What Is The Literary Criticism Of The Great Gatsby

The 1920s in America, known as the "Roaring Twenties", was a time of celebration after a destructive war. It was a period of time in America characterised by prosperity and optimism. There was a general feeling of disruption associated with modernity and a break with traditions.The Roaring Twenties was a time of great economic prosperity and many people became rich and wealthy. Some people inherited "old money" and some obtained "new money". However, there was the other side of prosperity and many people also suffered the nightmare of being poor. In the novel,The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is portrayed as a wealthy character

“He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house, just out of reach of his hand.”(Fitzgerald). “The Great Gatsby” was a great literary piece that has conjured numerous meanings. Some might say that the meaning of the novel is focused on the consequences of obsessive love; Or it might be focused on a dark depiction of the world and maybe the novel defines something essential about American cultural values. However, I believe that the true denotation of “The Great Gatsby” is that our desire to recapture the past holds a deep allure, but this desire is both unachievable and self-destructive because of the actions and dreams that Gatsby had

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.

The “curtains” have human-like qualities, for they are making “whip and snap” sounds. Also, the “picture” has human-like qualities of “groan.” Fitzgerald adds these sounds to show the awkwardness setting in the Buchanan’s house. Just walking in the hallway of Tom Buchanan made Nick feel unease; it was so quiet that Nick can hear the cry of a picture and the lash of the curtain moving.

Life is often portrayed in a way that one lives it. Gatsby’s father praises him for being wealthy and successful, but he does not know the truth behind his wealth and how he earned it (Fitzgerald 168). As a parent, one is suppose to love their child no matter what. It is easy to love them when all you hear about is how successful they are, but not for what one thinks. It is not easy to trust someone who can not make up their mind about what they want to tell people. Gatsby easily gives himself away because he thinks of a lie, he is going to tell someone, but since he has it planned someone can easily catch him in the lie: ‘“I thought you inherited your money.” “I did, old sport,” he said automatically, “but lost most of it in the big panic-the panic of war.” I think he hardly knew what he was saying, for when I asked him what business he was in he answered, “That’s my affair”, before he

     Throughout the novel, Gatsby’s lies clarifies his personalities in positive and negative aspects. One he tries better off his style of living. The negative aspect is that lying is unfair and can cause various types of problems. Overall F. Scotts Fitzgerald indicates that Gatsby’s is a man searching for the best.

Dreams are a compelling force in people’s lives. They are what propel them forward each and every day in an effort to reach something better. The American Dream has been sought after by millions all over the world for hundreds of years. This country was founded on the belief that anyone could achieve their dreams. However, in the 1920s these hopes and aspirations began to splinter until they ultimately shattered. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism, setting, and theme to depict the unattainability of the American Dream.

Cultural Criticism is the beliefs and interpretation of cultures in the eyes of other people rather one is more dominant or the others are inferior to them. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” time period was divided up into social classes which were determined on a person’s will. The narrator Nick Caraway is a middle class man trying to make it in life financially, so he decided to move from the East Egg to the West Egg New York to get away from paying 3,000 to 4,000 dollars for renting a house. Cultural criticism explains a meaningful understanding which is shown in the novel with: social status, racism, beliefs, and ethnicity.

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.

“Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so,” once said Charles de Gaulle. This valiant quote by a former president of France accentuates my opinion of the Great Jay Gatsby. From humble beginnings rises our main focus of F. Scott Fitzgeralds’ The Great Gatsby. Young Jimmy Gatz is brought to West Egg from his heavily impoverished North Dakota family. His desire to be something greater than a farmer drove him to fortune and love through any means necessary; his life long obsession, Daisy Fay, infatuates Jay in his own insatiable thirst for her affection. James follows Daisy in the years after he is deployed to World War 1, and when he sees she has married Tom Buchanan he becomes hell-bent on replicating the success Tom has inherited in order to win over Daisy. Through moderately deceitful ways, Jay Gatsby builds his wealth and reputation to rival and even supersede many already lavish family names. Astonishingly, the great Mr. Gatsby, overrun with newfound affluence, stays true to his friends, lover, and his own ideals to his blissfully ignorant end.

The average human being lies everyday, at least twice if not more. In result, all these trivial or larger lies impact the life of others. In society, whether it is considered proper and friendly to lie or, if lying is a means to cover a truth which has more consequence, lying is an enormous part of the average person’s life. In correlation with lying is lack of selflessness present in the character of society. Everyone is fastidious about what they do and say to ensure that in the end the result benefits them and only them. Little is it realized that all these acts of selfishness, lies, and deceit destroy and dismantle people as well as society as a whole. In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby he emphasises this idea using four main characters:

Gatsby’s story, to many, is one of perseverance and determination at its finest. He devotes all his money and energy to the relatable dream of making life as fulfilling as possible. Gatsby is named “great” because of the desirable prosperity that he accumulates in a short time. Despite this material accomplishment, he should be condemned for turning into a criminal to actualize his dream. Secrets about his money are only revealed later in the book, horrifying readers who were kept in suspense about his past. “He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter” (Fitzgerald 133) is one example of confirmation that Gatsby was involved in illegal activities. He is an immoral man. There is an absence of discretion or guilt when Gatsby spends his unlawful earnings on lavish parties and a mansion. Clearly, he is not ashamed. Readers understand the statement

This shows how little Gatsby puts into his lies because he genuinely does not care. Even though he makes us Jay Gatsby, the novel says, “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people—his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all” and that is why he became Jay Gatsby. Since he actually believes in his heart he is Gatsby now, he really is not lying. When Tom discovers that Gatsby is a bootlegger Gatsby simply says, “What about it” (Fitzgerald 133) since he really does not care if his lies are believed. Nick basically just says, “I'm inclined to reserve all judgments” even though he seems to judge every character in the book (the book is one giant judgment), so he is a liar that cannot recognize his own lies- the worst kind (Fitzgerald 1). The rest of this society is terrible with their lies since they all are so good and ready to do it whenever. When Catherine says, “She’s a Catholic, and they don’t believe in divorce”, it is a total lie that symbolizes how the rest of this society lies about everything because they are so used to it (Fitzgerald 33). Women are not held to the same standard since “Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply” (Fitzgerald 58).

In the beginning of The Great Gatsby, the narrator Nick is critical of the upper class, but hopeful. Toward the end he is disappointed because he realizes how the lifestyle they live is unrealistic. During the novel, the upper class is disrespectful and full of themselves. When he gets to know the characters he notices how the upper class is so unfriendly and snotty. This easy and luxurious lifestyle that they are living is unattainable to everyone because nobody can get there. The American dream is described as making a ton of money and being snotty about it. In the novel, the hopeful and disgusted tones reflect Nick’s points of view on the unrealistic society and his points of view changes when he sees how greedy they all are

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is by far one of the most interesting yet congested books I have ever read. I feel as if the story is shifting as soon as I was able to tell what was happening. One idea that was constant was the themes, symbols and motifs used throughout. Love and the seduction of money, to me, were the most influential themes that I noticed in the book.