The Great Gatsby Prompt 1 (I'M SO GLAD THIS IS DONE!)

Christina DeSario
AP English- Mr. George
7•31•09
The Great Gatsby prompt 1
The Great Gatsby- Prompt One

To see the future, one must look through realistic eyes. To believe one will become president, or rich, or some other big dream that children believe is not very realistic, and will end up forgotten or crushed, depending on the person who is pondering. Gatsby was the type of person whose dreams do not fade away, but are crushed by an outside force. He held on to his hopes, because he had so few, which made him unable to know how to deal with them. F. Scott Fitzgerald develops a theme of pessimism through the was Gatsby held on so fervently to his dreams while only looking at them as from outside of a glass box.
Gatsby’s love for Daisy keeps him close to her, but Daisy’s marriage to Tom keeps him away. He lives in a house across the water from her, where he can see a small light from her dock. The water is their separation, a blockade that keeps him from his love. This is the worst outcome possible. To know the one you love is right across the water, but when you have no courage to get there because that person is married is much worse than not knowing where your love is at all. It is like hanging a carrot in front of the horse’s face by a pole so that they will continue on, in a vain chase for the treat. It is a torture, and that is part of Gatsby’s problem. He adds to his sadness by watching Daisy without ever even seeing her, instead of trying to move on: “’If it wasn’t for the mist we could see your home across the bay,’ said Gatsby. “You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock’” (Fitzgerald 92). He knows where Daisy is, and she never leaves his mind. That little green light was his carrot that drove him to Daisy.
The American dream is to be rich and in love. It is to be financially secure and have a big yard,dog, grill and a lot of friends. Gatsby has a large house and, although he does not have a lot of friends, as Nick finds out after Gatsby’s death, he has parties and he is in love. His unreciprocated love leaves his American dream unfinished and useless, like a halfway-knitted scarf. It left him feeling incomplete and wanting more. It left him waiting for her, as if she were supposed to simply know to come to him. Because she does not come, it leaves him grim and lost. Jordan Baker said,
“‘I think he half expected her to wander into one of his parties, some night,’ went on Jordan, ‘but she never did... I thought he’d go mad:
‘I don’t want anything out of the way!’ he kept saying. ‘I want to see her right next door’” (79).
He did not want to lose Daisy, so he kept out hope instead of taking the initiative to go see her. He waited for his dream to come to him, instead of going towards his dream.
Gatsby achieved so many things that others could not. He was rich and held huge parties. He had a house so big that he did not even use all of the rooms. He even had butlers and maids and chefs at his beck and call. Although he had so many material possessions, but he was not happy. He was not greedy; he just wanted something more. Fulfillment is something that is different for everybody. For him to be fulfilled, he would need to attract Daisy. That was why he had all of these material possessions: so that Daisy would love him more than her husband, Tom.
Fitzgerald is showing that, even though one can come close, they can never fully accomplish their hopes of America’s promise. They can never be totally happy. Nick is also an example of this. His love affair with Jordan had no real reason to be cut short. He was still, “half in love with her” (177) but decided to end it there, because he did not want to be around the people Gatsby knew. He turned away from something he still wanted and moved on, pushing away the thoughts of love and happiness- something no one searching for what America has to offer would take. That is because Fitzgerald is adopting “Twain’s theme” (George Will) of the inability to achieve what people believe should be achieved.
Nick and Jordan are pushed away from each other, still in love but too prideful to apologize to the other. Daisy and Tom left Gatsby and Myrtle behind, barely even grieving their dead lovers’ bodies. Gatsby, whom everyone thought was happy, was left with no one at his funeral. The owl-eyed man Nick had seen in Gatsby’s library said, “‘The poor son-of-a-bitch,’ he said” (Fitzgerald 175). Gatsby had no real friends. He did not even have Daisy.
Daisy knew that her husband was cheating on her. To get him back, she began an affair with Gatsby, and she told herself she loved him to keep from feeling guilty. When Gatsby died, she sent nothing, did not call, and did not even come to the funeral. She and her husband left as fast as they could and got out of their house, putting the terrible past behind them. Nick calls to find out, “I called up Daisy half an hour after we found him... But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them” (164). Daisy, who had seemed so innocent and in love with Gatsby left him dead, without even a word of remorse, and went along with her husband in an attempt to make believe nothing ever happened. This shows how she did not really care for Gatsby as he believed when he said, “‘Your wife doesn’t love you,’ said Gatsby,. ‘She’s never loved you. She loves me’” (130.) Gatsby was too confident.
Tom, who was in love with Myrtle, as explained when he told Nick, “‘And if you think I didn’t have my share of suffering- look here, when I went to give up that flat... I sat down and cried like a bay. By God it was awful-” (178-179). Although he made it seem as if he loved his mistress, he had gone along with Daisy after her and Gatsby’s deaths, and got away.
Jordan lost Nick, and said she was engaged to another man. Nick did not believe her, but still allowed her to leave his life, and the two lost each other. Jordan continued to play golf and Nick went on with his life, just as Daisy and Tom went along with their lives, and they moved on as if nothing had ever brought them together and then torn them apart.
F. Scott Fitzgerald develops a theme of pessimism through the was Gatsby held on so fervently to his dreams while only looking at them as from outside of a glass box. Fitzgerald gave Gatsby everything: money, popularity, and power, but he neglected to allow Gatsby to have what he wanted. Like the well-taken-care-of horse who sees the carrot only inches away, there is a dream lingering before all of our very eyes, just waiting to be snatched, but out of our power to get.