The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel about hesitation. A love triangle among the residents of Long Island neighborhoods grows tighter with tension after every chapter. Two powerful rich men, Tom Buchannan and Jay Gatsby, are both in love with a woman named Daisy. Tom is her husband, rich with family inheritance, and not completely committed to the idea of a monogamous marriage. Gatsby, a former lover, now wealthy, and has plotted his reunion with Daisy for years. With the narrator Nick Caraway helplessly witnessing yet giving support to both sides, we watch as each character in the novel hesitates to make decisions. Nick hesitates to commit romantically to those close to him. Tom hesitates to commit to his wife Daisy. Daisy
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We see the same hesitation in his new relationship with the golfer Jordan Baker. Jordan’s feelings towards Nick are obvious, but it seems Nick is uncomfortable with the idea of the two of them together, “It’s only half past nine”, she said. “I’d be damned if I’d go in; I’d had enough of all of them for one day, and suddenly that included Jordan too. She must have seen something of this in my expression, for she turned abruptly away and ran up the porch steps into the house. I sat down for a few minutes with my head in my hands…” (142). Nick is again faced with an important romantic decision, and his inability to answer leaves Jordan angry, and he himself confused and frustrated. Nick is scared of commitment, but is too nice and thoughtful to reject those that confide in him. So why did Nick leave the east after one summer in Long Island? Similar to when he escaped from Minnesota, Nick couldn’t face the reality that he would have to choose. Combine this with Gatsby’s death; Nick could not mentally go on longer on Long Island.
Gatsby’s hesitation is the polar opposite compared to Nick’s. Like Nick, Gatsby is in a romantic relationship. The major difference is that Gatsby has been awaiting his decision to tell Daisy he loves her, not avoiding it. Being the ambitious and single-minded man he is, Gatsby achieved his wealth with a goal in mind. He bought a mansion and held major parties, with a goal in mind. Gatsby wanted to win back the girl who once loved him. His pause is purposeful, he wants to have the relationship that he had with Daisy when he had no money. The only problem is that Daisy is married to a man named Tom
We see the same hesitation in his new relationship with the golfer Jordan Baker. Jordan’s feelings towards Nick are obvious, but it seems Nick is uncomfortable with the idea of the two of them together, “It’s only half past nine”, she said. “I’d be damned if I’d go in; I’d had enough of all of them for one day, and suddenly that included Jordan too. She must have seen something of this in my expression, for she turned abruptly away and ran up the porch steps into the house. I sat down for a few minutes with my head in my hands…” (142). Nick is again faced with an important romantic decision, and his inability to answer leaves Jordan angry, and he himself confused and frustrated. Nick is scared of commitment, but is too nice and thoughtful to reject those that confide in him. So why did Nick leave the east after one summer in Long Island? Similar to when he escaped from Minnesota, Nick couldn’t face the reality that he would have to choose. Combine this with Gatsby’s death; Nick could not mentally go on longer on Long Island.
Gatsby’s hesitation is the polar opposite compared to Nick’s. Like Nick, Gatsby is in a romantic relationship. The major difference is that Gatsby has been awaiting his decision to tell Daisy he loves her, not avoiding it. Being the ambitious and single-minded man he is, Gatsby achieved his wealth with a goal in mind. He bought a mansion and held major parties, with a goal in mind. Gatsby wanted to win back the girl who once loved him. His pause is purposeful, he wants to have the relationship that he had with Daisy when he had no money. The only problem is that Daisy is married to a man named Tom