Literature is the gateway to an author’s hidden meanings and purposes of their book and things about our society and ourselves. For example, “The Great Gatsby” by Fitzgerald explains subjects that are social issues in not only the 1920s but also our own generation in ways that make it interesting for the reader to find and leaves them in search for more. Fitzgerald’s literary technique creates mystery and intrigue to engage the reader into the story. Fitzgerald keeps the reader alert and on their toes as Gatsby, his identity, and his relations remain unknown. When Gatsby is brought up in any conversation, it’s immediately cut off as someone is about to deliver information about him, By doing so, Fitzgerald is able to keep Gatsby unknown to …show more content…
Myrtle is Tom Buchanan’s mistress, who is also married to Mr.Wilson, and due to this Mr.Wilson comes out of the relationship heartbroken and hysterical after her death. Fitzgerald addresses the one-sided relationship that Mr.Wilson is in, and relates this to the adults of the audience who have had difficulty with this issue in the past or is currently dealing with it. On top of that, Tom and Myrtle both are in married relationships, making it adultery when they break their sacred vows to God and sin. By using Mr.Wilson’s relationship with Myrtle, Fitzgerald includes another issue amongst modern day and previous …show more content…
When Gatsby sees Daisy for the first time in years, he awkwardly knocks over Nick’s clock, breaks it, but barely catches it before it completely shatters. The interesting part of this is that the clock breaks, but doesn’t completely shatter, meaning Gatsby is trying to reach for his past love of Daisy but barely missing it. Instead of looking at Daisy for what she presently is when time stands still ( at least before he knocks over the clock ), he’s still trying to hold on to fantasy of Daisy that he wants her to be. Gatsby breaks Nick’s clock while he is with Daisy, a point that is mostly
The author wants the reader to dislike Myrtle for her loud, obnoxious nature, her unfaithfulness, and her overall unpleasant temperament. She is portrayed in a negative light, and any reader would describe her in a negative way. In spite of their varying social statuses, both Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson alike seem to be unhappily married. Daisy is aware of Tom’s mistress, but she chooses to ignore it and to avoid showing her emotions.
Themes of hope, success, and wealth overpower The Great Gatsby, leaving the reader with a new way to look at the roaring twenties, showing that not everything was good in this era. F. Scott Fitzgerald creates the characters in this book to live and recreate past memories and relationships. This was evident with Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship, Tom and Daisy’s struggling marriage, and Gatsby expecting so much of Daisy and wanting her to be the person she once was. The theme of this novel is to acknowledge the past, but do not recreate and live in the past because then you will not be living in the present, taking advantage of new opportunities.
Since the beginning of mankind, there is no doubt that society was broken down into millions of groups, otherwise known as social breakdown. Segregation, not only by skin color, and religion, but wealth as well, plays a vast part in the socially broken down society of the past and present. Likewise, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the environment as a whole is socially broken down economically. First and foremost, the two neighborhoods of East and West Egg play a central role in this division of wealth throughout the story, especially in comparison to Nick, the main character, and Mr. Gatsby, who lives next door to Nick. Also, the criticisms Nick faced of his small fortune are expressed several times throughout the story such as
The 1920s era is known for different names such as the Roaring Twenties, the Jazz Age, the Age of Intolerance, and the Age of Wonderful Nonsense. Moreover, the era claimed the beginning of Modernism in America, which led authors to stray away from traditional writing styles. A commonality seen in Modernists’ works is the desire for characters to fit into societies that they believe to be more substantial or well off than their own. In the novels The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Passing by Nella Larsen, the characters Jay Gatsby and Clare Kendry use social environments and interactions with others in attempt to reject their pasts and gain acceptance. Jay Gatsby longs to forget his past and focus on the present and future in hopes
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is an absurd story, whether considered as romance, melodrama, or plain record of New York high life. The occasional insights into character stand out as very green oases on an arid desert of waste paper. Throughout the first half of the book the author shadows his leading character in mystery, but when in the latter part he unfolds his life story it is difficult to find the brains, the cleverness, and the glamour that one might expect of a main character.
Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby, there is a constant theme present: social class. Fitzgerald makes a connection between the theme of social class, and the settings in the novel for example The Valley of Ashes which is described as a “desolate area of land” (p.21) and a “solemn dumping ground” (p.21) which is where the poor people live. The Valley of Ashes is situated between West Egg and New York, West Egg being the place where the aspiring classes are situated, which is the “less fashionable of the two” (p.8), this is where Gatsby lives. West Egg is the place of ‘new money’, Fitzgerald shows this by the idea of the main character Jay Gatsby, rumoured to be selling illegal alcohol (prohibition) which means he is quickly making vast amounts of money.” Who is this Gatsby anyhow? Some big bootlegger?”(p.86) Gatsby shows off the amount of wealth he has by his fabulous parties and oversized mansion. “There was music from my neighbour's house through those summer nights. In his enchanted gardens, men and girls came and went like moths, among the whispering and the champagne and the stars.”(p.33) Fitzgerald uses the word ‘enchanted’ to paint a visual picture of what the house and the scene looks like, a magical and enchanted castle, with elegant furniture. This is in comparison to East Egg where Tom and Daisy Buchanan live, in a house where “The windows were ajar and gleaming white against the fresh grass outside” (p.10). East Egg being the place of ‘old money’ which is made from the inheritance of their past generations, the people who live it East Egg are mainly well educated, historically wealthy and live quite elegantly, but they are also quite ‘snobbish’. Gatsby’s background does not fit into the social standards of East Egg...
