Clock Hands or Prison Bars?
There is no one alive that has not let some part of their past consume them, whether it be a mistake they wish to redo, or a great event they wish to relive. The danger in this; however, is becoming so consumed with the past that one loses their identity. F. Scott Fitzgerald explores this concept in The Great Gatsby, using morality as a measure of identity. Gatsby’s moral ambiguity illustrates how obsession with the past prevents the development of an identity.
The majority of how Fitzgerald defines Gatsby is his inability to let go of his past relationship with Daisy. Gatsby is introduced reaching toward the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, which later is found to represent the small yet apparent insurmountable …show more content…
Daisy does not actually love Gatsby, the only thing she truly cares for is wealth. Gatsby knows, possibly subconsciously, that Daisy only cares for wealth. Upon Daisy and Gatsby’s reunion after several years, he does not attempt to woo her with tales of great bravery or accomplishment. What he does is go out of his way to show Daisy signs of his wealth. Daisy, for her part, makes no attempt to learn about the man beneath the grand illusion Gatsby had built around himself. Instead, she happily cries about the high quality of his shirts (98). Daisy was born into extreme wealth and has the shallowness to show for it.The whole reason Daisy didn’t marry Gatsby years before was because he did not have money and therefore “had no real right to touch her hand” (156). Even after Gatsby accumulated enough wealth to satisfy her, Daisy still did not love him. She did not attend Gatsby’s funeral or even call Nick regarding his death. In fact, she allowed Tom to continue to believe Gatsby was responsible for hitting Myrtle with a car, thus making Gatsby’s death seemingly justifiable. Daisy would never have loved Gatsby, so his endless fixation on her is only a sign of how engrossed he is with his
There is no one alive that has not let some part of their past consume them, whether it be a mistake they wish to redo, or a great event they wish to relive. The danger in this; however, is becoming so consumed with the past that one loses their identity. F. Scott Fitzgerald explores this concept in The Great Gatsby, using morality as a measure of identity. Gatsby’s moral ambiguity illustrates how obsession with the past prevents the development of an identity.
The majority of how Fitzgerald defines Gatsby is his inability to let go of his past relationship with Daisy. Gatsby is introduced reaching toward the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, which later is found to represent the small yet apparent insurmountable …show more content…
Daisy does not actually love Gatsby, the only thing she truly cares for is wealth. Gatsby knows, possibly subconsciously, that Daisy only cares for wealth. Upon Daisy and Gatsby’s reunion after several years, he does not attempt to woo her with tales of great bravery or accomplishment. What he does is go out of his way to show Daisy signs of his wealth. Daisy, for her part, makes no attempt to learn about the man beneath the grand illusion Gatsby had built around himself. Instead, she happily cries about the high quality of his shirts (98). Daisy was born into extreme wealth and has the shallowness to show for it.The whole reason Daisy didn’t marry Gatsby years before was because he did not have money and therefore “had no real right to touch her hand” (156). Even after Gatsby accumulated enough wealth to satisfy her, Daisy still did not love him. She did not attend Gatsby’s funeral or even call Nick regarding his death. In fact, she allowed Tom to continue to believe Gatsby was responsible for hitting Myrtle with a car, thus making Gatsby’s death seemingly justifiable. Daisy would never have loved Gatsby, so his endless fixation on her is only a sign of how engrossed he is with his