In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s magnum opus, The Great Gatsby, the theme of the attractive masks of unpleasant realities is present in the first chapter. Nick Carraway, the persona of this great American novel, introduces his relative Daisy Buchanan and her husband Tom in this chapter as people everyone would desire to be as the two are not only wealthy but aristocratic (Fitzgerald 9-11). Despite seeming to lead completely flawless lives due to how privileged they are, Daisy and Tom really do not, for their marriage is in name only. This is so because, like many women from old money families, she married Tom since he is her equal financially and socially, not because they are in love with each other. Daisy’s constant need to maintain her lavish lifestyle is what forces her to stay with Tom even though he is not exactly the man he appears to be as he is neither a committed husband nor father in actuality.…
One of the most conspicuous aspects of foreshadowing is Fitzgerald’s motif to driving and car accidents throughout the novel to foreshadow Myrtle’s death. For instance, in chapter two, Nick mentions that halfway between New York and West Egg lies the Valley of Ashes, a desolate area of land, filled with ashes and rising smoke moving dimly in the already crumbling air (27). Evidently, Fitzgerald describes the Valley of Ashes as a place known for its lifeless, grey, and empty nature, including many words that remind the reader of death. People often associate ashes with death, so the Valley of Ashes must represent Myrtle’s demise. Another example occurs when Owl Eyes’ car is struggling to get out of a ditch in chapter three and Nick questions…
In the story her voice was a symbol of her personality, when the narrator describes her of having a “voice full of money”. Unfortunately, her love of money drove her to finally decide in marrying Tom, again focusing on money and building a superficial relationship. On the outside, Daisy is fresh and pure just like the flower she is named after. However, in reality she is just like money in that she promises more than she gives. Thanks to her ambition, carelessness was very present in her person. Money drove her crazy; taking her to live an unhappy life because of it. By returning with Tom, and by not assisting to Gatsby’s funeral it clearly shows the lack of feelings she has and a person that is…
In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the allusion of Midas, JP Morgan, and Maecenas to reveal Nick's attitude towards money; making money is an important part of Nick's life. The allusion is significant because all the men the author uses were wealthy in different time periods. The author does not literally mean that Nick will find the secrets these men knew, but more about how to make money. This gives insight on Nick's character, that he must work hard to become wealthy, unlike the Buchanans, by buying books about banking and…
In the specified passages on page 104 and pages 117 and 118, Fitzgerald utilizes diction in order to enhance Gatsby’s incarnation. The purposes of these passages is in telling of Gatsby’s dreams and ambitions, while displaying Gatsby’s inability to make the right decision regarding his dreams. The first passage on page 104 sets the background of Gatsby’s life, giving reason behind his desires for wealth and success. “[Gatsby’s] parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people…” and therefore “invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end.” However Fitzgerald’s purpose of the passage on pages 117 and 118 exemplifies Gatsby’s failure to make…
More examples of these literary elements arose in the private conversation between Daisy and Nick after the dinner party because Luhrmann inserts the quote “all the bright precious things in this world fade so fast, and they don’t come back.” While Daisy utters these words, the camera moves to the blinking green light and to Gatsby’s dock where Gatsby stares at the light. This excellent three-in-one scene clearly shows the green light, Gatsby on his dock, and the theme that time does not stop. The quote ties these aspects together since the blinking light symbolizes the American dream and Gatsby’s dream; the light continually fades and reappears while Gatsby looks out at it. In addition, the quote foreshadows the eventual death of Gatsby and…
Gatsby himself is the best example of the perverted new American dream. Gatsby gets his money through bootlegging. He does whatever he can to get rich and what got him rich was illegal and immoral activities. “You’re one of the bunch that hangs around with Meyer Wolfshiem- that much I happen to know. I’ve mad a little investigation into your affairs and carry it further tomorrow” (Pg. 104). This quote shows Tom accusing Gatsby of being a bootlegger. Gatsby gets rich just to get Daisy. The satire shown is that no matter how much money Gatsby has he is never happy and all he needs is Daisy but Daisy will not like him unless he is rich. This shows how the only thing Americans care about is money and how the American dream is no longer. Myrtle…
"Stoddard, T. Lothrop." Encyclopedia of Race and Racism. Ed. John Hartwell Moore. Vol. 3. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 100-101. 24 Nov, 2010-11-25.…
Daisy has beautiful appearance and charming voice. “she was the first ‘nice’ girl he had ever known” (141). As a young debutante in Louisville, Daisy is extremely popular among the military officers. “It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down, as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again” (14). Daisy’s voice is overwhelming to every man and it’s like true promises.To Gatsby, Daisy’s voice speaks of wealth (115). Daisy’s…
In my first essay, I wrote a rhetorical analysis The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This essay was created to interpret that the American Dream can never truly be achieved no matter what you may have or do. While writing this essay I choose this novel because not only have I read the piece, but I found it interesting enough to analysis especially when it came to the American Dream concept. While writing this piece I took a risk and wrote on a whole novel instead of a smaller piece which would have been a greater opinion. The reason I choose this was not only because I loved the book, but I wanted to see how I would have done analysis this novel and testing my writing skills. In this essay, I took on the challenge and while I believed…
The Great Gatsby is a novel that depicts Jay Gatsby chasing his American Dream. Although Gatsby did it by illegal means, Fitzgerald honors Gatsby for the effort he put forth in trying to achieve his American Dream of winning Daisy back. With the use of symbolism, syntax to create a respectful tone towards Gatsby, and a mood of honor, Fitzgerald admires Gatsby for chasing an unattainable American Dream and almost succeeding.…
Harper Lee uses ___figurative language_____________________ (imagery, figurative language, simile, metaphor, etc) to intensify the mood of terror and suspense as Jem trespassed on the Radley property.…
In “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, he uses symbolism in such detailed way. Fitzgerald integrates symbolism into the book so well that it is necessary to read it several times to fully understand it. Maureen Corrigan quotes “Many of us first read it when we were too young to fully comprehend its power.” Even a critic on the book itself had to read the story many times to fully understand all that the book has to offer. Fitzgerald focuses on three main themes in “The Great Gatsby” they are time, loss of appearance, and perspective. Most of the book’s structure is in one of these categories. In order to fully understand the book, we must better understand these three themes.…
In the mid 1920's, the American author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, wrote The Great Gatsby. It was not out of the blue to use words to describe African American people that nowadays would be taken offensively and people would get hostile about. Mainly the whole purpose of using such these harmful and abusive words were to classify African Americans as objects, and not as human beings. When Nick describes the "two Bucks" and a Negro girl passing them in a horse-drawn carriage with a white chauffeur he thinks to himself "Anything can happen now that we've slid over this bridgeŠanything at allŠ" This shows how people in Fitzgerald's time reacted to free black families.…
Symbolism is a figure of speech that is used when an author wants to create a certain emotion in his literal work. It usually is an object, person, and situation to refer a bigger picture and idea other than just an object.…
