The Great Gatsby Quote Analysis

The great Gatsby

Nick Carraway starts off the book by telling the advice of his father. “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. ‘Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantage that you’ve had’”. (Fitzgerald, pg. 7). In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, Fitzgerald creates an artificial world where all the characters sole purpose in life is money, wealth and power. The corruption of the American dream is through materialism freedom, equal opportunities, and the chance everyone to succeed by the ambition in their hearts. The American dream became a mindset in all who set
foot in the country of possibility. Feminism was also a big part of The Great Gatsby and Fitzgerald draws attention to the irrational nature of women and the effect it had on their lives during the 1920’s and it shows three different ladies and their different roles in society. In The Great Gatsby everyone wants to be rich and want to party.

Firstly, every person’s purpose in life in The Great Gatsby is to be rich and powerful and all the rich powerful people are an example of how they misuse their power and take advantage of being rich. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald shows that people of East Egg as careless rich people. Tom and Daisy are big examples of that. Daisy killing Myrtle Wilson is an example of Daisy’s recklessness. Daisy sees Myrtle run onto the road and at first Daisy turned away from the women and towards the other cars but then changes her mind and turns back and hits Myrtle. Instead of stopping she continues to drive away which shows exactly how careless Daisy is. “Anyhow- Daisy stepped on it. I tried to make her stop, but she couldn’t, so I pulled on the emergency brake.” (Fitzgerald, pg. 137). This shows that Daisy didn’t stop to see if the woman was ok and this shows how careless she is. Another place where they show how careless Daisy and Tom is after Gatsby dies. After the incident Tom and Daisy just pack up and leave without even attending Gatsby’s funeral. “The were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…” (Fitzgerald, pg. 170) This quote shows supports the way that Daisy and Tom acted with the Myrtle incident and this quote shows Daisy and Toms carelessness and how they retreat back into their money and carelessness by running away.

Tom and Daisy’s relationship also reveals their carelessness.
Tom sees himself as the best and sees himself as superior to everyone and especially Daisy, which is why he goes around and shows off his relationship with Myrtle. Daisy does the same with Gatsby. The way Tom treats Myrtle is worse than the way he treats Daisy. “Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.” (Fitzgerald, pg. 39) This quote shows that Tom didn’t really care about Myrtle and Myrtle didn’t care about that because she was mainly only with Tom because he was rich and wanted an escape from poverty. In a way both Tom and Myrtle were only using each other and didn’t love each other. Daisy has power over everyone. She is married to a rich guy, Tom, and lives in the East Egg and is considered ‘old money’. She even has power over Gatsby. Gatsby is still in love with Daisy even after 5 years, where Daisy has already married a rich guy. Daisy didn’t care much about Gatsby. “Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily. ‘They’re such beautiful shirts,’ she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. ‘It makes me sad because I’ve never seen- such beautiful shirts before.’” (Fitzgerald, pg. 89) The quote proves that Daisy is very materialistic. She is more impressed with Gatsby’s things then him. This also shows why Daisy didn’t even go to Gatsby’s funeral. She didn’t care about Gatsby. Tom and Daisy didn’t care much about their
relationship because they were both cheating on each other. This shows that because Tom and Daisy are rich and powerful their misuse their power and get away with everything and they take advantage of their power and see themselves as superior to everyone and they can think they can buy everything with money just like Tom bought Myrtle and mistreated her.

Secondly, the American Dream was a big part of The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is der in the 1920’s when the newly found American Dream was being strived for the idea that if a person worked hard they would be rewarded no matter what their surname was or how they were before. Most of the people in The Great Gatsby are full of hope and want to live their American Dream. In chapter 9 we see that Fitzgerald saw the American Dream was originally about discovery, individualism and the pursuit of happiness. The Great Gatsby shows that the American Dream is unachievable. The idea is that if you work hard enough you can get everything you want but then the truth is that every time you get something you wanted there would be something you want and you will still be unhappy. This goes on and on so you can never have everything. Gatsby is the epitome of the American Dream and Gatsby starts from nothing but then he works hard and gets everything. He becomes rich and famous and powerful. His American Dream was first to become rich and then when he becomes rich he still isn’t happy and he wants Daisy back. If he got Daisy there will always be something else that he wants. Fitzgerald shows that none of his characters were ever fully satisfies with what they had and always wanted something more.

