Writers of fiction often create characters who behave in contradictory ways. Discuss how writers present contradictory characters in two or three works you have studied.
A contradictory character is a combination of statements, ideas, thoughts etc. of the particular character that oppose each other. Contradiction in a character arises, mainly, as a result of internal conflict within the character. It could also arise from other influences such as external conflicts or a moment of shock etc. or it could be the nature of the character to be contradictory to his or her actions, thoughts and speech. For the essay question, we will be looking at mainly two books: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and The River Between by Ngūgī wa
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Gatsby is by nature a sober and a straight thinker. He usually had clear and well thought out ideas and speeches in his head, which is why he rarely fumbled and made mistakes. However, in cases of external conflicts, such as in chapter five when Gatsby regrets his decision of asking Nick Carraway to invite Daisy over for tea. At first, he was very excited at the idea and he was looking forward to seeing Daisy as he had been planning for this meeting for five years as stated in the book. He had been patiently waiting for an opportunity to stage this meeting between himself and Daisy Buchanan. However, when he met her, he regretted his decision entirely because of the awkwardness in their meeting. They could not talk properly to each other. This contradiction in his initial reaction and final reaction is a result of the external environment such as the presence of awkwardness between them. The awkwardness then indirectly leads to a change in Gatsby’s decision, which is regret. There was probably also the presence of internal conflict as Gatsby sees his long time lover after such a long time. He was probably feeling jittery as shown in the chapter where he had “dark signs of sleeplessness beneath his eyes” before the meeting. The jittery feeling probably carried on to the point where they met each other again, giving him an immense amount of stress and pressure. This could have
This was not how the plan was supposed to go and it causes him to have anxiety, “But when anxiety becomes excessive, is not appropriate for the situation, or lasts a long time, it can get in the way of your everyday activities and may interfere with how you get along with others” (Tennov 122). This sets Gatsby off as he needed to have her remember, and go back to how he knew her to be. He becomes more frantic as time goes on and continually pushes her to the limit with asking her to leave Tom. Nick, his levelheaded friend realizes his motive and says, ”You can 't repeat the past," Gatsby replies, "Why of course you can” (Fitzgerald 117). This is part of the dilution that he has acquired, though his limerence for Daisy, that he can repeat what is now the past.
Gatsby also experienced the feeling of embarrassment when he revealed to Tom that Daisy loved him instead, but as Tom revealed he knew a lot about Gatsby’s criminal underworld businesses it lead to him getting embarrassed and Daisy getting too excited and his false persona to be shattered in their eyes, “It passed , and he began to talk excitedly to Daisy, denying everything, defending his name against accusations that had not been made, but with every word she was drawing further and further into herself.”(134) This shows us that Gatsby loved Daisy and was willing to do anything to reach
This is noticeable when he is talking to Nick. He thinks he can fix everything which we see when he is talking to Nick, “ ‘ I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before,’ Gatsby said, and nodding determinedly. ‘She’ll see.’ ”(110). At this point in the novel Gatsby sees how close his goal is, but he feels that the only way to get Daisy is to repeat the past and ignore the present, so she can feel the way she did about Gatsby before she met Tom. All the characters in this book will do anything to repeat the past, and do not see all the opportunities in front of them. Yet they are living in the roaring twenties, when everyone was trying to move forward with there lives. This idea from society is ironic to the characters in the book, because society is taking advantage of these opportunities of being wealthy, getting jobs, and living in the moment. Ironically Daisy, Gatsby, and Tom are living in the past, trying to take advantage of of opportunities that have already ended, specifically with Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship.
During the first chapter we learn that from Nick that Gatsby is a very optimistic and hopeful man. He's done his best to prosper in life but we learn that he has hopes for more. Also we learn that his hope is what drives other characters. Then we find out through Jordan that Gatsby wants to meet with Daisy but is afraid. That is why he always holds such lavish parties, Jordan tells Nick,"I think he half expected her to wander into one of his parties..,but she never did.". Later in the story after Gatsby has spilled the beans of he and Daisy's affair he hopes and waits for her to come to him. In the end she does not and this is where we actually see a genuine act of despair in Gatsby, "Nothing happened.., I waited, about four o'clock she came to the window and stood there for a minute..". Overall, Gatsby goes through having his hopes crushed entirely by the end of the novel. But the hope he actually had was false because all along he knew what he had dreamed for wouldn't really work out and you can see this in many chapters of the book.
