Theme and Author's Purpose

One of the major themes throughout The Great Gatsby was love and attaining happiness. Mr. Gatsby's views on how to go about this changed throughout the story. He believed that extravagant parties and an immense amount of wealth and luxurious items would bring him contentment, but none of these things filled the void that true love would've brought him. Mr. Gatsby loved Daisy, but she was unable to give him her unrequited love as she married Tom Buchanan. The quote I chose showed an instance where Mr. Gatsby tries to provide Daisy a chance to share her love, but she admits that she loved another man. "The words seemed to bite physically into Gatsby. 'I want to speak to Daisy alone,' he insisted... 'Even alone I can't say I never loved Tom,' she admitted in a pitiful voice. 'It wouldn't be true (142)." I think Fitzgerald chose to write about this because he wanted other people to realize that material items can't provide people with the satisfaction that true love can.