Research Paper on Classic English Literature
Sample Research Paper on The Great Gatsby:
Introduction
The story begins with Nick Carraway getting a house in Long island in a place called West egg. He was a scholar and had been educated at the Yale University. During the First World War, Nick got a job in France and, this is when he travelled the world. Nick was not satisfied with the life that he lived. Therefore, he decided to move to the small town and start again. During a visit to her cousin Daisy, Nick learns about the name of his neighbor, well known for throwing parties all the time. The neighbor, Jay Gatsby is a rich man who lives in a big mansion. Nick learns that Jay was an old-time love of her cousin Daisy.
The two met five years ago and became extremely intimate friends. When Jay proposed to Daisy, she refused to marry him because he was not rich and, he had to go and work far away for a long period (Bloom, 72). Daisy instead married a young man from a sophisticated family who had so much money. Jay was hurt by daisy because she refused to marry him because he was poor. He worked tirelessly and eventually became a rich man. He then bought a house near the marital home of Daisy in a bid to rekindle the love they once had.
Nick brings the two together when he invites both of them to his house. Daisy likes the new Jay and the love they once shared comes back to life. Daisy does not feel guilty that she is has extra marital affairs. This is because she knew the extra marital affair that her husband had with the wife of a petrol station owner. Daisy and Jay spend a lot of time together and this raises the suspicion of her husband. Jay did not seem to care whether she was married. To him, Daisy as his wife and all the years that he was away, Daisy had an affair with Tom. He believes that she is his wife so much that he told her he had forgiven her for having an affair. Tom storms into a room in New York where Daisy and Jay were. In the intense argument, he exposes the illegal dealings that Jay has that made him rich. Daisy and Jay drive away from Tom and on their way to Long Island they hit the lover of Tom (Luthbury, 140). She was running away from her husband who had locked her in. The truth about Jay wounded the relationship they had with daisy. However, he still believed that he could win her back. The husband of the mistress of Tom shot and killed Jay assuming that he was the one who killed her. During his burial ceremony, Nick is annoyed because not all the people who called themselves friends of Jay and even partied with him appeared for his burial.
The play can be in three parts. The first part is when Daisy and Jay meet. The two become close and fall in love over time (Bloom, Pp. 67). When Jay asks the question that he obviously knows would be answered positively, he receives a tremendous shock. Daisy refuses to marry him because he is a poor man. Another reason that Daisy gave Jay for refusing his proposal is that he is in the military. Therefore, he would be sent very far away, and she could not see him for an awful long time. Daisy then marries a rich man who is from a sophisticated family. Even though he was not good to her and treated her badly. This showed how Daisy was very hungry for money. She was so fast to leave a man that she had come to know just because he was not rich. He could not give her all the things that money could buy. She instead threw herself to a rich man for his money. His character and personality did not matter a lot to daisy.
The second part of the play is during the period which Jay and Daisy rekindle their love. Jay went to extremes to try to make Daisy happy. This is because he started illegal dealings so that he could get rich and be able to buy a house near the marital home of Daisy. He is so desperate that he calls for parties now and then to get the attention of his lost love. When they meet in the house of Nick, Daisy is impressed because of the money Jay has. She then starts an extramarital affair with Jay (Fitzgerald, 200). She consoles herself that even her husband is has a relationship with another woman. Jay even stops calling people to party at his house when he finally learns that Daisy does not enjoy parting. The love between the two ends when Tom catches them in a room and exposes the dirty dealings of Jay. There is an intense argument and many people who were their friends witness the confrontation. Daisy does not want anything to do with Jay. After all the efforts that Jay had put to make her happy, she rejected him so fast. He had even endangered his life through the illegal dealings, but Daisy did not consider that.
The third part of the novel is when things get from worse to worst because of the affair of Jay and Daisy. When they leave the hotel, Daisy who is driving the car of Jay accidentally hits the mistress of her husband. The husband of the mistress, Wilson, had learned of her affair with Tom and locked his wife indoors. Daisy does not stop when she hits the mistress but continues to drive. Wilson, who is the owner of a petrol station is very hurt and seeks to kill Jay. He had assumed that he was the one who killed his wife. Tom seeking revenge had confirmed that indeed Jay had killed her. He finally kills Jay when he finds him in his swimming pool. He shoots him in the head and commits suicide. The number of people at the funeral of Jay is very small. This is opposed to the number of people that came to his parties and claimed to be his good friends. His parents traveled long distances to come and bury their son. It could have been better if he had paid more attention to his family than trying to woo a lost love.
Nick is the person who witnessed the unfolding of the events. He is the one who made the two meet up, and it is from there that they get back together and start an affair. Nick who is the cousin of Daisy sees this as trouble and stops being close friends with the two people. He knew that only bad things would come from having the affair. Therefore, he becomes close with Jordan Baker who knew Daisy for a very long time. When Daisy killed the wife of Wilson, her husband assumed that it was Jay. He even confirmed to Wilson that indeed Jay had killed his wife. Tom had also exposed the illegal dealings of Jay to Daisy. He ensured that he had destroyed Jay. Nick was not happy when he learned of this. He was not pleased that all this mess had happened because Jay wanted her cousin back.
