In The Great Gatsby, there's
unfortunately not much of a plan by either Gatsby or
Daisy.
Gatsby expects magic to happen, not a plan. He
expects the past to repeat itself and Daisy to resume her love (if ever it was love) for
him as before the war. It's that simple. He wants her to leave Tom and be his forever:
the stuff of trashy romance novels, right?
Daisy is a bit
more realistic, but as a temptress she can only do what she does best: tempt men. Daisy
is coy and curious, lured to Nick's and Gatsby's by money more than love. Maybe she has
feelings for Gatsby, but at least she knows that she can't act on them because she's
already married.
She cries over Gatsby's shirts (symbols of
money) because she knows she can only have money (Tom), not love and money (Gatsby).
The irony is that the idealistic and hopelessly romantic Gatsby thinks these are tears
of joy and the past repeating itself.
In matters of the
heart, and the heart only, there are no logical or moral plans. These are the careless
people of the Lost Generation.
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