Examples Of Dialectical Journal For The Great Gatsby

Because Gatsby is standing alone, searching for the elusive Daisy, he is shown to not be content. He finds no joy in having all these people here if he cannot find his Daisy. He views Daisy as the person that will bring him to an even higher social class, because even though he is rich, he still remembers the social value Daisy encompasses because of her abundance of lovers. Ultimately he wants to swell his ego, to tame the wild beast, because Daisy wasn’t settled down before with any one man. Even though she is now married, he still views her with the same awe of when he first laid eyes on her at camp, even remarking that “‘Her voice is full of money’”(127) in reference to his percieved value of her when they first met. Quintessentially, Gatsby has narcissism flowing through his veins because he is attempting to recreate a past to soothe his remorse from when he initially left Daisy to fight in the war.

Throughout the novel Tom is shown as someone very arrogant and abrupt in the way he talks to people and feels he has the authority to question others in an interrogatory manner. In his first meeting with Nick he

In the book “The Great Gatsby”, Nick has a front row seat to a horrific love circle. Tom and Nick are different in many ways. Tom is portrayed in the story as an antagonist, while Nick is a protagonist. Both of these characters have encounters with Gatsby’s lover Daisy. The story of a distressed lovers drags a newcomer of the city into their feuds.

These quotes describe two of maybe three important symbols in the book. The Valley of Ashes signifies the open road ahead which civilization is going for, yet the ashes symbolize the decay of society, where the pursuit for wealth leaves behind a mark. This mark could be considered a mark of poorness that the non-pursuers have to deal with. The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg signify the watchful eyes of God upon what America did in the 1920s. The American's blindness of the time resulted in industrial problems throughout the country.

As a main character we may get a different impression of Nick since we are now analysing his personality and how he interacts with the other characters in the story. We read numerous pronouns in the first chapter, ‘I’, suggesting that he is self-indulgent and pompous. For instance, once at Gatsby’s party, Nick only kisses Jordan Baker because he ‘had no girl’, conveying he only kissed her because there was no one else there. This makes Nick seem selfish and arrogant as he is only thinking of himself. To the reader, we

7. Nick thinks he's one of the few honest people he knows, why? Do you think he is honest?

At the beginning of the book Nick sees Gatsby as a mysterious shady man. In the beginning of the chapter Nick somewhat resents Gatsby. In Nick’s opinion Gatsby was the representation of “…everything for

Nick’s behavioural changes are one the most evident changes that the reader is able to notice after he is invited to Gatsby’s house. These changes could be regarded as either negative or positive depending on how the reader interprets them. “Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.”(pg. 59), this is one of Nick’s quote from the beginning of the story before he meets Gatsby, he states that he is very honest to himself and to others but the reader soon finds out that is not the case. Nick is not an honest individual because after Gatsby is accused for Myrtle Wilson’s murder he does not speak up and tell Tom Buchanan and George Wilson (Myrtle’s husband) as to whom committed the crime. This misunderstanding ultimately leads to the death of  Jay Gatsby as he shot my George at his Mansion. These series of events are important to Nick’s behavioural changes as the reader to notice how being in Gatsby’s mansion had affected his honesty. Another behavioural change the reader is able to notice is Nick’s drinking habit as he starts to drink more when he first enters one of Gatsby’s parties. Chapter two of “The Great Gatsby” is where the

Fitzgerald uses Gatsby's parties and the way in which Nick views them to reveal that whilst Gatsby is surrounded by shallow and vulgar people, he is above this. Fitzgerald also uses these parties to expose Gatsby's isolation which leads us to feel sympathy toward Gatsby. Despite the amount of people at the party, Nick observes Gatsby's seclusion and loneliness, "my eyes fell to Gatsby, standing alone on the marble steps". This evokes a great deal of sympathy from us as although Nick describes Gatsby in a warm and friendly way, "It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life", we now can see that Gatsby is a lonely figure. This sympathy is accentuated when Nick is the only person to turn up to Gatsby's funeral, as we know that Gatsby is a decent and honourable character and thus our sympathies are emphasised by Gatsby's isolation. When Nick first meets Gatsby, he reveals Gatsby to be a fascinating character that we would like to know more about. The warm and assuring smile that Nick describes is in antithesis to the

    The Unreliable Narrator: Nick Carraway starts out the novel by explaining the the reader that his dad gave him advice that he lives by, “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages you’ve had” (Fitzgerald 1). Nick says he is inclined to keep all of his judgements to himself, and looks up to his dad and these words. In the very next few pages, Nick describes Tom’s body, someone he knew in college after seeing him for the first time, as, “It was a body capable of enormous leverage-a cruel body” (Fitzgerald 7). Nick goes against his father's words by judging Tom’s body. This tells the readers that Nick might not be very social and be a person that stays in the background of situations judging people and their actions. This action can foreshadow to the remainder of the novel, that the narrator, Nick, will be unreliable.

So already you expect Gatsby to great before you have even opened the book. As the first chapter unravels The Narrator and Gatsby’s Neighbor Nick Carraway, tells us plainly that he loathes Gatsby, however by the end of the paragraph he describes Gatsby’s character as “gorgeous”. He also says

When Nick meets up with his cousin Daisy and his old classmate Tom in East Egg, he is shown an unfamiliar side of people, a darker side, and he is at a loss and out of his element. Nick is tempted and curious about these things and they lead him away from his midwestern upbringing. The love triangles, the infidelity, gold digging and homicide disgust Nick and he becomes resolved to move back to his midwestern comfort zone almost like in doing so, he will be able to wash himself clean of the experience. Although the character Nick acts as a confidant for those around him, it seems that the burden of their indiscretions is too much for him and he returns to the familiarity and the safety of the morals he was raised on.

The difference in the interactions Nick and Gatsby have with Tom Buchanan show the difference in their perspectives on wealth. Nick is a friend of Tom. He visits Tom and Daisy at their home, and Tom trusts him enough to invite him to the small, intimate, gathering with only his mistress and the McKees. Nick doesn’t like to spend time with Tom; he says as they drive through the city “Hold on… I have to leave you here” (28). He didn’t have any particular reason to go, but he simply could not stand being with Tom in that car for any longer. His reaction to the party in Tom’s apartment is similar. He “wanted to get out” (35), but something restrained him. He wants to leave, but he is “within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled” (35) but Tom’s party. Gatsby’s reaction however, is different. He doesn’t entertain Tom or even try to engage with him. Nick speaks briefly to Tom then looks over to Gatsby and he’s simply “no longer there” (74). Gatsby and Tom are superficially similar. They both

Nick is instantly drawn into Gatsby at first sight when talking to him. Gatsby’s smile intrigues Nick and makes him feel valued and understood. He is eager to get to know Gatsby on a deeper and more personal level. Nick admires the comfort and support Gatsby’s charisma

It all started with an invitation from Gatsby himself inviting Nick to one of his extravagant parties. Nick ended up attending but felt very out of place as he described in the book “.....I slunk off in the direction of the cocktail table-the only place in the garden where a single man could linger without looking purposeless and alone”(pg 42). This shows that he wasn’t familiar with anyone at the party he had seen so far. He had been asking around where Mr. Gatsby was but it seemed that no one had met him or knew much but only what they have heard about him. It was Nicks mission to met Gatsby and thank him for the invite. Finally Nick ran into a man and started to discuss how he seemed to be the only person invited to the party, and that he wishes that he could find the host because nobody seemed to know him. A few seconds later Nick felt the