Gatsby is distressed and worried at the fact that it’s impossible to win back the heart of Daisy. He is hit hard by disillusionment because of the strong attachment towards her former girlfriend. Gatsby is incapable of living in the present. He loves Daisy because of the emotions developed in the past and very obsessed of reconciling back with her. Because of the love, Gatsby reaches a point of purchasing a home that resided on the same lake with that of Daisy so that they could meet and talk again. At the present, Daisy had transformed afresh since human nature allows one to change with time. Despite the time that they broke apart, Gatsby convinces himself that Daisy has not yet changed. Gatsby tries to change the past so that he can have a bright future with Daisy. He doesn’t realise any weaknesses in Daisy and feels ready to have her back. The situation at the present is hard to change because Daisy was already in a serious marriage with Tom. Because of the impossibility to change the situation, Gatsby dreams are ruined. Daisy couldn’t divorce because of her religion despite the fact that she was not emotionally attracted to his husband. Another occasion where Gatsby tries to change the past is when he deceives Nick about his youthful days. He tries to paint an appealing image to Nick by recreating the past.
Gatsby frantic efforts prove futile. He is unable to change the past. He uses lies and strange hope to change it but that doesn’t work. He brings his past into the present and his lack of experience fails to transform his dreams into reality. Gatsby wanted Daisy back because of the material possessions she had. Daisy was very wealthy and Gatsby dreamt of living a lavish lifestyle if only she loved her once again. Gatsby describes wealth as “a universe of ineffable gaudiness.” Nick is surprised by Gatsby ignorance as he fails to realise the presence of Daisy’s child. Nick describes the child as “a concrete manifestation of the present.” Gatsby is only interested in possessions. Gatsby did not succeed because his proposal to Daisy was eccentric and impossible.
Much like Gatsby, Nick had incorruptible values of dreaming to change the past, which guided him throughout the novel. Recall nicks father when instructing him that she should remember that all the people in the universe have never encountered that advantages that he had. From these words, Nick explains that his father’s words had allowed him to reserve the judgment, which is “a matter of infinite hope” (Fitzgerald 4). Similar to Gatsby, Nick had illustrated his hope for the future. However, the distinction between the two characters is that Nick has learnt from the background that he should have the hope in people but not things. In the past, Nick has a favorable, and a solid up bring that had made him better than Gatsby from the beginning. This is perhaps the reason Nick comfort himself that Gatsby has turned all the things right in the end.
Throughout the novel, Nick tries to remind himself about the hope in Gatsby as he suggests that he had experienced the renewal of absolute faith in Gatsby during the past. This was during the conflict at the Plaza Hotel involving Tom and Gatsby (Fitzgerald 133). Nick’s hope enables him to treat Gatsby with politeness in the end. This can be seen as another nick’s value of the Midwestern background that is different from Gatsby. Nick’s past has values such as loyalty, politeness, responsibility and hope that enabled him to support solely and be on Gatsby’s side. He illustrated that he was the only one responsible for Gatsby’s past because he was the only one interested. From this statement, it is clear that Gatsby’s past was not as pleasing as that of nick, and he needs someone with the values that Nick had. Eventually, Nick explains how he understands himself by claiming that he is among the honest people he knew. As a result, this forced him to challenge the vague understanding of the background that was persisting in his home before perusing his interest in Jordan Barker. These important values and rules illustrate the difference between Nick and Gatsby, and by which helped Nick to overcome his challenges in the past.
Gatsby is, therefore, eccentric in the sense that one has to start over in order to change the past. This is because he had swayed himself that his life was challenged by regretful occasions in the past. As a result, he claims that he can do anything in power to change his past, and this is the reason he does not want to repeat the past. However, it is illogical to change the past, and Gatsby should accept his past and move on. He can only make a change by taking control of his present life because the strategic move in the present can only change the future but not the past.
Works Cited
Fitzgerald, F S, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 1996. Print.
Fitzgerald, F S. The Great Gatsby. New York: Wildside Press LLC, 2013. Print.
