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Anyone else notice how pointless my entries are getting?
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. ( First Corinthians 13, New King James Version)” Love is associated with many things-patience, trust, hope, endurance. There is, however, one other thing that I think-and I feel that the characters in The Great Gatsby would agree with me- love goes hand in hand with: money. In this story, there are many examples where true love fails, and “love” mixed with money prevails. Weaved throughout the book are pages of true love dying, and greed surviving. The book is enduring proof that love doesn’t conquer all, especially money and greed. It shows up in many relationships throughout the novel, but mainly in that of Tom and Daisy, Daisy and Gatsby, and George and Myrtle. There is no greater example of this than Tom and Daisy.
In the beginning of the book, it appears that Tom and Daisy are the most mismatched couple ever. The further you get into the novel, there is one question you keep asking yourself; why doesn’t Daisy divorce Tom? He’s rude, abusive, deceitful, and egotistic. As you rack your brain for reasons she is still with him, you can arrive at one answer: money. This answer can keep you satisfied, until you realize that she is holding onto Tom, even when she finds herself with the just as wealthy Jay Gatsby. When Daisy decides she can not leave Tom, I found myself with one conclusion: that Daisy and Tom’s money based relationship had turned into something real. This relationship, founded on a love of money and appearance, has turned into something more. Tom, who started cheating on Daisy the first chance he got (on their honeymoon), is oddly cursed with sadness when Daisy says she never loved him, as shown when he begs, with husky tenderness “Not that day I carried you down from the Punch Bowl to keep your shoes dry?...Daisy? (page 139, The Great Gatsby)” Then there is Daisy, who admits her only reason for not waiting for Gatsby after the war is because Tom had money that Jay couldn’t offer. Still, she is reluctant to say that she never loved Tom. This shows that, even if the money was the base of their marriage, it made for a solid base for Tom and Daisy-a marriage that persevered over a partially true love story between Jay Gatsby and Daisy.
For every bit that readers are appalled by Tom and Daisy, we are enthralled by Gatsby and Daisy, whose love is found on a much more romantic base. Two lovers, equal in beauty and loyalty, torn apart by a war, but kept together by a promise of tomorrow. They are forced to say goodbyes after days filled with sunset drives, sweet whispers, and goodnight kisses. Before her wedding, we find Daisy torn apart by a letter (presumably from Gatsby) and ready to tell Tom that “Daisy’s changed her mine. (page 81, The Great Gatsby” After the war (and long after Tom and Daisy’s wedding) Gatsby finds money, a house across from Daisy, and a reason to throw magnificent parties that he does not enjoy. His efforts are not in vain, because of that one magical day he is reunited with Daisy. The two fall in love all over again, and one day vow to get Daisy away from Tom. Yet, when the opportunity arises for Daisy to leave, readers are shocked when she panics. Could it be that her money made marriage with Tom is stronger then her long lost love affair with Gatsby? He now has money to support Daisy (though made in a questionable manner), more love then Tom ever has had for her, and she somehow still feels compelled to be with Tom. And, as if this isn’t horrible enough, she is the indirect reason Gatsby dies in the end, and does not even bother to go to the funeral. This makes you wonder if Daisy ever loved Gatsby at all, even though she had all the right reasons to. Still though, it is a love story in the way that Gatsby loved Daisy, which ultimately did not stand up to Daisy’s desire to stay with Tom. Gatsby’s love for Daisy is matched by only one other characters devotion in this book-George Wilson.
The love story of George and Myrtle Wilson is far less romantic, but just as tragic. When they met, George loved Myrtle, and Myrtle loved how George was a gentleman. Before they knew it, George had borrowed a friend’s tux, they said their vows, and started their lives under the watchful eye of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg. While George was working his hardest to support his wife, Myrtle was working her hardest to get the things she felt she deserved. She found them in Tom, who was attractive, rich, and willing to share. He offered her adventure, higher standards, and a nice apartment in New York City. When George was working, lost in his garage knee deep in grease, Myrtle went to “visit her sister” and spent hours in New York with Tom, knee deep in money. Myrtle is dreaming of plans to spend her life with Tom, while Tom is dreaming up reasons to stay with Daisy. We find out one of his excuses when we read Catherine (Myrtle’s sister) talking to Nick, and she says “It’s really his wife that’s keeping them apart. She’s a Catholic and they don’t believe in divorce. (page 38, The Great Gatsby)” We know this is a lie, and that Daisy isn’t a Catholic, so if she objected to a divorce (as if Tom would ask for one) that would not be the reason she would oppose one. The fact that Myrtle would choose Tom (whom she knows is a liar because of his relationship with Daisy) over George (who has been faithful since he laid his eyes on her,) becomes fatally apparent when she runs away from George out to meet “Tom,” and gets hit by a speeding car. She would rather live the life of a liar with money then live a life with a man who loves her, following her love of money over her heart.
Love and money appear victoriously together many times throughout this book, in many relationships. Tom and Daisy prevail with it, while others (such as Gatsby and Daisy/ George and Myrtle) are conquered by it. Daisy finds that the relationship built on greed is somehow more significant than the one that is built on love. She leaves Gatsby, who has given everything to her, for Tom, who doesn’t even give his full self to her. Then there is George and Myrtle, who are slowly being torn apart by Tom and his money. This leaves the two people who are truly in love (Gatsby and George) dead, at their lovers fault. Daisy doesn’t even care enough to show up at Gatsby’s funeral, and it was George Myrtle was running from when she got hit. This is why I think that, if we were to ask the characters in this book, they would say that “love is eager, love is mean. It is jealous, it is shameful, and it is proud. It is rude, it is selfish, and foul tempered. Love is fueled by greed, and encouraged by lies. It is weak, unsure, and hopeless. Love always fails”