Narrative Essay: Love in The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the protagonist, Jay Gatsby, was killed by the elites Tom and Daisy. Daisy, self centered, intentionally led Gatsby to believe she would leave her husband. Although she never has intentions of leaving her husband’s wealth, she is irresponsible when faced with a consequence.Tom Buchanan, enraged with anger, often gets violent with women.He begins to become frustrated with people from New Money claiming to be wealthy, because he believes in Old Money is superior.As his anger leads to jealousy he concocts a plan to make his opponent disappear. The book reiterates that every action has a consequence based on your social status.

Daisy Buchanan is a socialite who is well known for her expensive conservative clothes and valiant smile. Many women cherish the opportunity to have a child, however Daisy did not see the privilege of being a mother, but to secure power. Daisy’s egotistical behavior leads her to become cold toward her only child which she describes as , “I hope she will be a fool- that's the best thing a girl can be a beautiful fool.”(Fitzgerald 32) Daisy wants her child to be a fool, so she can have a life full of riches like herself. Even though Daisy does not take care of her everyday, she uses her daughter to show to her friends how beautiful and well behaved she is going to be for her future husband. Daisy's parents trained her to be perfect to impress a rich man. This leads to Daisy's ideology that it is normal to marry someone based on their status, instead of true love.

Even though Daisy was financially comfortable, her mood often fluctuated on the topic of her marriage. Daisy was often hurt and lonely when her husband Tom would be photographed with another woman in the newspaper, and when his mistress called him during dinner. Although she is deeply troubled by his new affair, she begins to adapt to his new lifestyle based on the numerous affairs in the past.As she reconnects with her past lover Gatsby, she realized that Gatsby is in love with her and is willing to give her a new life with her daughter. Gatsby began to impress her by “Gatsby hadn't once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes.” (Fitzgerald 91) Gatsby values Daisy's opinion regarding his house. Daisy begins to realize Gatsby’s wealth. She says, “Those are beautiful shirts…”It makes me sad because I have never seen such beautiful shirts.”(Fitzgerald 92)  Daisy begins to reanalyze her decision with marriage. Unfortunately, when Daisy learns of Gatsby’s deceitfulness she becomes frantic because her social status would be looked down upon.

When Daisy has an emotional breakdown and learns the devastating news, she begins to drive recklessly while Gatsby tries to calm her down.As she continues to drive Gatsby's car she accidentally kills a woman Myrtle Wilson by hitting her without stopping. Daisy began to give him false hope, making him believe she was going to live with him but Gatsby could not fathom the fact his lover would possibly go to jail. Gatsby decides, “ Yes, but of course I’ll say I was.”

(Fitzgerald 143)Gatsby decided to face the consequences of Daisy’s action because she was driving his car and he loved her deeply , even though she lacked concern for him.

Tom Buchanan is well known throughout East Egg Long Island for his wealth and outstanding football college career.He likes to wear luxury attire, which makes him stand out from a crowd. As a result of wealth, Tom is extremely arrogant and takes pride with everything he touches including his house. Many people are intimidated by him based on his appearance. “Not even the effeminate swank of hid riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body- he seemed to fill those glistening boots until he strained the top lacing, and you could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat.It was a body capable of enormous leverage- a cruel body.” (Fitzgerald 19) Tom’s appearance made people feel daunting, often acquiring more wealth.Through his various luxury lifestyles, he represents Old Money. Old Money is acquired wealth from previous generations that marry rich people to upgrade their wealth. Tom begins to hate people from the West Egg due to the fact they represent New Money, people who gain a lot of money during a short period of time. Tom believes their money will run out in due time, based on an affluent long lifestyle. Eventually he learns Gatsby is from West Egg which contains people from New Money.

Tom expresses himself using actions. Tom becomes very violent when he feels disrespected by women, “making sharp movement Tom Buchanan broke Myrtle’s nose with his open hand.”( Fitzgerald 20) Tom gets violent with his mistress when she decides to openly talk about his wife in a disrespectful manner, showing he still loves Daisy even though he is impudent. Although he is vicious in the heat of the moment,“ We all looked at the knuckle as black and blue.” (Fitzgerald 15) When he argues with his wife he becomes physical, even though the bruises are noticeable. Tom and Daisy marriage shows there has always been domestic violence.

As Tom begins to notice his wife's absence at home, he discovers she has been with Gatsby. At first Tom was enraged with emotions, so he decided to investigate who Gatsby is.Eventually, he notices his house is directly across the bay and he hosts many parties.As their relationship was apparent he invited Gatsby to New York alongside his wife and friend group. While there they drove in opposite cars, as tension began to build. Gatsby with confidence says, “ She never loved you, you hear me. She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me”. (Fitzgerald 130)It was a terrible mistake,but in her heart she never loved anyone except me.” As Daisy listened she never denied or confirmed what Gatsby was saying is true. Tom with a calm expression begins to tell Gatsby, “ I found out what “drug stores'' and wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street stores.” ( Fitzgerald 130) Through Tom's jealousy he tells his wife the truth about how he acquired his wealth through illegal doings which ultimately destroys their relationship.

As he was heading home, he learned the tragic news of Myrtle, his mistress, being killed by Gatsby’s car. He was furious because he thought Gatsby killed Myrtle for revenge. He was saddened and went to consult Myrtle’s husband, John. John began to weep because he could not believe his wife was dead, he began to confide in Tom, his frequent customer, that his wife had an affair. Tom began to console him and created the lie that Gatsby was having an affair with his wife and killed her, and gave him Gatsby address. John, given this information, decided to kill Gatsby along with himself. After Gatsby was pronounced dead Tom and Daisy decided to move from New York to a new location. Tom and Daisy did not attend his funeral, or send any flowers. Her cousin remembers “ without resentment, that Daisy hadn’t sent a message.” (Fitzgerald  183) Even though Gatsby died Daisy and Tom began to live their life traveling.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the protagonist, Jay Gatsby, conveys every action has a consequence depending on your social class. Tom and Daisy throughout the novel have multiple contributions that lead to Jay Gatsby’s :lying, jealousy, affairs, and status.Daisy loved being adored and treated with respect she prioritizes her husband who is ensured to have continuous wealth from previous generations. Even though she will never leave her husband she leads Gatsby to think she is madly in love with him, just to only use him.Tom become furious when Jay Gatsby begins to challenge him when he interacts with his wife. His jealousy became dangerous when he told Gatsby’s killer a false narrative about Gatsby and told him his address. With their status Daisy was never charged for the crime she committed,but caused a man to die. In the end true love perseveres.