Gatsby's Dream in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald Essay Example

Have you ever abruptly woken up from an incredible dream? As your imagination takes off, you are awakened by the pestering sound of your alarm clock. After realizing it was only a dream you are disappointed but accept reality. Fitzgerald shows us how the love between Gatsby and Daisy is unrealistic and the delusion of Gatsby was that they would be together. The book The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the end of a different kind of dream as Jay Gatsby struggles to accept that he can never fully achieve his dream. 

Moreover, Gatsby was telling Nick about how he and Daisy had a great relationship in the past. He told Nick that they understood each other extremely well. Nick told him that a lot had happened in the five years that he was gone and that he should not expect him and Daisy's relationship to immediately go back exactly to the way it was in the past. Gatsby refused to admit that it was impossible for things to go back to the way it was five years ago with Daisy. “‘I wouldn’t ask too much of her,’ I ventured. ‘You can’t repeat the past.’ ‘Can’t repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!’” (Fitzgerald, 118). He thinks that he and Daisy could easily pick up where they left off. Gatsby's refusal to acknowledge the past led to the inevitable death of his dream. 

Additionally, Gatsby waited outside the Buchanan home to make sure she was alright after the accident. “What are you doing?... just standing here, old sport” (Fitzgerald, 153). He was waiting to make sure Tom wouldn’t get violent with her. After Daisy killed Myrtle, Daisy clearly had her mind made up that she could not be with Gatsby. It would be crazy to leave her life for someone who she had just accidentally killed someone with. “There was an unmistakable air of natural intimacy about the picture, and anybody would have said that they were conspiring together” (Fitzgerald, 155). She knew that Tom could protect her and provide for her yet for some reason, Gatsby still thinks that she wants to be with her. Being married to Tom, with a child, also significantly contributed to Daisy’s loyalty to Tom. Gatsby is so blindsided that he actually thinks their relationship would work out although, after that night, it was clearly over forever. 

Furthermore, Daisy didn't even show up to Gatsby's funeral. All of Gatsby's efforts in trying to pursue her was ultimately a waste. “I could only remember, without resentment, that Daisy hadn’t sent a message or a flower” (Fitzgerald, 186). Gatsby spent so much time trying to win Daisy over and after his passing, Daisy didn’t even give him a second thought. This just goes to show that the venture of Gatsby’s dream was extremely costly and not worth his life. Daisy clearly was not as kind and majestic as Gatsby thought she was considering Gatsby’s funeral wasn’t even a priority of Daisy’s.  

Since he was a boy, Gatsby always dreamed of becoming a major success. He thinks that in order to attain perfection he must have a nice house, lots of money, and the cherry on top, the perfect wife. However, he is so set that Daisy is perfect for him, he fails to see past her beauty and realize that she is selfish, unreliable, shallow, and she is only interested in materialistic things. Gatsby spends his entire life trying to achieve the impossible, perfection. Gatsby’s dream has always been extremely flawed. He fails to realize that no one is perfect and no one can attain the perfect life. He thinks that if he has this alleged perfect life that he will be happy yet, he was miserable and lonely until the very end. At the end of the book, Gatsby is killed because he cannot accept reality. The ending of the book brings reality back and represents the expiration of his dream.