Comparing The Great Gatsby 'And Blank Space' By Taylor Swift

In the beginning of this novel everyone seems to know, or at least have heard, about Gatsby. He is talked about a lot and it is manly in a good way. Gatsby appears to be a very powerful person who also has a lot of respect from people. He has a very strange and kind of mysterious personality. For example when he has his party’s, usually on

     Gatsby’s expresses his character through his lies and rumors that were started. It also showed that he wanted the one

The central antagonist of Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age classic, Jay Gatsby, is revealed to the reader throughout the novel, creating a sense of mystery around his character, his past and his future. The quasi - fantastical pictorial of the same name, by Greenberg, also follows this reveal, portraying Gatsby's world and evoking a lingering curiosity. Initially, in both novel and graphic novel, the reader is set up to expect the worst. In the introduction of the novel by Fitzgerald, Nick states ‘ No- Gatsby turned out alright in the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interests in the abortive sorrows and short winded elations of men.’ This introduction creates a

All of his decisions are based on his need to feel superior and his interminable chase after the idea of Daisy that he has created. Part of the genius of the novel that Fitzgerald included was the two-dimensionality of the characters. Almost all of the characters lacked a human aspect of their characterization. Fitzgerald wrote them this way on purpose. He wrote the characters of The Great Gatsby the way that he saw people around him in his everyday life: shallow and vapid. Instead of filling the novel with well-rounded characters, he filled it with characters who at best made questionable decisions, even with good intentions in mind. His decision in doing this is extremely important to the themes portrayed in the novel. The Great Gatsby brought a lot of the social issues that were going on in the 20’s into the light, and in a brilliant way. Writing Jay Gatsby as a static character was an integral part of the themes that Fitzgerald hoped to depict with the The Great Gatsby, and an extremely effective way to expose the general public of the 20s for whom Fitzgerald truly saw

There are different identities that Gatsby creates for himself, with all of them relating to each other in the end. The identity that he creates for himself is a wealthy man, who lies about his history to get to the top. He appears to be likeable by most New Yorkers because so many people attend his outrageous parties that he throws. The reason Gatsby throws these parties is all for one person, Daisy, as he “half expected her to wander into one of his parties, some night, but she never did” (80). Because she never attended one of his parties, he sought out Jordan Baker to help him find a way to get together with his previous lover. For years, he worked hard to become successful in his “business”. With all of the money that he gained from this, he “bought a house so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (79). Gatsby hoped that Daisy would notice him and his wealth, and therefore, leave Tom. He believed that if he was perceived as the “better” man, she would go back to him.

Fitzgerald displays Gatsby as man who came from nothing, with an unrelenting passion to obtain material success, or the 1920’s American Dream. Radical transformation was one of Mr. Gatsby’s most outstanding characteristics, taking his desire to change from the once impoverished man to the point of changing his name. Certainly Gatsby possesses admirable traits, as his will power is once again displayed through the longing for his lost love, Daisy. The misconceptions of the time period are illustrated as Fitzgerald displays that Gatsby’s underlying desire for money is to win over Daisy through impressing her with his wealth. Within Adam Cohen’s piece “Jay Gatsby Is a Man for Our Times”, Cohen discusses the worthiness of Gatsby’s goal: “The callow Daisy, whose voice is ‘full of money,’ may not be a worthy goal. But Gatsby’s longing for her, and his willingness to sell his soul to pursue her, are the purest thing in this sordid tale.” Essentially, Fitzgerald demonstrates that Gatsby, nor his relentless will to succeed, are not the issue. It is the time period, along with the misconceptions of a dream, which corrupt the character. Gatsby’s wealth is obtained through unethical ways, like many others who followed the path of easy money. The corruption of bonds does bring Gatsby the wealth he had always longed for, along with extravagant and lavish parties at his mansion. Consequently, we learn that reaching the goal of obtaining wealth ultimately does not lead to

Gatsby is practically famous from the parties he throws but none of that matters to him. Gatsby tries to use his wealth to attract Daisy, and it seemed to work, but that's not how love and fellowship is supposed to be earned. A connection between two people shouldn’t be reliant on wealth, especially when carelessness is also a factor. This inevitably resulted in the car accident. Too many characters were wrapped up in what they believed was important. Fitzgerald weaved satire into the actions of nearly every

First of all, in the novel Gatsby lies throughout the whole story to his peers about himself such as: where he got his money from, where he went to school, and even what his real name is. Moreover, in the novel Gatsby’s past affects him in a negative way because he was not able to let go and move on from Daisy nor did his attitudes no values change. For example, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote Gatsby saying “The past well, that you can always repeat” this depicts

From the beginning of the novel, Gatsby’s character is surrounded by mystery through rumors mentioned by other characters. Daisy says in Chapter I, “Gatsby? What Gatsby?” in reaction to hearing Gatsby’s name in a conversation between Nick and Jordan Baker (15).  Daisy’s reaction foreshadows the illusions that surround Gatsby’s character as to which rumor they would hear about next. In Chapter II, Catherine, Myrtle’s sister, believes Gatsby to be “a nephew or a cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm’s” which is why he has so much money (37). In Chapter III, Nick attends

In Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, characters deceive others throughout the entire book by living an illusion or a lie. The citizens of East and West egg use each other through their deceptive ways. However, more specifically, Gatsby is the key character of deception, having no respect for himself of the people surrounding him. Throughout the book, the reader can see the figurative and literal aspects of Gatsby’s life along with how it came to a sudden end because of his previous lies. The book also helps the readers see how he deceives every character throughout the continuous lies.

