Quote from Fitzgerald's the Great Gatsby

Quote from Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

Despite all the obstacles standing in the way of Gatsby's American dream, Gatsby never succumbs to Nick's pessimistic disapproval of living in the past. Gatsby always retains a fragment of hope, an expectation that one day his dream would come true, that he would acquire the temptations he was never destined to have. For those individuals who bask in Gatsby's dream, they find themselves engrossed in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby; their lives, mirroring the life of Gatsby's. For those individuals who yearn and strive for the dream of bliss, they find their own steadfast resilience mirrored in Gatsby's fabricated persona. Fitzgerald's theme- striving for the American dream, recreating the "perfect", flawless life, and finding comfort in the past- is reiterated in the quote, "to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms father...and one fine morning---we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." (qtd. 180) With every passing day, Gatsby is unable to achieve his utopian dream. Realizing this, Gatsby is even more determined to capture Daisy's heart and he continues to be engrossed with his new "platonic conception of himself" (qtd. 98) as Jay Gatsby. Every daydreamer quietly mumbles to himself, "Tomorrow, I will..." and idles with the foolish idea of changing himself to be better than he already is. But, for the daydreamer, tomorrow never comes. Gatsby, the daydreamer never had the opportunity to taste the sweetness of living for the future nevertheless having the opportunity to breathe in the present. He was too busy rowing his boats against the currents, recreating a forbidden past. Gatsby's pursuit and recreation of the past is the core of Fitzgerald's story; it is the story's essential plot and theme. With his unwavering determination, Gatsby ardently pursues Daisy's love and pursues the acceptance from fellow socialites. Ultimately, Gatsby finds himself drowning in the past, dissatisfied with his life.

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