Great Gatsby Essay

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The Great Gatsby Essay

The Great Gatsby, by F Scott Fitzgerald, describes the experiences of a poor man who gets inspiration from the idea of the American dream and starts developing his personality to change his social circumstances. He achieves the status of a popular figure among the elite class of 1920s America but his past memories still haunt him. He knows about his past life as an average soldier and his present as an established businessman, because of two reasons. First of all, he achieves a high status in society to attract Daisy and woo her again. Secondly, he is well aware of America's failing economy in the era of the great depression. This essay views these two reasons and highlights the impact of the past on Gatsby's present and future.

In his past life, Gatsby was in love with Daisy but because of his low social status, she preferred Tom Buchanan over the former. Gatsby builds his character and aligned his thought process according to the aristocratic ways. As at the end of the novel, the contents of his diary reveal the activities and hours he spends on his personal development. His desire to be reunited with Daisy never ended and he threw lavish parties to attract Daisy and bring her attention towards his wealth. Likewise, his soul aim behind acquiring prosperity and influential status was affected by the idea of the American dream. However, he never wanted to seek financial pursuits as compared to Tom Buchanan. Daisy preferred wealth and high social status over the virtues of true love and affection. For instance, these lines evoke the significance of past in the life of Jay Gatsby as “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (Fitzgerald 193). The green light emitting from Daisy’s lavish East egg dock symbolizes Gatsby’s unrest state to approach her again in his present life so that they can get to spend future life together as well. The lights coming out of his villa embody his present status and his disassociation with his luxuries because they are just a source of attraction to make Daisy happy. When Nick expresses his opinion that the past cannot be repeated, Gatsby immediately says “Can’t repeat the past?” …... “Why of course you can!” (Fitzgerald 118). He is living in his past and wants to attain the status of a romantic lover once again.

As discussed earlier, for Gatsby wealth was only a source to retain the attention of Daisy, however, he was also well informed about America’s falling economic state since the times of great depression. Besides, his past struggles made him realize the importance of riches and financial status to get ahead of his competitors. Likewise, in the past, he suffered the loss of unrequited love and he never wanted to let go of Daisy in his newly found life. He attracted people with money but he had never been adamant to make contacts in the entrepreneur world because of the selfish nature of masses. He invested his energies to acquiring money and never looked back. Moreover, the past experiences reshaped his outlook about his present and future life. When Nick showed interest in Gatsby’s wealth and wanted to become rich like the latter, he was cautioned by Gatsby “There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired” (Fitzgerald 86). This dialogue signifies the ruthless nature of both the American dream and the time of great depression since the harsh realities of life made him turn black money into white money. He lived among strangers but never developed personal ties with them since money allured people only when he became rich. Quite on the contrary, in his past, he was an idealist and an outcast among the aristocratic class. He expressed his opinion about these people as They’re a rotten crowd’, I shouted across the lawn. ‘You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together” (Fitzgerald 164). He turned into a realist and knew that he could not get the attention of Daisy and high class without wealth.

The Great Gatsby captures the essence of the past on the present and future prospects of Jay Gatsby because his past served as a driving force to lure Daisy again through his wealth. Similarly, after toiling so hard he never wanted to go back to his past life because, in the Jazz era, low classes were treated as social outcasts.

Work Cited

Fitzgerald, Francis Scott. The Great Gatsby (1925). na, 1995.