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