“There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams---not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time… No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart” (95-96).
Fitzgerald foreshadows that the initial jubilation experienced by Gatsby, fostered by his resumed relationship with Daisy, will fade as she fails to equate with his illusion of her. The five-year interim, between when he first arrived on West Egg to his meeting with Daisy, enabled Gatsby’s imagination to expand upon his dreams of Daisy, distorting her to the state of an illusion, one that she will “tumble short of.” While they both are ecstatic at their reunion, Gatsby’s “doubt…as to the quality of his present happiness,” indicates that their resumed relationship will not fit the parameters of Gatsby’s illusion.
Mary-You don't miss much, do you? So...think of this...if this impending disappointment is a function of Gatsby's "creative passion," then what does that portend for the other figure into whom he has invested so much creative passion...himself?
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