Gatsby's Dream

Many times the desire for something is much more satisfying than actually getting it. A lot of people think if this or get that, then all of their problems will go away. Jay Gatsby, the title character in F. Scott Fitzgerald's class The Great Gatsby is a prime example this. Jay Gatsby becomes rich, creates a perfect image of his Daisy, and at the end, his dream falls apart.

Jay Gatsby didn't become successful to please himself. He saw it as a tool to achieve his dream, getting Daisy. Gatsby displays vulgarity and access all throughout the novel. He lives in the mega mansion, and throws lavish shindigs on a regular basis. He does this all for Daisy, the love of his life. He fails to realize that she lacks substance. She is nothing more than a superficial, materialistic, shallow, east coast blueblood. The reader is often furious with Gatsby for his obsession with Daisy, because he fails to see her for what she truly is. He does not realize that money cannot buy love. If she loved him, she would be with him even if he had nothing.

Gatsby only gets Daisy because she realizes that everything he has done with his life was for her. This dooms their relationship from the very start. He had this dream of what they could be, and when they are together they both have different motives. Daisy is not the woman that he thinks she is. The perfect image that Jay Gatsby has created will eventually shatter because it is false. His life and his love for Daisy both are flawed with dishonesty.

For a brief period, Gatsby actually believes he has finally made his dreams come true, but he has not. There is no way Daisy could ever live up to his expectations. She is only human. There is no way she could possibly be perfect.

In the end, attaining "dreams" did not make Jay Gatsby happy. His fantasizing left him out of touch with reality so when he finally got what he wanted, it did not live up to his high expectations. He has Daisy's love but that is not enough for him. He realizes that she is already in a relationship, and that he will never truly have her to himself. This is a twist that was not present in his fantasies. He fails to realize that life is not perfect. No man can have everything.