The Effects of Gatsby’s Main Goal of Reliving the Past
In the novel The Great Gatsby, the past is dealt with as a theme because Gatsby ponders about this matter so much. It is at the end that his dreams of recapturing and correcting his past are destroyed thus remaining in the dark. Gatsby, being a wealthy person believes in the fact that the past can still be manipulated and relived in the sense that he can still do the things he had not done (Fitzgerald, 1995). The impossibility of solving these issues of the past in a way shows the dangers of living in the world of illusion.
This paper will, therefore, look at the actions of the major characters and how all these affect Gatsby’s life as well as the influence of his actions that determine the future. Nick Garraway and Daisy become some of the characters who are in Gatsby’s life and when it comes to determining his life either the past or present.
The antagonism is obvious and this helps in showing the reality in the story especially the actions surrounding the main character Gatsby. The actions also show Gatsby’s goals and how they reveal his personalities as a rich person and help in predicting how his future would look like.
The most powerful antagonist is time itself, which stops Gatsby from recollecting what he lost. Though this is a fact, it appears that Gatsby is not even aware of this and he strives to recapture the past moments. What is appalling is the fact that his wealthy past is in mystery and can be subjected to speculation. This mystery is what causes skepticism among the people. since this doubt is in the mind of the people, it becomes apparent that the future will be marred with uncertainties.
So what was Gatsby’s motivation for pursuing wealth in the past? Indeed, Gatsby struggled a lot because he wanted to build a strong relationship with Daisy and since he had not won over her, he decided to make wealth a center of attraction and win Daisy as his life.
This is an idea that crept into his mind on the realization that there would be no way Daisy would accept him while a poor man. This was indeed the central motivation for wealth as dictated by Daisy’s potential demand and choice of a man. All these were the actions and ideas of the past.
Indeed, the creation of wealth by Gatsby was meant to woo daisy and this is revealed by his actions of holding a partying. This was meant to impress her and amid the part, he was introduced to her. In this context, every that Gatsby does is meant to impress daisy and what is shocking is the fact that he lies about he got his wealth in the past. The lies peddled by Gatsby are all the tactics of winning his desired lover, Daisy. Gatsby’s encounter with Daisy has some effects in his life especially on the fact that he is not married by Daisy ultimately.
To understand Gatsby well, there is also a need to understand that he was not born wealthy but he had to search for it. The thing that Gatsby hides a lot is the illegality of his wealth. It was acquired through some dubious means and the sole reason was to impress Daisy, the woman he thought would accept to marry. The criminal activities that he engaged himself to have moral lessons because people obliviously regard Gatsby as a man of upright moral standards but behind the scenes, things are different. This is because of the secrecy that he engages in such that no one would unearth the reality. So in reality, he is a criminal who disguises himself as a good person yet he is not. Daisy’s refusal to marry Gatsby is dictated by different reasons and not his hidden character.
Despite all the secrets, it is important to understand that Gatsby was aware of the fact that Daisy would reject him before the acquisition of his wealth. His meagre military salary would not sustain their union and this is what triggered his engagement in the illegal activity of acquiring money. It is the sole reason why he did so and the deep analysis shows that were it not for Daisy’s purported attraction to wealth as thought by Gatsby.
As explained by Nick, one of the characters, Daisy is the person who consumed the entire life of Gatsby but in an indirect way. It is a dream to marry Daisy that made Gatsby a daring person who could not even fear breaking the law to attain his dream; the dream to impress Daisy and to accept him a lover. It appears that all is fantasy because the dream is not fulfilled at the end since Daisy was not of the idea to be married to Gatsby.
Tied to daisy, Gatsby’s dream is to recreate the past by having her admit to Tom that she never loved him. This is his antics of ensuring that Daisy gets to love him and forget about her past relationship. How Daisy spoke indirectly communicated to Gatsby that she was interested in money. Gatsby’s inner agitation to secure wealth is meant to reinvent him from rags to riches.
So by convincing Daisy to denounce her past involvement with Tom is an attempt to recreate the past, an action that is next to impossibility. In many instances, Gatsby’s actions fail as they seem to revolve around the past. Delving in the past not becomes an impossibility but also proves to him to most of his dreams have failed despite keeping his past deals a secret. He even fails in realizing that Daisy is a woman who cannot combine love and money at the same time because of her, money dominates everything. This is why Daisy quits after acquainting herself with his wealth thus purporting that love was just an illusion just like a real dream that a person has.
