Variation On The Word Sleep Analysis

Improved Essays
Hope is a Child’s Game “Variation on the Word Sleep,” by Margaret Atwood is a short poem about a man who wants to be with a woman in bed everyday and envisions watching the simple actions of the woman of his dreams. The continuous mentioning of watching the partner sleep and do various actions resembles how Jay Gatsby visions his interactions with Daisy Buchanan and what happens throughout their time of being together. Gatsby’s desire to have Daisy in his arms, demonstrates concept of the hope that drives Gatsby to carry out his persuasions for Daisy. Gatsby 's desire for Daisy was always evident throughout the novel, he is greatly influenced by the beauty and thought of Daisy. The speaker of the poem has great hope to be with his love even …show more content…
However, those saying this have not thought of the negative impact it has. Jay Gatsby lives in a fantasy world where Daisy’s love is for him and always will be. Gatsby’s eyesight is blurred because of the hope he has. The hope lessens the common sense Gatsby should have upon the fat of money being the reason Daisy is going to be with him. Daisy clearly is in love with the material things and cannot be without it. Gatsby tries to show that he is capable of supporting Daisy but Daisy does not want to leave her life with Tom. This behaviour of thinking money will sustain their relationships demonstrates that he is a child still. He continuously thinks that the love from five years prior will push Daisy to fall for him once again. However, he does not realize that he is stuck in the past and that the pursuing of Daisy is gone. The actions he carries out only only shows that he is in a dream world himself. The poem takes on the role of being the dream within the green light. The hope to have the green light in his hands, proves that Gatsby’s hope is distorting reality. It is quite impossible that Gatsby will ever have he green light in his hand much less even Daisy. “Variation on the Word Sleep” is the thought Gatsby has whenever he envisions the green light or Daisy. The hope within the poem supports Gatsby’s desires but it also proves that Gatsby is only able to be in Daisy’s dreams when he himself thinks about it. Daisy does not think of Gatsby when she sleeps. Gatsby hopes one day he will access to guide Daisy in reality and her dreams. Hope is a strong sensation, it controls how someone thinks and what they do. Gatsby allows for this to control his life, disallowing for any thoughts of reasoning to interfere. The reason Gatsby death is justified is because his hope is what kills him, the believing that Daisy wants him is what kills him. The hope he might have been drove him to become The

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    It is Gatsby who destroys the Great Self ------so we should “beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” Life is blended up with dream and memory. Believe it or not, when people are trying to “run faster, stretch out [their] arms further” to chase their fantasy, one vital thing is always missing—the pure and the ingenuous heart they had when they were young. Jay Gatsby, or James Gats, the main character from one of the most renowned novel in the U.S. history: The Great Gatsby, is also not an exception. With a humble beginning, the young Gats decides to keep improving himself through hard work and careful plans to get him ahead, so that he is able to change his destiny fully and “be better to parents.”…

    • 1295 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When Nick comes home, Gatsby startles him by approaching him from across the lawn and inviting him to come with him to Coney Island or to come and swim in his pool. Nick realizes he just wants him to agree to make plans for him and tells Gatsby that he will help by inviting Daisy over for tea. Gatsby is delighted and says he wants someone to cut Nick’s grass and that he can also help him earn some money by joining him in a suspicious sounding business he does on the side, but Nick declines both offers. The next day, while is it raining, Gatsby sends someone to cut the grass and sends many flowers. When Gatsby arrives, he is noticeably extremely nervous.…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Analyse how The Great Gatsby and Browning’s poetry imaginatively portray individuals who challenge the established values of their time. The Great Gatsby through narrative text style, and Barrett Browning’s poetry through Petrarchan sonnet form, both portray individuals who not only challenge accepted values of their time but may also adhere to certain values. Despite the immensely dissimilar contexts the texts are derived from, we are able to compare challenged or accepted values within them as the share particular themes such as love and gender roles. The novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays the character of Gatsby who challenges accepted values of class and money, but adheres to value of courtly love, popular in his time.…

    • 1049 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Great Gatsby Essay A person cannot discover their true feelings about another until after they have passed on. After the death of his friend and neighbor Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway reflects back on Gatsby and his life and the effect Gatsby had on his life and his outlook on the world. In the twentieth century novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses metaphors, symbolism, and diction to reveal different aspects of Nick Carraway’s cynical yet sympathetic attitude towards Jay Gatsby.…

