In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald utilizes contrast as a literary device to emphasize on the great divide between the rich and the poor as well as the olde riche and the nouveau riche.

by jocelyn1995 (student)

International Baccalaureate World Literature

In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald utilizes contrast as a literary device to emphasize on the great divide between the rich and the poor as well as the olde riche and the nouveau riche to bring out the decayed moral and social values that are prevalent in the 1920s and the corruption of the American dream. J expresses that the American Dream is achieved when "life [is] better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of or circumstances of birth. However, in this classic novel, the contrasts in the lifestyles of the characters as well as the landscapes exemplify the impossibility of achieving the American Dream and how the American dream led to the motivation for endless pursuit of wealth which eventually led to the arisen of materialism in the twentieth century.

In the novel, the East egg and West Egg are contrasted against the Valley of Ashes to highlight the great divide between the rich and the poor as a result of the corruption of the American Dream. Tom, Daisy and Gatsby are representative of the East egg and the West egg, and the extensive lavishness in the East egg and West egg is evident from their parties that they throw that hires a “whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos, and low and high drums” as compared to the poverty in the Valley of ashes whereby “spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it”. Thus, accentuating the disparity between the rich and the poor. Furthermore, there is also a stark contrast between the atmosphere and the lives they lead with the parties of the Buchanans and Gatsby where the “air is alive with chatter and laughter” as compared to the wasteland where “ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades”. Thereby, this portrays how the rich live in comfort everyday, spending money that was not gained through hard work, while the poor continue to slog away, unable to rise above their poverty. Hence, this signifies how those that work are not being rewarded and their inability to climb the social ladder. This is a reflection of the American dream being impossible to attain as the rich get richer by exploiting the poor, and the poor remain in poverty despite hard work.

This is a preview of the whole essay

The contrast between the what Nick believes and says at the start of the novel about the characters and what he believes and says at the end of the novel about the characters serves to question the real truth from the reader and through doing so, it forces the reader to dig beneath the surface for a deeper meaning of the characters. It is known that Nick paradoxically continues to like Gatsby even though Gatsby “represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn.” Furthermore, Nick himself is a paradox as he says that Gatsby is “one of the few honest people that I’ve ever know”, yet sees no obligation to report the facts surrounding Myrtle Wilson’s death to the police. As a result of Nick paradoxical nature, it highlights the contrast in the presentation of Jay Gatsby too. Jay Gatsby that the reader is presented with initially and the Gatsby that they eventually meet reflect on the corruption of the American dream. Jay Gatsby is first presented as the epitome of success in relation to the American dream where he became from a nothing to a something. However, it is later revealed that Gatsby achieves wealth and social mobility through underhand means. He is portrayed as idealistic and is motivated by this idealism to gain in wealth and social statue. Gatsby’s idealism is so great that even though Daisy is married and they are having an affair, he assumes that his vision will be realized as long as she will say that she has never loved her husband, Tom and their past can be repeated. Daisy has been the object of Gatsby’s obsession for the past five years, and his romanticism will not allow him to separate the past from the present. He still sees Daisy as the golden girl he knew five years ago, and he is still set on their golden future together. He believes that money can buy back love from Daisy and this propelled him to create the ideal background that he was not born with regardless of whether it is legal or not. As a result to attain Daisy, he resorted to dishonest means such as gambling and bootlegging to gain wealth. This reflects the corruption of American dream, where citizens resort to corruption and illegal activities to attain wealth and be prosperous.

Furthermore, the fallacy of the American Dream is further accentuated through the contrast between Gatsby and the Buchanans whereby their eventual outcomes underline that there was a lack of justice in the 1920s such that hard work is not always being rewarded and one’s magnanimous actions may be end up being futile and wasted. Tom, proud that he is an “East Egger” resulted in him having a “supercilious manner”, assuming his dominance over everyone and how he "smash[s] up things and creatures and then retreated back into [his] money." highlights his careless nature. This is contrasted against Gatsby who was trying to be an “East egger” but his reserved manner resulted in Tom’s dominance over him which eventually lead to Tom being able to attain Daisy with his wealth and Gatsby, despite him taking the blame for daisy, was not rewarded but instead punished when Daisy chose Tom over him. This thereby highlights the collapse of the American dream where “equality” and “happiness” was not achieved in the end to those that had actually strive towards it.

