Love, Lust and Obsession in the Great Gatsby Essay

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There is a fine line between love and lust. If love is only a will to possess, it is not love. To love someone is to hold them dear to one's heart. In The Great Gatsby, the characters, Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan are said to be in love, but in reality, this seems to be a misconception. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrays the themes of love, lust and obsession, through the character of Jay Gatsby, who confuses lust and obsession with love. By the end of the novel however, Jay Gatsby is denied his "love" and suffers an untimely death. The author interconnects the relationships of the various prominent characters to support these ideas.
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<br>The character of Jay Gatsby was a wealthy business man, who the author developed as …show more content…
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<br>Until he met Daisy, he took women for granted, never understanding the value of respect and love. The character of Gatsby gives enough evidence to conclude that lust has nothing to do with love, and that they are entirely different frames of mind. Gatsby lusted for women, but did not respect or love his lust objects. They were only objects of desire.
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<br>When lust becomes an obsession, lust becomes dangerous. It can completely overpower a person until they become controlled by it. By the end of this book, Gatsby becomes obsessed with Daisy. He thinks of nothing else but her and constantly analyses over every little detail of her life. He wanted her so much to have her, that it consumed his life.
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<br>He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: 'I never loved you.' After she had obliterated four years with that sentence they could decide upon the more practical measures to be taken. One of them was that, after she was free, they were to go back to Louisville and be married from her house - just as if it were five years ago.
<br>'And she doesn't understand,' he said. 'She used to be able understand. We'd sit for hours-'
<br>He broke off and began to walk up and down a desolate path of fruit rinds and discarded favours and crushed flowers.
<br>'I wouldn't ask too much of her,' I ventured. 'You can't repeat the past'
<br>'Can't repeat the past?' he cried incredulously.
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