Lauren’s Library Nook: The Great Gatsby

The love story where no one wins. 

This case is more tragic than “Romeo and Juliet” because at least they left the world together — and eliminated the pain of  living without each other. For Gatsby and Daisy, I can’t say the same. Their love for each other was vastly different, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t equally as mad.

I can’t remember my first read through of “The Great Gatsby” by Scott F. Fitzgerald, but I do remember rereading it in my AP Literature class. Of course, I used it for numerous English essay prompts because I could easily take points from the novel and apply it over the course of multiple pages.

You see, Gatsby’s and Daisy’s love was intoxicating — but had terrible timing.

Five years before the novel begins, Jay Gatsby is stationed in Louisville, Kentucky, where he met Daisy Fay, a stunning young woman who grabbed the attention of men. Although Gatsby fabricated his wealth, he fell in love with Daisy because of her elegance and status, and she the same even though he never was rich. However, Gatsby had to leave and go to war (Word War II) and by the time he returned, Daisy had married Tom Buchanan. 

Gatsby’s heart was shattered, so he became determined to win her affections back by amassing wealth, symbolized by his mansion that flourished from bootlegging and criminal enterprises. 

It’s clear that Gatsby’s love for Daisy is far deeper than her love for him — which is an immediate red flag. Daisy has left her romantic life with Gatsby in the past, but Gatsby’s life is engulfed by the love he has for her — she is his past, present and future.

I think my favorite aspect of the book is Gatsby’s relentless pursuit of Daisy, and it really stems from the character development of Gatsby himself, centered at where he lives.

Gatsby bought a mansion that sits on West Egg in Long Island, New York, directly across the bay from Daisy where she resides in East Egg. But it wasn’t by chance. No, Gatsby chose to live in as close proximity to her as he could. 

Fitzgerald’s character development of Gatsby is brilliant in that it leaves him a mystery to not only the reader, but to the other characters in the story as well — which is revealed through the massive parties Gatsby hosts every weekend.

No one really knows Gatsby — not even his partygoers. The wealthy show up invited and uninvited to soak in the riches that his mansion provides. People come with assumptions about Gatsby and leave without ever seeing him.

If no one particularly cares too much to seek out Gatsby, is he really that great?

I find it intriguing that Gatsby’s life is somewhat secret, yet his parties accumulate quite the crowd.

He says, “And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.”

Through the progression of the story, it’s clear that Gatsby’s parties are for Daisy. He throws them in hopes that she will stumble upon his mansion to join in too.

But Gatsby lives in a world that Daisy left long ago. Although they do reunite and she does find her way to one of his parties, her life with Tom is one that she doesn’t give up, because a life with Gatsby would not be much different for her. Daisy did love Gatsby, but I think it’s apparent that she loves Tom the same. 

I think the story captivates readers through the expectations that Gatsby has placed on Daisy — without her ever knowing. And it’s the hard truth that Gatsby will never grasp — that Daisy will never live up to what he had envisioned all along.

Gatsby’s desire for Daisy can also signify the desire he has to live a better life. Daisy is the symbol of everything that Gatsby has ever wanted — wealth and love, which was found in the woman that lived her life and never dwelled in the past … to which Gatsby was always too late.

Shank is the Editor-in-Chief. Follow her on Twitter