Great Gatsby Quote Analysis By: Salma Bah

1. Tom, the husband of Daisy, holds an affair with Myrtle who is a poor woman that is the completely opposite of Daisy. In chapter two of The Great Gatsby, Nick describes Myrtle as her face, above a spotted dress of dark blue crepe-de-chine, contained no facet or gleam of beauty. Although Tom is already a taken man with a beautiful wife Daisy, Tom feels an attraction to Myrtle that he does not feel about Daisy. Tom notices something ordinary but special about Myrtle, causing Tom to have an unusual attraction to her despite the fact he is a married man. After Nick states that Myrtle did not contain any gleam of beauty, he continues on to say but there was an immediate perceptibility about her. Opposed to Daisy, Myrtle has a fun, uplifting nature to her that obviously attracted Tom, and, in addition to that, Tom holds a higher status in the affair due to the fact he is wealthier and has a dominating personality.

2. Myrtle is the mistress of Tom, although, both characters are not on the same level of power and wealth. Myrtle is a woman married to George Wilson, who does not possess the same wealth as Tom. Due to the fact George is poor, he is unable to provide the wants and desires of Myrtle, and thats where Tom comes into the love triangle. Tom is able to provide more than enough for Myrtle which allows her to have a foot in the door to the luxurious lifestyle. Nick observes Myrtle and recognizes her faade, describing it as the intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage was converted into impressive hauteur. Nick identifies Myrtle as a woman who puts on a certain front to maintain an image that is not her own. In reality Myrtle is a poor, lower class women who acts the part of a rich, materialistic woman.

3. When seeing Gatsby, Nick takes notice in a quality in Gatsby that cannot go unnoticed, which happens to be Gatsbys smile. Nick describes the smile of Gatsby as one of those rare smiles quality or eternal reassurance in it meaning the smile had a safe and welcoming factor to it which drew people in, including Nick himself. With Gatsby being this mysterious, unknown man many misconceptions are made about him. Gatsby can be whomever people imagine him to be because no one truly knows who he is. Because of Gatsby is a private person; Gatsbys seducing smile is a mask that hides the truth behind Gatsby such as his harsh upbringing and struggle to success. The smile charms anyone, which almost makes Gatsby this likeable figure.

After Gatsbys death, Nick has same time to analyze and reflect about Gatsby. Nick does what he can to avoid interfering with anything that has to do with Gatsby. When seeing Gatsbys possible taxi driver, he avoid him and in addition to that when someone showed up at Gatsbys house, Nick decides not to investigate. Not only does this show that Nick is trying to avoid anything that has to do with Gatsby but as well as the fact when Gatsby died, many things died with him. One primary example of something that died along with Gatsby was his legendary parties. Nick describes the guest at Gatsbys house as a final guest who had been away at the ends of the earth and didnt know the party was over. Nick spends his Saturday nights in New York as a remembrance to Gatsby and the parties held just to get the feel of them again. From this, one can tell that Gatsby left a giant impact on Nick. Even after his death Nick feels as if those dazzling parties of his were with me so vividly that I could hear the music and laughter faint and incessant from his garden and the cars going up and down his drive. If Nick still vividly imagines the parties and guests still arrive at Gatsbys house, it demonstrates the impact Gatsby had on others overall. Even though Gatsby gained attention and success with the people, Gatsby was always on a chase for something else. Gatsby chased a dream that he never knew was behind him all along. While being dazed by the green light and chasing a light he could hardly fail to grasp, Gatsby, despite achieving the American dream, still chased that one thing he could never fully get. From being a poor man from the Midwest to a wealthy man living close to the city with a life full of luxury, Gatsby does not see this because he is too occupied chasing after that one thing he cannot have. Although Gatsby had achieved most his dreams, his last dream was to get Daisy, which never really occurred. This show that we will run faster, stretch our arms out farther but, may never be able to grab onto what we actually dream of. This in a way portrays the American dream as a lie because we may never get what we completely want until one fine morning anything could happen, which for Gatsby was his death. In the ending of The Great Gatsby, Nick states we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past meaning, we fight and struggle our way to success but we will always look back at the past, which will in some way, affect our future.