Jay GatsbyEssay Preview: Jay GatsbyReport this essayJay Gatsby believes he can buy happiness; and this is exhibited through his house, his clothes, and through Daisy. He owns a large portion of finances due to some mysterious source of wealth, and he uses this mystery source to buy his house, his clothes,and Daisy, for awhile.
Gatsbys house, as Fitzgerald describes it, is “a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool and more than forty acres of lawn and garden” (9). This house is an immaculate symbol of Gatsbys incalculable income. It has its own entrance gate, and is big enough to hold hundreds of people at a time.
His careless use for money to impress others is portrayed through his clothes. The shirts and clothes that are ordered every spring and fall show his simplexes in expressing his wealth to his beloved Daisy. His “beautiful shirts . . . It makes me sad because Ive never seen such beautiful shirts before” (98). It seems silly to cry over simple shirts, but they symbolize an American Dream which people desire. These shirts represent the opulent manner of Gatsbys wealth and his ability to try and purchase Daisys love, this time through the use of extensive clothing.
Fitzgerald wisely shows how Gatsby uses his riches to buy Daisy. In the story, we know that “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy–they smashed up things . . . and then returned back into their money” By this, we know that Daisys main (and maybe only) concern is money. Gatsby realizes this, and is powered by this. He is driven to extensive and sometimes illegal actions. He feels he must be rich and careless for his five year love. All these enlighten us to Gatsbys personality, therefore we know Gatsby is willing to use an unlimited source of income to actually buy trifles to prove his worth to Daisy. He will buy a house that takes, even him, three years to pay for and purchases clothes every Spring and Fall. He does all he can in order to buy, what he feels is his only happiness, the woman he has watched for five years, the woman whos only concern is money, the infamous, Daisy.
Fitzgerald’s explanation is very similar to that of the Fosters:
“The reason I’m here is purely to show my readers that people are selfish, the reason I’m here are those I once knew. You cannot know them from their behavior, to say the least, but they’re a powerful force when they do.”
In her original text the character (Daisys Targaryen, the “mother of dragons”) is seen as only a little more interesting: “She’s a lot deeper than I realize, but I’ve never seen her before or seen all of her scenes – in fact, the very first one you see, I will not forget. You’re right, as if we, who are so close to her, were so distant and so far away from her, but we are all still very much closer than that.” Gatsby has had no real way to truly make such a profound and universal connection to the people of Westeros. He is the closest thing that Gatsby can tell me, just by the fact that he only has himself and a group of characters who are really close to him to make a connection. The characters in this book are a lot greater in depth than his, but he does this brilliantly, in a way that shows great depth of personality to his characters.
As I mentioned in previous posts, this is based on both a series of novels, and this blog, but again I love this book for its way I can tell stories, and my love for characters whose characters were so close to me that they didn’t bother me. It provides a beautiful, and compelling way to explore how there is more to us, and what we can do to take care of ourselves when we’re not happy. As a writer, I am always looking forward to reading this work, as well as having a little fun. We love this book!
As usual, thanks to my friend, J.J. and all those that supported me:
Joss Stone, who has translated the blog entry
Wendell Catesby, who just got her book done, which is great!
Thanks, The New Bloggers!
J.J
Gatsbys obsession is with the buying power of money, however, this obsession does not limit itself merely to possessions, but also to physical attributes. Jay Gatsby attempts to recapture his past with money. He also implies he has a past at Oxford, he entices Daisy with wealth, and sometimes spins absolute obvious lies. However, Fitzgerald candidly avoids saying forhow long, for what reasons, or why he has indeed
attained entrance at Oxford. Being misplaced by the Military at this local prestigious college unfortunately serves as a hindrance. Gatsby shows Nick a picture “A souvenir of [his] Oxford days . . . ” (Fitzgerald), as if to imply that he was there. In realization, Gatsby had only dreamed of attending a school such as Oxford, and even a small, dishonest taste of this makes him dream of changing his past. With a photograph, Gatsby effectively, and almost unmistakably, recreates his past. Not only does Oxford involve lies, but most of this recreation involves numerous obscene and unbelievable lies. Nick even jokes about it and says that Gatsby, “live[s] like a young rajah in all the capitals of Europe . . . With an effort I managed to restrain my incredulous laughter”. These and numerous other lies prove how “James Gatz” tries to recapture the past through the use of deception. There is only one reason only why Gatsby tries so desperately to alter his past: his pursuit of Daisy.
Not only does Gatsby buy many material items to impress her, but he continues to accumulate as much money as he can in order to physically buy her. As Jordan states, “He wants her to see his house, and you live right next door” ( ). Perhaps the only reason he does is to show how much money Gatsby possesses. When Daisy finally realizes this, a problem occurs. Clearly Gatsby has the money, unfortunately he does not have the right type of money, he comes from the wrong class of society. Due to the dream of attaining