True Happiness

One of the several underlying themes in The Great Gatsby is that people who rely on materialistic items for happiness are just as hollow on the inside as the books in Gatsby’s library. Nearly every character in the novel acquires this kind of “happiness”, and by the end each of these characters finds out that life without the item he or she depended on for happiness is rather hollow. The books in Gatsby’s library represent the characters in the novel. When Owl Eyes is in the library looking at the books he admits that he thought the books were hollow, when in actuality they were real. The expectations of people in West Egg are shallow; they are nice on the outside and hollow on the inside.
There are many characters that represent this underlying theme. Klipspringer, the freeloader who is almost always at Gatsby’s mansion, exploits Gatsby’s money. When Gatsby dies, Klipspringer vanishes and fails to attend Gatsby’s funeral. As soon as the materialistic item he was feeding off for happiness disappears, Klipspringer disappears as well. Without the money, he is completely empty. The characters in the novel don’t all rely on items for happiness; several of them rely on other people or ideas for happiness. George Wilson lived entirely behind the shadow of his wife, Myrtle. He didn’t have his own identity; instead, he found his identity through Myrtle. When his wife was killed in the car accident, Wilson killed himself as well. Once his wife died, his identity and reasons for living died also. The main character, Gatsby, is the greatest example of the idea that emptiness resides in the people who rely on one specific person or item for their happiness. Gatsby fully relied on Daisy for his happiness and well being. His whole purpose in life was to achieve the dream of having Daisy to himself and making her his wife. Gatsby had admired and desired Daisy every day of his life ever since he met her. A short period of time after he lost Daisy to Tom at the end of the novel, Gatsby was shot and killed instantly. The woman he depended on for his happiness caused him not only to die emotionally, but also, ironically, to die physically. True happiness cannot be found in one’s materialistic or personal desires.