The Great Gatsby Essay

In The Great Gatsby, there are three illicit relationships: Gatsby and Daisy, Nick and Jordan, and Tom and Myrtle. In some ways they are similar, and in some ways each is unique. In this essay, I will compare and examine each of the couples, and try to give some insight as to why none of the relationships worked out.

The relationship between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan was

probably the most one sided. The entire time they were apart, all

Gatsby did was try to reach his goal, which was Daisy. When you

think about somebody but don t talk to them for a long time, you can

build them up to be this perfect person. So when Gatsby and Daisy

talked for the first time in years, it was almost like he was talking to a famous movie star. Daisy didn t feel that way. She used to love him, but not anymore.

Also, if Gatsby and Daisy met under other circumstances, such

as each of them having no money and Daisy not being married, their

relationship may have worked out. But because of the circumstances,

their relationship was doomed to fail.

Of all of the relationships, I think that the most honest was

between Nick Carraway and Jordan Baker. This is ironic because it

was Jordan s compulsive dishonesty that ruined the relationship. They

weren t secretly seeing each other behind other people s backs, they

weren t unfaithful to each other, and they both cared for each other.

Nick saw Jordan s dishonesty as a major flaw in her personality, and

he didn t think she was worth it.

Out of all of the relationships, Tom Buchanan and Myrtle

Wilson s was the most the most superficial. Neither had true feelings

for the other, they were just there to amuse themselves. This one was

also the most damaging. Gatsby, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson all died

because of it.

For one reason or another, all three of the relationships were

doomed to fail. Some due to the circumstances, and some due to the

people within them. I believe that out of all six of the characters

involved in these relationships, Gatsby was the only one that really loved someone.