Interpersonal Relationship and Gatsby

The movie The Great Gatsby has a strong focus on relationships and their development throughout the whole film. This movie has a particular relationship that I will focus on. It is between Jay Gatsby and Daisy. Their relationship is a complicated one that consists of a love triangle between three people. Now there are different stages in interpersonal relationships. I learned of the different stages from a psychologist’s webpage. His name is George Levinger and he spent time researching the different stages that go into a relationship. According to Levinger, the first stage is making an acquaintance. This is the getting to know each other stage, or the meeting and becoming friends stage. Daisy and Gatsby met when they were young before Gatsby went off to war. They met at a party at Daisy’s house and instantly knew they liked each other after talking about themselves. The second stage is called the buildup stage. This is when the two individuals become more trusting of each other and begin to know each other more. During this stage, the individuals can also develop passion and feelings for each other. Daisy and Gatsby developed feelings for each other right away. But Gatsby had to go away to war and he was gone for five years. However, they wrote love letters with promises to always be together during this time. The third stage in interpersonal relationships is the stage in which two people decide to either get married or stay lifelong friends. Trust is essential for this stage to last a lifetime. Now Daisy and Gatsby told each other they would marry when Gatsby got back from war but Daisy instead married someone else before Gatsby returned. They both did have trust in each other, Daisy was just torn in what to do. The fourth stage is deterioration. Not every relationship passes through this stage. This is when a lack of trust or compatibility causes serious tension and problems in a relationship. When this happens, the individuals either decide to bring the