This shows how little Gatsby puts into his lies because he genuinely does not care. Even though he makes us Jay Gatsby, the novel says, “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people—his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all” and that is why he became Jay Gatsby. Since he actually believes in his heart he is Gatsby now, he really is not lying. When Tom discovers that Gatsby is a bootlegger Gatsby simply says, “What about it” (Fitzgerald 133) since he really does not care if his lies are believed. Nick basically just says, “I'm inclined to reserve all judgments” even though he seems to judge every character in the book (the book is one giant judgment), so he is a liar that cannot recognize his own lies- the worst kind (Fitzgerald 1). The rest of this society is terrible with their lies since they all are so good and ready to do it whenever. When Catherine says, “She’s a Catholic, and they don’t believe in divorce”, it is a total lie that symbolizes how the rest of this society lies about everything because they are so used to it (Fitzgerald 33). Women are not held to the same standard since “Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply” (Fitzgerald 58).

Another similarity found in the works of Scott Fitzgerald and William Shakespeare is that although the protagonist of each respective work appears to be self-assured and successful on the outside, internally, he in fact exhibits a dire weakness and vulnerability of character. In the first work, Gatsby's attainment of every possible worldly desire - but Daisy - leaves him with the feeling that despite having everything, he has got nothing. He continues to appear, however, as a man of wealth, status, and privilege. His opulent parties are host to the some of the wealthiest of America, and yet, they are nothing more than an elaborate theatrical presentation designed to portray a perception. Nick correctly points out that Gatsby himself is just "a mere observer of his own parties." While the guests use an outward show of opulence to hide their inner corruption and moral decay, Gatsby uses his parties in such a way as to erase his poor past and establish his wealth and status in the eyes of others, specifically Daisy. His spectacularly marvelous parties are not but a tool designed to force an impression of his wealth and superiority in the eyes of his lifelong love Daisy. Through Gatsby's lavish parties and outward show of opulence, it is evident that he feels insecure and apprehensive about his underprivileged past and tries constantly to curtain it

In musical superstar Taylor Swift’s music video for her song “Blank Space,” she is portraying herself as the high maintenance and dramatic girlfriend that the media believes she is. The speaker of this text is the media’s perception of Taylor Swift and her message is about the disconnect between who Swift really is and who the media sees her as. I believe Swift has two purposes for this music video. One is for her character in the music video to warn her audience about the type of love that boys want, and the other for real life Taylor herself to poke holes into the media’s concept of her love life. The video is filled with satire and paradoxes to convince us that our idea of Taylor Swift is not an accurate opinion of her.

Therefore, when looking at Gatsby’s most impressive traits one thing that pops up is his energetic smile, vibrant personality, and loyalty to those who he respects or cares about. It is important to mention the fact that Gatsby always seemed to make every person feel important and at ease while conversing with him. It was his nature to express courtesy to any guest he came in contact with, no matter how insignificant they were or what their occupation was. As far as loyalty is concerned, it is best represented in his devotion to Daisy Buchanan. With his money and notoriety he could have easily have had numerous love opportunities. He sacrificed all openings for love as he stoked the coals trying to ignite a past flame with a married women. Even when Jay and Daisy’s relationship was over in the readers mind Gatsby still clung to a hope of having a life with her. He loyally stayed at her house to the wee hours of the morning, convinced her husband was a live wire that could erupt and physically punish his wife. This he displayed to a women that is impossible to love anyone but

To make this possible, Gatsby has to secure a high status in society to even be in the same circle as Daisy or even have contact with her. After this, he waits as week after week passes, “half expecting her to wander into one of his parties, some night” (79). Eventually this paid off because one night Tom and Daisy decide to attend one of Gatsby’s celebrations (104). Gatsby now has attained his status as part of his American dream through this, and, in his mind, is closer to achieving the other parts as well. Fitzgerald’s experience during the 1920’s was one of great influence on his life and writing. In relation to the novel, he led a life based on status and shallow relationships, and this was typical of the time period he lived in. The decade of the 1920’s changed the way the typical American’s priorities were ordered. Even Fitzgerald “relied on personality, which depended upon appearance, grooming, gesture” (Lehan 58). The fact that the author lived this kind of lifestyle shows how it influenced his writing including The Great Gatsby. The disillusionment of Gatsby’s dream in the story is caused by these choices and changes that Fitzgerald experienced throughout the 1920’s. In addition, Fitzgerald shared a similar routine as Gatsby as he was a frequent partier and drinker (Brackett 58). This most likely produced the leading role that the image of parties played in the story. Fitzgerald’s