The Great Gatsby Essay example

Submitted By hopejoleneee123
Words: 680
Pages: 3
Open Document
During my reading of The Great Gatsby, I came across an interesting quote which read, “All I kept thinking about, over and over, was 'you can't live forever; you can't live forever.’” It made me start to sincerely think about my life and how fast it is all going by, and how I really wish it wouldn’t, because, when things are flying past you, you are likely to miss something important, and something as small, or maybe even as big as that, could be crucial to impacting someone’s life.
I believe that this passage reveals about Nick Carraway is that once he takes a step back from the big picture, also known as Life, he begins to think about his past. He starts to realize that his life, even though he was present for it, he was never really there. He finds himself realizing that his life has just been passing him by the entire time. He’s never really just lived before; never gone out and done something courageous, and possibly stupid, just because he was young and could later on use the excuse of, “You’re only young once.” In this case, when he stated that, I think he felt regret. Regret for not having gone out and having done the things that he wished that he would have when he had the opportunities to do them.
I believe that a large philosophical issue that goes along the lines of this quote is that everyone sincerely thinks that they have forever to get things done, or forever to do the things that they sincerely want to do, like travel to Paris or go to the Bahamas for spring break, but the problem with this is that everyone seems to forget that there might not be a tomorrow. Whether they procrastinate on studying for their final exams or on a paper that they had all summer to write, or even to waiting an extra day to tell someone how you really feel about them. As humans, we like to do things later on, or say the usual, “I have plenty of time,” and “I’ll do it tomorrow.” But what we should really do is stop waiting for tomorrow, and stop waiting for the future to happen to come to us, when we really should be the ones taking ahold of it firsthand.
I believe the theme that Fitzgerald was trying to portray in this passage is pretty obvious; you don’t live forever. Life happens. You should just take chances. You never know what might happen. Life is
Show More

Related Documents: The Great Gatsby Essay example

Why Is The Great Gatsby Great

In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is great because of the way he is perceived by the people for living out the the American Dream. Gatsby's mansion, lavish parties and wealth give him a reputation of being great because he is living what people dream of. Gatsby is also great because he is a genuine romantic and will do anything to obtain his lifelong love Daisy, who is occupied by another man, Tom. Gatsby believes that Daisy doesn't truly love Tom and that Daisy truly loves him…

Words 1449 - Pages 6

Gatsby: The Great Gatsby and Gatsby Essay

THE GREAT GATSBY.. In the Great Gatsby the story is narrated in the past tense and seen through the eyes of Mr Nick Carraway.He is a young man from Minnestota, who after serving in World War 1, went on to New York to learn the bond business. He moves to the West Egg and soon becomes friends with his neighbour, the mysterious Jay Gatsby. Fitzgerald, the author uses the the settings of the East and West Egg to present the differences in the classes and the demise of the American dream in the…

Words 1007 - Pages 5

Gatsby: The Great Gatsby and Gatsby Essay

11 (3) 22 April 2013 Lies and Deceit Frederick Scott Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby portrays a rich man who obsesses over the love of his past and as a result ends his life. Lies and deceit take a major role during the novel, the biggest lie of them all being Mr. Jay Gatsby himself. All humans are innately dishonest and superficial which reveals the characters true disposition and as a result leads to discontent and in Gatsbys case, death. Frederick uses Symbolism, Characterization, and Diction to…

Words 1001 - Pages 5

Is The Great Gatsby Really Great

In life we aim to be great to always be caring and loving towards others and to have a legacy everyone will remember, but it's not easy to be all good. Not everyone is truly great everyone has flaws. To be great we must have Integrity and a special set of morals that we won't ever turn against, they always do the right thing. We must think of others before ourselves and do everything we possibly can to be good. Gatsby has fabricated an entire life built up with lies, the people around him are no…

Words 1638 - Pages 7

Love In The Great Gatsby

topic of many novels, movies, and songs. In the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, people see many different themes but the one that stands out to me most is the theme of love. The relationships in The Great Gatsby are not always centered around love, instead some are centered around status or wealth. Also, we see in the book how far some people are willing to go in hopes to acquire the one they love. In the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald uses the characters to…

Words 497 - Pages 2

The Great Gatsby Analysis

Fitzgerald wrote the classic, “The Great Gatsby” in 1925. It is considered a portrait of the golden age of jazz and all of its excesses. A typical book on the story begins with Jay Gatsby meeting and falling in love with a young Daisy while he is still an impoverished officer. When he is sent over seas Daisy marries the very rich yet brutal Tom Buchanan. Gatsby pursues wealth endlessly until he is a self made millionaire. Gatsby moves to New York and buys a great mansion. He begins to throw lavish…

Words 264 - Pages 2

Essay on The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald In F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby' he proves the American dream to be nothing people pretending to be something they're not in hopes of a better life. So is the American dream still a living dream today? Well you would think it would be because you still hear some people still talk about it here and there, so that's what I hoped to find out. Here are some things I discovered in the process. It seems the American dream is very popular in American…

Words 1312 - Pages 6

Hope In The Great Gatsby

world is centered around fantasizing and dreaming, just like in The Great Gatsby. F Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, wanted “something new and beautiful”, this book was exactly that as millions of copies were sold. The book was published in the 1920’s; surrounding wealth, parties, alcohol, materialism, and love. With all of the events in the book, they are all tied to some sort of ‘hope’. In the novel The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the color ‘green’ to symbolize the main character…

Words 795 - Pages 4

Relationships In The Great Gatsby

within The Great Gatsby Throughout the novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald compares the connections between Gatsby/Daisy, Tom/Myrtle, Nick/Jordan; there are importance to these individuals. They can be between lovers, friends, and families. The novel shows these, but also the wrong types of relationships such as people having affairs.Throughout F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the relationships between the different characters, are dysfunctional, arrogant and materialistic. One can see that Gatsby and Daisy…

Words 840 - Pages 4

Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald is a man who believes that God can be found in many places, which is prevalent in his book, The Great Gatsby. Throughout The Great Gatsby, one can find a plethora of religious references that are brought to light by the book’s characters Owl Eyes, Doctor Eckleburg, and Gatsby.This symbolism is found in the character’s actions and how the other characters react to them. One prevalent character that represents a divine deity is Owl Eyes. Within the book, there are several instances…

Words 1511 - Pages 7