Love in The Great Gatsby Essay Example

Is love worth risking everything? The willingness to risk your life for love, break the law for love, make love your obsession. Love is the reoccurring theme in this book. Even if he had all the money in the world. Nothing would satisfy Gatsby more than feeling the love of Daisy Buchanan, even if it killed him in the end. Gatsby was so in love with Daisy, he became blindsided to the fact that she didn’t feel the same. 

Being the one to achieve love was the conflict of The Great Gatsby. Unlike Tom, Gatsby feels so strongly about loving Daisy, he’s willing to do anything to have her. “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay.” (Fitzgerald 78) This shows that Gatsby was willing to move his entire life to be near Daisy, in hopes that she will want him again. The house that Gatsby bought was a mansion, for her. That is important because as we get to know Daisy we find that she is an extremely materialistic person. 

Achieving the ideal love through tunnel vision will kill you in the end. “Well, there I was, ‘way off my ambitions, getting deeper in love every minute, and all the sudden I didn’t care.” (Fitzgerald 150) Here we can see that Gatsby openly admits how he gave up on having ambition for anything that didn’t involve Daisy. His dreams had no more meaning to him unless they could mean something for Daisy too. “ He looked at her the way all women want to be looked at by men.”(“The Great Gatsby.” Warner Home Video, 2013.) Everyone could see how in love Gatsby was with Daisy. The love that was portrayed, was something everyone deserved to feel.

Love is solely for social class. Though Gatsby had such strong intimacy for Daisy, Gatsby would be nothing but a social rank for Daisy. In fact, a lower one which is why Daisy wouldn’t leave Tom for him. This novel takes a turn to give the readers a more cynical view of love as well. Gatsby becomes obsessed with the idea of pleasing Daisy, while Daisy is checking her surroundings to observe if their relationship will benefit her socially. Love to Daisy was about who would get her more money and a nice house. Hence why she married an awfully treating rich man as opposed to the love from Gatsby.(“‘The Great Gatsby’ Themes”) 

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne ceaselessly into the past.” Gatsby’s dead, Gatsby was so close to having Daisy, but he couldn’t reach her. That in itself essentially killed him. We as humans find such satisfaction in achieving our goals, some more than others. Gatsby was so in love with the idea of Daisy’s love he became broadsided by her rejection, which killed him. Daisy was a happy place to Gatsby, he was willing to break the law, move his entire life, risk it all, and eventually lose his life All for love.