Hoping someone can help me edit my Gatsby essay
I had to write an essay for english on the themes in The Great Gatsby, but I usually write a draft hand it in and get my teachers comments and then revise it, but my school is closed for Christmas break and I cant do this so I was hoping someone could help me edit my Essay. The exact question is phrased like this:
Choose a theme that, in your opinion, answers the question “What is The Great Gatsby really about?“ In an argumentative essay, explain the importance of this theme and why it should take priority over TWO of the other themes discussed in this lesson.
The themes discussed in this lesson were: Dreams, Vision/looking, Honesty, Platonism and Time.
Now, finally, here is the first draft of my essay:
There are numerous underlying themes in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”, the most important of which being the theme of dreams. The theme of dreams is more important to this novel than the theme of honesty, because it is the dreams of the characters that ultimately lead them to be dishonest. Furthermore, the theme of dreams usurps the theme of time because the characters in this novel only wish to go to certain points in time that would make it easier for them to achieve their dreams. Clearly it is accurate to say that the theme that truly illustrates what “The Great Gatsby” is really about is the theme of dreams.
There are many factors that influence people to be either honest or dishonest, none as inspiring as one’s dreams. The dreams of the main characters in “The Great Gatsby” are what lead them to decisions they make and the actions they take, these actions being, for the most part, dishonest. It is Tom’s dream of the re-attaining “dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game” (Fitzgerald, 6) that leads him to constantly cheat on Daisy. As Nick phrases it, Tom had “reach[ed] such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one that everything after-ward savors of anti-climax” (6). Tom feels like his life of success and excitement is winding down and so he has affairs in order to feel some exhilaration, in order to recreate that “dramatic turbulence” that he felt when he was at his happiest point in life. Jordan Baker is another character who is spoiled and used to getting her way. To Jordan, not getting her way is unfathomable and she therefore lies and cheats accordingly. Jordan’s dream is to continue getting what she wants all the time, and because of this desire she is “incurably dishonest” (58). Jordan is so dependent on being capable of cheating without getting caught that she will choose her company based on who she can fool and cheat. Nick notices this and comments “Jordan Baker instinctively avoided clever, shrewd men, and now I saw that this was because she felt safer on a plane where any divergence from a code would be thought impossible” (58). Upon careful examination it is clear that Jordan Baker is dishonest in order to serve her dreams and desires.
Gatsby was always able to dream very intensely and knew exactly what he wanted. He would lie in bed at night and dream of the life of luxury he aspired to live,
The most grotesque and fantastic conceits haunted him in his bed
at night. A universe of ineffable gaudiness spun itself out in his brain
while the clock ticked on the washstand and the moon soaked with
wet light his tangled clothes upon the floor. Each night he added
to the pattern of his fancies until drowsiness closed down upon some
vivid scene with and oblivious embrace“ (99/100).
Gatsby is a man who is a dream himself, he is a man that was dreamt up by the seventeen year old James Gatz because Gatsby is who James wished to become and felt he needed to become in order to fulfill his dreams. However, Gatsby sprang from humble beginnings and he did not seem to have any good opportunities to make the kind of money he would need to make in order to satisfy his dream. Therefore Gatsby, after his stint with Dan Cody, became involved in organized crime. Utilizing criminal activity, Gatsby was able to amass a great fortune for himself through clearly dishonest means. Of course another equally important, if not more so, motivation behind generating such wealth for himself was his dream of being reunited with Daisy Fay (as he knew her). This dream also required a great fortune because Daisy comes from a world of money, and she is accustomed to a certain standard of living. Furthermore, Daisy is a very materialistic person, and in order to impress her, Gatsby knows he must have many great objects. Gatsby’s dream of being with Daisy again is what leads to the two of them having a romantic relationship while Daisy is married, a very dishonest activity to take part in. Gatsby’s dream of a life of luxury and his dream of being with Daisy are what led him become a criminal and man with whom a married woman has an affair. Clearly the dreams of Jay Gatsby are what led to his consistently dishonest actions. Upon careful examination it is clear that the dreams of “The Great Gatsby’s” characters are what cause them to lead such dishonest lives.
The theme of dreams is more important to this novel than the theme of time because the characters in this novel only wish to go to certain points in time because they believe it will be easier for them to achieve their dreams then. Tom wishes to return to the past only because he, “[A]mong various physical accomplishments, had been one of the most powerful ends that ever played football at New Haven—a national figure in a way, one of those men who reach such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one that everything afterward savors of anti-climax” (6). Everything seems *anticlimactic* in Tom’s life after that achievement so Nick therefore believes he will “[D]rift on forever seeking, a little wistfully, for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game” (6). Clearly Tom dreams of returning to the past, however he only wishes to return there because that is the point in his life when he was the happiest and the most successful. If Tom were able to capture those same feelings in the present then he would not dream of returning to the past. Furthermore, if Tom had never achieved such greatness then he would be dreaming of a future in which he could attain it. The point is that the precise moment in time in which Tom feels this “excellence” is irrelevant to the feeling itself. Tom will dream of going to any point in time where he is able to capture these feelings because it is his dream to capture them. Clearly Tom’s dream is what drives his desire to return to the past, and the reason he is still searching for that “dramatic turbulence”.
Gatsby and Tom seem to suffer from the same yearning for the past, when Nick tells Gatsby that he shouldn’t ask too much of Daisy because they can’t repeat the past, Gatsby simply laughs it off, “‘can’t repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously. “‘Why of course you can!’” (111). However he then continues to say: “‘I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before,’ he said, nodding determinedly” (111). Clearly Gatsby wants to return to the past in order to recreate the love that, in his mind, was at it’s perfection at that point, however the actual time that it took place in is not what he is trying to re-capture. Gatsby is trying to re-capture the feeling that he experienced when he was with Daisy at that moment in time. This feeling was possible because of the circumstances that were present at that point in time. In Gatsby’s mind those were the perfect circumstances for them to be together and this is what his dream is, to be together and to love each other the same way they did when the circumstances were ideal for this to happen. Keeping this in mind it does not matter at which point in time these circumstances were in existence, Gatsby will always dream of going to the point in time when they were present. This is obvious when he says he’ll “fix everything just the way it was before” (111). Gatsby plans to try and recreate the circumstances under which he and Daisy first fell in love. Clearly it is Gatsby’s dream of being with Daisy under ideal circumstances that leads him to want to return to the past and continue their relationship as if they had never been apart.
When looking back at the actions and motivations of the characters in “The Great Gatsby” it is clear that they yearned for certain moments in time based solely on their dreams.
The most important theme in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” is the theme of dreams because this theme influences the themes of honesty and time as well as the plot of the novel. The character’s in this novel are dishonest because they believe it will help them achieve their dreams. Furthermore, some of the character’s wish to go to certain points in time because they feel it would be easier to achieve their dream then. There are many themes at work in this novel, but after careful examination it is clear the theme of dreams is the most important.
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