Selfish People

In The Great Gatsby, Daisy is portrayed as sweet and innocent, but really she's selfish and relys on wealth in her life for everything. Also Gatsby is selfish too because he wants lots of wealth and he wants Daisy all for himself. Almost everyone in East Egg are selfish people who are stuck up and want everything for themselves, and can get it because they are very wealthy.

Daisy has many priorities in her life, but money and social class come before love and family. This is shown by the way she ignores her daughter the whole time and never talks about her, accept for one time. She doesn't care for her child, instead out of selfishness, she has maids take care of her. She might not love her daughter because she doesn't love Tom to the extent of true love. Also Daisy's selfishness is the one thing that stands in the way of her and Gatsby being together. An example of this selfishness is when she is willing to let Gatsby take the blame for the death of Myrtle Wilson. If Daisy loved Gatsby more than herself, she could have saved his life by admitting that she killed Myrtle, but instead she wanted to keep her place in society and keep a good reputation. Daisy also doesn't go to Gatsby's funeral after he was killed by Mr. Wilson, and instead leaves East Egg with Tom without telling anyone.

Gatsby is also selfish because he wants Daisy all to himself and is willing to do anything he can to get her. Gatsby is willing to break up Tom and Daisy, so he can be with her forever.He doesn't understand that times have changed since they first met and that he can't always get what he wants. This shows that even with wealth, you can't get what you want all the time. Gatsby's selfish nature causes him to not get Daisy after all.

So overall, The Great Gatsby is proven to have several selfish people in it such as Daisy and Gatsby. Their selfishness causes them to not be together and to not live fully satisfied lives.

Source: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Unrequited Love

Unrequited Love: love that is not openly reciprocated, even though reciprocation is usually deeply desired. The beloved may or may not be aware of the admirer's deep affections. (http://www.google.com/)

In The Great Gatsby, Gatby's love for Daisy is the perfect example of unrequited love. Daisy and Gatsby loved each other before he went off to war. While Gatsby was off at war Daisy got tired of waiting for Gatsby so she married Tom. Gatsby was heart broken and Daisy had know idea. She thought that Gatsby had forgotten about her but it turns out it was just the opposite.

Gatsby would throw parties in hopes that one day Daisy would show up at one. He would wait and wait hoping that she would show up, but she never did. While Gatsby was throwing these parties Daisy was in East Egg with no clue, she had no idea that Gatsby was waiting for her and that he stilled loved her.

Finally Gasby gets up enough courage to have Nick, his neighbor who is also Daisy's cousin, invite Daisy over so they could all have tea. When Gatsby saw Daisy for the first time he said its been "five years next November" (The Great Gatsby). He has been counting how long its been since he has seen Daisy because he loves her so much. After they had tea at Nick's, Daisy and Gatsby start to spend a lot of time together and Daisy starts to feel the same way about Gatsby. Gatsby gets so caught up in their love that he just wanted Daisy to leave Tom and tell him that "[she] never loved him" (The Great Gatsby). In the end Daisy won't leave Tom because she does in fact love him, even if it may be unhealthy. Gatsby will always love Daisy and will always want her to leave Tom for him.

sources: http://www.google.com/ (search Define: unrequited love)

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Jealousy

Jealousy is a major symbol in The Great Gatsby. It is represented by color imagery, and in this book it is the color green. Green shows the envy, greed and jealousy that make up The Great Gatsby. Money is green, which represents the jealousy of people wanting to be rich to fit in or to impress others. Gatsby is like this because he is jealous that Tom is married to Daisy and he wants to show he's wealthy enough to care for Daisy. Jealousy can also destroy people, as it does in the The Great Gatsby.

Something else that can be represented by jealousy is the green light at the end of Daisy Buchanan's dock. Gatsby was jealous of Tom because he knew that Daisy needed a wealthy man to take care of her. "he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way,and ,far as I was from him.[...] I glanced seaward-and distinguished nothing except a single green light[...]" pg.20 and 21. As Gatsby was getting wealthy, he would always look out toward the green light on Daisy's dock with jealousy and wait for the day he would be good enough for Daisy.

Jealousy causes Jay Gatsby to go to any extent to get what he wants, which is Daisy. When Gatsby, Daisy, Nick, Jordan and Tom go into town to the Plaza Hotel, Gatsby finally breaks. He says,"Just tell him the truth-that you never loved him-and it's all wiped out forever.[...] You never loved him." pg.132. This shows how Gatsby couldn't handle hiding his feeling anymore and showed the true jealousy that he had for Tom. So jealousy plays a big role in The Great Gatsby.

Sources: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Men of Gatsby

The men of Gatsby are all very differnt much like the women. There is Nick, who I think is everyone's favorite, Gatsby, who we find out isn't exactly what everyone thought he was, and Tom who is arrogant.

Nick Carraway is someone that everyone can relate to and like. He is so nice and so carin about everyone. He is Daisy's cousin and that is how he met Jordan, the girl he is "dating". Out of all the men in Gatsby he seems to be the most level headed. He tries to make everyone happy and stay out of all the drama. He lives next door to Gatsby and was always sceptical of him but when he found out that Gatsby knew that Daisy had hit Myrtle and didn't do anything about it, he really didn't like him.

