Time keeps on slipping into the future
... ” (Fitzgerald 97) Time is used consistently in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby; it has been recorded that “it uses some four hundred and fifty time-words, including eighty seven appearances of time. ... ” However, it is evident that Fitzgerald’s primary use of time is to illustrate the theme that one who lives in the past will see to his demise. ... Much of Gatsby’s life had gone into the pursuit of the single dream of Daisy, and he bestowed upon her so much worth that she could never measure up to his standards. The idea that Gatsby lives in the past is shown clearly in the quote, “He talked a lot about the past and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself, that had gone into loving Daisy. ... Furthermore, an essential part of the novel is the fortitude of time, which proceeds despite all of Gatsby’s efforts to return to the past.