Examples Of Optimism In The Great Gatsby

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Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Sacrificed Gatsby’s Sentimentality Nick Carraway barges into the kitchen without shame. He was not guilty of interrupting Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby’s intimate talk in view his of petty presence not causing as much as a dent in their intense togetherness. Soon after realizing his insignificance, Nick turns his attention and worriment to Gatsby’s unusual composure. Daisy is in tears over the conversation that just happened between her and her ex-lover, but Nick is more worried about Gatsby’s idle reaction to her transparent distress. Gatsby’s reaction displayed the optimism he bears in pursuance of Daisy’s love. He may even be pleased to see Daisy so overwhelmed, as to him it proves her undying affection for him. Gatsby’s unfazed counterbalance to Daisy’s dewy-eyed exhaustion is laced with pretension over his newly acquired persona. Living up to his self-made greatness has evidently caused him to lose some humanity; he is acting cynically and superficially only to reinforce what he believes makes him worthy of Daisy’s attention. This is proven when he says “‘I want you and Daisy to come over to my house...I’d like to show her around...‘My house looks well, doesn’t it?’” He …show more content…

Why not reach out to others in love and solidarity or peer into the natural world for some glimmer of understanding? Why retreat into anxious introspection when... there is a vast world outside to explore? Why spend so much time working on oneself when there is so much real work to be done?” This interrogative quote from Barbara Ehrenreich’s Bright-Sided demonstrates how Gatsby’s optimism has gotten in the way of his morality by questioning the superficiality of an outward renovation. Gatsby does not reach out to Daisy in love and solidarity but rather hopes to attract her into his life through his wealth, further solidifying the sinister nature of his

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