Examples Of Ambition In The Great Gatsby

“Only the Dead Dream Fought On”:
A discussion of Gatsby’s perishing dream that was once obtained with patience and lost to urgency.

To have ambition means to have perseverance, working towards a goal that will improve an individual's life, giving them a sense of accomplishment. In addition, the succession of the dream is determined by the patience one displays, ultimately motivating him to continue pursuing the fulfillment of their plan. Although, by attempting to hastily reach their ambition and failing to maintain their conviction, they are bound to fall into their entrapment. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the character, Gatsby, teaches that individuals possessing a sense of patience will succeed in attaining their

After the revelation of Gatsby’s background, he is dejected by the outcome of his plans, and his efforts to achieve them amount to nothing. He decides to place distance between himself and Daisy, persevering and enduring the long process it will take to revert to the past. Gatsby continues to be hopeful in reigniting his dream, “clutching at some last hope.” (158) By removing the pressure and his desperation to be with Daisy, Gatsby believes that she will come back and fulfill the dream she abandoned with Gatsby once more. His extremity is accentuated by his determination to claim that “[he] [is]” the person that ran over Myrtle Wilson, when, in fact, it “[is] Daisy driving.” (154) Sacrificing himself serves as another means to advance and recommence the progression of his ambition, as well as determining the success of his plans. By shouldering Daisy’s problem, he assures her that he will be there for her and protect her when her life is in danger or at the threat that she will be besmirched. Moreover, he returns to “wait[ing]” for her, failing to acknowledge and grasp the reality that Daisy values her image more than her love for Gatsby, as well as the inability to erase the existence of her daughter, and the past four years she has spent loving Tom. (157) Their difference in status is astronomically wide, deeming it impossible to find a compromise that will appease both sides. He merely “felt married to her,” where “he had no comfortable family,” and was instead born into a poverty-stricken life. (159) In contrast, wealth embraces Daisy, “preserv[ing]...[her]” and protecting her from “the hot struggles of the poor.” (160) The comparison between them further implies Gatsby’s failure to acknowledge that wealth is not the only factor that separates him from Daisy. Mindsets are equally significant in their situation, considering that Daisy