Carpe Diem; Seize the Day

Great Gatsby Essay

The American Dream is something that most people spend their whole lives pursuing. It is an ideal that is forced into the brains of small children by society beginning when they are just learning to talk. It is not necessarily a bad thing, and it varies from person to person; some wanting fame, fortune, and a mansion, some wanting to start a family and live life peacefully and quietly until their death. Though like said before, each person’s dream differs from another, and the uniqueness of dreams shown in the novel is when there is a white chauffeur for a African American family, or other parts when Nick and Gatsby are driving across the bridge. Many other scenes serve as a peek inside the American dream, including when Nick thought, “‘Anything can happen now that we’ve slid over this bridge,’ I thought; ‘anything at all….’ Even Gatsby could happen, without any particular wonder” (Fitzgerald 69). Anything could happen is the basic principle of freedom for a future that America was founded upon. Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby and many of his friends serve as the vessels in which the reader can see different aspects of the American Dream. The line “There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired” (79) points out these different perspectives of the American Dream. Each character represents these perspectives where Gatsby is the pursuing, Daisy is the pursued, the busy is Nick, and Jordan Baker and Tom Buchanan are the tired. These characters all represent some aspect of the American Dream in different ways.

Gatsby represented the pursuit of the American Dream in his quests for wealth and Daisy. When Nick was describing how Gatsby acted, he said  “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…. And one fine morning——” (180). In this case the green light represents Gatsby’s version of his American Dream. Throughout the whole novel, this green light is constantly what he was trying to pursue, which led to the pursuit of Daisy because she was a part of his dream. Gatsby constantly wanted Daisy and would have done anything to get her which is shown when “He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house, just out of reach of his hand. ‘I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before,’ he said, nodding determinedly. ‘[Daisy’ll] see’” (110). He is willing to do anything and everything to achieve his hopes and dreams, which is a similar aspect to others going through their process to complete the American Dream. Usually though when there is pursuit, there is also the pursued.

Daisy represented the pursed or the main goal of Gatsby’s American Dream throughout the novel. When Jordan was speaking to Nick she said “‘I think he half expected her to wander into one of his parties, some night’…. ‘but she never did. Then he began asking people casually if they knew her,’… ‘It was that night he sent for me at his dance, and you should have heard the elaborate way he worked up to it. Of course, I immediately suggested a luncheon in New York—and I thought he’d go mad’” (79). Gatsby was finding connections and ways to get to Daisy, akin to how one would try everything and anything to gain their goal. He is the exact definition of pursuit in his relentless and tireless search for her. Daisy is this ideal for him, and he is in constant pursuit of her, making her a pursued person or object in this situation. Gatsby, like many others, devoted all his time and energy into this ideological perfect life for himself. He formed Daisy more into in object, and she lost all humanity she had. To him the alluringness of Daisy was not the way she acted, but in fact “that many men had already loved Daisy” (148). It “increased her value in his eyes” (148). She was nothing but a object, shown with the word ‘value’. It shows that Gatsby’s goals were a somewhat materialistic type, and that life was to him just one giant game.  He is the vessel in that the American Dream can also corrupt and dehumanize people is shown.

Nick represented the busy, and always working hard aspect of the American Dream. During the explanation of the back story of Nick Carraway, it was said that “Instead of being the warm center of the world the middle-west now seemed like the ragged edge of the universe—so I decided to go east and learn the bond business” (3). Throughout the novel the reader could see that Nick led a more modest and honest lifestyle. He was working hard to get the money he earned, and did not resort back to family money to support him in his pursuits for his dreams. This is exactly how it is in the pursuit of the American Dream, where one has to work hard to get what they want, and even harder to get more than what they want, and Nick, being different from everyone in East and West Egg represents that part of the idea of the American Dream. Every dream comes to an end at some point, it is only just a dream, and life moves along with or without it.

Tom Buchanan and Jordan Baker represented the tired and worn out aspects of the American Dream after it had been achieved. When Nick was travelling to the city with Tom there was a brief moment where “[there was] a halt there of at least a minute and it was because of this that I first met Tom Buchanan’s mistress” (24). Tom cheated on his wife quite frequently throughout the course of the novel. This showed the reader that eventually, after dreams had been achieved, and life started to slow down, people will naturally become bored and start to cheat (literally and figuratively) their ways through the rest of their lives, and develop a careless attitude. Jordan serves as an example of this as well when Nick said  “She wasn’t able to endure being at a disadvantage” (58). Also it was revealed to the reader later in the text that Jordan cheated often during her various golf matches. She did not care whether or not she got caught, much like how celebrities today often times are caught doing illegal acts or cheating on their spouses. Carelessness was also symbolized by her driving skills when she said “‘They’ll keep out of my way,’ she [Jordan] insisted. ‘It takes two to make an accident.’ ‘Suppose you met somebody just as careless as yourself.’ ‘I hope I never will,’ she answered” (58). She has the riches and everything that is acquired after the American Dream was achieved, and now she does not have anything she was actively pursuing, and it is over, and they lose their carefulness that drove them in their pursuit for a better life.

The American Dream was shown many different ways throughout the course of the novel, and it was shown more through the line “There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired” (Fitzgerald 79) with different characters representing different parts of the line. Daisy represented the ‘pursued’ because of Gatsby’s efforts to win her heart. Gatsby represented the ‘pursuing’ with his constant efforts to gain wealth and Daisy’s affection. Nick represented the ‘busy’ in his hard work and not resorting back to family money. Jordan Baker and Tom Buchanan  both represented the ‘tired’ in their careless and cheating ways shown throughout the novel. Even though one can see each character and their connection to the quote, there is one small word within it that makes a large difference; only. Not too long after the phrase was beating through Nick’s head, he starts to live in the moment. He pulls Jordan in and kisses her, and absorbs the moment he is in. He forgets about the drama with Daisy and Gatsby, and begins a carpe diem moment. Through his actions and in the phrase above, Nick is telling the reader to be present in the moment. Put aside the American Dream, or any dream that is, and live life as though anything in the world is possible, and the world might end tomorrow. So, like Nick,  ‘carpe diem quam minimum credula postero’, or ‘seize the day, put very little trust in tomorrow’.