Imagine being lost into a relationship where you could not truly show your love for someone due to their prior engagement. Now think of that same relationship if it were mostly non existent and just remained a figment of
what could happen. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, a man builds his life, his meaning, and his value as a person for the name of an unchained love for a married woman. The story itself shows symbolism of the corruption of marriage rather then the
structure of love.
Jay Gatsby is a man who knows right from wrong but teeters on the line of each. Rising from poverty to a life of wealth, he makes it into a lavish lifestyle from the production and selling of alcohol as well as other organized crime acts. But with his drive for riches comes a deeper drive for love. Jay has a deep infatuation, almost an obsession, with a woman he met as a young soldier named Daisy.
In order to get better acquainted with Daisy, Gatsby lies about his past, his family, and his upbringing in order to win her name. She promises him that upon his return from World War I that she will marry him, only to in turn Tom Buchanan. Now before the actual plotline of The Great Gatsby begins, conflict has already risen. Jay Gatsby has created an illusion for himself to project unto his character, to only be put into a second place position behind another man. The thin line that Gatsby stands on is now consumed more so by doing wrong as his lies persuade him into a life of crime. Gatsby’s life spirals into a series of fortune as his falling for crime and love make deepen his riches. What has arisen now is the potential question of if the love he had for Daisy is what drove Gatsby to crime, lies, or success. Perhaps in some hidden meaning, his love drove him to all three and maybe even a quarter of madness. His passion for Daisy sparked a relationship that could have been, but his willingness to get her back perhaps is what completely develops the focus point of the story thus calling for a symbol of ironic love in the hands of fortune.
“He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a
curious way, and far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward–and distinguished nothing except a single green light,minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock.”(Fitzgerald 26) The color green is heavily emphasized in the story for many reasons. Green is well known as the color of envy. The character of the abusive Tom Buchanan would display an envious nature during the rightful suspicion of his wife Daisy and Jay Gatsby’s possible infidelity. Tom’s green with envy nature drives him to convince Mr.Wilson to wrongfully kill Gatsby after the death of his wife Myrtle. Green would also be known as a symbol for greed in this story.
In some format the greed of Jay is what allows him to be put in a predicament of danger leading to his ultimate downfall. Had he been more reasonable with his relationship with Daisy then much of the turn of events in the story would have been different and possibly lead to his dream of being with Daisy. Green is also known as a color of healing. Reflecting for Daisy, she could possibly be healing from a disasterous relationship with Tom or could be healing from the relationship that once was with Jay Gatsby. In either scenario,she is seen as not willing to have much of a stand on either as she is driven by others’ decisions and allow them to reflect her own thoughts and values.
In conclusion, the belief system that love is what forever produces happiness shows fault in The Great Gatsby. A man’s truly driven obsession for a woman drives him into disowning his family, a life of crime, as well as his own death. The woman in turn is somewhat allowed to live happily ever after with her husband. In hinesight as both Daisy and Tom lost the people they were unfaithful with, perhaps it is seen as a bridging of their own relationship and what was burroughed to make it into a potential harness of a lost willingness to feel open and honest with the other partner.As all three character’s own troubling natures eventually draw their own conclusions, a corrupted marriage allows the love of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan to arise, only to be driven down into a peridox of envy,hardships, and a cruel twist of fate.