Imagery In The Great Gatsby
Throughout his novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald continuously reiterates his belief that what we view as “The American Dream” is dead, and has been corrupted by wealth, rather than standing for its original ideals of freedom and equality. Fitzgerald brings this nightmarish world of reality to life using imagery, diction, and symbolism in order to prove to his audience that what was once perceived as an attainable goal, is held just out of grasp by the people that did not have to fight to reach it. Fitzgerald uses imagery while referring to Gatsby’s dock to help the reader visualize the sadness and despair that engulfed the five years of Gatsby’s life spent gazing across the waters that separated him from Daisy. In Gatsby’s reality,
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Gatsby gave his whole life to a dream that was “already behind him”, or never actually reachable in the first place. By including the description of the “dark fields” the reader feels the despair in the end of Gatsby’s life, and the death of his dream. By including the reader in his reflection, Nick explains how the death of the “American Dream” impacted not only the life of Gatsby, the the lives of all the people that believe in it. Gatsby’s dream is ruined by the unworthiness of its object, Daisy, just as the American dream in the 1920s is ruined by the unworthiness of its object—money and pleasure. Like 1920s Americans in general, who searched in vain for an era in which their dreams had value, Gatsby longed to recreate a time long ago, where his dream could have come true. A large part of Fitzgerald’s writing is the way that he makes the reader feel about what he has written. Over the course of his novel, Fitzgerald uses diction to allow his audience to sense the tone that he wishes to convey. Fitzgerald also uses diction to emphasize his argument, so that the reader understands his point of view. At the end of the novel, when Nick meets Tom on the street, Nick reflects on the time that he spent with Tom and Daisy, and how they contributed to the fall of Gatsby. Nick states
Gatsby gave his whole life to a dream that was “already behind him”, or never actually reachable in the first place. By including the description of the “dark fields” the reader feels the despair in the end of Gatsby’s life, and the death of his dream. By including the reader in his reflection, Nick explains how the death of the “American Dream” impacted not only the life of Gatsby, the the lives of all the people that believe in it. Gatsby’s dream is ruined by the unworthiness of its object, Daisy, just as the American dream in the 1920s is ruined by the unworthiness of its object—money and pleasure. Like 1920s Americans in general, who searched in vain for an era in which their dreams had value, Gatsby longed to recreate a time long ago, where his dream could have come true. A large part of Fitzgerald’s writing is the way that he makes the reader feel about what he has written. Over the course of his novel, Fitzgerald uses diction to allow his audience to sense the tone that he wishes to convey. Fitzgerald also uses diction to emphasize his argument, so that the reader understands his point of view. At the end of the novel, when Nick meets Tom on the street, Nick reflects on the time that he spent with Tom and Daisy, and how they contributed to the fall of Gatsby. Nick states