The Great Gatsby tells the tragic love story between Daisy and Gatsby. The two are long lost lovers who grow apart during their early days. Their reunion is under different circumstances because Gatsby is no longer the poor young man who cannot support Daisy. Unfortunately, although Daisy accepts the reunion, she is already married. The story ends with Daisy killing her husband's mistress named Myrtle in a hit and run. The hit and run is blamed on Gatsby because Daisy was driving Gatsby's car. Myrtle's husband kills Gatsby as revenge for allegedly killing his wife then he commits suicide. The story is narrated by Nick who is Gatsbys's neighbour and Daisy's cousin. The Great Gatsby demonstrates the motives that drive the actions of people who feel that they are in love.
The relationship between Daisy and Gatsby can be described using the concepts of associated effects of emotion. The first is the concept of need for affiliation. Daisy and Gatsby have been estranged at an earlier time. However, they both hold on to a hope of being reunited. This is in line with the basic motive that is aimed at maintaining interpersonal relationships. Gatsby uses this motive to amass wealth and be in a position to provide luxury for Daisy. Daisy on the other hand, gets married to a man she does not love so that she does not betray the feelings she has towards Gatsby. They are both motivated by a desire to be together and to rekindle their broken relationship. They are also influenced by the associated effects of emotion that are present at the party. Gatsby creates an atmosphere of merry making and opulence. His aim is both to create an avenue for him to attract the object of his desire and to make her more receptive to his advances (Montoya, 2017).
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This is in accordance with the classical conditioning that dictates that reception can be affected by the mood and ambience of a person. This positive mood makes a person more receptive to acts that suggest attraction. The emotions are also likely to elicit moods of reciprocated feelings and the person returns the acts of attraction. Gatsby also goes out of his way to organize for a physical meeting so as create a chance for the two to rekindle their love. The effect of emotions can be fuelled by the presence of the object of affection or dulled by the absence of the said person. This is to say that a passive emotional state can be aroused by the active engagement or encounter with the loved one. This can also happen when a person goes through a similar situation that is similar to that shared by the two relating lovers (Park, 2015).
The attraction of Daisy and Gatsby may also be described by the associated effect of proximity. Gatsby and Daisy are able to avoid each other as long as they live far from each other. However, their boundaries are broken down when the distance between them narrows. Gatsby is unable to stay away from Daisy even though he knows that she is married. He goes out of his way to organize for a clandestine meeting that will further bring Daisy into his proximity. This move is aimed at showing her that there is nothing that stands between them. He has finally overcome the poverty that crippled their relationship. Additionally, he is sure that her feelings for him will be rekindled by proximity and that she will no longer be confined to the constraints of marriage.
The research on physical proximity explains that closeness may lead to a development of attraction. Mutual attraction is likely to bloom faster if the physical location provides a closer and more private physical proximity. This explains why Gatsby and Daisy were initially attracted to each other in a town setting. The affection graduated more when they got closer. This was rekindled when they got together in the party setting. The climax of it all happened when the physical proximity was narrowed down to the private meeting in the garden. The effects of proximity also explain how Daisy was more influenced by her husband because she lived longer with him. She was then easily convinced to forsake Gatsby and let him suffer for her crime because of the proximity with her husband (Frijda, 2017).
Daisy's closeness with her husband can also be explained by the effects of repeated exposure. It is possible that she developed a deeper understanding of the logic and working of her husband than she had with Gatsby. The hit and run provided the opportunity for her husband to exploit this weakness. The story may have had a different ending if Daisy had a chance to spend more time with Gatsby. This way, his influence on Daisy would have been more defined. However, she had limited exposure to Gatsby and more repeated exposure to her husband. This made her actions more favorable to him because she gad experienced more positive encounters with him. Her evaluation of his intentions was more favorable because she was more often than not exposed to it. An additional research finding by Zajonc explains such behaviour by stating that any stimulus can be perceived as normal or positive because of its frequency. This phenomenon normalized betrayal and made Daisy more accustomed and accepting of her husband's vices. She therefore perceived her husband and his suggestions positively (Singh, 2015).
The effect of similarity is also at work. The rekindling advances are initiated by Gatsby because of his recollection of Daisy. He still envisions Daisy as the young woman who had similar goals and dreams to his. Unfortunately the similarity of their ideals have drifted apart and the two are now not as similar as they were. Daisy accepts the brief reunion because she remembers the similarities that she shared with Gatsby. She is also in love with the memory of the past and she revisits it as she is in that moment. The memory of their shared similarities is what temporarily keeps the two relating. Daisy's final decision is determined by her sense of similarity to her husband and to the observed dissimilarity to Gatsby. The concept of associated beauty also applies to this love story. Daisy is described as a stunning beauty who can catch the eye of any man. But on top of that she is perceptive of her surroundings. She realizes that the woman's place in her society is at the behest and command of man. This inspires her wish for her daughter to be born a beautiful fool. This is so that this features can help her navigate the world and emerge as successful. This inner beauty must be what kept Gatsby holding on for a future with her. She is also interested in Gatsby's romantic gesture and outlook on life is what Daisy considers beauty. This inner beauty makes them attracted to each other (Finkel, 2015).
Daisy and Gatsby decide to reignite their love based on a memory of the familiarity they shared. The concept of associated familiarity draws them together till the end. Gatsby is led to an early grave in his obsessive quest for love. Daisy continues to live her selfish, obsessed life by the side of her sadistic husband.
References
Finkel, E. J., Norton, M. I., Reis, H. T., Ariely, D., Caprariello, P. A., Eastwick, P. W., & Maniaci, M. R. (2015). When does familiarity promote versus undermine interpersonal attraction? A proposed integrative model from erstwhile adversaries. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(1), 3-19.
Frijda, N. H. (2017). The laws of emotion.
Montoya, R. M., Horton, R. S., Vevea, J. L., Citkowicz, M., & Lauber, E. A. (2017). A re-examination of the mere exposure effect: The influence of repeated exposure on recognition, familiarity, and liking. Psychological bulletin, 143(5), 459.
Park, L. E., Young, A. F., & Eastwick, P. W. (2015). (Psychological) Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder: Effects of Psychological Distance and Relative Intelligence on Men’s Attraction to Women. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 41(11), 1459-1473.
Singh, R., Wegener, D. T., Sankaran, K., Singh, S., Lin, P. K., Seow, M. X., & Shuli, S. (2015). On the importance of trust in interpersonal attraction from attitude similarity. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 32(6), 829-850.