Gatsby’s dream to repeat the past is an impossibility which is meant to sanitize his reputation should the secret be unravelled. This is evident in his attempt to erase Daisy’s love history with Tom. The stumbling block is the fact that they already have a daughter together and therefore denouncing the past relationship is next to impossibility.
Despite this challenge, Gatsby sticks to this dream of deleting the past but this cannot be achieved. This is what makes him a failure because he intends to run away from the truth. He ignores that she has completely moved on with her life, so when Daisy admits that she also loves Tom he completely gets discouraged.
The quest for his dream is not a walk in the park because it is marred with many problems and the main is the fact that Daisy is not willing to erase Tom’s memories. The revelation that she still loves Tom is not only a shock but also a discouragement because after doing all he could to acquire wealth; the target seems to have no romantic interest in him. It gnaws Gatsby because it seems that every trick he tries to use cannot work for Daisy even after buying a house nearby so that every action he does be it be a part can easily be noticed by Daisy.
The biggest mistake that Gatsby tends not to realize is that he is trying to woo someone who still loves Tom and cannot get herself out of that romantic cocoon. This explains everything as to why all the tactics seem to be in vain. He is willing to anything to please her only that Daisy is much engrossed to Tom.
This points out at the looming failure in the aside of Gatsby since frustration is bound to happen. Initially, Gatsby thought that it would take him a short time to attract Daisy because of his financial strength because it is proven to him that his wealth cannot buy the love he needs from her.
There appears to be another issue the differences in the social classes and this is what makes Gatsby’s potential love die instantly. Gatsby is very rich and perhaps this is what makes the two different because of the two worlds they come from. It is what makes his dream unrealistic and unachievable.
It is evident from the fact that when Myrtle passes, Daisy does not even consider going for Gatsby but she rather chooses Tom. This was against everyone’s observation but nothing could be done since it was Daisy’s decision; a decision which not only hurts Gatsby but also ruins his long term dream.
Daisy appears to have known and suspected the origin of Gatsby’s wealth and this is what widens the distance between them. She is used to Tom because they can reminiscence their past and can relate to the happiness that they initially had. For Gatsby’s case, the financial orientation is different and that is why Daisy cannot even think of staying together. To her, Gatsby’s reputation is completely tarnished and cannot even imagine living with such a person. It is indeed a hurting scenario but Daisy feels okay about her decisions but for Gatsby, the ordeal is bitter and can ruin his life.
Gatsby’s failure was inevitable mainly because of this social class difference that cannot be solved easily. It is a real barrier between Gatsby and Daisy. Gatsby tries very hard but his effort is not bearing any fruits. This is proof that love issues cannot be manipulated at times because people decide to choose what their hearts decide and not wealth that some people try to unleash to sway those that they need.
This is the same case in The Great Gatsby and Gatsby is bound to fail just because of matters of the heart that cannot be bought. In reality, Gatsby is a failure because he thought that the only way to win over Daisy is by impressing her with his wealth by even organizing parties.
The tragic end describes Gatsby as a failure because the desired love for Daisy does not get to be fulfilled. This shows that his bid to recreate the past fails and though he might have blamed Daisy for it, the reality is that the person to blame is himself because he thought that ill acquired wealth would convince Daisy despite her having a child together with Tom.
Despite his death is tragic, the initial tragedy was the death of the love that he thought Daisy would surrender it to her but that was not the case. Gatsby might have died a regretful man because his tactics did not work. This also signifies a failed dream of getting a lover who was desired by his life and that which was pursued the whole of his lifetime. Daisy is perhaps contended because to her, she made the right decision as dictated by her heart and brain.
His greatness also perishes because his great dream is not achieved at the end. Wealth attainment was not part of the dream but an avenue to achieve it. Therefore, it is evident that the dream was indeed not achieved since Daisy went back to Tom and also failed to denounce Tom as her lover.
Therefore, the dream to get his desired lover pushes him to his failure because, in the end, he does not get Daisy after ruining his reputation by engaging in criminal activities to amass wealth. The wealth issues do not help him even after flaunting his wealth at the parties he organized and the house that he bought next to Daisy. His failure and tragic death symbolize the failure in his dreams and the fact that wealth does not always assure one of attracting whomever he is interested in.
Work cited
Fitzgerald, F S. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1995. Print.