“ Her frightened eyes told that whatever intentions, whatever courage she had had, were definitely gone.” This is the final indication that Gatsby has been defeated, as now even Daisy has lost the courage to continue the affair.
We realise that after Tom becomes assured that he will not be losing his wife, he gains authority as he orders Gatsby and Daisy to take Gatsby’s car to drive back home. Gatsby’s defeat is highlighted as he acts in the way Tom orders him to “without a word”. Fitzgerald uses a simile to describe Gatsby and Daisy’s departure “like ghosts”. This implies they were both hollow as they left without saying a word or creating a sound. Fitzgerald also writes: ”Isolated, like ghosts, even from our sympathy” suggesting that there is a link between the end of Gatsby’s dream and the shutting down of human sympathy on him. At this point, it is Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship that is wrong, not Tom finding out about it. At the same time, we start viewing Gatsby as ignorable in is trying to break up Tom’s family, even though as readers, we witnessed Gatsby and Daisy’s formation of their relationship as the main drive and romance of the novel.
After the departure of Gatsby and Daisy, Fitzgerald refers to the passing of time as Nick remembers his birthday: “I just remembered today is my birthday”. This suggests that time passes by rapidly without the character realisation. He becomes conscious of what he hasn’t achieved in the time that has past. He took no actions when he witnesses Gatsby’s dreams collapsing to help his friend or showed us the readers a sense of guilty feelings for not stopping his friend of forming a relationship he disapproved of.
Nick as the narrative appears to us disapproving of Daisy’s actions and the relationship she and Gatsby had, even though he was directly involved in helping the couple met. He describes Jordan as woman with whom he could form a relationship as she is wiser than to “ever to carry well-forgotten dreams from age to age”, unlike Daisy. He therefore, appears to be now disapproving of Daisy’s approach, even though he had been the one arranging the meetings of Daisy and Gatsby. This demonstrates a shift in the attitude to the affair.
As the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy starts coming to an end, the relationship between Nick and Jordan becomes closer. He could be using her selfishly for physical reassurance as he holds onto her hand after he witnesses his friend’s dreams collapsing.
Gatsby has not only lost Daisy but he has also been defeated by Tom as he has not been accepted in the social class he was making his money to become part of. Even though he has money, a magnificent house and other luxuries, he does not have any real standing. The green light shines from East Egg to West Egg enticing Gatsby towards what he has always wanted. The barrier that the water creates between these worlds is symbolic of the barrier that keeps these people apart from one another and from much of what they want.