in this book i know it that Gatsby was always trying to better himself self gatsby sometime confused me in the story me in the story tho one min gatsby seem like he didn't want to be with daisy then at the same time he tried very hard to keep to please her he seem happy with daisy at one point in the story in the story nick explain gatsby as restless when i read that it tells me that he can't stay focus .GATSBY one said that “believed in the green light the orgiastic future that year by year recedes
For years, Gatsby has designed and obsessed over this moment in his mind, creating his ideal reunion with Daisy. All he has thought about is the day they would once again meet. Daisy, of course, does not live up to these impossible expectations. As Nick Carraway states in his narration, “No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart” (96). Gatsby became disillusioned, realizing he will never have exactly what he wants, for Daisy to be completely devoted to him. Gatsby knows this deep down, and now his life has been built around a disappointment. Gatsby’s one reason for life has slipped through his fingers and all he is left with is a big empty house and meaningless money. Furthermore, Gatsby’s actions and thoughts reveal the reality of life: disappointment is inevitable. Sven Birkerts further explains the feeling of disillusionment, in his article A Gatsby for Today, when talking of “the reckless rush away from the centers of gravity, and the sudden, terrible realization that gravity writes no exceptions” (123). Often times one builds up expectations, as Gatsby did, only to realize they are
As Gatsby reached out to the green light across the harbor, he mistakenly thought there was still hope of getting back into a relationship with a married woman, Daisy. He regretted his actions that occurred five years ago, and did everything in his power to regain Daisy’s respect. Gatsby used his wealth to summon Nick, Daisy’s cousin, under his “spell” as his first step to fulfill his path to the love of his life. Gatsby’s fixation to getting back with Daisy makes his judgment unclear since he cannot think distinctly. His craziness for her is seen at, “Yes,” he said after a moment, “but of course I’ll say I was” (Fitzgerald 143). At this scene, Gatsby takes the fall for what Daisy had done. When he does this, he was not thinking about the consequences that might follow which included the revenge of the dead woman’s husband. Gatsby was clearly not thinking straight because his obsession to be with Daisy overcame his intelligence. His dream of being with her slowly became into a nightmare. If he had not done some of his actions, he would not have been in this mess in the first place. If he had let go of her and let her be happy by marrying Tom, this whole situation would not have happened.
When someone comes off too eager for something they desire, sometimes the satisfaction won’t meet the expectations they primarily had. The thrill to chase that dream has vanished and has now turned into a bland, dull thought. Gatsby’s memory of Daisy had changed and then builds her up to more than she actually is. He then proceeds to market Daisy as something completely different. The tendency for Gatsby trying to lie to himself about his memory of Daisy has faded and is now trying hopelessly to revive his past feelings about Daisy. “He had been full of the idea so long, dreamed it right through to the end, waited with his teeth set, so to speak, at an inconceivable pitch of intensity”(Fitzgerald 92). The cumbersome attitude of Gatsby towards
In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby spent years trying to achieve his dream, but he made a bad decision and lost his chance. Gatsby met Daisy a couple years before (Fitzgerald 74). He would hide his social class from her because he was afraid she wouldn’t like him. He never forgot her, even when he went to fight in the war. He has been formulating a plan to get Daisy back. He comes back and got a house across the lake from Daisy, hoping to be with her some day. He did a lot of bad business to get all of his wealth, but the money wasn’t enough. He wanted to be with Daisy. He eventually gets to meet up with Daisy because of Nick’s help, and Gatsby gets closer to being able to live a life with Daisy. One day, everyone (Tom, Daisy, Gatsby, Nick, and Jordan) is in town, renting a hotel room to deal with the heat. Tom figures out that Daisy and Gatsby have something going on. Tom gets mad and everyone starts to head home. On the way back, Gatsby lets Daisy drive his car, which was his bad decision (Fitzgerald 143). Daisy hits Myrtle,
The Great Gatsby, by F.Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel about a man that is in love and thats wants his love that he had 5 years ago he want to repeat the past. How did Gatsby changes in the book from the beginning, to middle, to end of the book? Gatsby changes throughout the entire book. changes in him are linked to daisy.Gatsby changes and things start going his way, until the end, when he loses everything he worked for.Gatsby changes the most
