preview

Theme Of Desire In The Great Gatsby

Good Essays

The Great Gatsby is a well written novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald where a midwesterner named Nick Carraway gets lured into the lavish and elegant lifestyle of his enigmatic neighbor, Jay Gatsby. As the story unravels, Nick Carraway begins to see through Gatsby's suave facade, only to find a desperate, heartbroken and lonely man who just wanted to relive the past with his one and only desire. This sensational love story takes place during the well known“Roaring Twenties” in New York City. The genre of this thrilling and exciting novel is historical fiction. To begin with, one major theme that continuously played a part throughout the entire book is desire. To many of the characters, it was the one urge that they could never overcome. One …show more content…

In continuation, another theme within F. Scott Fitzgerald’s wonderful book is betrayal. One of the main acts of betrayal in the book is Tom Buchanan’s betrayal of Daisy. He does this by having an affair with George Wilson's wife, Myrtle. This act then destroys everything that Daisy and himself had built together. Tom’s disloyal and deceit filled ways had caused him to believe that he was doing no wrong. He even states “I love Daisy too. Once in awhile I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all the time"(Fitzgerald 131). This was not a one time thing, he had done this horrible act multiple times and just expected that since he loved Daisy that he would always be welcomed by her. Another significant betrayal in the novel is Gatsby’s betrayal to himself. Gatsby had always tried to become a better man when he was growing up, and he had many hopes and dreams that would help in in achieving this goal. His father even states “[Gatsby's] got something about improving his mind. He was always great for that”(Fitzgerald 173). Gatsby was capable of great things, but he wasted his time chasing after the girl he loved the most. Every decision he made involved Daisy is some way. He had became a bootlegger for her, and in the end lost his life because of her. Gatsby had cheated and betrayed himself all for this girl's affection. He never became the

Get Access