Transcendentalism In The Great Gatsby

After the party, Gatsby acknowledges to Nick that Daisy did not have a good time at the party, he also tells Nick that he wants to recover everything back to how it use to be back between himself and Daisy back in Louisville. Gatsby proclaims, “‘Can’t repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!’ … ‘I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before,’ ”

The pool along with the mansion, the parties, and the fancy clothes were all part of Gatsby’s plan to seduce Daisy, never actually being enjoyed by Gatsby himself. Fitzgerald used this moment as a turning point for Gatsby, who begins to focus on himself rather than committing his life to Daisy. However, even though he tries to return to his ship, it is already too late as he has already passed the point of no return in order to chase the siren’s

“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but thats no matter- tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our farther…. And one fine morning- So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (180). Jay Gatsby wants nothing more than to relive infatuation with the one and only Daisy.

Gatsby was a very optimistic character. He never gave up on his dreams for his relationship with Daisy. As Gatsby states “Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!’ He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking around him here

Title Parties. Booze. Celebrities. Beautiful Women. Drinking.

He desires a relationship with Daisy above all else. From Gatsby’s perspective, Daisy appears to be a sweetheart and a dream girl, his ultimate desire. As Barrett puts it, Daisy is a symbol of wealth, status, and the “good life” (12). Gatsby wants to see Daisy very badly but tries to act as if he does not. Though he tries to be nonchalant, he puts forth a great effort to ensure that everything is as perfect as it can possibly be when he does see her (Fitzgerald 82-84).

Gatsby even throws a party just so that Daisy will come to his house, and he will be able to talk to her like old times. After the party, Gatsby asked Nick if Daisy enjoyed the party because she did not seem like she did, and that was all he cared about. He was not interested in anyone else having a good time except for Daisy. Later on in the conversations Gatsby tells Nick, "Can 't repeat the past? Why of course you can!"

His disregard for reality is how he formulates his dream to rewrite the past and reunite with Daisy, according to his belief that sufficient wealth can allow him to control his fate. He establishes an immense fortune to impress Daisy, who can only be won over with evidence of material success. As Gatsby attempts to make his ideal a reality, things do not run as smoothly as he plans because Daisy can never live up to his dream. When Nick is reflecting on Gatsby's idea of Daisy he notes, "He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: 'I never loved you'" (105). Gatsby’s ideal life is not a realistic expectation because Daisy is already married and has a family to take care of.

Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby try to find happiness, none of them do. This is because true happiness can only be found in looking towards the future. For Gatsby, being caught in the past prevents him from moving on. With his immense wealth he potentially could have anything and do anything he wanted. If Gatsby would have looked to the future he would have known that the relationship with Daisy was not going to last and that she was never going to leave Tom.

Heathcliff and Gatsby are both trying to live in their past lives, in the recreation of their lives the show the same ambitions and social status, while having different levels of immaturity that draws sympathy from the reader. Gatsby’s long journey to rekindle the love Daisy and he once shared and to make it “just the way it was before” (118), was undeniably impractical and quite frankly impossible. Gatsby wants to live in the past, and go back in time, take the love that he once had and place it in the present, where he had tirelessly built a lifestyle that, he thinks, is everything she wants. Although Nick states that this is impossible Gatsby continues to insist: “‘Can’t repeat the past?’

Gatsby replies with "Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!”(Fitzgerald 128). This quote implies that Gatsby tries to live in the past and will not accept what is going on in the present. Similarly, Scott Donaldson also says, “Part of Gatsby's dream is to turn back the clock and marry Daisy in a conventional wedding”(Donaldson “On Possessions”). Once again, Gatsby would rather live in a time that was nice and warm than face the reality that he lost his chance with Daisy and he should move on instead of wishing for an unrealistic dream.

Gatsby has spent his whole life trying to prove to Daisy and everyone around him that he is worthy of her. The only way to be on the same social level as her is to turn himself into new money. Since this is not possible, he has to try to convince to others that he truly is old money. To do this, he becomes rich, and lies about his past, but the only way for him to complete this idea is if he is with Daisy. She is the final piece in his American dream.

Scott Fitzgerald shows many points in Gatsby’s actions and words that the reader can decide how he really felt for Daisy. It’s up to the reader’s imagination to see what mindset Gatsby has and whether his love for Daisy was either obsession, affection, or objectification. The Great Gatsby is a perfect example of how love and lust can drive a man crazy, whether it’s Tom, Gatsby, or Wilson. When Nick ends with, “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (189). Showed that no matter how hard Gatsby fought for Daisy’s heart and his American Dream, he was pushed back and had to start over, getting closer and closer, but he never got to fulfill his dream, and that’s the way life goes for many

This quote shows that Gatsby is living in a fantasy of the past that he can't seem to let go of. He is driven by his own selfishness to have Daisy for himself just like he did five years ago. It's seems like Gatsby is more in love by the idea he's made up of Daisy from the past than who she is

Daisy however, very heartbroken and anxious to start a family, failed to wait for Gatsby while he was at war and she vulnerably fell in love with Tom and his money. Throughout the time Gatsby was away she grew and developed mentally, leaving him to love someone that no longer existed. When Gatsby says “Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!”(Fitzgerald 110)it shows how his imagination has affected his sense of reality. He became lost in the idea that he could get Daisy back and things would automatically return to how they were before he went away.