Introduction
Title and author The title is The Great Gatsby and the author is F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Genre The book is a novel.
Historical Context The book was published in 1925, during the Jazz Age. The 1920s were also referred to as the Roaring Twenties, due to the significant economic boom in the United States during that era. This era was just after World War I and in the middle of Prohibition, where alcohol was illegal.
Protagonist Jay Gatsby is the protagonist. As a child he was the son of a rural farmer, dreaming for a big future. During Nick’s time on Long Island he was known for his extravagant parties and massive wealth. Gatsby lived in a large mansion in the West Egg. Beneath the surface, he makes his money through shady means, including
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In Long Island, Gatsby and Nick live in the West Egg, full of people who are newly rich. Tom and Daisy live in the West Egg, populated by those who were born into wealth, resulting in generally more snobbiness. In between the Eggs is the Valley of Ashes, home to a much poorer class of industrial workers, known for its copious amounts of ashes and grayness.
Symbols
One symbol shown at the beginning of the novel is Gatsby’s books, which are uncut, meaning never read. They are part of Gatsby’s facade, to make him appear more educated and organized than he is. The books represent how Gatsby is a fraud and misleads people.
Another symbol is the green light of the Buchanan’s mansion, which can be seen from Gatsby’s dock. It represents Gatsby’s hope of reuniting with Daisy and the past. However, more deeply, the light represents Gatsby’s unattainable dream, as it is impossible to travel into the past.
Allusions
One allusion is to the 1919 World Series. During the introduction of Meyer Wolfsheim, he is described as having fixed the 1919 World Series, where the Chicago players were bribed to intentionally lose. The World Series is a real event that the book makes an allusion
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A dynamic character in the book is Jay Gatsby. He changes greatly in wealth and personality. When he was a young boy, he constantly tried to improve himself. In fact, he used Benjamin Franklin’s technique of writing down a schedule and a list of ways to better himself. Gatsby did not want to have the same rural farming life that his parents did. He always dreamed of being rich, aristocratic, and proper. He estranged himself from his family, and changed his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby. Dan Cody helped him become the man he wanted to be and got him involved in his yachting business. Gatsby fell in love with a woman named Daisy after going on a date with her. From this point on, everything he did was for Daisy. He worked very hard to get the money to purchase a mansion to satisfy Daisy, and was successful in doing so. However, Gatsby was living in a fantasy world and chasing the past life of being with Daisy was impossible. In chapter 8, Gatsby acknowledges that he has been chasing the past and how he accidentally fell in love with Daisy, and for the first time in the novel tells Nick the truth. This indicates Gatsby is not as enthusiastic about the romantic life as he once was. Overall, though, the main change in Gatsby comes when he meets Dan Cody, where he transforms from James Gatz into Jay
This chapter opens with a reporter at Gatsby’s door asking him if he had anything to say and wants to interview at random. It is explained that rumors are constantly going around New York about Gatsby. Nick knows mostly all about Gatsby’s personal life so he does not believe many or all of the rumors he has heard. Nick then begins to explain Gatsby’s personal life. It is explained that his legal name is James Gatz. He changed his name when he was 17 when he saw Dan Cody drop the anchor of his yacht into Lake Superior. It is also explained that Gatsby’s parents were “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people”. He actually had attended a small Lutheran college called St. Olaf’s in Minnesota. He only ended up staying there for two weeks then left.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s writings largely focus on the American aristocracy during the 1920s. The ‘20s became alternatively known as “the Jazz Age,” a term coined by Fitzgerald with connotations encompassing the prosperity, frivolity, and decadence of the upper class. The atmosphere and mindset of lavish excess are preserved in the plots and characters of Fitzgerald’s writings. Although Fitzgerald’s protagonists are wealthy, there is a noticeable distinction between those who come from “old money” and those who are considered “new money”. Amory Blaine, of This Side of Paradise, and Jay Gatsby, of The Great Gatsby, exemplify this difference.
At the onset of this book, the reader is introduced to the narrator, Nick Carraway, who relates the past happenings that construct the story of Jay Gatsby and Nick during the summer of 1922. After fighting in World War I, or the Great War as Nick called it, Nick left his prominent family in the West of America for the North where he intended to learn the bond business. Nick was originally supposed to share a house in West Egg near New York City with an associate of his, but the man backed out and so Nick lived with only a Finnish cook. Right next door, Gatsby lived in a glorious mansion with expansive gardens and a marble swimming pool, among other luxuries. Yet Nick did not even hear about Gatsby until he went to visit his
Jay Gatsby, the title character of the novel is an incredibly wealthy young man, living in a medieval mansion in West Egg on an imaginary area of Long Island. Gatsby has many laudable traits. For example, he is filled with optimism and the ability to transform his dreams into reality. Jay is also extremely faithful to his true love, Daisy Buchanan, even to the point of death. When we first meet Gatsby, he is the aloof host of the fantastically opulent parties thrown every weekend at his mansion. It appears he is surrounded by wondrous luxury and is courted by beautiful women and the rich and powerful men of the time. Jay is also a very admirable character due to his status of wealth and being a hero of War World I, “In the Argonne Forest I took two machine gun detachments so far forward that there was half a mile gap on either side… I was promoted to be a major, and every Allied government gave me a decoration- even Montenegro”. However, Nick who narrates the book views Gatsby as a flawed man who is dishonest, deceitful, a liar, and a dreamer whom is searching for answers in the past, “he talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself, perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy… if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what that thing was…”
1. The green light, situated at the end of the Buchanan’s dock, represents Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for the future. Gatsby associates the light with Daisy and in Chapter one, he reaches toward it
We look back in history in order to learn from our mistakes and to help society progress in the present and in the future. “The Great Gatsby” was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925. Fitzgerald wrote this piece during the 1920s after WWI and it perfectly replicates the time period. The narrative captures the essence of the Jazz Age by depicting characters, showing power struggles and by defining the societal conflicts of the time. The novel tells us about different influences on the 20’s such as the Prohibition Act, the success of Wall Street, and aspects of the American Dream. “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald possesses the social constructs and ideas of the Roaring Twenties.
