Throughout the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby spends close to his entire adult life chasing after Daisy’s love. Everything Gatsby has done is with intent on impressing Daisy and getting her attention. From buying his house purposely across from hers, to throwing big extravagant parties. With that being said everything Gatsby did was at first worth it to him because Daisy was everything Gatsby thought he wanted and more. He was in love with the idea of Daisy not much herself. Although Daisy did love Gatsby, she did not truly love him for everything he was; rather, she loved him for his money and everything he did for her. This is why she also loved Tom. With Tom, Daisy was given security and …show more content…
Daisy’s parents did not want them together because Gatsby was poor. Just with their luck, Gatsby got sent out to war. Once he returned from war he knew he had to make money to be able to be with Daisy. This enabled Gatsby to get involved in illegal activities such as bootlegging and other crimes. ‘"That drug store business was just small change… ‘but you've got something on now that Walter's afraid to tell me about.”’ (141) This quote explains how Tom did research on Gatsby and found out the lies Gatsby has been living. If the drug store was “small change” there must have been more to what Gatsby was doing to get money for Daisy’s love. Gatsby used the illegal money to purchase his mansion to catch the eye of Daisy. “‘I want you and Daisy to come over to my house,’ he said. ‘I’d like to show her around.”’ (95) This shows that Gatsby only wanted to showcase his house to Daisy so that she would see his luxury and want him back. It is also described that Gatsby wanted to wait to have Daisy over to make his lawn and appearance of his house better. Furthermore, Gatsby even threw parties once a week to impress Daisy. Nick said, “I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes.” (97) This quote clearly explains that Gatsby’s actions are solely for Daisy. Gatsby will keep the motivation trying to win over Daisy’s …show more content…
He remembers how she used to be when he first fell in love with her before leaving to war. Gatsby tries to recapture the past that once was love between them. “‘I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before,’ he said, nodding determinedly.”’(117) This shows Gatsby getting defensive when Nick tried telling him things can not be the same with him and Daisy. Gatsby continues to carry this wishful image in his head of Daisy, but, it is more the idea of her than actually being with her. “Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever… His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.” (98) Daisy represented the vanished green light at the end of Gatsby's dock. Gatsby’s dream of being with Daisy became harsh reality now that he is with her. He realizes that Daisy is not who he pictured her to be. “She wanted her life shaped now, immediately-- and the decision must be made by some force-- of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality--that was close at hand.”(159) This quote is an eye opener for Gatsby because Daisy makes the decision of who she is going to be with based off of these factors, not love. That makes Gatsby realize he needs to move on without