Obsession In The Great Gatsby

Words: 907
Pages: 4

Every novel, book or story is filled with morals and lessons. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen both present a lesson of life where obsession can drive a person to do the wrong thing for happiness. Fitzgerald’s idea of happiness is physical, making the reader believe happiness is about pleasure, money and greed, this is shown by Fitzgerald’s representation of Jay Gatsby as a character. In the other hand, Austen's idea of happiness is seen by Ms. Bennet obsession on marrying of her daughters. Another lesson taught by this two amazing writers is the idea of never judging a book by its cover. The both convey this story by creating rumors of a character which in this case is Gatsby himself and Mr. Darcy. …show more content…
Gatsby’s obsession to get the love from the girl of his dreams pushed him into becoming a successful businessman and later buying a home where he throws big parties with the hope Daisy Buchanan would appear at his door steps. Daisy’s house was just across the bay and Gatsby bought his with the intentions of being close to her. After Daisy’s marriage to Tom Buchanan it is revealed that she in fact did not love him and loved Gatsby but she has previous left him due to his lack of money. This is seen when Gatsby argues with Tom, “She never loved you, do you hear? She only married because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved anyone except me!” (130-131). This proves Fitzgerald idea of money cannot buy love. Fitzgerald idea is also seen, at the end of the novel when “Daisy [she] vanished into her rich house, into her rich, full life, leaving Gatsby--nothing” …show more content…
Ms. Bennet, the head of the family has the main goal of marrying off her daughters. To be happy, Ms. Bennet’s obsession on marrying off her daughters drives her into showing importance on money and her own happiness rather than her daughter’s happiness. Ms. Bennet first thought when Mr. Bingley arrived at Netherfield was that one of her daughters needed to be married with him. She states, “A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our daughters!” (3). This shows Ms. Bennet’s importance on money. Ms Bennet’s importance on money is also seen when Lydia Bennet decides to marry Mr. Wickham, “...I and my children must had all his money, you know; and it is the first time we ever had anything from him, except a few presents” (220). Although Ms. Bennet clearly only cares about money, she does not care about her daughter happiness. This is shown after Elizabeth Bennet’s refusal of Mr. Collins’ proposal. Ms.Bennet does not care about her daughter’s happiness because she gets angry at Elizabeth and states that she will never speak to her