In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby projects his dream of a perfect life, yet it so quickly grows into a tangible manifestation of his feelings that he himself becomes an illusion to everyone he meets. Gatsby morphs into a different person depending on simple interactions with his guests, uprooting his stable dream, clouding his self image into one of unintentional mystery and deceit. Gatsby's rise to power and fame mean that he must never reveal his true self to anyone, and he must do everything he can to keep his dream of Daisy alive. Gatsby continually strives for a perfect life where his only conscious reaction to a problem involves solutions with money and power.
The Great Gatsby is an extraordinary novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who tells the story about the wealthy man of Long Island named, Jay Gatsby, a middle aged man with a mysterious past, who lives at a gothic mansion and hosts many parties with many strangers who were not entirely invited. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, many characters are discussed uniquely to an extent from the festive, yet status hungry Roaring Twenties. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald introduces many characters who all seem to cause conflict with each other because of incompatible personalities. The main character that F. Scott Fitzgerald sets the entire book over is Jay Gatsby, Gatsby, is first shown as a mysterious man whose
Gatsby was considered fallacious and dishonest by many people due to his involvement with illegal business. Granted, the sole motivation of Gatsby’s actions was to win back Daisy, and how he had to obtain her love- through resorting to smuggling, lying, faking; was accepted. In an attempt to display his baroque fortune, Gatsby purchased real books to place in his library, much to the incredulity of Owl Eyes, “This fella’s a regular Belasco. It’s a triumph. What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop, too—didn’t cut the pages” (Fitzgerald 45-46). The green light is a recurring symbol of Gatsby’s envy and animosity of Tom, which causes him to lead a corrupt life, continually reminiscent of his past. Daisy’s image in his mind is associated with perfection;
Additionally the interior yellow can symbolize gold and lavish objects. Moreover an egg is used as the division of the town East egg and West egg. This precious metal is a social status and signifies wealth. The division of these competing areas separates the newly rich from the historically wealthy families. The narrator Nick, comments that he lives in West Egg, being the,” well the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them” (Gatsby 5). By saying this, nick expresses the idea of his egg (West Egg) being less fashionable and desirable than the other more prominent side (East Egg). Even though some might not live in the more fashionable part of town you still can achieve the American Dream. Nick and the west side represent those that have actually worked hard and earned their new status. This part of town houses Nick and Gatsby, which do show that if you put in hard work you, can achieve the American dream.
Throughout history it becomes apparent that all the great stories: The Odyssey, Great Expectations, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are all founded on a similar theme. The same plot line, a hero, most often the protagonist, faces danger and adversity to the highest extreme but always comes out on top. He is depicted as the pinnacle of human triumph and in essence, demonstrates a fundamental strength that all men should strive to achieve. These stories were, “ full of darkness and danger. And sometimes one did not want to know the end; How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? In the end, it is only a passing thing. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out even clearer. Those
The 1920s, also known as the Jazz Age, was a period in history with many crucial developments, these of course came along with some difficulties. The 1920s was given its nickname because of the explosion of Jazz music and dance that emerged during the decade. The 1920s included some of the most significant events in history, including the revival of the Ku Klux Klan, the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, as well as the appearance of flappers. From the Jazz Age emerged many political and cultural conflicts, as well as economic developments that led to the Great Depression
These two areas are known as “West Egg” and “East Egg.” The contrast between the wealthy who live on “West Egg” and those on “East Egg” represent the divide between social classes. In the novel, Gatsby is portrayed as a wealthy man who lives in a mansion in the West Egg neighborhood. His rival, Tom Buchanan, is also a man of great wealth who lives in an estate in the East Egg neighborhood with his wife Daisy. Throughout the dialogue, Gatsby reveals to Daisy that he sees a green light coming from her East Egg dock every night across the bay from his mansion.
During the Roaring twenties, social class was an important aspect of society. All different classes were for the most part separated by where people lived. In other words, by no means would anyone from a lower class be caught in an uptown setting. There are a variety of characters in the novel that come from different economic backgrounds. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald successfully uses location to differentiate social status amongst his characters while the weather and seasons of those locations help guide them. Each character helps represent and support the differences of social class and the four main locations, The East Egg, the West Egg, the Valley of Ashes, and New York City.