How Does Fitzgerald Use Cars to Reveal Characters in the Novel?

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How Does Fitzgerald Use Cars to Reveal Characters in the Novel?

        The characters in The Great Gatsby are revealed in many different ways, but I thought the one that stood out was the use of cars and vehicles. I found that the characters, especially Gatsby, Jordan Baker and the Buchanan’s, were revealed by the use of automobiles.

        Take Jay Gatsby’s car for instance: it reflects his personality and lifestyle to perfection. His car is described in the most elaborate and expensive way – it almost seems like a house is being described – “bright with nickel, in it’s monstrous length with triumphant hat-boxes and supper-boxes and tool-boxes, and terraced with a labyrinth of windshields that mirrored a dozen suns.” Fitzgerald also writes “everybody had seen it” (obviously referring to Gatsby’s car). The fact that everybody had seen this car shows that it’s not just an average, everyday car but a special and exceptionally elegant car. On top of this, most cars in those days were black, but Gatsby’s car being a “rich cream colour” made it all the more expensive and unusual. This reflects Gatsby in the way that he has only the best and the most expensive. You can only imagine that someone of Gatsby’s wealth and status would choose a car so complex and sophisticated.

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        In contrast to Gatsby, Nick works for his money and lives modestly. He cannot afford to throw huge extravagant parties every weekend, but he can afford to live fairly comfortably. Nick does own a car, an “old Dodge.” This reflects on the lifestyle that Nick lives, in the way that he can’t afford to fruitlessly throw money away on a car, which everyone has seen. He can’t afford to buy a car, which is a rich, cream colour – but he can afford to have a simpler car, which its purpose is to take Nick to different places. “I had a dog ...

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