fears in today's world is the fear of not fitting into society. People of all age groups and backgrounds share this fear. Many individuals believe that to receive somebody's affection, they must assimilate into that person's society. In the story, Jay Gatsby pursues the American dream and his passions to be happy to only come to a tragedy and total loss. The author illustrates through the characters that the search of wealth, love, or fame or going after the past ideals may not lead to true happiness.

Jay Gatsby, the central figure of the story, is one character who longs for the past. Surprisingly he devotes most of his adult life trying to recapture it and, finally, dies in its pursuit. In the past, Jay had a love affair with the affluent Daisy. Knowing he could not marry her because of the difference in their social status, he leaves her to amass wealth to reach her economic standards. Once he acquires this wealth, he moves near to Daisy and buys a house there across the bay, and throws extravagant parties, hoping by chance she might show up at one of them. He, himself, does not attend his parties but watches them from a distance. Gatsby's personal dream symbolizes the larger American Dream where all have the opportunity to get what they want.

Gatsby decides to devote his whole life to achieving the material goods with which to satisfy Daisy. The Quote, "Her voice is full of money," is said about Daisy by Gatsby.(76) To me this means that she has been raised rich and will always remain rich, which is the American dream. He lives in the past on a moment of absolute happiness hoping he can relive that state of emotion sometime in the future. Jay Gatsby, like any normal person, wants to fit into society. His feelings for Daisy make him strive to achieve that goal. In the novel "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby attempts to fit into Daisy's society by any means available.

The only way Jay makes enough money to enable him to be able to live near Daisy is by bootlegging, an illegal activity. Tom, Daisy's husband, later in the story reveals the truth about Gatsby's business and tries to tell everyone. Gatsby wants to assimilate so badly that he commits crimes in order to get rich quickly. His love for Daisy clouds his mind. This shows that sometimes in pursue of love, a person may do absurd things. Since Daisy was married, that was another obstacle that kept him from getting what he wanted. Nick attempts to show Jay the folly of his dream, but Jay innocently replies to Nick's assertion that the past cannot be relived by saying, "Yes you can, old sport."(83) This shows the confidence that Jay has in fulfilling his American Dream. For Jay, his American Dream is not material possessions, although it may seem that way. He only comes into riches so that he can fulfill his true American Dream, Daisy.

When Gatsby's dream doesn't happen, he asks around casually if anyone knows Daisy. Then when he meets Nick Carraway, a cousin of Daisy, who finally agrees to set up a meeting, and reunite the old friends. After a short time, Tom grows increasingly suspicious of his wife's relationship with Gatsby. At a luncheon at the Buchanans' house, Gatsby stares at Daisy with such undisguised passion that Tom realizes Gatsby is in love with her.

That is when Tom reveals to everyone about Jay Gatsby's business. They find out that really he didn't graduate from Oxford and that his family is not rich. Jay's parents are poor farmers and Gatsby just got rich fast with illegal business. But Later, in the Plaza Hotel, Jay still believes that Daisy loves him. So Tom sends Gatsby with Daisy back home from Plaza Hotel. Then later when Nick, Jordan, and Tom drive through the valley of ashes, however, they discover that Gatsby's car has struck and killed Myrtle, Tom's previous secret lover. Gatsby takes the blame even though Daisy was driving. The next day, Tom tells Myrtle's husband, George, that Gatsby was the driver of the car. George, who has leapt to the conclusion that the driver of the car that killed Myrtle must have been her lover, finds Gatsby in the pool at his mansion and shoots him dead. He then fatally shoots himself.

The author uses very dimensional characters putting the reader in Gatsby's shoes and seeing what the reader would do in the same situation. But that leads