The Power Of The Past In The Great Gatsby

Improved Essays
For most people when the present becomes the past they move on with their lives and forget about it. However, some people can't accept that the past is over and strive to go back. In the novel ‘The Great Gatsby’, Gatsby has a problem accepting that the past is over and tries to recapture it. Though, this is impossible he does everything he can to accomplish his goal. His goal of getting Daisy to love him is ultimately shattered. When people try to relive the past the they end up with a lot of lost hope.
Gatsby and Daisy were madly in love five years prior, when Gatsby went off to war he wanted to come back a greater and richer man for her. After achieving these things he found out that Daisy had already married to Tom Buchanan. From here on

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Gatsby and Daisy were in love, however, she never saw Gatsby as an option for marriage, because he was yet to be rich, so she moved on to Tom. Because Daisy came from old money, it was expected of her to marry in the same social tier, but Gatsby never gave up hope. Everything he did after he met Daisy to become successful was for her. When they were reunited it was apparent that Daisy was the one in control of Gatsby, even if that wasn’t necessarily her intention. Gatsby was much more concerned with impressing Daisy than she was impressing him.…

    • 1118 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    he cried incredulously, “why of course you can!” He looked around him wildly, as if the past we here in the shadows of his house, just out of reach” (FItzgerald 110). Gatsby ached for the past and he spent so much of his life just dreaming of what it would be like to have Daisy again. He imagined this so much so, that when finally was brought face to face with Daisy again, however happy he was, he was also disappointed and underwhelmed: “As I went to say good-by I saw that expression of bewilderment had come back into Gatsby’s face, as though a faint doubt had occurred to him as to the quality of his present happiness. Almost five years!…

    • 1425 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For him, it is alright to use every resource he has to attract Daisy. This is reinforced, stating, “of course you can [repeat the past]!” revealing Gatsby’s illusions about the situation (pg. 110). He believes that Daisy will fall in love with him, and leave Tom for him. He reminisces about the past, “when he kissed the girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions,” portraying an image of him making his dream, having Daisy, into a reality (pg. 110).…

    • 1458 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Wealth, stability, and success. These three words best described the United States during the Roaring ‘20’s. To have those three things was every American’s goal, and it was what attracted foreigners to America. Wealth, stability, and success are also the major components of what is known as the “American Dream”. Throughout the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the American Dream is a major theme.…

    • 1194 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    A dream deferred can be described as having a specific goal in mind, but that goal somehow ends up delayed. In both “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald the idea of deferred dreams is clearly portrayed through the characters of Walter Younger and Jay Gatsby. Walter Younger and Jay Gatsby are two completely different characters, but they are similar in wanting to achieve their dreams. Walter dreams of owning a liquor store but that has not been able to happen because of his poverty and the prejudice in his society. Gatsby dreams that the lies he surrounds himself with will become real resulting in Daisy loving him again, but reality catching up to him is what stands in his way.…

    • 1286 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Gatsby had been praying to erase the past couple of years to get back Daisy. Through negative imagery and diction, Gatsby tries to erase the past to get together with Daisy but it…

    • 1466 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He says, “I knew it was a great mistake for a man like me to fall in love.” All Gatsby wants is the love of his life, Daisy, back but, she was married to Tom Buchanan. The whole book Gatsby wants to get Daisy to get back with him after 5 years.…

    • 410 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald shows Gatsby’s struggle to relive the past. Gatsby, unable to accept that time always moves forwards struggles to People often try to relive the past for personal satisfaction. However, living only in the past can lead to tragedy. The past is unchangeable and can shape and mould a person into anyone, for better or for worse.…

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    He spends his whole life chasing an outdated past which he values more than his present. Gatsby as well repeatedly shares his obsession with the past with his belief that it could easily be repeated. Gatsby and Jim both choose to never get to know their supposedly loves in the present, but rather only truly feel affection to them through memory. Daisy and Antonia are both not allowed to move forward because they are stuck in the past by their…

    • 2243 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Why Is Jay Gatsby Great

    • 1038 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Gatsby’s desperation does not end there. He continues to pursue a relationship with Daisy Buchanan because he believes that he can relive the past. This shows that he does not care about the people that he will hurt in the process, which does not describe what a ‘great’ must portray. Because trying to relive the past and purchasing a home just across the bay from Daisy wasn’t enough, Gatsby has to go as far as taking the blame for Myrtle’s death to try and prove his love for Daisy. Nick asks Gatsby, “Was Daisy driving?”…

    • 1038 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Gatsby meets the love of his life just before leaving for the war, though at the time it was only meant to be a casual relationship. As Gatsby falls deeper in love he realizes he would do anything to be with her. While talking to Nick he states: “Well, there I was way off my ambitions, getting deeper in love every minute, and all of a sudden I didn’t care” (Fitzgerald.143). Gatsby has ambitions and aspirations to become wealthy and live a luxurious life and after meeting Daisy, these goals become intertwined with wanting her affection. After he leaves for the war Daisy gets married to a well-to-do man named Tom Buchannan leaving Gatsby five years to build his empire and accumulate enough wealth to, in his eyes, sweep Daisy off her feet.…

    • 1223 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The past and the present can often be at a constant struggle within individuals and lead to moral confusion and conflict with each other. As the past teaches one thing and the present another, the concept of right or wrong is broken and the idea that both must be embraced is not realized. The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F.Scott Fitzgerald, utilizes numerous elements and literary devices to portray many different themes and topics. Using these, he portrays the struggle between the past and the present. Specifically, Fitzgerald utilizes foreshadow to show us that certain events or conversations hold deeper meaning, relating a future event to a characters past and their struggle through their decisions.…

    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As Gatsby was stuck in the past, wishing for the love of Daisy, he created a life that revolved solely around the events that happened before he went away to war. This shows just how obsessive Gatsby is about the past, and reveals the extent to which Gatsby would go to try to relive the past. In addition, when Gatsby catches the clock instead of letting it fall to the floor, he is representing his desire to reclaim the past, more than just repeat it. This wish that is revealed through the clock is an integral hope for Gatsby's character. Gatsby’s whole life…

    • 917 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Green Light Symbolism

    • 1285 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Today throughout sports, businesses, and other groups of work, the past has shaped the views on people’s future as well as their desire for those previous precious moments. For Gatsby the past exhibits his previous happiness and that same love he has been seeking for many years. This feeling makes him want to recreate the happiness he had before with Daisy in his life, and creates erratic ideas in his mind. For instance, while Nick is with talking with Gatsby after his party about Daisy’s non-existent love for Tom, Gatsby exclaims, “Can’t repeat the past? , why of course you can”(110).…

    • 1285 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Brilliant Essays

    Effects Of Dream In The Great Gatsby

    • 2395 Words
    • 10 Pages
    • 6 Works Cited

    After she is left unhappy in her marriage because of Tom’s many rendezvous, Daisy is confronted by Gatsby and her past, and she chooses to begin a relationship with Gatsby. With this relationship, she becomes involved in a conflict with time, for Daisy is probing for a feeling she once knew in her rich, young innocence. During her prime blossoming at eighteen, Daisy had had men from a nearby army base occupy her attention, and one particular officer that Daisy had fallen in love with was Jay Gatsby. These many suitors gave her great attention, attention that she now lacks from her dead marriage. While arranging a meeting between Daisy and Gatsby, Daisy’s friend says, "‘Daisy ought to have something in her life’"…

    • 2395 Words
    • 10 Pages
    • 6 Works Cited
    Brilliant Essays