Contrast between the West egg and the East egg showcases the great difference between the nouveau riche and the olde riche and how they will never be the same as the East Eggers will always establish their dominance over the West Eggers and social status will always be fixed. The West egg is seen as a land that is one of utopia, whereby Fitzgerald sees the West egg as a place of dreamland and fantasy as substantiated by Gatsby’s mansion which was “ a factual imitation of some Hôtel de ville in Normandy, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden”. In comparison, the East egg is portrayed as fashionable and glittery. Fitzgerald sees the East egg as a land of absolute elaborateness to symbolize their extensive wealth, with the hallway in Tom’s Georgian Colonial mansion being described as “a bright rosy coloured space, fragilely bound into the house by French windows at either end”. However, when Fitzgerald describes the West Egg as “less fashionable of the two” of the two, it highlights how Gatsby, despite trying so hard to fit in, was never successful in becoming an aristocrat. In other words, his transformation to a man of high society is incomplete at best, and failed at worst, thereby, it signifies the collapse of the American dream in which it is impossible to achieve.

Contrast between the attitudes of Tom and Gatsby with Daisy is representative of the moral and social decay present in the roaring twenties in order to achieve one’s level of happiness but in the process, this has led to the corruption of the American Dream and the unscrupulous ways of the characters. Tom cheats on Daisy with myrtle publicly and Daisy cheats on Tom with Gatsby. Tom was able to do so because he believes that his wealth will keep Daisy beside him and this epitomizes Tom as cold hearted and shallow. Daisy, as predicted, is trapped in an unhappy marriage with Tom because she, corrupted by greed, is at the mercy of Tom. Her fling with Gatsby was in a fit of anger. Daisy’s tragedy conveys the alarming extent to which the lust for money captivated Americans during the Roaring Twenties. Gatsby treats Daisy as a prized possession that he wishes to have to the extent that he took the blame for Daisy. Knowing that daisy’s voice is “full of money”, he tries hard to regain back Daisy’s love. However, because of this desire to possess Daisy, it eventually led to his death thereby Fitzgerald uses Gatsby’s downfall as a critique of the reckless indulgence of Roaring Twenties America. Hence, through the contrast between how the two treats Daisy and with the ultimate ending of Tom attaining Daisy, it portrays the fallacy of the American Dream whereby it is an illusion as Gatsby can never enter the class of the Buchanans and this is further substantiated by Mrytle who died in the end, without entering the class of the Buchanans despite having an affair with Tom.

Lastly, the contrast of colours is significant in the novel to bring out the characteristics of the various characters as well as give them a sense of identification in which their actions eventually led to the corruption of the American Dream. Green stands as the most prominent color Fitzgerald employs in The Great Gatsby. Green is significantly associated with both the green light of Daisy's dock and the "green breast of the new world," which unites the hope and promise of Gatsby' s dream with that of America itself. The color green is traditionally associated with spring, hope, and youth. Yet, in this novel, despite Gatsby “having infinite hope”, his ideals were never achieved. He eventually lost Daisy to Tom. Furthermore, Fitrzgerald constantly associate Daisy and Jordan as well as their mansions with the colour – white. White traditionally symbolizes morally unblemished, purity and honourable. Yet, it seems that these values are absent in both Daisy and Jordan. Daisy was donned in a “white dress” who is described as “High in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl". Yet, Daisy is not that dainty innocent princess that she is expected to be. Rather, she is the opposite of that with her careless and superficial nature, even allowing Gatsby to take the blame for her. Daisy careless nature is presented when Daisy did not even bother to go to Gatsby’s funeral, highlighting her lack of compassion.Thus, through the contrast of colours with their assocatiated personalities, it makes their inner personality stand out and highlights the immorality and corruption present in the 1920s as a result of the achieving the American Dream.

Through the use of contrast as a literary device to show the social divisions of 1920s New York, Fitzgerald has effectively managed to comment on the nature of such social divisions, including the continued pursuit of wealth and the resulting materialism that was so common in that period. To end off, he sums all up and displays how this kind of living in the 1920s led to the collapse of the American Dream.