Sunday, May 26, 2013

Slightly complicated envy for Gatsby


After watching the movie and re-reading the book, I said I hated Gatsby, and now I hate and envy him at the same time. Nick said that he had an extraordinary gift for hope, but it is not so extraordinary for me. Hope is meant to be untouchable, and always far away from our reach like the green light opposite the bay. That's why Gatsby could keep his hope for Daisy alive for so long, because his hope is still far away. And when he finally met Daisy again after five years, his wish finally came true, and "his count of enchanted objects had diminished by one", to quote Nick. 

He must be feeling so lost when he met his enchanted moment, all the anticipation has reduced down a grounded reality. We all can feel his lost because fantasy is always better than the reality. As a human, we don't seem to know when to be satisfied, just as Gatsby. So once Gatsby got back together with Daisy in an under-radar way, Gatsby became greedy and wanted more. He became so pushy to Daisy and wanted her to tell Tom that she had never loved him. But I guess I would say, who wouldn't do like Gatsby. Just that Gatsby was a fool to really believe that Daisy never loved Tom at all, not even a slight moment. He didn't know that his move had pushed Daisy further away from himself. 

Back to my starting point. I envy Gatsby, in the sense that he never have to witness his hope shattered into pieces, to realize that his believe about Daisy never loved Tom and she would get back together with him  forever was not true and wouldn't become true either. At his final moment, he still believed that Daisy would call. He was too blinded to see the truth, and beyond saving. I agree with Nick, about death is not a sad ending at all, at least not for Gatsby, as Nick said,
"Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the sorrows and short winded elations of men."
So I guess there is only one end for chasing a dying hope - death. And death is the only way can Gatsby keep his hope alive. 










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