The Great Gatsby As A Tragedy
The Great Gatsby As A Tragedy By Kailea MacGillivray A hurried read of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby can generate a tragic impression. The deaths of three of the main characters and the failure of Gatsby and Daisy's romance can be viewed as tragic. However, a deeper analysis of the book reveals a much deeper tragedy. The relentless struggles of Gatsby himself parallel Fitzgerald's apparent ideas of the struggles of all Americans. The American dream romanticized by the majority of the population is really unattainable because it is, in fact, nonexistent. Every character has an unfortunate role and could be called a tragic character. However, the main tragedy is that of the title character. Gatsby experiences nothing but tragedy in his life. He begins miserable and ends miserable. He begins his life in a poor family where he feels he truly does not belong. His parents were unsuccessful and "his imagination...never really accepted them as his parents at all"(104). Always envisioning a better life for himself and a bigger purpose for his life, he has an amazing ability to make his dreams come true. As a child he dreams of being wealthy and living in luxury, and he attains this. When he is older he dreams of having Daisy, and for a time he achieves this dream as well. He reaches out for the green light at Daisy's dock symbolizing the embracing of his dream. Once the
'The Great Gatsby' by F.Scott Fitzgerald.
THE GREAT GASTBY The book which will be studied within this essay is 'the Great Gatsby' by F.Scott Fitzgerald. The method of narration within 'the Great Gatsby' helped me to appreciate two important aspects of the text - theme and symbolism. The author successfully used the development of narration throughout the book in the form of the first person. I found this to be effective because of the narrator's (Nick) unbiased stance towards every situation in the book, as he says: "I am one of the few honest people I have ever known." (PAGE 66) There is also a second method of narration used within the book; this is in the form of breaks in narrating. During flashbacks, other voices chare the job of narrating - for example; Jordan Baker tells us about the time when Gatsby asked her to help him in his quest to win back Daisy. The plot within 'the Great Gatsby' is quite complex with many intertwining relationships causing the plot to come to an abrupt end. The story is focused around people striving to achieve the American Dream for different reasons which are not always kosher. 'The Great Gatsby' is about the lifestyles and secrets held among the higher-class society during the 1920's Jazz Age. The book tells of a man named Jay Gatsby who's one obsession in life was to be reunited with Daisy Buchanan. Daisy Buchanan, was Gatsby's first love, however, they had been forced
The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald.
Jose Acosta September 26, 2003 AP English The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald aims to show that the myth of the American dream is fading away. The American values of brotherhood and peace have been eradicated and replaced with ideas of immediate prosperity and wealth. Fitzgerald feels that the dream is no longer experienced and that the dream has been perverted with greed and malice. The Great Gatsby parallels the dreams of America with the dream of Jay Gatsby in order to show the fallacies that lie in both of them. Fitzgerald reveals that both dreams are complete illusions. Those who follow the dream are manipulated into believing that they lead to true happiness when in fact they are lead to their demise. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald illustrates his main themes through a perpetual use of a series of colors, specifically green. The color green has two main meanings in the novel. Fitzgerald uses the color green to symbolize Gatsby's hope in his quest to obtain Daisy, but also uses green to symbolize America's obsession with wealth during the 1920s, and in both examples, the novel illustrates that all the affiliates are lead to their inevitable downfall. "He [Jay Gatsby] stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and as far as I [Nick Carraway] was from him I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward - and distinguished
How does a Scott F. Fitzgerald use color as a motif in The Great Gatsby to convey the hollowness of the upper-class and frivolity of the American dream?
Adil Ali Period 6 0/10/11 Analytical Journal #2 Prompt: How does a Scott F. Fitzgerald use color as a motif in The Great Gatsby to convey the hollowness of the upper-class and frivolity of the American dream? In Scott F. Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway analyzes the serpentine characteristics of the rich through the downfall of his enigmatic neighbor, Jay Gatsby, and throughout this encounter, Fitzgerald uses color as a motif to demonstrate the hollowness and deception of the upper class who aim to achieve the American dream. Gatsby’s extravagance portrays the lavish lifestyle of the Roaring Twenties, a period where the United States celebrates their success in World War I by living luxurious lifestyles. In this novel, many of the wealthy characters partake in fraudulent activities or often use money to solve their problems. Fitzgerald uses the names East Egg and West Egg to symbolize the corruption of the people who reside there because an egg is white on the outside but the yolk is yellow. The color white represents purity while the color yellow represents the deception and lies of the rich. The colors of the egg portray the deception present in the upper class because while the rich of East Egg and West Egg appear pure on the outside they are corrupt on the inside. Gatsby’s funeral demonstrates the deception of the upper class in these cities
The Great Gatsby
Stephen Lee Period 1 June 3, 2007 Ridge The Great Gatsby Reflective Essay Since the first spark that ignited the now radiant fire of civilization and humankind, dreams have remained omnipresent and universal. These dreams that we as humans have so dearly held on to drove us to such great heights, a level of life in which we live in today. It seems that people from every end of the world have believed that dreams tend to come true as the sheath of life unravels in the way that they want it to; however, over time, they realize that the mere act of living is a trial of survival, a tough and harsh struggle. Subsequently, they find that these dreams that encompassed their lives, if not reached, join with the other obstacles that darken and trouble their path. Yet, we find that they also uplift our spirits and tend to our wounds in the "big picture". Though dreams are sometimes achieved, but often corrupted and unattainable , the key significance is not whether dream itself comes true but rather the motivation and drive it generates to put meaning and purpose in one's life. Throughout the novel, Gatsby adhered tenaciously to a single, grand dream: to love and be loved by once again by Daisy. Even from the beginning, when Nick first laid eyes upon Gatsby, he was "[stretching] out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way...[and] was trembling. I...distinguished nothing
