Literary Lense In The Great Gatsby

The 1920s in America, known as the "Roaring Twenties", was a time of celebration after a destructive war. It was a period of time in America characterised by prosperity and optimism. There was a general feeling of disruption associated with modernity and a break with traditions.The Roaring Twenties was a time of great economic prosperity and many people became rich and wealthy. Some people inherited "old money" and some obtained "new money". However, there was the other side of prosperity and many people also suffered the nightmare of being poor. In the novel,The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is portrayed as a wealthy character

Nick longs to live the life of a millionaire, but for now the most he is able to do is to live next to one who represents his ideal life. Nick’s ideal world is one of money, and to him, Gatsby represents the life in which he thinks he would like to live. Nick demonstrates his admiration for Gatsby and his wish to be able to live that life when he says, “there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life” bespeaking that Nick finds the wealthy to be “gorgeous” and that he represents everything Nick finds to be the ideal life. Nick finds wealth to be something fantastical and it is something he strives to attain for himself in order for him to live his ideal life. Nick believes himself to be in the pursuit of the ideal life in his new home in West Egg, and that to be wealthy is a life of ease in which there is little struggle, the ideal life.

"I am still a little afraid of missing something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parceled out unequally at birth" (Fitzgerald 7), as stated by Nick, shows that, in The Great Gatsby, class determines the value of a person’s identity. Even between the rich, those with old money are more respected than those with new money, since there is a history of wealth associated to those with old money. Wealth holds great priority in society, since it provides more opportunities. However, while it provides more opportunities, the characters in The Great Gatsby shows the negative aspects of money. In the book The Great Gatsby, it is seen that rich people are powerful,

In book, “The Great Gatsby,” F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts how the American was corrupted through wealth. Fitzgerald provides many examples. The most common example shown was Jay Gatsby. Gatsby’s idea that to achieve his American Dream must be to acquire wealth. In order to show this, Fitzgerald uses various literary elements. Two of those being imagery and foreshadowing, these played a critical role in describing the theme, and specific moods to show what was to come and as well as describe the story as a whole. These play a vital role in representing Gatsby’s life and journey to acquiring Daisy, his version of the American Dream.

The “curtains” have human-like qualities, for they are making “whip and snap” sounds. Also, the “picture” has human-like qualities of “groan.” Fitzgerald adds these sounds to show the awkwardness setting in the Buchanan’s house. Just walking in the hallway of Tom Buchanan made Nick feel unease; it was so quiet that Nick can hear the cry of a picture and the lash of the curtain moving.

Dreams are a compelling force in people’s lives. They are what propel them forward each and every day in an effort to reach something better. The American Dream has been sought after by millions all over the world for hundreds of years. This country was founded on the belief that anyone could achieve their dreams. However, in the 1920s these hopes and aspirations began to splinter until they ultimately shattered. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism, setting, and theme to depict the unattainability of the American Dream.

Print. Offers a new perspective of The Great Gatsby, and claims that most readers are too young to understand the main concept of the book. Clarifies the meaning of The Great Gatsby and brings out unpopular ideas that have never been heard. Encourages the reader to reevaluate the story, and to see it from a new perspective, the author’s perspective. Critiques the differences of class, gender, and classes that are portrayed in the story.This is a credible source because the author is a known book critic, as she is the “critic in residence for Georgetown University, and has won the Edgar Award for criticism.

Throughout history many societies have had upper, middle, and lower classes. The classes formed separate communities of diverse living and never crossed social barriers. In the book, The Great Gatsby, instead of streets and communities separating each class there was a sound. On West Egg, the rich received their money not from inheritance but from what they accomplished by themselves. They worked hard for their money and received no financial support from their families. These people gained in one of two ways; either they worked for it or relied on illegal means for survival. On the other hand, or island, East Egg natives represent the class of society that receive money from their

In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author writes about the life of a man named Jay Gatsby from Nick Carraway’s point of view. Eventually Nick moves away, leaving the West and East Egg behind. Nick learns that happiness cannot be achieved by money because of the decline of moral standards, insatiability, and the upper classes lack of integrity. Fitzgerald shows us the decline of moral standards by portraying the characters as dishonest and careless. Tom and Daisy have an affair against each other.

