Great Gatsby Critical Analysis
GaJohnstone 1
Stephanie J
26 April 2011
Biographical Analysis of The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life is correctly portrayed in The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald’s life is portrayed through the characters, events, and dreams. The characters in The Great Gatsby reflect good or bad qualities of either Fitzgerald himself or people that were in his life. Also, in the book, there are some events that occurred in Fitzgerald’s life, again some good some, bad. One more way Fitzgerald’s life is portrayed in the book is through the dreams of the characters. In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald is portrayed mostly through Jay Gatsby, but also in other characters. His wife Zelda Sayre was portrayed through Daisy. Not all of the things that represent Fitzgerald are things he did directly but things he wanted to do but could not. For example, Fitzgerald was supposed to be in the war, but it ended before he was sent, so Fitzgerald made Gatsby the war hero that he could not be. Fitzgerald was an alcoholic; he knew it was a negative thing in his life so in book Gatsby did not drink, though he did like throwing parties which Fitzgerald enjoyed as well (The Great American Dreamer) (Merriman). For different reasons, neither Gatsby nor Fitzgerald finished college (The Great American Dreamer) (Fitzgerald 136). While Gatsby and Fitzgerald do have a lot in common, Gatsby is not the only example of people in Fitzgerald life in his book. Tom Buchannan was described in the book to
Johnstone 2 have a “cruel body” (Fitzgerald 11). This is a negative thing along with being an all star football player and that being the highlight of his life because those are things Fitzgerald could not have (Fitzgerald 10). Fitzgerald was not a big built guy and when he tried out for his college football team he was cut the first day of practice because he wasn’t big enough to play football (The Great American Dreamer). One last character that represents Fitzgerald is Nick Carraway. Both Fitzgerald and
Stephanie J
26 April 2011
Biographical Analysis of The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life is correctly portrayed in The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald’s life is portrayed through the characters, events, and dreams. The characters in The Great Gatsby reflect good or bad qualities of either Fitzgerald himself or people that were in his life. Also, in the book, there are some events that occurred in Fitzgerald’s life, again some good some, bad. One more way Fitzgerald’s life is portrayed in the book is through the dreams of the characters. In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald is portrayed mostly through Jay Gatsby, but also in other characters. His wife Zelda Sayre was portrayed through Daisy. Not all of the things that represent Fitzgerald are things he did directly but things he wanted to do but could not. For example, Fitzgerald was supposed to be in the war, but it ended before he was sent, so Fitzgerald made Gatsby the war hero that he could not be. Fitzgerald was an alcoholic; he knew it was a negative thing in his life so in book Gatsby did not drink, though he did like throwing parties which Fitzgerald enjoyed as well (The Great American Dreamer) (Merriman). For different reasons, neither Gatsby nor Fitzgerald finished college (The Great American Dreamer) (Fitzgerald 136). While Gatsby and Fitzgerald do have a lot in common, Gatsby is not the only example of people in Fitzgerald life in his book. Tom Buchannan was described in the book to
Johnstone 2 have a “cruel body” (Fitzgerald 11). This is a negative thing along with being an all star football player and that being the highlight of his life because those are things Fitzgerald could not have (Fitzgerald 10). Fitzgerald was not a big built guy and when he tried out for his college football team he was cut the first day of practice because he wasn’t big enough to play football (The Great American Dreamer). One last character that represents Fitzgerald is Nick Carraway. Both Fitzgerald and