The Great Gatsby The novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald takes place in a time where parties and relationships meant everything. Gatsby and Nick are very good friends, but there are some problems with their friendship. Gatsby is in love with Nick’s cousin Daisy, but she is married. Nick is not happy with his friends and is starting to become disgusted with them. Fitzgerald uses irony, imagery, and characterization to show Nick’s disgust towards his friends. Fitzgerald uses irony and characterization to show that Nick is happy with his friend Gatsby, but he wonders about Gatsby’s true job. Gatsby and Nick have not seen each other in a few days, but Nick is starting to become very curious about what is going on in the house. “It was when curiosity about Gatsby was at its highest that the lights failed to go on one Saturday night- and, as obscurely as it had begun, his career as Trimalchio was over. Only gradually did I become aware that the automobiles which turned expectanly into his drive stayed for just a minute and then drove sulkily away.” (113) This is ironic because Nick is paying very close attention to everything that is going on it Gatsby’s house. Nick even notices that the lights failed to go on one night. It also characterizes Nick as being very curious about Gatsby and what his job really is. Nick really does care for Gatsby, but he does not understand what Gatsby is really doing. Nick is not disgusted with Gatsby, but things will change.
When Gatsby reveals to about his relationship with Daisy, Nick’s relationship with Gatsby takes a full u-turn as it rapidly advances their association from simple acquaintances to close friends. Nick’s outlook of Gatsby undergoes a similar transformation. When Nick learns of the previous relationship between Gatsby and Daisy, Gatsby’s actions make sense to Nick. The mansion, the extravagant parties, and the green light were all in the efforts for making Daisy notice him. Gatsby lives his life for the past life that he lived. He spends his life seeking the attention of his love, Daisy, and as Nick explains, “He wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy. His life had been confused and disordered since then, but if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what that thing was…” (Fitzgerald 110). Gatsby sought out the American dream in order to win over the love of Daisy which creates a different perception of himself to Nick. Nick, now knowing Gatsby’s intentions worries about Gatsby’s possible rejection, and then warns him that, “[he] wouldn’t ask too much of her, you can’t repeat the past.” (Fitzgerald 110) But Gatsby, blinded by love, strives to win Nick’s married cousin’s heart. Nick perceives Gatsby as a man dwelling on the past
Fitzgerald uses Gatsby's parties and the way in which Nick views them to reveal that whilst Gatsby is surrounded by shallow and vulgar people, he is above this. Fitzgerald also uses these parties to expose Gatsby's isolation which leads us to feel sympathy toward Gatsby. Despite the amount of people at the party, Nick observes Gatsby's seclusion and loneliness, "my eyes fell to Gatsby, standing alone on the marble steps". This evokes a great deal of sympathy from us as although Nick describes Gatsby in a warm and friendly way, "It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life", we now can see that Gatsby is a lonely figure. This sympathy is accentuated when Nick is the only person to turn up to Gatsby's funeral, as we know that Gatsby is a decent and honourable character and thus our sympathies are emphasised by Gatsby's isolation. When Nick first meets Gatsby, he reveals Gatsby to be a fascinating character that we would like to know more about. The warm and assuring smile that Nick describes is in antithesis to the
In The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald has a running theme that excessive wealth and materialism will lead to carelessness, corruption, and destruction. Most of the characters in the book reflect this theme, like Tom and Daisy as they were careless to run away from their difficulties because they have the money and leave their mess for someone else to clean it up. However, some characters go against this theme, like Jay Gatsby. He came from a poor family, but grew to become a gentleman, and used that to lead another life, become rich, and one day would get the girl of his dreams. He uses that money on parties for the people and trying to get Daisy to go with him. Then there is someone else in real life that goes against this theme named Elon Musk. He found his money through the internet as he started his career founding companies, one of them being Paypal. He now uses this money to prolong humanities survival with companies such as SpaceX and Tesla Motorsports. The American Entrepreneur Elon Musk and Jay Gatsby goes against Scott Fitzgerald’s theme of excessive wealth and materialism will lead to carelessness, corruption, and destruction by using their money generously.
