The Great Gatsby Void City Quotes

The Void City

In The Great Gatsby, written by Scott Fitzgerald, the overarching themes of the text can be analyzed by Fitzgerald’s use of grammatical structure, diction, and figurative language to establish his argument that the city’s mysterious and beautiful allure is all superficial and that humans would rather value extreme pursuits of materialism rather than real human experiences. Most notably, Fitzgerald argues that society values material objects and that axiologically, humans intrinsically value wealth or societal status. Fitzgerald further expands upon this in his book” The Great Gatsby”, when he describes Nick’s viewpoints of seeing the city for the first time. “ Over the Great bridge, with the sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker upon the moving cars, with the city rising
The city seen from Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.” (Gatsby) Firstly upon examining the structural devices and their effects on the overarching theme, it is clear that Fitzgerald’s use of complex sentences within the quote allows for a fuller and more detailed description of the city. Through his use of participle phrases such as, “with the city rising across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps.” He can add more detail to the city and its environment which also allows him to convey the moving and ever-changing nature of the city. Fitzgerald uses prepositional phrases such as “ upon the moving cars” and “ Over the great bridge.” Further, it enhances the vivid and somewhat alluring nature of the city as Nick sees it for the first time. Fitzgerald also used numerous Figurative devices to further enhance the appearance and charm of the city while subsequently conveying its superficial nature. One great example of this can be found in the symbolism of the “Great Bridge.” The great bridge, although a seemingly innocuous part of the sentence, holds a