Great Gatsby Impressionist Essay

F. Scott Fitzgerald is largely recognized as the greatest of all the impressionist writers, with his most widely known book being The Great Gatsby, in which he uses a great deal of impressionistic technique to create and shape his view of America's economic boom in the 1920s. Fitzgerald addresses the great disparity between the rich and poor, highlighting the excessive and destructive tendencies of the upper class elite. This sentiment is reflected through his portrayal of Daisy, who is depicted early on as a pristine figure of virtue, before being revealed to be a self-absorbed and materialistic rich woman.

Initially in the book, Daisy is portrayed as being an ideal vision of sweetness and innocence. This idea is captured when Nick pays the Buchanan's a visit for the first time, and he sees her and Jordan on the couch in white dresses. The purity and cleanliness associated with the color white helps establish her innocent appearance to the reader. This innocence is given further credibility when Jordan speaks with Nick on Gatsby's behalf and tells him their history. She begins by describing Daisy as "by far the most popular of all the young girls in Louisville. She dressed in white, and had a little white roadster..." (74), creating an image that again highlights her purity and sweetness through the use of white and her innocence as the most popular girl in town.

This initial impression quickly falls by the wayside as Nick begins to see Daisy for what she truly is, finding cracks in her porcelain visage and recognizing the selfish and self-centered motives that drive her actions. He begins to see her as simply a materialistic naive girl with little thought for anyone past herself. Fitzgerald uses the transition between innocence and selfishness to create a contrast that illustrates how instead of being level-headed hardworking individual's, such as George Wilson, who simply have inherited or earned more success in their lives, the rich are arrogant and