Platonism is the source of Gatsby's idealism, although he does not seem to know it. He is ignorant to the philosophy, but seems to follow it extremely closely. William T

"He talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy. His life had been confused and distorted since then, but if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what that thing was…" (Fitzgerald 150-151).

Even Nick is a little bit consumed with the Platonic society. David Stouck states, "Is he genuinely critical of Gatsby's romantic imagination and the culture that informed it, or does his suave talk conceal his essentially conservative nature?" This implies that secretly, Nick Caraway is a part of this society, although does not acknowledge it.

Although Gatsby wants to project an image of confidence and carelessness, he is in fact, very insecure. He uses his possessions and his parties to make up for these insecurities. It is further proof that he wants to live out his dream. All of his things, in fact, still come down to one thing: impressing Daisy. He uses his illusion of wealth to lure her back to him. Jay Gatsby thought that he could achieve success and most of all, Daisy, by gaining wealth and possessions and putting them on display. Scott Donaldson says: "In Gatsby, Daisy represents the most desirable object of all. She is invariably associated with the things that surround her, her car, her house particularly…" (10) This means that possessions are the way to win her affections, so Gatsby feels he must go to the extremes to impress her. When they had their so-called month of love, Daisy would not marry Gatsby because he was not wealthy. Now that he has wealth he wants to attract her attention and prove his worthiness to her. These possessions, such as the house and his car, are so over-done that it is obvious to people like Tom Buchanan, who have been rich their whole lives, that Gatsby is a beginner in this lifestyle. Nick and Tom both realize this. "His clothes, his car, his house, his parties-all brand him as newly rich, unschooled in the social graces and sense of superiority ingrained not only in Tom Buchanan, but also in Nick Caraway." (Donaldson 2) Gatsby's nature is different than the nature of Tom Buchanan. There are certain mannerisms one must attain to be accepted in the lifestyle of the wealthy. Gatsby is almost the complete opposite in that regard. He flaunts his money through the lavish parties he throws on weekends and his less than subtle possessions. His car alone is not exactly thought of as discrete. It is a bright yellow car, which shows off his money. His suits too are not of the norm. He wears bright colors that attract attention. Tom Buchanan notices this as well. "An Oxford man…like hell he is! He wears a pink suit." (Fitzgerald 122) The purpose of these items is to attract attention of the other rich Long Islanders as well as Daisy. Despite how much he owned it was nothing unless she loved it. Nick Caraway observes his behavior towards Daisy as he is showing her his home. "I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes." (Fitzgerald 110) His home was gigantic and overdone. It looked like a giant castle embellished with towers and arches. It was compared, in the novel, to a hotel in Normandy. His ambition is so high that he feels no matter how much money he has or how many things he owns, he still questions himself. To him, his parties and possessions had no substance, but were merely symbols of wealth or success. In reality he did not do it for himself, but for Daisy. "Sometimes, too, he stared around at his possessions in a dazed way, as though in her actual presence none of it was any longer real." (Fitzgerald 111) The entire society in which the novel takes place is corrupted by the desire to show off one's possessions. This is why Tom's view of Gatsby is somewhat hypocritical. Scott Donaldson writes:

Some topics in this essay:
Jay Gatsby, Nick Caraway, Ronald Berman, Tom Daisy, Caraway Nick, Daisy Tom's, Daisy Buchanan, William Liston, Gatsby Daisy, Tom Buchanan, nick caraway, jay gatsby, desire acceptance, tom daisy, tom buchanan, social acceptance, illusion versus reality, daisy buchanan, possessions parties, attract attention, versus reality, acceptance scott fitzgerald's, desire acceptance scott, social acceptance eventually, eyes dr eckelberg,