The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald - 1009 Words

Brinton Beard Ms. Maggert Honors English III 7 April 2017 Great Gatsby Essay In Fitzgerald s The Great Gatsby, all the characters are attempting to achieve a state of happiness in their lives. The main characters are divided into two groups: the rich upper class and the poorer lower class, which struggles to attain a higher position. Though the major players seek only to change their lives for the better, as in real life, the idealism and morality of the American Dream is inevitably crushed beneath the harsh reality of life, leaving their lives without meaning or purpose. Jay Gatsby, the central figure of the the story, is one character who longs for the past. He devotes most of his adult life trying to recapture it and even dies in†¦show more content†¦Though he appears happily married to Daisy, Tom has an affair with Myrtle Wilson and keeps an apartment with her in New York. Tom s basic nature of unrest prevents him from being satisfied with the life he leads, and so he creates another life for himself with Myrtle. Daisy Buchanan is an empty figure, a woman with neither strong desires nor convictions. Even before her loyalty to either Tom or Gatsby is called into question, Daisy does nothing but sit around all day and wonder what to do with herself. She knows that Tom has a mistress on the side, yet hesitates to leave him even when she learns of Gatsby s devotion to her. Daisy professes her love to Gatsby, yet cannot bring herself to tell Tom goodbye. When Tom pleads with her to stay, Daisy quickly capitulates and ultimately leaves Gatsby for a life of comfort and security. The Buchanans are the ultimate examples of wealth and prosperity, the epitome of the rich life of the American Dream, yet their lives are empty, unfulfilled, and without purpose. Though Myrtle Wilson makes an attempt to escape her own class and pursue happiness with the richer people, her efforts ultimately produce no results and she dies, a victim of the very group she sought to join. Myrtle tries to join Tom s class by entering into a n affair with him and taking on his way of living, but in doing so she becomes vulgar and corrupt like the rich. She loses all sense of morality and is rude to people of her own class. Her constantShow MoreRelatedThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald1393 Words   |  6 PagesF. Scott Fitzgerald was the model of the American image in the nineteen twenties. He had wealth, fame, a beautiful wife, and an adorable daughter; all seemed perfect. Beneath the gilded faà §ade, however, was an author who struggled with domestic and physical difficulties that plagued his personal life and career throughout its short span. 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