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Michelle Le
Mrs. Downes
CP English 3
Period 1
24 February 2014

The Great Gatsby

In The Great Gatsby (1925), F. Scott Fitzgerald clarifies that materialism and idealism in
America, the perversion of the American dream, and appearance vs. reality are the main themes
in the novel. Fitzgerald wrote an event that shows the connection of all three themes which is
when Gatsby urges to revert back to the past with Daisy. By the end of the book, three themes
clearly show the corruption of the American dream. Fitzgerald creates the characters with a
certain persona to show the significance of the three themes.
Gatsby has a hard time grasping the idea of reality because of his one true love, Daisy.
Moreover, he tries to make Daisy love him once more by surprising her with his fame and
fortune. Nick realizes that Gatsby can not bring back the past no matter how hard he tries, but
Gatsby retorts Cant repeat the past? he cried incredulously. Why of course you can (116).
The author makes Gatsby sound hopeful which portrays his true nature. Gatsby believes he can
bring back the past in order to be with Daisy again.
Daisy, the golden girl, marries Tom Buchanan after Gatsby is sent into war. During their
marriage life, Daisy bears a child which turns out be a girl. In occurrence with the birth of
Daisys daughter, Daisy weeps Im glad its a girl. And I hope shell be a fool---thats the best
thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool (21). Daisy knows that if a girl is born
then there will be hardships for her daughters love life. Daisy feels unfortunate about the birth of

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her daughter.
When everyone including Gatsby goes on a trip to New York, an incident occurs
regarding Myrtle. When Tom finds out about the accident, Gatsby takes the blame when it was
actually Daisy who caused the accident. Gatsby then says, I thought so; I told Daisy I thought
so. Its better that the shock should all come at once. She stood it pretty well (150). This quote
shows that Gatsby knows that Myrtle dies in the accident, but it is strange how still Daisy is
about the whole situation. This concludes that Daisy is a materialistic character.
In the end, the whole idea of materialism and idealism, and appearance vs reality tie
together into the perversion of the American dream. The perversion of the American dream is
viewed as corrupt in this novel. Gatsby does not achieve the American dream because his attempt
to win back Daisy failed. Daisy is the kind of girl every guy wishes to marry but can not get.
Although she may appear beautiful and perfect, her materialistic personality overrides her
flawless figure. In Daisys perspective, wealth is a necessity in order to live a good life, but after
experiencing her life with Tom, she realizes that her daughter may grow up to love a wealthy
man who will merely treat her unkindly.