One of the major topics explored in The Great Gatsby is the sociology of wealth, specifically, how the newly minted millionaires of the 1920s differ from and relate to the old aristocracy of the country’s richest families. In the novel, West Egg and its denizens represent the newly rich, while East Egg and its denizens, especially Daisy and Tom, represent the old aristocracy. Fitzgerald portrays the newly rich as being vulgar, gaudy, ostentatious, and lacking in social graces and taste. Gatsby, for example, lives in a monstrously ornate mansion, wears a pink suit, drives a Rolls-Royce,

In the period of the 1920’s, there was a certain status of wealth that was difficult to achieve. There were two societal classes consisting of those with wealth from prior generations, and those who worked to earn it themselves. Tom, Daisy, and Nick, who represented the old money society did not have to work hard, unlike Gatsby which he represented the new money and they had to work to earn money. People like Gatsby, who gained their wealth on their own often fought for the approval from the upper class who inherited their wealth. Rather than having new money and old money, people who tried achieving the American Dream and ended up in failure usually they end up like George and Myrtle Wilson In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the notion that social norms in the upper class depict the idea that being apart of it was impossible unless they were born in it was expressed through Daisy’s rejection of Gatsby because of the corrupt way in which he gained his wealth, making his American Dream unattainable.

The social hierarchy is influenced by the amount of money one owns which determines whether one can attain their dream. By creating apparent social classes within ‘The Great Gatsby’ – old money, new money and no money, Fitzgerald strongly suggests that American society is intensely stigmatised. Daisy, Tom and Jordan represent the elite social class of society where despite their problems and failures they are always protected and immune by their wealth. Tom refers to Gatsby as ‘Mr Nobody from nowhere” and a “common swindler who would have to steal the ring he put on her finger” as he boasts about his hereditary wealth compared to the other distinct elite group of society who acquire their wealth through business deals, which are sometimes corrupt. Although Fitzgerald mainly attacks the rich, by making them look judgemental, superior and selfish, evidently the lower class of society are vulnerable within American society. This is shown where so many, like Myrtle,

The novel The Great Gatsby was written in a time and place in which the separation between classes based on money was a great factor. The two rich classes were the old money and the new money. The two classes were also physically separated. East Egg is for the great “old money” and West Egg is for the “new money”. This segregation based on class is a problem discussed by the Marxists. They understood the huge differences and were the people who believed that there should be no class separation. The Marxist idea of class separation is well depicted in the character Jay Gatsby and his passionate fighting against the class system, in Tom Buchanan’s arrogance and power, typical for the rich people, and in the way George Wilson’s life is negatively influenced by his interactions with the higher class.

In the beginning of The Great Gatsby, the narrator Nick is critical of the upper class, but hopeful. Toward the end he is disappointed because he realizes how the lifestyle they live is unrealistic. During the novel, the upper class is disrespectful and full of themselves. When he gets to know the characters he notices how the upper class is so unfriendly and snotty. This easy and luxurious lifestyle that they are living is unattainable to everyone because nobody can get there. The American dream is described as making a ton of money and being snotty about it. In the novel, the hopeful and disgusted tones reflect Nick’s points of view on the unrealistic society and his points of view changes when he sees how greedy they all are

While readers are shown this message through the downfall of greed many times, there is an emphasis on the topic specifically during the last conversation Nick and Gatsby have. Nick says to Gatsby, “you’re worth the whole damn bunch put together”(154 Fitzgerald). While this certainly isn’t a typical compliment, it comes as a surprise to readers because of Nick’s character. He was advised by his father to be careful when passing judgement on people, a recommendation that changes the telling of the entire story. Nick rarely expresses an opinion on the moral value of the people around him, and Gatsby is no exception. Based on this fact alone, the few words go a long way. In order to best understand why Nick believes this to be true, it is important to understand what makes Gatsby different from all other characters. Judging on face value, Gatsby is no different from every other person living in East or West Egg. He has excess wealth, throws too many parties, has a list of petty and meaningless relationships, and is portrayed as a liar from the beginning. At the same time, he seems careless and irresponsible, as well as socially awkward. None of these characteristics make him stand out from the crowd of equally stuck up characters. The most relevant difference that sets Gatsby aside from the crowd is that he has a goal besides making money. Tom and Daisy appear to be living in order to make money; it is as if their final destination is simply more wealth. Gatsby is separated from this group because his ultimate goal is to restore his past relationship with Daisy and is using money as a way to accomplish his goal. While the two concepts seem to bleed together, a clear distinction can be made in the purpose of having wealth. The Buchanan’s want money simply to