One literary device Fitzgerald uses to depict the American Dream is motif and one motif is the locations or setting, which is represented by East or West Egg. West Egg is where the new rich people live. Those are entrepreneurs or people who do something illegal or by bonds. Those people are shown as gaudy, show offs and socially awkward. Those people don’t know what to do with their newly earned money so they try to copy what they think rich people do. This is the result of materialism by pursuing the American Dream. Then there is the East Egg and the citizens of East Egg are people who have “old money” meaning that their money has been passed down generations. Even though those people look like they have class, dignity, and manners but they are no better in their excesses. Tom and Daisy are both cheating on each other. They both like other people. Daisy killed a woman and let someone else take the blame for it instead of admitting that it was she. Jordan Baker is a cheat and is a very nosy person. Also many other East Eggers go to Gatsby’s parties with their mistresses. This shows that the result of the American Dream, which is wealth, causes destruction.

Another example of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby is the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock in East Egg.
Getting Daisy was Gatsby’s American Dream. When Gatsby was poor Daisy could not marry him so he had to work hard to achieve his dream. He built himself from nothing and made a lot of money in a short time. It was of course through illegal work but no one seems to care that much about that. He surrounded himself with money and material possessions, which he thought would help him get Daisy back in his life and will make Daisy love him. “He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know it was beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.” (Fitzgerald, pg. 171) But Gatsby’s dream dies. He was so close to getting Daisy but he couldn’t get her to be with him even with his huge mansion and wealth. Gatsby wants to recreate his past with Daisy in Louisville but he’s incapable of that and when his dream crumbles all there is left for Gatsby to do is to die. This shows that money cannot buy
love.

Lastly, Fitzgerald draws attention to the irrational nature of women and the effect it had on their lives in the 1920s. The women in The Great Gatsby are shown irresponsible and are shown to think with their hearts instead of their head. Jordan is shown as an independent women and she enjoys her freedom. She plays sport such as golf. Jordan resists social pressure to become a ‘women’. She drives and drinks alcohol and attends Gatsby’s parties. She is shown as very independent women and was unmarried a professional golf player and is very independent and is shown quiet masculine. “Jordan Baker instinctively avoided clever, shrewd men, and now I saw that this was because she felt safer on a plane where any divergence from a code would be thought impossible. She was incurably dishonest. She wasn’t able to endure being at a disadvantage and, given this unwillingness, I suppose she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was very young in order to keep that cool, insolent smile turned to the world and yet satisfy the demands of her hard, jaunty body.” (Fitzgerald, Pg. 58) This shows that Jordan Baker was somewhat like men. She hated being at a disadvantage. Fitzgerald blends the strong individualistic women of the 20’s with her feminine counterpart through the character of Jordan Baker. When Daisy’s daughter was born, Daisy tells Nick that she wept when she found out that it was a girl. “I’m glad it a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool- that’s the best a girl can be in this world.” (Fitzgerald, pg. 22) This shows what Daisy thought about women and what she thought about a women’s role was in that society. Daisy is shown as the opposite of Jordan Baker. Daisy needs a man as shown and even though she is pretty intelligent she tries to act like she’s not because she thinks that’s what a women should be like. Daisy is very beautiful and vulnerable but also very materialistic. Tom Buchanan is shown to be very controlling and that’s how men were in the 20’s. Tom Buchanan slaps women to get what he wants. He thinks its ok for him to see other women but when he finds out about Daisy and Gatsby he gets mad. When Daisy doesn’t declare her love for, Tom realizes that he’s still control and he feels so in control that he lets Daisy drive home alone with Gatsby. Daisy and Tom are both like how the society expects women to be but Jordan is very different and resists social pressure. In conclusion, The Great Gatsby shows that everyone thinks money is power and everyone wants to be rich. Fitzgerald shows that not everyone gets their American Dream and the people that do get it aren’t still ever satisfied because after they get one thing they wan the next. Lastly Tom and Daisy Buchanan were exactly how women should be like in the 20’s. Daisy was beautiful and vulnerable and was very depended on her husband Tom and men. Tom was a very physically built and intimidating man. He was very controlling and could hit women to get what he wants. He thought it was ok for him to cheat but was outraged when he found out about Gatsby and Daisy. Jordan Baker was very different from what women should be like. She was outgoing and independent and was very manly in some ways. She didn’t need a husband or family. The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Fitzgerald was about Love, The American Dream, power, and wealth.

Bibliography

Fitzgerald, F. Scott, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print.