Nick changed completely after the funeral of Jay. He noticed that not all the friends of Jay were there (Maurer, 45). The people who attended his funeral were not many. This was different to the number of people who came to the parties that Jay had and pretended to be his friends. Nick realized that all the efforts that Jay put to impress Daisy were a waste of time. The life of Jay ended so fast because he was obsessed with his past lover. He let Daisy drag him to his death. Nick changed his character completely and even stopped being friends with Jordan. Later on, he returns back home. He is the character who brought Jay and Daisy together by inviting the two into his house. This shows that he supported the relationship between Jay and Daisy. At the same time, he is not happy with the outcome of the events and does not want to be involved in their scandals (Fitzgerald, Pp 120). In the end, he cuts off all channels with them and returns home.
Infidelity is a habitual thing in the novel. This is because there is more than one spouse cheating on his or her partner in the story. Wilson was cheating on his wife. The wife of Wilson was also cheating on her husband with Tom (Bloom, Pp. 67). Daisy was cheating on her husband with Jay. The author may have used this theme to show the sexual independence that people had after the First World War. He tries to show how people used the freedom to abuse marriages. Many people in America engaged in immoral behaviors that were not acceptable before the First World War. In their quest for a new America they mistook sexual immorality for happiness and pleasure. Through the story of Daisy, he shows how some women could accept to marry any man that had a lot of money and was from a good background. The people who came to the parties that Jay also showed abuse of sexuality freedom. This is because the author says that the people who came to the party left the party with a different person from the one they were with when they came.
However, the love that Jay tried to rekindle with Daisy cannot be viewed as abusing sexual independence. This is because Jay believed that he had just married her and that she had been waiting for him all this years. The marriage that Daisy has with Tom did not exist in the world of Jay. He believed that Daisy was cheating on him with Tom and Jay forgave her for that.
The publication of the novel influenced many people because apart from talking about the romantic story of the love that Jay had for Daisy, the author has an underlying message. The author talked about the different issues that people were facing at the time. He portrays the rotten morals that people had in the early twentieth century (Bloom, 45). He portrays this by talking about greediness and the wild quest of obsessions. The author shows how people misinterpreted the American Dream by chasing worldly riches and pleasure instead of looking for the good ideals of the American dream. After the First World War, people found life to be more difficult, and everyone was fighting to become rich. The suffrage movement led to more crime and illegal businesses in the United States.
The author depicts these hard times and changes in his characters. Meyer who dealt with illegal businesses symbolizes the time after the suffrage movement when illegal businesses grew (Fitzgerald, Pp 94). The struggles to fit in the new America are depicted by the stories of Jay and Nick. They had to move in to a new place and try to fit in after the war was over. The obsession of Jay to become rich shows how people after the war were trying to become economically big. The difference between the people who were rich before and those trying hard enough to get there is depicted well in the novel. This is by the West Egg that refers to the people who became rich after the war, and the East Egg are those who were rich even before the war.
Many people misinterpreted the American dream. They thought that it meant that it was the quest for wealth and obsessive happiness. The author showed the Americans how wrong they had interpreted the rights made in the constitution. The constitution made at that time in the United States stated that, “everyone has a right to liberty, life and the pursuit of happiness”. Many misinterpreted the quest for happiness with the quest of wealth. The author showed that the quest for money could only bring trouble.
The obstacle to the happiness of Jay and Daisy was money. It was the reason why Jay would never be with Daisy. This shows how Americans allowed themselves to be driven with greediness and illegal dealings and it led to separation between the people who were wealthy before the war and after the war. They could never see each other in the same way.
In the novel, the author talks about how the American dream lost its meaning. Like in the novel, the colonizers who came to America wanted to make it a better place. The colonizers were filled with dreams to make America a pleasurable place where there was love, equity and freedom. When they got to America, their dreams changed and they were after money, and they were filled with greed. This is because they saw the rich resources in America and each one of them wanted a share.
Many people enjoyed the book and learned a lot from the stories talked about in the book. This influenced some people to change their ways by acquiring new values. They understood that there is a big difference between wealth and happiness and that being rich does not guarantee a person happiness or peace.
Conclusion
From the novel, it is clear that the author had an inner meaning and an outer meaning in his novel. The novel has many different stories surrounding two people, Jay and Daisy. Some scenes were very good and carried important messages. They include the scenes where Jay and Daisy finally meet after five years and how they started becoming lovers after that, when Tom catches Daisy cheating on him and when Wilson shoots Jay and then takes his life too. Nick changed his life completely and even returned home after he saw what happened to his friend Jay. He now understood firsthand how bad it is to be driven with obsessions and greediness. The novel talks about the activities that took place after the First World War and how it changed the American Dream of people. From the novel, it is clear that it is better to find true happiness than to try to look for wealth, as it will just cause troubles.
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