Poverty In The Great Gatsby

In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Nick tells how Gatsby has continually created himself to escape his roots of poverty. As an adult, Gatsby's focus changes from moving up the social ladder to obtaining what he believes as the American Dream. For him, that dream lies with the character of Daisy. However, Gatsby will never feel content as he tries to replicate the past as the present, in a hunt for what he longs for most.
To achieve his goal of escaping his childhood of poverty, Gatsby created himself from the ground up as a child, as he knew what to accomplish and grow toward. As seen in the schedule he made, he wrote down everything he felt he had an importance to do and to better his future. Because of his plans, he set the foundation …show more content…
After meeting Daisy, he makes it his overarching goal to marry her. With Daisy as his goal, Gatsby works hard to make her love him. He arranges everything precisely to do so. As witnessed in “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay ” and “I think he half expected [Daisy] to wander into one of his parties, some night, went on Jordan, but she never did. Then he began asking people casually if they knew her, and I was the first one he found” (83), revealing that he meticulously sought for Daisy for the purpose of arranging a connection between them after years. Similarly, Gatsby works hard in other ways to get Daisy to love him. As he remembers why she left him, he knows that she desires a wealthy man, whom that can satisfy her love and taste in the finer things. In the wake of getting the ability to meet Daisy again, he tries to recover her affection by attempting to inspire her with his riches by displaying it to the best of his capability. As detailed in ““He sends over a selection of things at the beginning of each season, spring and fall." He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel…” (97) and “““I want you and Daisy to come over to my house," he said, "I'd like to show her around.” In addition to those actions made by Gatsby to attract the love of Daisy, he also …show more content…
Gatsby tries to repeat his association with Daisy like previously, despite the fact that she has turned out to be more shallow and desires more riches than previously, while furthermore developing her in his brain throughout the years. She has become what Gatsby does not dream of, creating an inability to feel content. As detailed by Nick, “[Gatsby] had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that is was already behind him, somewhere …beyond the city…” (189), discussing the struggle Gatsby has in obtaining his American Dream-- searching and working for a loving relationship with Daisy that had already ended. Nick then goes on saying “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It ended us then, but that’s no matter---tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther… And one fine morning… borne back ceaselessly in the past” (189), discussing the hope Gatsby has to reach for his goal of love, but forever moving away from him in a forever search of tomorrow accomplishing his goal of the American Dream and always failing. In his search of the American Dream, Gatsby will never feel satisfied as he will always move farther and farther away from