The Great Gatsby and the Valley of Ashes
Many times we hear of society's affect on people; society influencing the way people think and act. Hardly mentioned is the reverse: peoples' actions and lifestyles affecting society as a whole and how it is characterized. Thus, society is a reflection of its inhabitants and in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it is a wasteland described as the "valley of ashes." Since the characters of this novel make up this wasteland, aren't they the waste? Symbolically, this waste represents the lack of ethics of the 1920's society and civilization's decay. In The Great Gatsby, morals deficiencies such as a lack of God, selfishness, and idleness are reflective of a society as doomed as
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Eckleburg. He is unable to distinguish God from false idols. Perhaps the society is so far astray from God that they no longer can rectify their immoral ways. After all, the wasteland is like hell, and there's no turning back.
Selfishness is a vice that contributes to New York's image as "a valley of ashes." This egocentrism is commonplace in the characters of The Great Gatsby and gives the impression of a society where people have adopted the "me first" rationale and a carelessness for altruism. Gatsby's relationship with Nick first started out that way. Gatsby became friends with Nick so that "he could 'come over' some afternoon to [Nick's] garden" (83) and catch a glimpse of Daisy whom he had waited five years for. Gatsby was using Nick to see her. His friendship with Nick became secondary to his passion for Daisy. Had Gatsby not loved her, he would have never been a friend with Nick because he would not have someone to use. This selfish behavior is also present in Klipspringer, Gatsby's houseguest, when he replies to Nick with uncertainty about his presence at Gatsby's funeral, "Well, I'll try. I'm staying with some people in Greenwich and there's a picnic or something. What I called up about was a pair of shoes I left [at Gatsby's house]" (177). Klipspringer takes Gatsby's death with such levity, implying that the funeral is on the same plane of insignificance
In the book “The Great Gatsby” there is many things that people say made Gatsby a great or a not so much of a great person. Gatsby was a great man because he became someone with almost everything anybody could and would want but grew up from with nothing, He made all this money from working jobs that were not so great and people envied him for it even though they did not know what he did, and he was just a very mysterious and many people found that very intriguing about him. person For people that didn’t know who he was when he was younger, they all expect him to be old money and get the money from his parents, but as we learn he made his money by working, good or bad jobs he still made money and he was successful and he was proud of it.
According to Aristotle, a tragic hero character can be defined to be of noble status, but not necessarily virtuous. There is some aspect of his personality that he has in great abundance but it is this that becomes his tragic flaw and leads to his ultimate demise. However, his tragic ending should not simply sadden the reader, but teach him or her a life lesson. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is the tragic hero who portrays the corruption of the American dream through his tragic flaw. His devastating death at the end of the novel portrays the dangers of centering one’s life on money and other materialistic things and warns the reader not to follow his foolish steps. Jay Gatsby is the epitome of a tragic hero; his
Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby and Elliot’s The Wasteland are two stories that similarly express the modernist post-war disillusionment. Both stories comment pessimistically on the direction that our world is moving in from the post-war modernist perspective. Both men looked past the roaring twenties, and realized that this time period was actually a moral wasteland. The final paragraphs of The Great Gatsby sum up their mutual lack of faith in American culture to improve.
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.
“Is Tom most responsible for Gatsby’s death? Daisy? Myrtle? Gatsby himself? Give reasons why or why not each character is implicated in the murder.”
Throughout F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, location is a critical motif. The contrasts between East and West, East Egg and West Egg, and the two Eggs and New York serve important thematic roles and provide the backdrops for the main conflict. Yet, there needs to be a middle ground between each of these sites, a buffer zone, as it were; there is the great distance that separates East from West; there is the bay that separates East Egg from West Egg; and, there is the Valley of Ashes that separates Long Island from New York. The last of these is probably the most striking. Yet, the traditional literal interpretation does not serve Fitzgerald's theme as well as a more
When Cody died, he left the boy, now Jay Gatsby, a legacy of $25,000. Unfortunately
The story The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald takes you through the life of the protagonist of the novel, Jay Gatsby, who is shot to death in the end. Who was really the reason for Gatsby’s death? There are many of reasons that lead up to Gatsby’s death and several people who are considered to have caused it. Although George Wilson physically killed him, Tom Buchanan, Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby himself all take part in the death. Tom’s anger, Daisy’s carelessness, and Gatsby’s idea of the American Dream all contribute to his death in the end.
Themes of hope, success, and wealth overpower The Great Gatsby, leaving the reader with a new way to look at the roaring twenties, showing that not everything was good in this era. F. Scott Fitzgerald creates the characters in this book to live and recreate past memories and relationships. This was evident with Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship, Tom and Daisy’s struggling marriage, and Gatsby expecting so much of Daisy and wanting her to be the person she once was. The theme of this novel is to acknowledge the past, but do not recreate and live in the past because then you will not be living in the present, taking advantage of new opportunities.
Today was like any other Sunday I had before, except this time it was different in a way that I thought I would never experience. Today, Daisy, the love of my life, had came to my garden party. She was not alone though, she was with Tom. At first I didn't care, passed right over my head, for she is all I care about and by being in her presents I am utterly fulfilled. But it was as if like a cloud had been cased over the party. Tom was producing a negative energy which did not sit well with the rest of the party. I could even tell my old friend, Nick, was feeling quite uncomfortable with the atmosphere. All I wanted to do was ask him to leave but not with Daisy. He could leave her behind and oh! if that happened I would be satisfied with everything. I would have asked all the
The Great Gatsby As A Tragedy A hurried read of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby can generate a tragic impression. The deaths of three of the main characters and the failure of Gatsby and Daisy's romance can be viewed as tragic. However, a deeper analysis of the book reveals a much deeper tragedy.
Last night was all a blur. It was definitely one of the most memorable night of my life. Everyone was all done up in expensive and ornate clothing. I felt so plain in my simple party dress. I silently drifted through the crowd choosing to observe the crowd rather than joining in on their festivities. After all, the only way I was able to obtain an invitation was through work. You see, my boss wanted me to write an article on Gatsby’s party. I was refused at first but my boss knows some things about me that I do not under any circumstances want exposed.
The novel The Great Gatsby is a story that takes place in the 1920’s. The story
Imagine a world where one side of the equator was filled with wealth, happiness, and content. Now imagine the other side of the equator filled with poverty, sadness, and death. These two completely opposing halves enhance each other's descriptions and make one think of each side more deeply about the concept. This same scenario is also present in one of America’s favorite novels based upon the 1920s and the American dream. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald juxtaposes two contrasting places, the Valley of Ashes and New York City, using imagery to magnify the difference between reality and a fantasy, which is central to the meaning of the work.
Time remains a universal continuation of the past into the present and bears a strong hold on the future. The destruction of satisfaction in history withholds the contentment of the future with an impeding sense of unalterable guilt. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates “the past is forever in the present” through numerous literary and narrative techniques, suggesting that memories serve as crucial components in the development of individuals.