One would think you would be able to find some sign of true love in the dazzling
love story, The Great Gatsby, but that is not necessarily true in my opinion. In many
instances you read about what you would think is love among some of the characters like
between Tom and Myrtle for example. But with them and all the characters there are
contradicting instances that say otherwise.
With Tom and Myrtle, you assume he loves her because he is cheating on his wife
to be with her. But he also treats her bad at times both verbally and physically, for
instance, when he slaps her for mouthing off and talks to her as though she were inferior
to him. Moments like these make you wonder if he cares for her or if he is using her for
personal pleasure. Nevertheless, I think he does love Myrtle in his own way. He proves
this when she dies and he becomes very upset, as someone in love would do.
Tom obviously does not care for Daisy as much as he use too, otherwise he would
not cheat on her. Tom also treats Daisy as though she is inferior to him. But does Daisy not act like she is insignificant when around Tom? Maybe this is because she loves him enough to act that way, after all, Daisy did say that girls need to be foolish. However, if Daisy does love Tom then one has to wonder why she would cheat on him with Gatsby.
Moreover, Daisy admits that she has plans to leave Tom when they are all in the hotel
room together, proving that she wants to be with Gatsby. When Tom realizes that Daisy
is serious he refuses to let her go which is surprising since you think that he longs for
Myrtle. In the end Daisy ends up staying with Tom, even though she does not love him,
because of their child and also because she has no one else to go too since Gatsby is dies. Therefore they live together for the rest of their lives in depression, not in love.
Then there is Nick. He loves Daisy in the way that they are family, but he does
not love any one else I think. He dates Jordan but not long enough to fall in love.
Essay About Love in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby
Twisted Love in The Great Gatsby
In the story The Great Gatsby, many of the characters seemed to express what
seemed like love. I tend to disagree with this. Daisy, Tom, Gatsby, and Mertle all express
fake love to their significant others, but didn’t actually feel true love.
Starting with Daisy, she married Tom because all that he had was money. She was
so aristocratic that she wouldn’t marry Gatsby while they were in love after the war. All
that Daisy seemed to care about was having so comfortable of a life that I believe she
forgot what love was until Gatsby showed up again. But this isn’t all true, Daisy was so
impressed by Gatsby’s wealth that her greed once again took over her and she was almost
prepared to leave Tom for Gatsby. Also, I don’t think that she loved her daughter.
Daisy’s daughter was just a little plaything for Daisy’s enjoyment. She never cared for her
and she never really had a social interaction with her daughter.
I don’t think that Tom ever really loved Daisy or Mertle. Tom only loved Daisy
because she was a pretty face and he thought that he deserved her. He didn’t love Mertle
at all. She was just a woman he was having an affair with.
Mertle didn’t love Tom what so ever. She was just impressed by his money. Her
husband was very poor and she wanted the good life. A life where all she had to do all
day was to sit around and drink. She didn’t care for her husband either. He was a hard
working man that was barley getting by running his little gas station. All that she wanted
was more, more, and more.
Gatsby might have been the only character to understand love, besides George
Wilson. Although Gatsby’s interpretation of love was a little twisted. He didn’t love
Daisy for who she was when they met at Nick’s, he loved her for who she used to be. He
just wanted things to be like they used to be between them. What’s ironic about the
situation though is that this can never take place because Daisy now has a child and a
husband to tend for and would have no time for Gatsby.
George Wilson, I believe, was the only character in the book that really loved and