Edenic Myth in The Great Gatsb
Picture this: You are the director of a high budget feature film. You are in the process of filming a brilliant scene in which a man and a woman have just escaped from a near-death situation and have found themselves atop a mountain in the pouring rain, but alas, safe and out of harm's way. In the midst of all the insanity, they realize that their attraction for each other is love at its finest, and as they prepare for a beautiful, passionate, Hollywood-style kiss, the treacherous storm clouds above them dissipate into a clear, star-filled sky strategically designed to intensify this glorious moment. They embrace, and they kiss. It is a long, fabulous kiss. Or, so they thought. When the kiss is complete, they stare into each other's eyes, and from the sidelines we hear, "Cut!" "What was wrong with that?" demands the leading man. "That was perfect!" "Oh, no it wasn't." you reply. "There was nothing perfect about it. The rain stopped too early, the wind was blowing too hard, and the two of you just kissed like you've never met!" "So, what do you want to do?" snaps the leading lady. "You want to do it again?"
It was a romantic time; people were expressing themselves and experimenting sexually more than ever before. He threw lavish parties, attracting a huge crowd of wealthy and famous people. In fact, as we explore the Edenic Myth in this story, we will see that Jay Gatsby's illusion of what should be was shattered once he tried to turn the fantasy into reality. It would be much like creating a new Eden, a paradise where Adam and Eve lived before they ate the forbidden fruit. He did not share the economic or family background with Daisy that would enable him to be an appropriate suitor. Four years ago she met a strong, handsome, extremely wealthy man named Tom Buchanan who belonged to her social class, and to whom she was promptly wed. The Great Gatsby takes place during The Roaring Twenties, or the Jazz Age as Fitzgerald named it. Tom was a solid, stable, wealthy man that was part of her social class. We do know that he became a millionaire, but we are strongly led to believe that his earnings were obtained by illegal means. Nevertheless, they never forgot each other. He had created such images; both of himself to other people, and of Daisy in his own mind, that he became so deluded as to what was actually real. There is just a world where we do the best that we can. They fell in love almost immediately, but he knew that there would never be a place for him in her life.
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