Jay Gatsby is a very interesting man. He keeps to himself and seems to have a lot of secrets. He throws a lot of parties at his house and we find out later that it is because he hopes that Daisy will come to one one day. He eventually gets in touch with Daisy because Nick invited both of them over to tea. Ever since then Daisy and Gatsby have been inseperable. Gatsby decided to tell Daisy's husband, Tom about them which caused Tom to become very upset.

Tom is married to Daisy but doesn't seem to have any real interest in her. He is having an affair with Myrtle Wilson. He starts to get a little skepitcal about Gatsby when Daisy starts spending a lot of time him. He later finds out that Daisy and Gatsby are in fact having an affair. Then on his way home from finding that out, he stops by where Myrtle lives and sees that she has been hit by a car and killed, ironically by Daisy. He seems to be more upset by Myrtle being killed then Daisy having an affair.

The Women of Gatsby

The women in Gatsby are all so different. There is Daisy who is a little bit crazy, Jordan Baker the athletic one, and Myrtle Wilson the low class girl having an affair with someone from a higher class than her.

Daisy Buchanan is married to Tom Buchanan. She is known to be a little dramatic. She tries to be over joyful and excited because she is in denial. She tries to hide how she really feels because deep down she is truly unhappy with her marriage. Tom is having an affair and Daisy knows but is trying to pretend like she doesn't know. Her cousin Nick Carrway lives next door to Gatsby, a man she once was in love with. She went over to Nick's house for tea one time and to her surprise she saw Gatsby there. Gatsby and Daisy started to spend more time together and now Daisy is having an affair. Tom and Daisy have a very unhealthy relationship and it is talking a toll on both of them.

Jordan Baker is definatley the most sane woman in The Great Gatsby. She is a golfer and friends with Daisy and Tom Buchanan. She met Nick, who she is dating, through Daisy and Tom. The two of them, Nick and Jordan, find themselves caught in the middle of all the drama. She is the only woman in Gatsby that is not cheating. She seems to have a very level head and normal. She is rich and dating someone of a lower class but it doesn't seem to bother her like it does some of the other women.

Lastly there is Myrtle Wilson. She is married to George Wilson who owns a car garrage. She is having an affair with Tom Buchanan. Will she was out with Tom one night she continued to say "Daisy, Daisy,Daisy...." (The Great Gatsby) Tom got frustrated with her and punched her in the nose. Her husband found out that she was cheating and locked her upstairs in their house. He planned on leaving town so that she couldn't cheat with Tom anymore. They got in a fight and she started to run down the street. She was hit and killed instantly by a yellow car. Tom and her husband George were devistated.

Old vs. New Money

In the Great Gatsby, money affected different people in many ways. For Gatsby, it was his chance to get back Daisy, but his money got in the way of getting Daisy. Gatsby became rich just to impress Daisy. Gatsby was considered "new money" because he earned his money and it wasn't inherited.

When Gatsby and Daisy first met, Gatsby was in the war and very poor. He came from the Midwestern United States, where his parents were farmers. Daisy came from a wealthy family so she was known as "old money." Gatsby then dedicated his whole life to getting wealthy for Daisy, so he could reach the social standards of the "old money" lifestyle. He did everything he could to reach that standard. With him making money on his own, he was "new money." "New money" people were still wealthy, but didn't grow up having money their whole life. Their money was earned through an occupation or operation, legal or illegal.

Everyone who was "old money" lived on the island of East Egg and thought they were better than the people on the island of West Egg. The people of West Egg were "new money." Daisy and Tom Buchanan were known as "old money" and Tom's attitudes toward the "old money" was that they weren't as good as him and he showed this by acting very arrogant.

Gatsby wanted to change his money and to make people think that he was wealthy his whole life to impress Daisy. In the end, this didn't work because too many things changed. There was great pressure on Gatsby to try and become like people of "old money," but it never worked out. So overall old and new money were the way people were classified by how they got their money.

Sources: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Green Light

"I didn't call him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone- he streched out his arms toeard the dark water in a curious way,and, far as I was from him, i could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glances seaward- and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unique darkness."(p.20,21)

The green light is a symbol in this book. When we first read about the green light, it was when Gatsby was looking at it and reaching for it in a way that is was something he really admired or wanted. The green light is at the end of Daisy's dock and is a symbol of Gatsby's dream and hope for the future. Green represents promise, hope and renewal, so Gatsby's dream of a future with Daisy is represented by the green light.

Gatsby wants to win Daisy's love, but after reuniting with Daisy a mist comes over and blocks the green light, not allowing Gatsby to see it. Nick realizes this and says, "Possibly it had occured to him that the colossal significance of the light had now vanished forever [...] Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one."(p.98) This shows that Gatsby finally realizes that he must face the reality of Daisy, rather than what he wanted for her.

Sources: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

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