The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Parents always warn their children to steer clear from shady and unreliable characters. Real life situations are the target of this notion, but such a claim also stands true for literature. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Nick, the narrator, is a shady character who disclosed no personal information about himself and expected the viewer’s trust in return. As a result, Scott Donaldson, in his article “The Trouble with Nick” deliberates his opinion over what a terrible person Nick is, however later determines that regardless of how shady Nick may be, he is still the only one fit to narrate The Great Gatsby. Some of Scott Donaldson’s views of Nick as an unreliable narrator may stand true; however, it is definitely agreeable that Nick Carraway is the only acceptable narrator for The Great Gatsby.

The Prince, a philosophical work of literature introduces maxims that have become a part of American Literature from the past to present day. In one of America’s well known classic, The Great Gatsby, a story of the spontaneous Jazz Age filled with power struggles, a materialistic society, and the infamous affairs of the twenties create maxims for a character in the novel. Machiavelli’s maxims have had an impact in many writings and continue throughout this novel. Daisy, the most intriguing and charming character brings the defense, rebellion, and promising traits it takes to become a successful prince.

"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."

Many consider The Great Gatsby a beautiful love story. A literary review site, for example, says about Fitzgerald’s most famous work: “The Great Gatsby is probably F. Scott Fitzgerald 's greatest novel […] Gatsby is really nothing more than a man desperate for love”(The Great Gatsby Review). Popular opinion paints Gatsby as such: A man desperate for love, devoid of any evil. But a closer look uncovers a new side of Jay Gatsby because Gatsby, underneath his glorious façade, is a sociopath.

Often when readers describe daisy an image is created of a selfish and shallow woman. This image is confronted multiple times in The Great Gatsby. When the reader considers daisy 's actions throughout the book with the consideration of the time and the men around her choices become clearer and possible to empathize with.

At this point in history, no matter where people are in the world, they are aware of

Nick Carraway narrates the story in both first and third person. I would characterize his voice as contradictory. At some points in the novel, he disapproves of Gatsby’s actions but at other times, he seems to admire him.

The Great Gatsby is a novel about a character by the name of Jay Gatsby, who is fighting to get his beloved Daisy back with the help of his friend, Nick Daisys cousin from an arrogant fellow named Tom.The novel is also a representation of the path to attain the American Dream which is done through the characters, Tom and Gatsby. Tom and Gatsby have very similar beliefs. Gatsby is referred to as a high achiever, who throws outstanding parties in hopes of winning over Daisy. Gatsby sabotages Tom by trying to achieve the American Dream because he believes in order to have the American Dream he must have possession of Daisy, whom is married to Tom. West Egg is a rich inherited place where Nick claims the story all started. The West Egg is a

One phrase that an American is bound to hear at some point in his or her life, is the American Dream, but most don’t fully understand that concept. The majority of people never really have, they always think it’s supposed to be tangible, but it’s not. In his novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald criticizes many aspects of American culture. One aspect that he criticizes very strongly is the American Dream. Fitzgerald shows the misconception that many have of what the Dream really is. He also shows that heritage is the most influential factor as to whether or not someone would manage to live the Dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the book to show how many Americans do not fully understand what it means to have the American Dream.

While most novels that are read for school typically use physical objects and maybe even characters as forms of symbolism to convey a deeper meaning within that is not in the same realm as the main plot, The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is notable for using different colors as symbols to display deeper themes. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses various colors to describe the qualities of different characters and the circumstances of events that take place within the story. Three colors and their symbolic meaning in the novel come to mind with this topic: green is used mainly to convey a meaning of perhaps unreachable hope or desire, the color grey is utilized as an indicator of lifelessness or otherwise a sense of “boredom”, and the color yellow is generally a strong descriptor of death and corruption. Whether or not they showed up for a prolonged period of time, all three of these colors are quite important at different points in the novel.

The Jazz Age, marking to be an era of great change. After World War I ended in 1919, the post-war seemed to make life so much better. People began to become wealthy, which was a tremendous financial change, at least for the upper class, from having a time of corruption. With all of the new wealth, people began buy more. When people begin to buy more, that means profits grew, more goods were manufactured, which makes people earn more money. With all of this money, they began to buy consumer goods- cars, radios, telephones, etc.

In the 1920s, when F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby, there was a common belief that anyone could achieve wealth no matter their past or current social status. This idea has come to be known as The American Dream. The Great Gatsby revolves around Gatsby and his love for Daisy. Gatsby falls for Daisy because she is his ticket to the wealth and success that The American Dream foretells. He ignores all her flaws and is willing to do anything for her just because she is wealthy. The Great Gatsby’s focus seems to be on this failed love story, however the love story is actually a metaphor for The American Dream. Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby illustrates the mystifying effects The American Dream has on people and how it cause them to put another on a pedestal ignoring all their faults and flaws so they are perceived as a perfect.

In my final paper, I will argue that F. Scott Fitzgerald represents the country in relation to civilization and the city in his novel The Great Gatsby. The setting is on Long Island and New York City in the early 1920’s shortly before the start of the great depression. This novel continually compares the fictional cities of East Egg and West Egg. These cities represent the two different sides of Long Island. The repeated comparison of the society and class distinction on the East side versus the West side of Long Island shows the difference that earning your wealth has on your morality compared to being born into it

When F. Scott Fitzgerald first came out as an author his works were not greatly appreciated as they are now. In the early twentieth century wealth, power, and status - otherwise known as the American Dream- were the goals of many. Fitzgerald used the American Dream as the backdrop for most of his works, and in doing so he illuminated the theme of self-deception. Most people in these times were not rich, powerful, or had high status so to deceive others and themselves they lied about who they were. Take his novel The Great Gatsby, the absence of anything real beneath masks of pretense and self-deception define the novel. Three of the main characters, Nick Carraway, Tom Buchanan, and Jay Gatsby, all demonstrate self-deception in one way or another. Even in Fitzgerald’s short stories self- deception is a reoccurring theme. Absolution shows a child protagonist, Rudolph Miller, who is inclined to habitually and instinctively lie just to look like the best version of him. In both of these works, Fitzgerald’s uses hypocrisy, narcissism, and delusions within his characters to demonstrate the three different forms of self-deception he believes are within humanity.

Fitzgerald was an inspired individual and had the remarkable ability to write in such a way that his written works are everlasting echoes of his own life. F. Scott Fitzgerald was a literary genius and his work; The Great Gatsby was not only a reflection of his own life, but an outlet for the ever-changing society of the 1920s. The Great Gatsby was influenced by the standards of this time period. The 1920s were an age of excess, characterized by opulence and false satisfaction. American society reached an apparent peak of wealth, and wealthy New Yorkers drowned among illegal alcohol and lavish goods. The important people in his life also impacted Fitzgerald, and characters in his novel could be compared with many people in his life, among