Literary Analysis
The Great Gatsby was heavy in its symbolism of tragedy. Many things from as the valley of ashes to Jay Gatsby's love life, it contains a lot of tragic symbols. Jay Gatsby was an incredible man for his mystery. A mystery fortune, a mystery past -- just the way he wanted things to be, yet constantly he is trying to change his past. He changes his last name from Gats to Gatsby, he moves to West Egg, a new island, of course named Egg for its new beginning it offers, another attempt at change. Gatsby turns his life around with fortune and is used to getting everything he wishes, but it is not so when it comes to Daisy Buchanan.
Jay Gatsby has loved Daisy Buchanan from the moment he laid eyes on her, but because he went out to war he didn't see Daisy again for another five years. He had been dreaming of her the whole time, but she had quite moved on. Within those five years she married a selfish man named Tom Buchanan, who has gone off with another woman many times before, but does not want Daisy to be seeing Jay Gatsby at all. As Jay and Daisy get to know each other again Gatsby keeps trying to change the past; telling Tom that Daisy never loved him, she had always been there waiting for Jay to come back, which eventually Daisy does speak up and say that is not the truth. The American dream tells us that if we have everything we want, we will be happy, which we know is not true. Material items may bring constant gratification, but this excitement does not last long. Gatsby's house is filled with elegance and top notch technology, perfect parties and many butlers, but his life is still an empty one, and being accustomed to recieving anything he desires, when he can't have something he will always try and find another way. The truth is, somethings you can never have, and since this novel was a tragedy, Gatsby could go changing the past no further. His time was up, and he was never going to recieve everything he wanted, no matter what he tried to change in the past, for the past has been done, and other people were there to remember what really happened this time.
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(author, character list etc... yet to come)
