ipl-logo

Theme Of Obsession In The Old Man And The Sea

1953 Words8 Pages

“An obsession is a way for damaged people to damage themselves more.” (Mark Barrowcliffe) In this statement, Barrowcliffe, a writer and novelist from the United Kingdom, suggests the idea that having an obsession is not good thing to have. This idea relates to the themes of two classic pieces of literature, The Great Gatsby and The Old Man and the Sea. The Great Gatsby was written in 1925 by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This novel depicts the life of people living in the 1920’s with themes of corruption, social status, and obsessions. This novel strongly relates to Barrowcliffe’s thinking that obsessions are damaging to people’s lives. The Old Man and the Sea, written by Ernest Hemingway in 1952, is a popular classic novel about the struggles of an old fisherman who tirelessly tries to catch a fish for three days straight. Even though the two novels were written in completely different times and with almost polar opposite plots, both texts have similar themes. The Great Gatsby and The Old Man and The Sea show how obsessions can have a profound negative impact on people’s lives and this is shown through the characterization of the protagonists, the motif of wearing a facade, and symbols of false hope.
In The Great Gatsby, obsessions can lead to negative and potentially destructive outcomes. The protagonist, Jay Gatsby, is characterized as obsessive. Gatsby is obsessed with winning Daisy over again and being with her. During one of Gatsby’s parties, Jordan tells Nick that Gatsby wants

Show More
Related

  • Love Song With Two Goldfish And The Great Gatsby

    829 Words  | 4 Pages

    Not being good enough is a fear felt my many, young or old, single or in a relationship, working or unemployed, all feel it at one point in their lives. This is especially true to those who are in a unrequited devotion, who know that the person they desire so much do not feel the same attraction. Once the one whom they love leaves them isolated, however, the devoted become obsessive, wishing for their partner to come back, fall into depression, and at the worst possible scenario, become self destructive. All of these feelings and traits are found in both “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and (Love Song, With Two Goldfish) by Grace Chua. These feelings of loneliness, isolation, and separation are emphasized and developed in both text with use of diction, metaphor, and imagery.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Obsession In The Great Gatsby

    1175 Words  | 5 Pages

    Obsession can blind you, it can stop you from paying attention to the possible mistakes you can make because you are so focused on your goal you don’t think about anything but that. In the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a fiction novel, published on April 10th 1925. Fitzgerald shows that Gatsby’s obsession with his of idea Daisy led to temporary successes that eventually led to failures. His obsession with the idea of what he thought of was the perfect Daisy led to his illegal money making business; his obsession with Daisy also led to him having no real friends and thirdly, no true love.

    Read More

  • Objectification In The Great Gatsby Analysis

    1317 Words  | 6 Pages

    Fitzgerald provides plenty of scenes in The Great Gatsby supporting the ideas whether Gatsby’s love was affectionate, obsession, or objectification. Fitzgerald shows that throughout the story, Gatsby slowly becomes more obsessed with Daisy as he draws closer and closer to be with her. By the end of the book, Gatsby becomes obsessed with Daisy. He only thinks about her and analyze everything in her life. Even in the beginning when the reader finally meets Gatsby, his obsession shows.

    Read More

  • Daisy Is A Manipulator

    636 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gatsby manipulates Nick and Jordan just to try to win over Daisy. Which is selfish of him because she now has a husband and daughter. Gatsby does it all in the name of love. Gatsby truly believes that he can give Daisy the life she wants now that he’s successful and rich and wants her to be happy. While even though Tom is using Myrtle as his mistress in a way he still protects Daisy.

    Read More

  • Relationships In Gatsby

    1862 Words  | 8 Pages

    Throughout The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the main focus of the plot appears to be on the erratic relationships that Nick, the narrator, observes over his time spent in West Egg. The main relationship however is the romance between Nick’s wealthy neighbor Jay Gatsby, and Nick’s cousin Daisy Buchanan, who is married to a rich man named Tom Buchanan. Over the course of the book, Gatsby’s “love” for Daisy leads both of them to pursue an affair that ends in the death of Gatsby, by a man who mistook him for his wife’s killer. The book, at first glance, attempts to make the romance of Gatsby and Daisy seem like a wonderful heart-wrenching reunion of two lovers after years of being apart from one another. However, there are many signs that

    Read More

  • What Is The Disillusionment In The Great Gatsby

    587 Words  | 3 Pages

    After the unsettling times of World War I, people lost most of their faith in the government and society. Shortly afterward, the Modernist era emerged and took over literature as a response to how our country was greatly changed. By cause of this loss of faith, modernist literature displayed many variations of disillusionment. When one is disillusioned, one must recognize that their previous belief is now untrue, contrary to what many people may believe. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, the theme of disillusionment is represented through the use of narrator Nick Carraway who shows the disillusions of “the American Dream”, the upper class and their marriages become apparent to the reader.

