The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald is mostly known for his images of young, rich, immoral individuals pursuing the American Dream of the 1920’s (Mangum). This image is best portrayed in his greatest novel, The Great Gatsby, alongside his principal themes, “lost hope, the corruption of innocence by money, and the impossibility of recapturing the past” (Witkoski). Fitzgerald was identified as a modern period writer because his themes and topics were inconsistent with traditional writing (Rahn).

Most define the American Dream as an equal opportunity for all to achieve success through handwork and determination. Many define success as having or gaining wealth and power. This isn 't true for the novel The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald. Instead Fitzgerald represents the withering of the American Dream, in the novel the American Dream is presented more as a overpowering idea of aspirations far from reach, making it less of a dream and more of a distant thought. Throughout the novel Fitzgerald slowly deconstructs the image of the American Dream and builds upon the corrupting nature of wealth. Due to the corrupting nature of wealth we are able to identify the theme of the withering American Dream, which is being represented through

The Roaring Twenties era was a time of not only of crime, changing action and roles of women, but also of many other different social and cultural trends. The 1920s was the Progressive era that was a response to the Gilded Age. The Progressive era was filled with many reformers that aimed to reform the social issues like the women’s movement who had started a temperance movement to prohibit people from drinking. The 1920s was also a time of a social gap where the wealthy got more rich and the poor increased and stayed beyond the poverty line. In the Great Gatsby, the Valley of Ashes, automobiles, crime, and homes symbolize the social classes, and other cultural and social trends of the 1920s.

“What is better, the book or movie?” a commonly asked question by many individuals who are curious to know one’s opinion on a novel or film he/she is interested in. The book is usually always better than the movie because the book is more detailed, one gets to know the characters better, and it allows one to be more creative and have his/her own interpretation on what is occurring. In this case, The Great Gatsby is a remarkable 1925 novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which was made into various movie adaptions in 1926, 1949, 1974, 2000 and 2013. Each version takes place in drastically different periods, so each type has its own take on the film, also depending on the director’s vision. This goes to show that the cinema has been trying periodically to recreate F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic, but the attempts of the movies have mostly failed. In particular, the 1974 film decreases its effectiveness in representing the message that Fitzgerald was attempting to demonstrate in the book, which contributes to the book being significantly better than the film for various reasons.

"Never has symbolism played such a crucial part in the very foundation of a novel as it does in Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, The Great Gatsby." Harold Bloom has written about this book. The author used several types of symbolism in The Great Gatsby. The colours are probably the easiest to be recognized and guessed what they symbolized. According to the definition “symbolism” is "the practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships."

Tom and Daisy chose to be compassionate due to the fact that their wealth sets them up on a high pedestal in society. They have no moral obligations for each other. Their marriage is only there as a front and not based on being in love. After the death of Myrtle, Tom and Daisy sit “opposite each other” with a sense of “natural intimacy” as if they were “conspiring together” (144,145). Although they are not in love with each other, they continue to show compassion in order to benefit from a higher social status. In the past, their love might have been genuine and true. That was after Gatsby had left for war. Daisy and Tom grew to love each other and their flaws and continued to live a life in love until one day they did not. Both, indirectly decided that being together in wealth and fame is better than being apart.

In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nick Carraway tells the story of his life in New York and his encounters with Jay Gatsby. He tells the story of how Gatsby’s death occurred and every event leading up to it. Somehow, everything leads back to three characters; Jay Gatsby, Tom Buchanan, and Daisy Buchanan. In the novel, everyone played a role in Gatsby’s death but the person who was most responsible was Daisy with help from Tom and Gatsby.

A symbol that most readers miss is that of time. Fitzgerald creates a” time symbolism” when Gatsby and Daisy meet again after five years. There were awkward pauses throughout their conversation, and during one of these pauses a clock that Gatsby was leaning his head on begins to tip over, as if about to fall. Gatsby gracefully catches the clock before it falls, and Nick proclaims that “I think we all believed for a moment that is had smashed in pieces on the floor” (#) thus creating a symbol of pressuring time. Gatsby resting his head on the clock is equivalent to the pressure that Gatsby puts on time, and the clock falling shows that time could not “support the demands that Gatsby wanted because he can’t turn back time” (Name) He also had not seen Daisy in a long time, making Gatsby want to cram all his emotions and longings for Daisy into a short period of time out of fear that they may not meet again.

The Great Gatsby is a novel that illustrates the society in the 1920 's and the associated beliefs, values and dreams of the American population at that time. These beliefs, values and dreams can be summed up be what is termed the "American Dream"; a dream of money, wealth, prosperity and the happiness that supposedly came with the booming economy and get-rich-quick schemes that formed the essential underworld of American upper-class society. This underworld infiltrated the upper echelons and created such a moral decay within general society that paved the way for the ruining of dreams and dashing of hopes as they were placed confidently in the chance for opportunities that could be seized by one and all. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates the

As Karl Marx once said, “religion is the opiate of the masses”. Marx viewed religion as a drug which gives people the comfort and happiness they need. Just like money, he believed that religion is a destructive force which puts people under a spell to maintain control over them. During the Jazz Age, America had an economic growth which swept americans to become part of a “consumer society”. Throughout this period of time, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote many modernist novels, including The Great Gatsby, in which he critiques the downfall of the 1920’s society through religion and consumerism.

This love tragedy occurs in the upper class during the Roaring Twenties which “[are] years of rapid economic growth”(Roaring Twenties1). It’s not a personal tragedy, it’s actually a time tragedy which the society accomplishes. The tragedy is also an allusion to the corruption of society. Nick was the protagonist who describe the whole story revolved around the distorted relationship between Gatsby, Daisy and Tom form his personal perspective. He expresses his disappointment about people’s indifference and hopelessness.

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a story set in the 1920s, where music was lively, and the outfits were glamourous; much too long ago for anyone in this day and age to relate to. Enter in Mr. Baz Luhrmann’s theatrical adaption of Fitzgerald’s novel, where there’s a smooth connection to the modern public. Luhrmann’s use of present-day situations contrast the book’s 1920’s culture to establish a portrayal of the story that would make better sense, and be more socially acceptable to the modern viewer.

The 1920’s was the Jazz Age of the United States of America; The Great Gatsby is F.Scott Fitzgerald’s account of the time period following World War I. The story tells of success, love, and mysteries that involve several parties of people. When I first started reading The Great Gatsby, it intrigued me; I wanted to keep reading until I knew everything that happened in that book. The Great Gatsby, in my opinion, is a well-written and compelling novel. A novel full of twists and turns, with mysteries and several truths for the reader to uncover.

The goal of this study is to understand, and explain the story of The Great Gatsby in both forms of media. Movie revisions of The Great Gatsby have led to misinterpretation of the time period, character developments, and hidden meanings in the story. I expect to find that current

The Great Gatsby is a very popular novel, and today nearly all critics agree that it is a great one. But what makes it great? What elements set it apart? Many novels are so poorly written that they are never even published, and most that are published do not sell especially well. Of those that have good sales, good reviews, or both, most are soon forgotten. But a few become a permanent part of our literature.