Have you ever noticed how people almost always talk about what they do not have instead of what they do? Well in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, this is a major part of the book. Fitzgerald’s characters are used to show that people are greedy and always will be. Specifically, Fitzgerald uses Jay Gatsby to show that society is greedy because he always focuses on what he does not have instead of what he does have. First, Fitzgerald shows how Gatsby does everything to impress Daisy, by how Gatsby becomes rich to win her over and how he does everything for Daisy. Secondly, Fitzgerald shows how Gatsby throws extravagant parties to impress Daisy. Finally, he shows how Gatsby is not happy being rich or poor. This is important because
Francis Scott Fitzgerald, the author of a book widely renowned as the greatest American novel, is known for his tendency to insert autobiographical elements within his works of fiction. Within The Great Gatsby itself, Fitzgerald wrote scenes and storylines from his own corrupted and perverse experiences, ones brought about by his damaged psyche. The greatest examples of Fitzgerald’s personal biography within The Great Gatsby are the amoral female characters which he wrote. Nevertheless the fact that the 1920s are widely regarded as the era in history when feminism first began to have a fighting chance, Fitzgerald wrote his female characters as destructive forces who are less than their male counterparts and have to be controlled. Fitzgerald’s misogynistic opinions are present in Daisy, a woman villainized despite being under the control of others, Jordan, a corrupted girl who negatively represents the feminism of the jazz age, and Myrtle, a character who was written more like an animal than she was a woman. Drawing from his own negative experiences with women, including unhealthy obsessions with those out of his social league and an affair-ridden marriage with his wife, Fitzgerald branded his female characters within The Great Gatsby with practically irredeemable qualities, revealing his sexist ideals and intentions.
The illusions of one’s mind can lead them to unexpected ending. Gatsby allowed his illusions to guide him to his goal. He didn’t realize that he was forgetting the reality of his goal. He never cared for the consequences that his illusions could, and in the end would, cause. Gatsby allowed his illusion of Daisy to override the actuality of Daisy being married, having a child, and changing since his absence from her life. He refused to change anything that disrupted his plan to be with Daisy. At the end of one of Gatsby’s parties, Gatsby tells Nick,” I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before.” Gatsby is refusing to see the future of his life. He firmly believes he can go back in time and live his life how he sees it. He doesn’t
All through the book, Gatsby's mind is stuck on getting Daisy back. He thinks that in one magical moment, Daisy will leave Tom and return to his bed for a fairy tale ending. After he comes back from the war his thoughts are on his love's betrayal, her marriage. He sees his actions as a method of love, but his thoughts are ill hearted towards others. He has been involved in illegal financial methods and is trying to break up a marriage for his own gain in life. After their fling officially begins, Gatsby has Daisy lying to Tom and he is convincing her that she never loved her husband. Gatsby thinks that by getting Daisy to realize her marital mistakes, she will simply leave Tom and marry him. He is corrupting a relationship and an individual further than their present state of dishonesty. He thinks that his plans are going accordingly until a heated discussion breaks out and he is on the losing end. He has ended up emotionally unbalancing Daisy to the point where she accidentally kills someone. Gatsby then takes the blame like it was nothing with the thought that it is his duty. Gatsby's train of thought was a bit off the tracks and did crash and burn, but who could blame a man in love,
It is often said that certain literary works and characters within such works represent real-world issues. In the work The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the character of Gatsby is shrouded in ambiguity to the reader, providing them with a possibility for personal interpretation. In the work, Gatsby’s character develops from a character representing materialism and a fixation on status to one filled with humility and selflessness for his romantic devotion towards the character of Daisy. Through this shift, the reader is provided with insight in order to draw parallels between Gatsby and two distinct periods in American history. The materialistic side of Gatsby, driven by wealth and his status in Long Island, represents the moral corruption and materialistic desires of America in the 1920s, whereas the romantically devoted Gatsby represents wartime America, devoted to sacrifice and nobility. The contrast within the life of Gatsby allows for a profound insight into the significance of the work as a representation of changing American values.