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The Great Gatsby Climax

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The most captivating books give us the urge to read the ending first; our desire to finish the book as soon as possible and our journey to the end makes a book memorable. T.Melos once said "Every work of literature leads up to one great moment of insight, one instant in which the truth stands revealed". In other words, any written work has a point when the secrets are revealed and the path towards resolution is paved. The climax is the most intense and revealing point in a plot; as evidenced in "The Great Gatsby" a classic American novel. In the novella “The Great Gatsby” by F.Scott Fitzgerald, literary devices are used to develop the conflict in the novel, leading up to a dramatic yet tragic climax. In the beginning of the story, we are …show more content…

The main character, Gatsby, is in love with Daisy Buchanan, a southern socialite who married Tom Buchanan for his wealth and status. However, Daisy is in love with Gatsby but will not leave him because his wealth and status in nowhere near Tom's. Furthermore, Tom doesn't really love Daisy and is having an affair with Myrtle Wilson. At first glance, the reader might think that the climax of the story is when Myrtle dies. She died as a result of a car crash "her life violently extinguished, knelt in the road and mingled her thick dark blood with dust" (Fitzgerald 335). Fitzgerald's description of her death is similar to a candle being snuffed; the characterization of the word "extinguished" represents Myrtle's death as swift and instantaneous. As a result of Myrtle's death, Tom's mistress is no longer a conflict between Daisy and Tom. However, Daisy still faces the choice of choosing Gatsby, her true love or staying with Tom. This conflict is resolved when Gatsby dies at the hands of George Wilson. Gatsby was going for a swim in his pool and a few minutes later his "chauffeur heard the shots", the shots that ended Gatsby's life (Fitzgerald 398). The lack of details about Gatsby's death correlates with Gatsby's mysterious wealth and past. In addition, irony that Gatsby died in the hands of a Wilson, when Gatsby killed his wife and Gatsby's arrival stirred up problems and his death solves

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