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).
“The past is never where you think you left it” (Katherine Anne Porter). People intentionally not willing to leave their past due to the prehistoric memories because the good memory they had. Relevant to Porter’s evince in the novel of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby a guy who cannot leave his past, constantly wanting to change everything back to the past with his former lover Daisy but never succeeds due to people’ desire of meliorate their lives. During this process the novel also reveals that there’s no distinction of careless between people in the 1920’s and the corruption of American Dream. Fitzgerald uses color symbolism to reveal the unfaithful condition of living and the loss of purity also the descended moral
The story of The Great Gatsby is a novel that consists of a historical American context during the Harlem Renaissance. This was an excellent novel published in the 1920’s and was considered one of the best novels of its time. The author F. Scott Fitzgerald was an incredibly talented poetic author. Fitzgerald was able to emphasize and create the mood of the generation in a political time. The novel The Great Gatsby is a remarkable novel but also a very sad one. The novel took place during an age or era known as the “Roaring Twenties” which was a time of American wealth. Politics and corruption at the time is possibly what made Gatsby to be the business man he was.
The Great Gatsby entails of a story of a bright young man, Nick Carraway, who moved to New York City in search of a successful life in the bonds business, but becomes suffocated by the lifestyles of those in wealth and power at the time. As Nick settles himself in a new job and new city, in the only cottage among mansions on West and East Egg, he finds himself neighbor to a mysterious, wealthy man known for his extravagant parties and elusive persona. This neighbor, Jay Gatsby, emerges to be one of the main characters of the novel and the only person in all of New York that Nick can call a friend. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, encompasses the hollowness of the upper class as well as the deterioration of the “American Dream” within the plotline of the lives of Nick, Gatsby, and the Buchanan’s. Because of the themes Fitzgerald created, it prompts people, such as Bruccoli, to make the claim “The Great Gatsby does not proclaim the nobility of the human spirit; it is not politically correct; it does not reveal how to solve the problems of life; it delivers no fashionable or comforting messages. It is just a masterpiece.” While the Great Gatsby is a masterpiece, Bruccoli correctly examines the text in revealing no nobility of the human spirit, no solutions to the problems of life, and it is politically incorrect. However, despite the dismal themes, Fitzgerald does deliver fashionable/comforting messages to the audience. Bruccoli’s claim brings to light the
The book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald has been read in schools for decades. The experience is different for everyone. Some may love this book while others just purely hate it. I have to say I am in between loving and hating this book. I do like the look into the lives of the rich of the 1920s and I did enjoy the overall story. However the cheating I wasn’t fond of. I do understand that is what happens with the rich so I do enjoy the fact that it historically accurate. Another topic that I will touch upon is the drunkenness and reckless driving portrayed, quite accurately, for this time period.
This final section of the paper will discuss the relationship between Gatsby and Nick. More specifically, this section will discuss Nick’s personal bias towards a man whose actions throughout the novel are questionable. As previously discussed, Nick is instantly drawn towards the man who would be named Gatsby. Nick is drawn in by Gatsby’s smile, judging him positively. Past the introductions between the two men, Nick learns more and more about Gatsby. Nick gathers information of Gatsby difficult past, and learns that the purpose of his personal success and wealth was to attract the woman who he loved. Gatsby and Daisy could not be together despite their love for each other simply because of class differences. Daisy was born into a life of advantage, whereas Gatsby had to struggle to find success. Although Gatsby’s pursuit of success as a means to win Daisy’s love is admirable, it does not excuse him from his injustices. As the novel progresses, Nick gathers more information regarding the life of Gatsby. Although aspects of Gatsby’s life are considered questionable, Nick remains ignorant and biased towards his character. The affair between Gatsby and Daisy is an basic example of Gatsby’s flawed character. As previously discussed, Gatsby pursued an affair with Daisy. In the mind of Nick, this affair between Gatsby and Daisy was judged as attractive, unlike other affairs. Although Tom was also having an affair with Myrtle, that does not justify the affair between Gatsby and
The Great Gatsby”, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays a world filled with rich societal activities, love affairs, and dishonesty. Nick Carraway is the busy narrator of the book, a curious choice considering that he is in a different class and almost in a different world than Gatsby and the other characters. Nick relates the plot of the story to the reader as a part of Gatsby’s circle. He has hesitant feelings towards Gatsby, despising his personality and corrupted dream but feeling drawn to Gatsby’s wonderful ability to hope. Using Nick as an honorable guide, Fitzgerald attempts to guide readers on a journey through the novel to show the corruption and failure of the American Dream. To achieve
The Great Gatsby, a novel set in the city of New York during the 1920’s, regards the novel’s pivotal character, Jay Gatsby, trying to win back the love of his dreams, Daisy Buchanan, back while wrestling unattainable social status, distorted societal values, and all of this amid a hopeful heart. This time period, called The Roaring Twenties, encompasses all of what Gatsby goes through in his journey of trying to live “The American Dream”. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the false values of society are brought out through underlying life lessons throughout the novel’s main character, Jay Gatsby’s, life.
