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The Great Gatsby Essay

Materialism tends to cause a form of distraction from true bliss. It is not the possessions themselves that are the problem, but rather how they can affect our core values and principles. If materialism occupies too much of your time and energy, you will never have all you want in any other aspect of life. In The Great Gatsby, for example, there exists a society obsessed with money and leisure that are confident about both because they have everything to show for it. They even go so far as to place their faith in tangible assets instead of intangible attributes such as relationships or honor. This obsession can ultimately cause ruin when true values are no longer important because people begin to care more about what they have than who they know or who they are.

The clock is a symbol in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The clock can be compared with Gatsby and Daisy’s history together, as both are old and during this meeting, thought to have been broken well beyond repair. The moment in which Gatsby attempts to catch the clock when he knocks it over is to demonstrate his endeavors in “catching” Daisy after he, in a sense, knocks over their relationship. Overall, a clock is an object that is considered to be useless without the right time, similar to Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship. Due to timing being the primary barrier to a good future with Daisy, Gatsby deems time to be a pivotal matter to settle on his path to achieving his dream. He soon becomes infatuated with the notion of repeating the past by going on to the future as if the present never occurred. Nick, disturbed by Gatsby’s idea informs Gatsby that he cannot repeat the past, bewildered, Gatsby replies by saying: “Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can! He looked around wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house, just out of reach of his hand” (110). The Gatsby’s house is a symbol in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. It symbolizes the corruptions of the American dream in the 20s, and it is also symbolic of Jay Gatsby’s pathological obsession with Daisy. He remains absolutely determined to win her back even though he has nothing to offer her. Gatsby is stubborn on his belief that to obtain his dreams he must move backwards to the past from where they originate from, but overlooks the simple rule of time only being able to move forward.

Light is what occurs when energy is added to a photon, a dream is what occurs when efforts and energy are added to an ambition. Fitzgerald mentions a green light at the end of the dock opposite to Gatsby’s various times throughout the story, it was only until the middle of the novel when the readers are aware of what this light sincerely signifies. The light at the end of the dock was actually Daisy’s, and Gatsby looking out toward it every night depicts him looking out towards his dreams, aspirations, and greatest wishes. The first time this light is mentioned was when Nick first notices Gatsby standing on his dock, gazing outward and, “[stretching] out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward-and distinguished nothing except a single green light” (21). Gatsby stood looking perfectly straight, as if though he were an inch away from the face of his dreams looking straight into its eyes. As he comes back to reality, he is hit with the truth of how far away his longings truly are.

In conclusion, Gatsby, no different than any other individual, lives a life directed solely at fulfilling his dreams. In order to achieve these dreams Gatsby resorts directing all his efforts toward them. These actions bring about the main theme in the novel of chasing dreams, which is exhibited through symbols such as time, money, and the green light at the end of the dock. The illustrious novel, A Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, depicts the life of a mysterious man named Jay Gatsby and his endeavors in pursuing his most vital dream, the woman he loves, Daisy Buchanan. Unfortunately, for Gatsby, a reaction of unlucky events occur just as Gatsby almost accomplishes his dreams. Gatsby lived a promising and fulfilling life spent following his desires, carefully plotting out the steps to take on his path of dreams, sadly, he was unaware of the factors he could not account for.

Work cited

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Scribner, 2004.