Robert Louis Stevenson said, “To travel hopefully is better than to arrive.” Many teenagers focus so much of their time on making their “perfect” futures. They want their dream houses, perfect family, and dream jobs. In reality, most of these teens will not end up with their perfect futures. This leads to disappointment and sometimes a feeling of failure. Stevenson is explaining in his quote that the hope and anticipation is usually better than the actual results. Teenagers can still map out their dream futures, but they should be aware that the results may not meet expectations. This message is also portrayed in “The Far and the Near” by Thomas Wolfe and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Focusing on the present is more beneficial than …show more content…
“The vision of the little house and the women waving to him with a brave free motion of the arm had become fixed in the mind of the engineer as something beautiful and enduring, something beyond all change and ruin, and something that would always be the same, no matter what mishap, grief, or error might break the iron schedule of his days” (Wolfe) He imagines the woman as kind and friendly, but she turns out to be the opposite. Similarly Gatsby, the main character from The Great Gatsby, keeps fantasizing about Daisy, his lover from many years ago that he wishes was still the same. “‘I don’t think she ever loved him.’ Gatsby turned around from a window and looked at me challengingly ‘You must remember, old sport, she was very excited this afternoon…” (Fitzgerald 152) This quote shows how focused he is on writing Daisy’s past and future instead of focusing on the present. Because he fell in love with her so many years ago, he imagines she is exactly the same. He sees Daisy as something she isn’t and wastes a lot of his life dreaming about a future that never actually will exist for him. He sees her like the green light from the edge of the dock, completely obtainable, but only to him. …show more content…
In The Great Gatsby, this is exactly what Gatsby does with his dream of Daisy. He and Daisy were together when they were younger, but they had been away from each other for about five years. In that time, Gatsby had idealized Daisy. His memories of her were altered in a way that he remembers her as this perfect being that will always and only love him. Nick says, “He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: ‘I never loved you.’” (Fitzgerald 109) Gatsby would do anything for Daisy. He fires all of his servants because of “the disapproval in her eyes.” (Fitzgerald 114) Likewise, he is willing to take the blame for murdering Myrtle to protect Daisy, and he definitely pays the price when George Wilson shoots and kills Gatsby. Nevertheless, Daisy still never meets Gatsby’s expectations. When Gatsby decides to tell Tom that he and Daisy had been seeing each other, Gatsby expects her to agree with him when he says, “Just tell him the truth--that you never loved him--and it’s all wiped out forever,” (Fitzgerald 132) but Daisy instead replies, “I can’t say I never loved Tom. It wouldn’t be true.” (Fitzgerald 133) Gatsby expects too much out of her, and Daisy cannot meet up to his expectations because he envisioned her to be something she is not. She cannot live up to the fantasy he created for himself. Similarly, the
Focusing on the present is more beneficial than …show more content…
“The vision of the little house and the women waving to him with a brave free motion of the arm had become fixed in the mind of the engineer as something beautiful and enduring, something beyond all change and ruin, and something that would always be the same, no matter what mishap, grief, or error might break the iron schedule of his days” (Wolfe) He imagines the woman as kind and friendly, but she turns out to be the opposite. Similarly Gatsby, the main character from The Great Gatsby, keeps fantasizing about Daisy, his lover from many years ago that he wishes was still the same. “‘I don’t think she ever loved him.’ Gatsby turned around from a window and looked at me challengingly ‘You must remember, old sport, she was very excited this afternoon…” (Fitzgerald 152) This quote shows how focused he is on writing Daisy’s past and future instead of focusing on the present. Because he fell in love with her so many years ago, he imagines she is exactly the same. He sees Daisy as something she isn’t and wastes a lot of his life dreaming about a future that never actually will exist for him. He sees her like the green light from the edge of the dock, completely obtainable, but only to him. …show more content…
In The Great Gatsby, this is exactly what Gatsby does with his dream of Daisy. He and Daisy were together when they were younger, but they had been away from each other for about five years. In that time, Gatsby had idealized Daisy. His memories of her were altered in a way that he remembers her as this perfect being that will always and only love him. Nick says, “He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: ‘I never loved you.’” (Fitzgerald 109) Gatsby would do anything for Daisy. He fires all of his servants because of “the disapproval in her eyes.” (Fitzgerald 114) Likewise, he is willing to take the blame for murdering Myrtle to protect Daisy, and he definitely pays the price when George Wilson shoots and kills Gatsby. Nevertheless, Daisy still never meets Gatsby’s expectations. When Gatsby decides to tell Tom that he and Daisy had been seeing each other, Gatsby expects her to agree with him when he says, “Just tell him the truth--that you never loved him--and it’s all wiped out forever,” (Fitzgerald 132) but Daisy instead replies, “I can’t say I never loved Tom. It wouldn’t be true.” (Fitzgerald 133) Gatsby expects too much out of her, and Daisy cannot meet up to his expectations because he envisioned her to be something she is not. She cannot live up to the fantasy he created for himself. Similarly, the