“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards” Søren Kierkegaard. While the past is important we can’t live there. We must go forward in life not backward, advice Jay Gatsby would have benefited from. Gatsby went to some extremes trying to recreate his past and paid the price. When one lives their life in the past the only thing that will become of it is misfortune.
Gatsby spent a majority of the five years he and Daisy were apart trying to get back to her. Allowing the idea of meeting and getting Daisy back control his every action. It took three years for him to save enough money to buy the house across from her. He even had extravagant parties to try and lure Daisy to him. Gatsby would go out of his way on a regular basis, if only to hear about Daisy. “‘...he’s read a Chicago paper for years just on the chance of catching a glimpse of Daisy’s name’”(79). It’d been 5 years since they …show more content…
When they finally met again, Gatsby thought he was in a dream. “...he was consumed with wonder at her presence. He had been full of the idea so long, he had dreamed it right to the end...”(92). He’d planned to be with her for so long that he couldn’t believe she was real. Gatsby’s fantasy didn’t want to simply see Daisy again but for them to run away and be together. Wanting her to say she never loved Tom, to forget and dismiss the last 5 years and run away with him. The fantasy crumbled when Daisy refused. “‘Even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom,’ she admitted in a pitiful voice. ‘It wouldn’t be true’” (133). Even after everything had collapsed Gatsby couldn’t except that she loved Tom. The idea of Daisy was to much of a fantasy to be real. Expecting someone to make the past 5 years of their lives to disappear is too much. Gatsby had spent his life waiting for someone who couldn’t live up to his expectations. Leaving him, in his mind, with nothing else but
Gatsby spent a majority of the five years he and Daisy were apart trying to get back to her. Allowing the idea of meeting and getting Daisy back control his every action. It took three years for him to save enough money to buy the house across from her. He even had extravagant parties to try and lure Daisy to him. Gatsby would go out of his way on a regular basis, if only to hear about Daisy. “‘...he’s read a Chicago paper for years just on the chance of catching a glimpse of Daisy’s name’”(79). It’d been 5 years since they …show more content…
When they finally met again, Gatsby thought he was in a dream. “...he was consumed with wonder at her presence. He had been full of the idea so long, he had dreamed it right to the end...”(92). He’d planned to be with her for so long that he couldn’t believe she was real. Gatsby’s fantasy didn’t want to simply see Daisy again but for them to run away and be together. Wanting her to say she never loved Tom, to forget and dismiss the last 5 years and run away with him. The fantasy crumbled when Daisy refused. “‘Even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom,’ she admitted in a pitiful voice. ‘It wouldn’t be true’” (133). Even after everything had collapsed Gatsby couldn’t except that she loved Tom. The idea of Daisy was to much of a fantasy to be real. Expecting someone to make the past 5 years of their lives to disappear is too much. Gatsby had spent his life waiting for someone who couldn’t live up to his expectations. Leaving him, in his mind, with nothing else but