The Great Gatsby Pgs. 81-96

                      I worry that Daisy and Gatsby will not be able to share in their love forever.

               

                The plot of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby really begins to accelerate in chapter five as Daisy and Gatsby reunite for the first time in five years. Although the two were initially intensely awkward around one another, they soon rapidly warmed up to each other, and I responded to all of these quick developments in the relationship between Daisy and Gatsby with very mixed and somewhat confused feelings. On one hand, I am genuinely elated that the two of them have found so much happiness in one another; after all, both of them have been suffocating in loneliness and unhappiness for years, and I believe that they genuinely deserve to find true love with somebody! On the other hand, a part of me feels as though they may be rushing things a bit, and if Daisy and Gatsby are not careful, they could potentially drive themselves into a massive heap of trouble. Tom Buchanan may be a loathsome husband, and his infidelity may be well-known by many members of the public, but if Daisy were to become involved with Gatsby before her marriage with Tom was dissolved, unspeakable horrors could happen to both Daisy and Gatsby. Thanks to The House of Mirth, we are all now very well acquainted with what can happen to a woman who is even rumored to have tampered with a marriage (after all, it’s not like Lily Bart fell into poverty and committed suicide because she was bored of going to parties every weekend). I feel that Daisy is being somewhat reckless and should be insanely careful that her name does not become associated with Gatsby’s in any way whatsoever until she has divorced Tom. I have had a strong intuition since the very first chapter of the novel that Tom Buchanan is an incredibly dangerous figure, and even though he does not love Daisy in the least, I am genuinely afraid of what he could do to Gatsby if he were to feel as though Gatsby was trying to steal his wife from him. Besides, Tom Buchanan is apparently very well-known and respected in society, whereas Gatsby’s name is only surrounded by vile rumors, so if a scandal surrounding Daisy and Gatsby were to become public, I am confident that society would side with Tom Buchanan and leave Daisy and Gatsby to suffer horrible fates. Additionally, the fact that we still do not have any concept of what kind of business Gatsby conducts makes me incredibly nervous. Although he seems like a very genuinely good man, the fact that he has always kept his work a secret seems very mysterious to me, and I can’t help but think that this will come into play in a very ominous way in the future of the story.

                As I was reading chapter 5 of The Great Gatsby, I couldn’t help but analyze Jay Gatsby and his actions to this point. I have always liked Gatsby’s character and trusted that he was a wholesome and honestly respectful man, but I have to admit that I am starting to have some major concerns about his choices. Chapter 5 reveals a whole different side of Gatsby that transforms him from a mysterious, wealthy, and successful man to an average individual pining for love in an almost boyish manner. While I think it is important for me to reiterate that I am genuinely happy that he has found happiness with Daisy again, I think his overwhelming love for her might present a great threat to his own well-being. His actions in this chapter have proven that he can hardly focus on anything else when his thoughts or time are consumed by her; throughout the chapter, Nick described Gatsby as being vacant, hollow, trembling, etc. Furthermore, although Gatsby seems to spend a majority of his day entranced by Daisy, Nick notices a kind of bewilderment present in his face in the evening which caused Nick to wonder if “Daisy tumbled short of his dreams—not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion” (Fitzgerald, 95). While I believe that Gatsby is an inherently good man with the right intentions, I have now analyzed him more thoroughly and fear that his infatuation with Daisy will overtake every other aspect of his life and lead to his downfall. He has proven that the reality of Daisy makes every other aspect of his life fade to the background, and I fear that he will forsake everything for Daisy, including his mysterious job, only to find that his illusion of Daisy was better than the actual woman. Ultimately, I am afraid that Gatsby’s own weaknesses will leave him without wealth, money, or anything else but more loneliness and emptiness.