    Read More

  • What Is Daisy's Dream In The Great Gatsby

    1201 Words  | 5 Pages

    However, does Gatsby really love Daisy or just love the image that Daisy stands for? This paper focuses on the question by analyzing the image of Gatsby and Daisy deeply and finally gets an answer that Gatsby only cared about his dream and Daisy was a part of his dream, that’s why he cared about Daisy so much. 1. The introduction of Gatsby Gatsby, whose really name was James Gatz, was born in a poor family. His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people.

    Read More

  • What Is Daisy's Obsession In The Great Gatsby

    952 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, what Jay Gatsby feels for Daisy Buchanan is obsession. Gatsby revolves and rearranges his entire life in order to gain her affections. Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy resulted in him buying a mansion across the lake from her, throwing huge parties, and spending years of his life trying to become rich. Gatsby bought mansion intentionally across the lake from Daisy just to be closer to her.

    Read More

  • Causes Of Poverty In The Great Gatsby

    873 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby had one goal; Gatsby had spent his life trying to get rich and avoid poverty, which he successfully did. However, his goal was to capture the heart of one Daisy Buchanan. At one point, Daisy had been Gatsby's girlfriend. He wanted to marry her, but was sent off to war, World War I. Nick Carraway, the novel's narrator, had come to know Gatsby very well. Nick was Daisy's cousin and lived right next door to Gatsby.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Fitzgerald And Jay Gatsby

    853 Words  | 4 Pages

    Jay Gatsby, the title character of the novel “The Great Gatsby” is a man that can not seem to live without the love of his life. Trying to win Daisy over consumes Gatsby’s life as he tries to become the person he thinks she would approve of. What most readers do not realize is that Jay Gatsby’s character mirrors many personality traits and concerns that the author of novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald, had. In fact, Gatsby and Fitzgerald are similar in that they both had a girl they wanted to win over, took a strong stance on alcohol, and ironically both had similar funerals, also, both people also symbolize the American dream.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Jealousy In The Great Gatsby

    924 Words  | 4 Pages

    In a book about a tragic love story, one would not expect to find a deeper meaning behind the dangers of jealousy or peril of lust. However, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there is a deeper meaning beyond jealousy and love. In The Great Gatsby, the author uses an empathetic storyline as a symbol to unwittingly give a complex depiction of the nuisance that people create that not only destroy our world but our society and gives warning to what will occur if we continue the path of destruction. With this intention, the brilliant opinionated writer, expressed his opinion through symbols such as the characters he uses, the setting the story takes place in, and the objects he uses in the book.

    Read More

  • Self Motivation In The Great Gatsby

    771 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gatsby was destined to be self consumed and insecure. The only thing that could solve this was, of course, someone else to reinforce his homemade identity, and that someone was Daisy, the golden girl. Daisy exemplified everything Gatsby wanted in life. Five years ago Gatsby met Daisy while he was in the army, they fell in love. With self motivation he uses her to find himself in the world that has created him into the man that he is today.

    Read More

  • Tragic Flaws In The Great Gatsby

    850 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gatsby’s Tragedy: Falling for a Minx The Great Gatsby, like the Great Houdini, is an illusionist. Similar to the Great Houdini, the Great Gatsby has a tremendous rise to fame and an outrageous reputation. Jay Gatsby's tragic flaw does not seem horrendous at first when compared to Willy Loman, Macbeth, and other tragic characters in literature, but his love for Daisy shows that the power of love outranks all other flaws. During Gatsby's youth, he met a girl named Daisy, who he immediately fell for.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Obsession In The Great Gatsby

    1303 Words  | 6 Pages

    In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrays the themes of love, lust and obsession, through the character of Jay Gatsby, who confuses lust and obsession with love. The character of Jay Gatsby was a wealthy business man, who the author developed as arrogant and tasteless. Gatsby 's love interest, Daisy Buchanan, was a subdued socialite who was married to the dim witted Tom Buchanan. She is the perfect example of how women of her level of society were supposed to act in her day. The circumstances surrounding Gatsby and Daisy 's relationship kept them eternally apart.

    Read More

  • The Old Man And The Sea Critical Analysis

    840 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hemingway presents the elements of failure and suffering in The Old Man and the Sea by depicting several instances of suffering and failure which the Old Man, Santiago, has to go through throughout the course of the novel. According to Hemingway, life is just one big struggle. In the beginning of the novel itself, The Old Man, is presented as a somewhat frail old man who is still struggling with his life as well as his past failures. His skiff even had a sail which bore great resemblance to “the flag of permanent defeat”, with its multiple patches all over.

    Read More

More about Theme Of Obsession In The Old Man And The Sea

Open Document