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One of the biggest questions in the Fitzgerald's book 'The Great Gatsby' is whether Gatsby really loves Daisy. The suspicion is that he does love her, but not as a partner and an equal but as a status symbol, a trophy wife if you will. If your studying The Great Gatsby and need to write essays or papers on it remember to always include both sides to the story and then in the conclusion sum up everything you have talked about and pick a side. So lets start We'll start with the idea the idea that Gatsby does love Daisy as this is the most common interpretation taken from the book. Lets have a look at some quotes from The Great Gatsby to prove this. Well for a start there is Gatsby bought the house so Daisy would be just across the bay, and the casual way he remembers that the last time they saw each other was five years last November. Even the weather thinks Gatsby is in love with Daisy, when they meet again for the first time in years the room is filled with twinkle bells of sunshine. Another view is that Gatsby loved Daisy a trophy wife, as a status symbol. This is reinforced by a descriptions of Daisy like “Silver Idol”, “King's daughter” and “golden girl”. Some view her as the perfect wife to complete Gatsby's perfect life. This seems more likely as Gatsby is constantly trying to relive the past rather than enjoy the present with Daisy. He can't just enjoy his time with her he have to know she never loved another man, Surely he loved her he wouldn't care. And then there's the fact he hadn't even thought about her child. A third option is also on the table and it's one that I personally agree with. Gatsby doesn't love her as a person, and doesn't just want her to look good on his arm, although that is a fringe benefit. He wants her just for the challenge of getting her, the thrill of the chase. Gatsby is obsessed with the American Dream, of making himself perfect through nothing but the sweat of his own brow. Daisy rejected him for being poor in his youth so now he has to prove how much he has climbed the social ladder by winning her love. I like this idea the most because it makes sense of his ridicules need for her to say she never loved Tom, if he loves her, as a person or a status symbol he would quit while he was ahead, but he can't. . So what have we learned. Gatsby clearly loves something about Daisy. It could be her charming personality and beauty, it could be how good she would look on the end of his arm as he walked into a party or it could just be she is the next thing on his to do list, something to aim for, a target to hit. I think its the third option but I don't hold it against Gatsby, he probably thought he did love her as a person and only when he met her did he realises how caught up in the clutches of the American dream he was.
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