    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Research Paper Outline Name: Brianna Bracey Class:__Red___ Introduction: Just after World War 1, the US experienced huge changes that involved all aspects of American life. The Great War left those with despair. To shake off the misery and shell-shock, young people broke away from traditional values and embraced all things modern and new.…

    • 1449 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “Life takes on meaning when you become motivated, set goals and charge after them in an unstoppable manner” (Brown). Throughout life, people often pursue goals. These goals can range from job promotions to romantic partners and everything in between. Often times, people are reminded of their goals by a certain object as well. However, one cannot rewrite the past.…

    • 1292 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Gatsby had been praying to erase the past couple of years to get back Daisy. Through negative imagery and diction, Gatsby tries to erase the past to get together with Daisy but it…

    • 1466 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Imagine constructing your entire life around one dream. Everything you do is in pursuit of this goal and you ultimately let it take over your life. This dream will become an obsession and in the end it may never come true. In F. Scott Fitzgerald`s novel The Great Gatsby, the protagonist, Jay Gatsby, lives his life solely to win back the heart of Daisy Buchanan. Over time he becomes so caught up in his fixation with Daisy that he loses his grip on reality.…

    • 1622 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gatsby’s change in manner, his decisions, and his actions all revolve around Daisy and his dream to relive what he missed in his youth. Essentially Gatsby wants to give Daisy the life she deserves. In their youth, Gatsby was in reality, James Gatz, a poor soldier who had nothing to offer to the girl who already had everything. So, logically…

    • 1203 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The corruption of the American Dream is a prevalent theme in classic literature, as it highlights the falsified illusions of social mobility and power commonly promoted during the early twentieth century. The motivation for socio-economic inclination is generally consumed by materialism and shallowness in an effort to satisfy the constant lack of self fulfillment, which inevitably leads to self destruction. Many people blindly accept the idealistic concept of social and economic mobility only to discover its unattainableness. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald explores the corruption underlying the pursuit of the American Dream through Jay Gatsby. In an effort to captivate Daisy’s attention, Jay Gatsby publicly displays his wealth and…

    • 903 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Since he is always thinking about the past, he can not understand the present situation, especially with Daisy. Gatsby thinks he can swoop in and take Daisy from Tom because Daisy “never loved [Tom]” (Fitzgerald 132). This is false because it is not that easy to just take away someone’s wife like Gatsby dreams of doing. Since Gatsby is so excited by the fact that he will be able to re-experience his past with Daisy, he is blind to the current situation in front of him, which eventually leads to his…

    • 1267 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Daisy still thought she had everything. Wealth, love and happiness, which all fall into the category of The American dream, but she discovers that she has nothing. Daisy actually has a child who doesn’t seem significant to her. The kid is never around, which shows quite a bit about Daisy. When her kid was born, Daisy said, “I’m glad it’s a girl.…

    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Regular Sleep Analysis

    • 1113 Words
    • 5 Pages

    We constantly hear that sleep is an important factor in our lives. It helps us improve our memory, can spur creativity, improve grades, enhance athletic performance and much more! It has great benefits that can ensure a healthier, happier lifestyle. In a recent article written by David Stuart Jr. there were statements referring to facets people usually do before or during their sleep. He stated things such as “A newly filled belly might help you fall asleep quicker, but your sleep isn’t as deep as it could be otherwise.”…

    • 1113 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The author showing us that Daisy only falls back in love with Gatsby because she see what he now has and how rich he really is. This shows us that during the 1920’s society’s attitude towards wealth was that if you had money you could get whatever you wanted in life. In today’s world it seems to be exactly the same for example in a Nine MSN article written by Lowri Turner she says this “A man exists not as an equal partner in a kind, loving, relationship, but merely as someone to be fleeced for as much money as possible.” This quote tells us that in relationships females see rich males to be a soul provider to all high end items as they carry…

    • 1410 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Lack Of Sleep Analysis

    • 1371 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Baggy eyes and complaints of lack of sleep are conditions that can be seen or heard every time one goes to work or class. After reading an article entitled “Can People Get by on Four Hours ' of Sleep?” where figures like Margaret Thatcher was praised for their ability to accomplish what they did while reportedly only sleeping approximately four hours a night. Sleepless nights are not only over-glorified but spreading like wildfire. Not only for the typical young adult like myself juggling school, work and relationships but even our world 's leaders and everyone in between. Get off work late, finish an assignment, and go to bed, only to have to be forced out of bed three hours later and do it all over again.…

    • 1371 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays