He was as poor as could be and only gained knowledge and hope of a future different from his parents' through a chance meeting with a rich man and extravagant. From him, Gatsby learned the ways of the rich and what it takes to be rich. However, he was never really a member of the upper class. Just before Gatsby dies, Nick comments that Gatsby is worth more than all of them combined, referring to the upper class. (154). However, Nick can only make this comment because Gatsby is not really part of the upper class that Daisy belongs to. Although he has acquired wealth, fame, and the general appearance of the rich, Gatsby is still the poor man who fell in love with Daisy five years before. He lives in the past. Gatsby had no chance with Daisy because she needed someone who truly fit the upper class constructs, while Gatsby could never fulfill that requirement. Directing Daisy would have been the epitome of upper class. Lois Tyson writes in Critical Theory Today: “Possession of Daisy would give Gatsby what he really wants; a permanent sign of his belonging to his socio-economic class, to the same bright, impeccable, airy and carefree world as that of the very rich that Daisy embodies for him…” (71). If Gatsby had won Daisy's love, it would have proven that he could assimilate to the rich. Gatsby's failure to do so is a