Nick lives next to Gatsby in an old workers cabin, which helps enforce Nicks personality of being a quiet, reflective, take it all in kind of person, because instead of living in an extravagant mansion such as Gatsby’s he prefers the quiet life. Nick is a great narrator to the story, because he has a mellow temperament, unlike the other characters his moods don't shift quickly, and he generally keeps a neutral status when other characters become angry, sad etc. As the story continues Fitzgerald shifts from being associated with Gatsby to more being associated with Nick, because Nick has an inner conflict between living the fast-paced fun-driven life of New York versus how that lifestyle of New York is grotesque and damaging. Then in the end Nick finally makes his choice to move back to his hometown after Gatsby’s funeral he fully realizes that all the people who said they were Gatsby’s friend really were just shallow shells of a person because no one showed up except reported for the news papers. Nick is Gatsby’s only true friend in the book because he doesn't care about Gatsby’s money, Nick truly wants to help Gatsby achieve his
In the book, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby is exemplified through many symbols and idols. Fitzgerald uses cars to represent wealth, success, status, and glamour. As Friedrich Nietzsche states, “There are more idols in the world than there are realities.” Nietzsche’s quote shows how idols and symbols are used to create impressions. Images are powerful and set a stage for others to judge one’s character, enabling human beings to avoid seeing what realities are. Idols are potent enough to mask the truth. In the novel, despite Gatsby 's own insecurities, he is viewed as an idol in society. Idols impact and influence Gatsby’s life and those living around him. Gatsby’s car represents an idol, illustrating his wealth, capturing attention, creating impressions, and covering misconceptions throughout life in the West Egg.
After World War I, America offered the potential for boundless financial and social opportunities for those willing to work hard—an American Dream. The American Dream is defined as someone starting low on the economic or social level, and working hard towards prosperity and or wealth and fame. Establishing fame, becoming wealthy, having lavish luxuries, and a happy family would come to symbolize this dream. For some, however, striving for and realizing that dream ruined them, as many acquired wealth only to pursue pleasure. Even though the characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby appear to relish the freedom of the 1920s, their lives demonstrate the emptiness that results when wealth and pleasure become ends in themselves. Specifically, the empty lives of three characters from this novel— George Wilson, Jay Gatsby, and Daisy Buchanan—show that chasing hollow dreams results only in misery.
“The Great Gatsby” and “Washington Square” are both novels that greatly depicted their time period and how society viewed men and women. “The Great Gatsby” is about a young man named Gatsby who tries to reignite an old relationship with his new found wealth. Gatsby essentially dedicates his entire life to get Daisy back while she has long moved on. “Washington Square” is about a young girl named Catherine who tries to find love with a man named Morris, but has to deal with the strict control of her father. Catherine’s aunt, Lavinia Penniman, was meddlesome in Catherine’s life which also greatly ruined Catherine’s and Morris’ relationship. These books focus on image, illusions and relationships. I will be focusing on various relationships in both novels.