Love in Th Great Gatsby

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Lack of True Love in The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald
The idealized conception of love is one in which individuals are committed and faithful to each other unconditionally. Indeed, marriage vows usually involve making a promise to love one another in poverty and riches, in good health and in sickness. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, however, portrays love as a deceptive relationship in which couples stay together as a means of achieving their selfish goals. For instance, Tom Buchanan’s and Daisy’s marriage is intended to protect their upper class image, while Myrtle is in a relationship with Tom because of his material wealth. Most important, Gatsby, the novel’s major character, is not in live with Daisy as a person, but is romantically obsessed with his conception of her beauty. Thus, although he seems to be love-struck, his object is Daisy’s beauty and not her as a person. In this regard, the relationship between the characters in the novel shows that each is motivated either by self interests or self-deception about the essence of true love. This essay examines the idea of love in The Great Gatsby, and how the characters relationships exhibit lack of true love. Accordingly, the paper argues that there is no true love in the characters’ lives as each one is motivated by self interests as well as blinded by self-deception.
The most evident portrayal of the characters’ hypocrisy in their romantic relationships is the allure of materialism. This is most exemplified by Tom and Myrtle’s secret affair. On her part, Myrtle is infatuated and obsessed by the materialistic and luxurious life that Tom leads. She belongs to the lower-class of the Valley of Ash, while tom represents the affluence of the East Egg aristocracy. Eager to have a piece of the luxury of Tom’s world, Myrtle betrays her husband Wilson and starts an affair with Tom. Her motivation, therefore, is not pure love for Tom, but the opportunity the affair gives her to break into the social cycles of the wealthy and rich class of East and West Egg. The element of materialism corrupts any genuine feelings of love she may have for Tom. It is arguable, accordingly, that Myrtle is in the affair because she sees it as a ticket from her own poverty and lower class status. If she has any true love, then it is for Wilson whom she married in poverty. Even then, she seems to be more concerned about the wealth and social class of the people she has a relationship with than the individuals themselves. For example, she cried after learning that Wilson and borrowed the suit he had worn for their wedding. She cannot “stand him” because he represents poverty, a situation she is eager to escape from. Consequently, she starts an affair with Tom because it gives her material satisfaction and helps her, if only temporarily, to escape from the poverty of the Valley of Ash.
Tom’s relationship with Myrtle portrays a desire to dominate and posses a woman as a show of power and authority. She treats Myrtle as his sex slave, dictating when and where they meet. It is possible, therefore, that Tom is in the relationship to feed his ego, to show that he can control the women in his l...