Essay/Term paper: Gatsby

Essay, term paper, research paper:  The Great Gatsby

Gatsby:  Gatsby was stupid for pursuing Daisy for many reasons, first of
all; in their short history together Daisy had already turned him down, they had
not seen each other in five years, and Gatsby was only going on the assumption
that Daisy still loved him.

Was Gatsby Stupid for Pursuing Daisy?

Gatsby was stupid for pursuing Daisy for many reasons, first of all; in their
short history together Daisy had already turned him down, they had not seen each
other in five years, and Gatsby was only going on the assumption that Daisy
still loved him. Gatsby had held onto his dream of being with Daisy until the
end when his life was taken. He built everything he had on this one goal to be
re-united with her and it brought him to the high point in his life and then to
the end where he had no Daisy and showed how pathetic his life was when only
Nick and a few others showed up to his funeral. Gatsby got caught in his dream
and made his money in a shady way leaving him few friends and even more
associations who knew they could not get involved in his death.

When Gatsby first met Daisy he was poor and had just enlisted in the service.
He lied to her, saying that he had a lot of money when he obviously didn"t.
Then he went away to war and she waited. When he had his chance to come home he
decided to stay in England and go to college. From there Daisy sent him a letter
saying that it was over, that she had found someone else who had money and she
could fall back on. This crushed him, and made him come back to the U.S. even
though it was too late and Daisy married Tom. He spent the next few years
building his fortune and searching for Daisy, his whole life was based around
her and a small hope that he could win her back. His life was consumed by this
dream and only cut him off from everyone else in the world.

When Gatsby had found out Daisy found someone else in union with the fact
that they had not seen each other in five years and also had not made any
contact at all he should have realized it was over. Daisy had a husband and as
daughter and a new love in her life. He was stupid to think Daisy would leave
Tom after she had been married to him for a few years and still love him as
well. Daisy"s love for Gatsby may have been strong for a while but after
waiting for him for so long she broke away and turned to the next best thing
that she could find. Daisy also knew that Tom was well respected and had a lot
of money so he would be able to take care of her the way she was used to. Gatsby
had no guarantee of that and Daisy knew it.

Gatsby had no idea if Daisy loved him or not and was only hoping she still
had feelings for him. As soon he and Daisy did start up again and they started
taking more risks Gatsby probably got excited and lost site of reality. In the
hotel on that hot fateful day as soon as Daisy was in question of her love to
tom he should have backed out and left. But he didn"t he was still holding on
to that last hope she would fall for him and ended up in a hit and run. He made
the mistake of letting Daisy drive and then running. He felt he would take the
blame for a girl who did not love him and ended up paying with his life.

For these reasons Gatsby was stupid for pursuing Daisy when anyone else would
know that he had no chance at a renewed love with someone they had been away
from for so long. The love of being linked through marriage and the presence of
a daughter would be hard to break. Daisy didn"t know whom she wanted to be
with and could not say that she did not love Tom when confronted. Gatsby"s
downfall came after the moment in the hotel, and he was stupid to continue this
crush. If Gatsby had not been so blind he would have lived longer and maybe
lived longer.