Instability of Love and Desire in The Great Gatsby

Relationships can change your life, they can make or break you. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby represents instability of love and desire. Love, desire, rumours and the truth can be difficult for one to handle. Everyone seems to want love, but do they know what it has in store. Desire can be dangerous because it can lead you to do things you never knew you were capable of. It can make you regret everything you have worked for, or set your standards too high. Rumours can over power everything; what you hear about someone is not always true. Lies may change the way you think of others. The truth is not as magical as lies, lies bring up wild expectations. Lies can set standards that one is not capable of living of up to. The truth might be difficult to take in, reality is not as it seems. Can relationships handle all the hardship; or will they become overthrown by love, desire and rumours? What you expect, hear or know about someone might not be as it seems.

Nick Carraway is in a dark place after Jay Gatsby dies, and feels as if his life has no meaning; heartbreak overcomes him. Everyone seems to love “The Great Gatsby,” but do they really? They love his wealth, the mystery and charm. No one seems to really care for Gatsby in the end; Nick is the only one who shows up to his funeral. “Bury A Friend,” by Billie Eilish represents how Nick feels when Gatsby dies, and what people think of Gatsby. “Bury a friend, I wanna end me,” by Billie Eilish.“ I drove from the station directly to Gatsby’s house and my rushing anxiously up the front steps was the first thing that alarmed anyone.”The Great Gatsby. Nick feels shock, like it’s not true, he is overthrown by emotion. “What do you want from me, what are you wondering, what do you know,” by Billie Eilish. “Somebody told me they thought he killed a man once.” “I don't think it's so much that, it's more that he was a German spy during the war.” “I heard that from a man who knew all about him, grew up with him in Germany.” “Oh, no, it couldn't be that, because he was in the American army during the war.” “You look at him sometimes when he thinks nobody's looking at him. I'll bet he killed a man.” The Great Gatsby page 45. Everyone thinks different things about Gatsby, the majority of them not true. There are lots of rumours about Gatsby that are outrageous. No one seems to know the truth, or real Gatsby. Even when Nick first met Gatsby he believed all the false information that everyone was talking about. As Nick and Gatsby became friends, Nick learned the real truth. “Gatsby’s real name is James Gatz, and he's from North Dakota. His parents were poor farmers. He went to college for two weeks, paying for it by doing janitor work. I suppose he'd had the name ready for a long time, even then. His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people—his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all. The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God – a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that – and he must be about His Father's business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end,” The Great Gatsby page 95. Nick was the only one who knew the truth, no more lies or rumours.

Gatsby and Daisy met during World War II and Gatsby instantly fell in love with Daisy. Jay was amazed by Daisy’s wealth, beauty and innocence. Shortly after meeting Daisy, Gatsby left; Daisy waited for Gatsby’s return but he never came back. Gatsby left no trace and Daisy could not wait any longer. Daisy had no choice but to marry Tom for his wealth; overtime they had a child together. Gatsby claims he went away to become everything Daisy wanted. When Jay was ready to commit to Daisy, he found out that she’s married. Gatsby continued to love Daisy, waiting for her to find her way back to him. They ended up living across the Bay from each other, neither of them knowing. “Coaster,” by Khalid represents Gatsby’s undying love for Daisy and him not being able to have her. “I’ll fight your love, I’ll fight for your soul,” by Khalid. “Your wife doesn't love you.” “She’s never loved you.” “She loves me.” “ She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved anyone except me”. “Going on for five five years - and you didn’t know.” “But both of us loved each other all that time”. Gatsby is telling Tom that Daisy never loved him, and that Gatsby will continue to fight for Daisy. “Maybe you weren't the one for me, but deep down I wanted you to be,” by Khalid. “I love you now - isn’t that enough? I can’t help what’s past.” “I did love him once - but I loved you too.” “Even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom.” “It wouldn't be true”. Daisy tells Gatsby that she loves him and Tom, this leaves Gatsby confused and Tom furious. “All the things I did for you, just wasn’t it for you,” by Khalid. “Was Daisy driving?” “Yes, but of course I’ll say I was.”. “A new point of view occurred to me. Suppose Tom found out that Daisy had been driving. He might think he saw a connection in it - he might think anything.” “He was talking intently across the table at her, and in his earnestness his hand had fallen upon and covered her own. Once in a while she looked up at him and nodded in agreement.” “They weren’t happy, and neither of them had touched the chicken or the ale - and yet they weren’t unhappy either. There was an unmistakable air of natural intimacy about the picture, and anybody would have said that they were conspiring together.” The Great Gatsby page 138. Daisy and Tom are discussing the accident and Tom tells Daisy that he will make it go away. At this point Daisy is is not thinking about Gatsby, she will do anything to get off the hook.

When you first meet someone you usually know nothing about them. In Nick Carraway’s case it was different, even before he met Gatsby himself Nick knew a ton about Gatsby through what people were saying. “Somebody told me they thought he killed a man once.” “I don't think it's so much that, it's more that he was a German spy during the war.” “I heard that from a man who knew all about him, grew up with him in Germany.” “Oh, no, it couldn't be that, because he was in the American army during the war.” “You look at him sometimes when he thinks nobody's looking at him. I’ll bet he killed a man.” Even with everything everyone was saying, Nick did not believe the majority of it. Nick thought there was this side of Gatsby that know one knew; turned out he was right. “Gatsby’s real name is James Gatz, and he's from North Dakota. His parents were poor farmers. He went to college for two weeks, paying for it by doing janitor work. I suppose he’d had the name ready for a long time, even then. His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people — his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all. The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God – a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that – and he must be about His Father's business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end.” The Great Gatsby page 95. After a while of being friends, Gatsby felt he could tell Nick of about his past. Nick was the only person who seemed to know about the real Gatsby, and the only person who was Gatsby’s true friend. Nick invited Gatsby and Daisy over for tea; reuniting them. He was the reason Gatsby and Daisy got together again, he showed Gatsby it was possible. Nick admires Gatsby’s dream and how Gatsby is determined to make it happen. Gatsby pursued his dream, and him and Daisy were secretly were together. Tom did not know of this, he suspected it but he wanted to make sure it was actually happening. Tom and Gastby got into a heated argument, and Daisy told them that they expected too much of her. She explained that she loved them both, and it is too hard for her to handle. Daisy and Gatsby got into an accident; Tom plans to blame the whole thing on Gatsby. Leaving Daisy no choice but to ghost Gatsby; she even did not attend his funeral. Nick was the only one who seemed to ever really care about Gatsby, and never give up on him.

Instability of love and desire can make you do unspeakable things, things you never thought you were capable of. Rumours can change your life; they change the way people think of and the way you portray yourself. Be careful how you pursue yourself, people think whatever they want to think. Dreams seem close but yet so far; dreams can be made into a reality if you make them. When it comes to an end you see who your real friends are, and who liked just the idea of you. Love overcomes everything, it can make your life great, or horrible. It can change who you are for the better or the worse. Pay attention to your surroundings, people will surprise you.