Gatsby’s Undeniable Love for the Past
Throughout the course of a person’s life, many people tend to regret mistakes they have made in their past or missed opportunities that they wished they could’ve taken advantage of. One author in particular portrays the regrets of an infamous character as he reflected on his life in the past and thinks about how to recover it. This specific author uses many different techniques in order to show Gatsby’s undeniable past. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses imagery and diction to portray Gatsby’s dreams that are focused on the past and the deep affection Gatsby has for Daisy which ultimately causes Gatsby’s reality to deteriorate.
Many speculate that Gatsby is a rich and a flawless young man who throws …show more content…
In this quote, Fitzgerald identifies a certain aspect of Daisy through his use of descriptive words and displaying a picture for the reader that Gatsby does not seem to be able to let go of. Fitzgerald is leading to the fact that Gatsby continued to linger in the past which is allowing his daily life to be affected negatively. Gatsby’s dreams preoccupy the void of Gatsby’s thoughts in that the present is the past and reality is just a large misconception which ultimately causes Gatsby’s perception of Daisy to slowly deteriorate. After Gatsby had put his arm around Daisy on the dock, “There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams—not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion” (Fitzgerald 95). Daisy had fallen short of Gatsby’s expectation because Gatsby had developed this idealistic view of how perfect Daisy was supposed to be. Gatsby had expected for Daisy to be so much more, but sadly, Gatsby had longed to relive the past as if it was the perfect ending to their love story, but Gatsby’s dreams …show more content…
Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy ultimately leads to his downfall because he imagines, “…nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: “I never loved you.”…[and] after she was free, they were to go back to Louisville and be married from her house—just as if it were five years ago” (Fitzgerald 109). This idea Gatsby has preoccupied his life, for many years now, and has become an obsession that there will never be another man Daisy loves, but this idea ultimately consumes Gatsby as he lashes out with a vulgar tone to Daisy making “…[her] sob helplessly. [And say] “I did love him once—but I loved you too” (Fitzgerald 132). Fitzgerald portrays the hurt and pain that both Tom and Daisy are experiencing in different ways through words such as, “sob, helplessly, love,” and many others. Gatsby has become defensive and realizes that his dream is “dead” and has faltered, which starts the process of reality collapsing down on his shoulders. Fitzgerald also uses depressing and saddening diction when describing Gatsby’s mental state at the moment which lets the reader into Gatsby’s emotions as he continues to live in his past. Gatsby creates this fantasy for himself, which ultimately leads to his downfall because he was so far detached from reality that he made his past, his present. Gatsby tried to make everything the same after returning from the war, but time
Throughout the course of a person’s life, many people tend to regret mistakes they have made in their past or missed opportunities that they wished they could’ve taken advantage of. One author in particular portrays the regrets of an infamous character as he reflected on his life in the past and thinks about how to recover it. This specific author uses many different techniques in order to show Gatsby’s undeniable past. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses imagery and diction to portray Gatsby’s dreams that are focused on the past and the deep affection Gatsby has for Daisy which ultimately causes Gatsby’s reality to deteriorate.
Many speculate that Gatsby is a rich and a flawless young man who throws …show more content…
In this quote, Fitzgerald identifies a certain aspect of Daisy through his use of descriptive words and displaying a picture for the reader that Gatsby does not seem to be able to let go of. Fitzgerald is leading to the fact that Gatsby continued to linger in the past which is allowing his daily life to be affected negatively. Gatsby’s dreams preoccupy the void of Gatsby’s thoughts in that the present is the past and reality is just a large misconception which ultimately causes Gatsby’s perception of Daisy to slowly deteriorate. After Gatsby had put his arm around Daisy on the dock, “There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams—not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion” (Fitzgerald 95). Daisy had fallen short of Gatsby’s expectation because Gatsby had developed this idealistic view of how perfect Daisy was supposed to be. Gatsby had expected for Daisy to be so much more, but sadly, Gatsby had longed to relive the past as if it was the perfect ending to their love story, but Gatsby’s dreams …show more content…
Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy ultimately leads to his downfall because he imagines, “…nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: “I never loved you.”…[and] after she was free, they were to go back to Louisville and be married from her house—just as if it were five years ago” (Fitzgerald 109). This idea Gatsby has preoccupied his life, for many years now, and has become an obsession that there will never be another man Daisy loves, but this idea ultimately consumes Gatsby as he lashes out with a vulgar tone to Daisy making “…[her] sob helplessly. [And say] “I did love him once—but I loved you too” (Fitzgerald 132). Fitzgerald portrays the hurt and pain that both Tom and Daisy are experiencing in different ways through words such as, “sob, helplessly, love,” and many others. Gatsby has become defensive and realizes that his dream is “dead” and has faltered, which starts the process of reality collapsing down on his shoulders. Fitzgerald also uses depressing and saddening diction when describing Gatsby’s mental state at the moment which lets the reader into Gatsby’s emotions as he continues to live in his past. Gatsby creates this fantasy for himself, which ultimately leads to his downfall because he was so far detached from reality that he made his past, his present. Gatsby tried to make everything the same after returning from the war, but time