Great Gatsby

This extensive description of Daisy leads the readers not only in this passage but also in the rest of the novel to the thought of obsession. A man who talks endlessly about this woman in her “Beautiful house” and her stunning presence that he cannot live without. This all points to a fascination that goes way beyond the common likeability. This is where the context of false love and quest just on terms of self-prophecy and wealth betterment come into play. He always describes what she has. He never talks about her body or what she says. It is always about how much of something she has. There is constantly a sense of admiration and approbation whenever he talks about her or her life. This sense of awe and wonderment is what set the tone and meaning of the piece. An example of this emotional language appears when he describes her as “excitingly desirable”, and talks about her “Vibrant Emotions”. There is a sense of passion and crave that engulfs his entire bodily soul. The readers feel this through the words pouring from the book. His explanation of the “Gay and radiant activities” that occur in daisy’s house only add to the existing euphoria surrounding the readers perception of this lavish and copious woman.  Fitzgerald also shows Gatsby’s quest through the syntactical organization of this specific passage. He arranges it in away where Gatsby is recalling his past and analyzing it for the first time. For example, after relating to a personal experience that Gatsby had with his Daisy, he weaved little tid bits of thought that checks him back in to reality. Always bringing himself back to the notion that he will never have daisy because of who he is. But then there is a wandering of thought and then the middle area there is a tonal shift where he tries to be someone else. He becomes the Jay Gatsby that is present much further in the book. The imaginative person that he creates is like an “Invisible cloak” and prevents daisy from knowing his true identity of a “Present penniless young man”. Just like that, Fitzgerald brings it back down to reality and the thought never being equal and always having to be better. This is what sparked his initial motions of the wealth addiction. When he entered Daisy house he had a taste of what it could be like. He had that first feeling of “Security”

On the contrary, this sense of “Security” is overlooked by Fitzgerald’s readers. A security that Fitzgerald wants the readers to see is one that is present in wealthy families. The notion of financial security is what Gatsby is referencing. Money can buy anything in the world and when it is readily available, the dream Gatsby thrived for is a possibility. He showed the reader how the upper classes have built this buffer from the cruel and dirty outside world. As said by Gatsby himself “Wealth imprisons and preserves”. Sadly, looking from the outside in, Gatsby now develops that want and need to get inside Daisy’s wealth bubble and soak up all it can offer. Another point to be made about Fitzgerald’s passage about Gatsby’s and his quest for wealth is the association Gatsby made with Daisy. Toward the end of the passage the sentence “Daisy, gleaming like silver, safe and proud about the hot struggles of the poor”. This is the most important sentence of the passage. Fitzgerald sums it up for the reader her and the corruptness of upper-class flowers before the reader’s eyes. Fitzgerald references to daisy being like a precious metal. He is so right in the sense that she resembles the true form of gold or silver. Beautiful on the outside, pure, and valuable on the inside. This notion is confirmed by his reference to Daisy “Excited him because many other men had already loved Daisy-it increased her value in his eyes”. This direct comparison to daisy and something valuable establishes that supply and demand notion that exists in any society. The more someone or something is wanted the easier it is to attain such worth to a point where it is wanted by everyone but afforded by none. This is important because it directly shows through the diction that Fitzgerald wanted to make this connection between what Gatsby physically wanted and innately what he wanted mentally.  

Although out the novel, this sometimes-mysterious theme drifts onto the page that is hard to explain and understand. But as seen from what the characters are saying and what Fitzgerald is trying to say sets up this vibe of distrust and futile revenge. Through Fitzgerald’s diction and imagery, he paints a portrait of daisy’s elevated and lofty social stature that results in an emotional feeling of attachment and defeat. Like the “Bought Luxury” that swirls around Daisy everyday through every minute, the thought becoming equal to daisy does the same for Gatsby. This contrast between Gatsby’s life and the life of what he strives for shows how far Gatsby has to go to reach his goal. And through Fitzgerald’s syntax and organization, it reveals how far off Gatsby utopic life is from living his American Dream.