The Great Gatsby is a well written and exemplary novel of the Jazz age, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald desired writing his books about the roaring twenties and would explain what happened during that time frame. The majority of the characters in The Great Gatsby cared more about money, power, and having a good time then the people in their lives. This lack of caring for others resulted in the hardships the characters faced. Especially, Jay Gatsby was one of these cruel characters.
He understood Nick to be Daisy cousin and saw his long awaited opportunity finally present itself. Gatsby Uses a mutual friend of theirs to arrange for him and Daisy to "accidentally" run into each other at Nick 's house. When they do finally meet Gatsby breaks an old clock on Nicks mantle, representing Gatsby 's attempt to live in the past and his inability to change what the passing of time has done to his relationship with Daisy. This is how I believe Gatsby first enforces the theme that time is always passing us by, even if he refuses to see it. In chapter 5 Nick sees that Gatsby 's vision of daisy is much superior to the real daisy, he says "There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy Tumbled Short of his dreams."(p.95) Although this is a sad way to se Gatsby 's dreams deteriorating it is a very important observation by nick. The idea that Gatsby has placed Daisy on this massive pedestal only ensures his disappointment. He sees Daisy as the goal to end all of his sadness and suffering, but someone who cares more about wealth and Luxury then the man could never be what Gatsby sees her
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, contains many literary devices. One of such devices is characterization, the author’s method of describing characters. In this novel, the author creates many of the characters to be superficial. Through their actions, comments, and descriptions, Fitzgerald gives the reader an idea of the characters.
The marriage of Tom and Daisy Buchanan is arguably the most tumultuous relationship within the novel. Tom spends his time with two different women, both his wife Daisy and a mistress by the name of Myrtle Wilson. Tom’s division of time between the two allows him to refrain from reaching any significant level of emotional intimacy with either w...
The first time that the reader catches an insight of Myrtle, Fitzgerald develops Myrtle to be a mere object of Tom's’ desire. Fitzgerald does this to extenuate the fact that Tom will not move on past Daisy to be with her. Tom “got some women” that supposedly is a secret but there is a lack of secretism on Myrtles end seeing as she is now calling during evening meals from “New York” just to talk to Tom. This further proves that she is in need of attention, something her husband can not fully give her at any random moment of the day. Myrtle is willing to express herself even when she’s already married. It reveals that she is deceiving her own husband, who is later mentioned in the novel. This allows for Myrtle to be looked down upon by the reader, it also entails her to be seen as an attention seeker. Again, Fitzgerald appeals to present-day behaviors by allowing Myrtle to be viewed as someone who wants to be showcased. Almost everyone can relate that they’ve wanted attention in their life at some point. This connects Myrtle to the reader's past or current feelings. Fitzgerald uses this to let readers feel compassion for Myrtle which emphasizes all she needs is for someone to properly love her, treat her, and show her what she needs to do to become successful in her
A Scandalous affair marks the life of Myrtle Wilson and Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby by F. Scotts Fitzgerald. During the novel Mrs. Wilson and Mr Buchanan disregard their spouses in order to have an affair. Both characters play a significant part in the novel making their development by the reader needed to understand the novel. Fitzgerald uses language in order to develop the charecters Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson in separate ways.
Sutton, Brian. "Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby." Explicator 59.1 (Fall 2000): 37-39. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Linda Pavlovski. Vol. 157. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.
On one level The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald comments on the careless gaiety and moral decadence of the period in which it was set. It contains innumerable references to the contemporary scene. The wild extravagance of Gatsby's parties, the shallowness and aimlessness of the guests and the hint of Gatsby's involvement in crime all identify the period and the American setting. But as a piece of social commentary The Great Gatsby also describes the failure of the American dream, from the point of view that American political ideals conflict with the actual social conditions that exist. For whereas American democracy is based on the idea of equality among people, the truth is that social discrimination still exists and the divisions among the classes cannot be overcome. Myrtle's attempt to break into the group to which the Buchanans belong is doomed to fail. Taking advantage of her vivacity, her lively nature, she seeks to escape from her own class. She enters into an affair with Tom and takes on his way of living. But she only becomes vulgar and corrupt like the rich. She scorns people from her own class and loses all sense of morality. And for all her social ambition, Myrtle never succeeds in her attempt to find a place for herself in Tom's class. When it comes to a crisis, the rich stand together against all outsiders.
The theme of society and class was evident throughout The Great Gatsby. The novel goes into great depth about the theme of society and class and the divisions of rich and poor. It is apparent that the author, Scott F. Fitzgerald, believes that the “American Dream” has been corrupted into a yearning for money and materialistic items. With that said, Fitzgerald uses the theme of society and class to show society that the idea of the “American Dream” is unattainable.