F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby
Stanley Sy Sedgewick American Literature 3 December 2002 Essay #2: The Great Gatsby In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, symbolism is used extensively as a reflection of life in America during the age of bootleg liquor and organized crime. The narrator of the novel, Nick Carraway is an honest, responsible, and fair-minded man who traveled to New York to get into the bond business. Through the eyes of Nick, Fitzgerald tells the story of Jay Gatsby, a man who achieved wealth and status while pursuing his dream of true success. The novel contains three major symbols that critique the American Dream and the social decay of the American society in the 1920s: the green light at the end of Daisy's dock, the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleberg, and the Valley of Ashes. The green light situated at the end of Daisy's dock is one of the multi-faceted symbols found in the novel. Tom's wife Daisy Buchanan is the girl that Gatsby has been pursuing for years. In the novel, Nick's first vision of his neighbor came about when he saw Gatsby, "Stretch out his arms toward the dark water in a curious...glanced seaward and saw nothing except a single green light" (21-22). The green light represents Gatsby's pursuit of the American Dream. It also symbolizes wealth and the life that Gatsby aspired. The green light represents to Gatsby, a reunion with Daisy and signifies Gatsby's longing for
Essay on The Great Gatsby
Essay on The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby is a novel about a man who tries to win over a woman he had lost many years ago. Jay Gatsby is the hero in this novel because he stands out amongst the rich. Unlike the rest of the rich people in this novel Gatsby has moral values, and the rest of them can only grasp things of material value. Gatsby spends his whole life trying to hide the fact that he wasn't like the others. Gatsby never fits in among them because what he perceives of them is all wrong, they were as uncivil as anyone else. Through being less primitive than the rich, determination for love, being ruled by his emotions that erase any doubt, he is quiet tempered; which upholds his greatness, and he is protected by others that tell us of his importance. Gatsby is not as primitive as the rest of the rich humans, he is more mannered and civil. The people at his parties are all wild and not civil, what you would not expect from people of this stature. Gatsby is this way because he has had to earn his money and has not just inherited it like the lazy lot of them. The only other person that comes close to Gatsby is Nick, but we don't get to see what he would be like with wealth. Throughout the novel Gatsby looks out upon the crowd, when he comes down to greet Nick he is very polite to everyone surrounding him, knowing they spread rumors and lies about him. He
'The Great Gatsby' by F.Scott Fitzgerald.
'The Great Gatsby' by F.Scott Fitzgerald, is about the lives of a high-class society during the 1920's Jazz Age. The story is focused around people striving to achieve their American Dream, whether through; love, materialism, wealth or power, to try and make their lives complete. (QUESTION) helped me to appreciate two important aspects of the text - theme and symbolism. The main theme in the book was the sought after American Dream. This was particularly true of the main character Gatsby. He returned from war to find his first love - Daisy - had married Tom Buchanan who was in a higher-class of society compared to Gatsby. For Gatsby, the dream was that through gaining wealth and power, one can acquire happiness. To get this happiness, Gatsby had to reach into the past and relive his old dream - Daisy, and to do this he had to have wealth and power. Gatsby spent countless years obtaining his fortune for one purpose only, to win back Daisy Buchanan. He threw lavish parties but did not interact with his guests: "Gatsby, standing alone on the marble steps and looking from one group to another." This quotation shows, that he was desperately seeking Daisy and threw his parties simply in the hope that she would come to one of them. However, even after Gatsby achieved everything he wanted from his American Dream, he still was not happy - proving that power, materialism and
The Corruption in The Great Gatsby.
01-10-02 The Corruption in The Great Gatsby One of the major themes of The Great Gatsby is the corruption of society and its people. 'Corruption' is defined as "decomposition or disorganization, in the process of putrefaction; putrefaction; deterioration". But how would people of such a wealthy and relaxed life come to be corrupt, would be a difficult question to without seeing and experiencing the characters of this masterpiece of F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby truly reinstates the fact that the rich and the beautiful do have problems... The Buchanans are millionaires that are spending their lazy days with their lazy life. How does 'decomposition' and 'disorganization' come into this on to this tale? Well of course there is infidelity, and not just by one of them but both. Tom is corrupt character, he is a racist, sexist, hypocrite, arrogant, dishonest and more. Yet he comes from a rich and socially stable family, this powerful status keeps other off his backs, and he is free to roam about with his outrageous views and ego. When Tom begins to discover Daisy's affair with Gatsby, he almost immediately faces this, with a few angry looks and words. But he doesn't think of hiprocisy that he is showing with his second significant other Myrtle. Tom is an example of what 1920's old money comes to be, only propelled by their upper class status. They are too good for West
Nebulous Dreams in The Great Gatsby.
Nebulous Dreams in The Great Gatsby In the book, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the character Gatsby is presented to you as an example of the American dream. The dream of the time was to become wealthy and to marry the woman of your dreams, and this is exactly what Gatsby dreamed of. Fitzgerald showed you throughout the book how Gatsby was used by people and how he was even used by the woman that he had devoted his entire life to. Fitzgerald also used Gatsby to show us other things, like how reckless the rich are at the time. The character Gatsby is developed so that the reader can feel compassionate for him and realize that the American dream, like his own, is very fragile and certain people have an utter disregard for them. The dreams of many people at this time were the same. During these years the economy was booming and a lot of people were prosperous. Young men growing up were taught that they were to grow up, get a job, and support a family. This is everything that young Jay Gatz wanted, and after he met Daisy Buchanan in Louisville, he made up his mind who his wife would be (Fitzgerald 75-76). The two of them were definitely in love and if it were not for the war and his financial and social standing, they would have been married. Fitzgerald writes this so that the reader will kind of understand what he has been through and so that he will get some
