F Scott Fitzgerald's Use Of Flashback In The Great Gatsby

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F. Scott Fitzgerald utilizes flashbacks in his book The Great Gatsby to help readers understand the depth of Gatsby’s obsession with his first love, Daisy. In Chapter VI, Fitzgerald takes the reader back to 1917 in Louisville, KY when Gatsby and Nick Carraway the narrator talked about Daisy finally attending one of the parties he threw in hopes of drawing her to him. Four years prior, Gatsby left Daisy to go into the Army and Daisy moved on and got married, creating a new life for herself. This passage demonstrates to the reader how oblivious Gatsby was to Daisy’s life. In expecting Daisy to tell her husband she never loved him, he ignores that Daisy had to get over Gatsby. He assumes that Daisy should want to destroy her marriage and pretend the last …show more content…

Gatsby disregards everything about Daisy, her needs, her desires, her thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. He believes that she should think, feel, believe, want, and need everything the way he does and finds fault with her when she fails to meet this expectation. Gatsby also fails to comprehend that he has changed as well over the past four years. He obstinately believes that he can go back to the young man he was and change the course of his life. Even when the narrator gently nudges Gatsby to let go of his unrealistic expectations, advising him, “You can’t repeat the past,” Gatsby was astonished that the narrator would say such a thing. ‘”Can’t repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!’” The reader knows that anyone of sound mind understands that we must all live with our regrets. None of us can repeat the past, much as we may wish we could. We must grieve our losses, learn from our mistakes, and move forward as best we can employing our newfound wisdom in hopes of making better choices so we do not repeat the same

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