Psychoanalytic POV
Does “love” even exist in the Great Gatsby? This seems like a rhetorical question to the average person; “Why, of course it does! Gatsby loved Daisy,” is probably what they would say. But this is not true. There is no genuine love in this book. Rather, nothing is genuine aside from the genuine illusion. Some say love can be described when opposites attract. Others say love can be described when two people who are very similar find each other. I say love doesn’t exist. It is just another illusion to express our desire for an ideal. Humans are inherently selfish; we think and we act in our own self-interest; why would we give up this natural tendency for another? We wouldn’t. Instead, we cover up this highest order of selfishness with the word, love. Man does not care for another unless that other best fits their ideal. We set some standard for our partner. Some people are specific, some are general. That doesn’t matter. All that matters is we have some standard. If we didn’t, we w...