Gatsby’s Quest for Daisy Buchanan VS The Arthurian Quest for the Holy Grail

Gatsby’s Quest for Daisy Buchanan VS The Arthurian Quest for the Holy Grail


Nicholas S. Portugal

West Career & Technical Academy

AP English Literature & Composition Period B8

November 23, 2013

1


“He had intended, probably, to take what he could and go—but now he found that he had

committed himself to the following of a grail. He knew that Daisy was extraordinary, but

he didn’t realize just how extraordinary a “nice” girl could be. She vanished into her rich

house, into her rich, full life, leaving Gatsby—nothing. He felt married to her, that was

all.” (Fitzgerald, pg. 159, 1925)

To start, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s internationally acclaimed novel, The Great Gatsby, the

protagonist Jay Gatsby was intrinsically motivated to acquire Daisy Buchanan as his wife, much

how during the Middle Ages, the knights of King Arthur of England desired to obtain the Holy

Grail, which was said to have been the chalice of the Last Supper and at Christ’s Crucifixion to

receive the gushing blood from his side. While Gatsby wished to relive the romantic relationship

he had with Daisy, expressed by his arm stretched out towards the green light at the end of her

dock on the Long Island Sound, the quest of the Holy Grail was sought after for centuries as to

attain the holiest union with God, regardless of the journey’s many fruitless results. In essence,

the concept of the ‘quest,’ according to Thomas Foster, must include, “(a) a quester, (b) a place

to go, (c) a stated reason to go there, (d) challenges and trials en route, and (e) a real reason to go

there” (Foster, pg. 3, 2003). Even at Gatsby’s death, “Daisy hadn’t sent a message or a flower”

(Fitzgerald, pg. 186, 1925). Most importantly, as Gatsby never strayed from his ‘quest’ for the

ideal, even in death, the Arthurian knights spent their entire lives searching for the Holy Grail.

Thematically, Gatsby’s ‘quest’ was to acquire Daisy as his wife. In accordance with the

elements of what comprises a ‘quest,’ the quester would be Gatsby; the place to go would be the

green light, or Daisy’s heart, symbolically representing his ‘ideal;’ the stated reason to go there

would be Gatsby merely wanted to look to Daisy’s dock and observe her shining green light;

2


various challenges and trials en route include Tom and Pammy (Daisy’s daughter), interrogation

concerning Gatsby’s path to fortune, and travelling back to the past; last, the real reason to go

there would be for Gatsby to have a romantic affair with Daisy as they once had before Gatsby

left for war, prove to her that he can support her with his newfound wealth, and convince her to

admit to Tom that she never loved him. Altogether, this journey can be compared to seeking the

Holy Grail, because Gatsby’s observance of the green light represented how Gatsby saw his

dream ahead of him, but to attain it would be almost impossible or ‘mythical.’ Additionally, this

compares to the futile journeys made to order to obtain the Holy Grail said to be brought by

Joseph of Arimathea to England, but never actually found within the country’s confines.

Subsequently, in countries across the European mainland, romances have been published

regarding the quest for the Holy Grail, such as in France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Denmark, and

even Norway, its first reference made in Conte de Graal, by Chrétien de Troyes. In Arthurian

legend, three characters, Perceval, Galahad, and Lancelot, the knights of King Arthur, all make

the journey to attain the Holy Grail. Perceval saw the grail as well as his companion Galahad, but

was unable to attain because he was only human, and Lancelot failed to acquire the grail because

he wasn’t “pure” enough (Fatima, 2013). The Holy Grail was known to be only attainable for the

most pure of individuals, and in terms of the knights, it was essential to practice chivalry, as all

three of them sought the same object of desire. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby symbolizes a knight

fighting to obtain Daisy, who in many ways is a damsel in distress with Tom. Following this, his

journey is considerably ironic in the sense how chivalric orders of the Medieval Era told knights

were to always act with moral intention, and manifest qualities of honesty and integrity, which

made them a very respected social class in their time. Conversely, Gatsby amassed his wealth

3


illegally by bootlegging alcohol with the help of Meyer Wolfsheim, and at the same time,

disregarded morality and reality, if it meant he could have Daisy as his own.

To conclude, Gatsby’s dream was unrealistic because Daisy could not meet up to his high

expectations. Near the end of the story, Nick states, “If that was true he must have felt that he

had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream”

(Fitzgerald, pg. 172, 1925). In essence, Gatsby lived in the past, because he wanted to relive the

relationship he had with Daisy as he did prior to the Great War. In turn, even though Daisy’s

love for Gatsby had intensified since their reunion, because she was legally married to Tom and

bore her daughter Pammy; therefore, it would be immoral for Daisy to run away to Gatsby, as it

would defy her vows of marriage and outwardly reveal how she doesn’t truly care for her

daughter. Correspondingly, the Arthurian knights searched wide and far for the Holy Grail, but

due to their continuous failures to uncover it, people eventually stopped looked for it, and

rendered its significance obsolete. At the end of the story, Nick mentioned how Gatsby “believed

in the green light” (Fitzgerald, pg. 193, 1925), which might denote Gatsby’s ‘green light’ began

to recede, and that hope in its possibilities was lost. Also, when Daisy finally chose Tom over

Gatsby, evidenced by, “There was an unmistakable air of natural intimacy about the picture and

anybody would have said that they were conspiring together” (Fitzgerald, pg. 155, 1925), she

shatters his dream and Gatsby’s possessions became absolutely meaningless, since his car,

house, and servants were all to please Daisy. Finally, Gatsby’s delusional obsession for Daisy is

embodied in this final quote, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgasmic future that year by

year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter–tomorrow we will run faster,

stretch out our arms farther. And then one fine morning… So we beat on, boats against the

current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” (Fitzgerald, pg. 193, 1925)

4


Visual Representation (Diagram)

Dreams to relive their

relationship.

Desire the holiest union

with God.

Ironic when

directly compared.

Both are valuable ‘objects’ of desire in quest.

1) Quester: Gatsby2) Place: Daisy’s

Heart/Home3) Stated Reason: To

observe the light.4) Challenges: Tom, Pammy, truth of past.5) Real Reason: To

relive relationship as before the war.

Jay Gatsby Daisy Buchanan

Arthurian Knights The Holy Grail

5


APA References

British Library. (n.d.). The quest for the holy grail. Retrieved from

http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/mythical/grail.html

Fatima, M. (2013, May 30). The great gatsby: Seeking the holy grail. Retrieved from

http://prezi.com/hizd-es6dc0b/the-great-gatsby-seeking-the-holy-grail/

Fitzgerald, F. S. (1925). The great gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner. Retrieved from

https://itun.es/us/IJkWw.l

Foster, T. (2003). How to read literature like a professor. New York, NY: HarperCollins

Publishers Inc.

Mitchell, G. (1991). The great narcissist: A study of fitzgerald‘s gatsby by giles

mitchell. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 51(4), 387-396. Retrieved from

http://fitzgerald.narod.ru/critics-eng/mitchell-narcissist.html

6

http://fitzgerald.narod.ru/critics-eng/mitchell-narcissist.html

https://itun.es/us/IJkWw.l

http://prezi.com/hizd-es6dc0b/the-great-gatsby-seeking-the-holy-grail/

http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/mythical/grail.html

Documents

Gatsby’s Quest for Daisy Buchanan VS The Arthurian Quest for the Holy Grail