Trapped in Time
Myrtle is dead, Gatsby is dead, and Daisy is long gone. Nick, reminiscing along the beach, full of wonder, contemplates the ending of Gatsby’s dream and the never-ending continuum of the process of dreaming. Nick concludes, “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” reflecting how most people move into the unknown future and push through struggles, and all the while, learn from the past (Fitzgerald 189). While alive, Gatsby constantly lived in the past, refusing to accept time and move into the future, thus contradicting Nick’s wise words. Nick illustrates Gatsby’s failure to accept time by examining Gatsby’s dream to marry Daisy, his failure to sway Daisy from her loveless marriage with Tom, and his achievement of never loosing hope in his dream.
Gatsby, full of “romantic readiness,” dreams of reuniting with his former sweetheart, Daisy (6). His desiring dreams compel him to “stretch out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way… I glanced seaward and distinguished nothing except a single green light” (26). The green light that Gatsby longingly stretches out for symbolizes Gatsby’s dream of rekindling his past relationship with Daisy. To achieve his dream, Gatsby believes that he must gain social standing and elevated economic status. He exemplifies this status by his lavish celebrations and the personage who attend them, because “to young Gatz, resting on his oars, looking up at the railed deck, that yacht represented all the beauty and glamour in the world” (106). Gatsby idolizes the wealthy lifestyle and views beauty as a materialistic quality. Gatsby’s illustrates his materialistic view of beauty in his love for Daisy when he says, “ “Her voice is full of money’ ” (127). Gatsby identifies his love for Daisy with wealth and dedicates five years of his life to gaining high economic status. This dream of marrying Daisy gives Gatsby a purpose in life, but the harsh reality remains that the dream...