In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald utilizes many universal and timeless themes to make the novel a classic. He emphasizes that most people lack insight and can not see the truth. To the majority of the society, the reality is an illusion that they create in their minds. The characters, events, setting, symbols and imagery contribute to establishing this theme.
Myrtle Wilson, a woman of ludicrous ostentation, yearns to escape her class to enter the higher ranks. She believes a marriage to Tom Buchanan will relieve her of this lower status. Myrtle is obsessed by appearances and unaware of realities, as is shown in her excessive concern of clothing. She attempts to impress the upper society while looking down upon the members of her class. "Myrtle raised her eyebrows in despair at the stiflessness of the lower orders. 'These people! You have to keep after them." (Fitzgerald 36) Unfortunately, Myrtle does not realize that she will never transcend her class barrier or marry Tom. Her husband Wilson, a poor spiritless garage owner, discovers the affair but continues to do nothing about it. He is a tragically broken man living in a blighted world with his own dreams of success for his business and marriage. Wilson lives in the Valley of Ashes, a desolate place in New York, where gray heaps of ashes envelop him and his garage. The symbolic ashes of spiritual desolation create the "smoky air" (Fitzgerald 35) at the party in the New York apartment, where Myrtle struggles to raise her status.
Tom Buchanan represents the brutality and moral carelessness of the established rich. He believes he is an intellectual with logical philosophies about the society. "Have you read 'The Rise of the Coloured Empires' by this man Goddard?…'Well it's a fine book and everybody ought to read it. The idea is if we don't look out the white race will be-will be utterly submerged. It’s all scientific stuff; it's been proved." (Fitzgerald 17) However, Tom is extremely injudicious and lacks intelligence. His concern for preserving the social status quo and the grammatical errors in his speech reveal his ignorance. He lacks integrity and idealism. Daisy Buchanan, silly and self-indulgent, drifts aimlessly through a world created by her wealth. Fay, her maiden name, suggests her ethereal insubstantial quality. Daisy knows about ...
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...e was just an illusion and could not dissolve the strong undercurrent of sectionalism. The makers of the compromise and the majority of Americans could not see the reality of the coming of the Civil War; they simply tried to avoid it by formulating ineffective compromises.
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a timeless and universal classic. In the novel, Fitzgerald underlines that most people can not see reality and drift through their own dreams and illusions. Fitzgerald suggests that most people lack insight and only see things for their face value. The details, characters, setting, symbolism, and imagery all contribute to the theme of the novel. The Great Gatsby is a classic because its issues can be related to the past and the present day societies. Today's conflicts at the beginning of the twenty-first century and yesterday's conflicts in the 1800's compare with those of Fitzgerlad's era.
Bibliography
1. Andrew, Luke. " Titanic." http://www.jps.net/chambers/titanic/history.htm.
2. Brinkley, Alan, and Current, Richard N. American History: A Survey. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1991.
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.
...Although, it can be argued that he had no one else to turn to so he went to Piggy, Ralph could have given up at this point. But, instead he finally consulted Piggy for advice, displaying his maturity. In the end of the novel, when Piggy dies, Ralph addresses the loss. When the naval officer arrives, “Ralph wept for… the fall through of the true, wise friend Piggy” (202). Ralph truly matures at the end when he values the intelligence, and good heartedness of his friend Piggy finally looking past his appearance.
Ralph’s attitude toward piggy is somewhat rude because of the way he laughs sarcastically to piggy's idea.For example when Ralph asks Piggy “are you going to swim” and piggly replies “no, i wasn't allowed to because of my asthma.” and Ralph says “well that sucks for you.” I myself thought that was really rude because it’s not his fault that Piggy has asthma. Also when he tend to call Piggy fat, which is all the time.
In today's global economy, energy is one of the most crucial and sought after commodities. Who supplies it and how much they supply determines how much influence they have over other countries as well as the global economy. This is why hydraulic fracturing is currently such an important and controversial topic in the United States. Hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as "fracking" or hydrofracturing, is the process of using pressurized liquids to fracture rocks and release hydrocarbons such as shale gas, which burns more efficiently than coal. This booming process of energy production provides a much needed economic boost, creating jobs and providing gas energy for Americans. The efficiently burning shale gas reduces carbon emission from electricity production plants, reducing carbon footprints on the environment. However, the process of hydraulic fracturing uses millions of gallons of pressurized liquid, which contains toxic chemicals, and some of this water is left over undealt with. The air near fracking sites is often also polluted and unsafe for nearby community residents. Injecting millions of gallons of water laced with toxic chemicals into the rock thousands of feet deep can cause earthquakes, causing a safety hazards for all nearby areas. Hydraulic Fracturing makes rare natural gases easily attainable, boosting the economy and reducing carbon emissions. However, the negative side effects such as contaminated water and air, make hydraulic fracturing a process that may not be worth the benefits.
Council on School Health (2012). The Crucial Role of Recess in School. Pediatrics, 131, 182-189. doi: 10.1542/peds.2012-2993
The movie created by David Merrick as well as the novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, both entitled The Great Gatsby, ate truly two fine pieces of art. The movie version shows the viewer what is happening in the story without internal comments from the narrator and the viewer can understand exactly what is happening without any intellectual thought involved. The novel, however, challenges the reader to look deep inside the writing in order to grasp the true effect of the novel and what kind of meaning is being portrayed. The novel also challenges the reader’s creativity and imagination. It lets the reader explore the character’s personalities in their own special way and the reader can relate these personalities to real life. The novel also allows the reader more freedom that the move, in the way that it lets the reader shape their own opinions of the different characters. As a person watches the movie version, all the characters are laid out for them and every detail of the character is seen, yet in the novel the character is described fully and it is up to the reader’s imagination to picture what the character looks like as well as the emotions conveyed by this character in the novel. The novel version of The Great Gatsby is a definite piece of art and clearly challenges the reader both intellectually and imaginatively to understand the words that describe the character accurately. Therefore the novel
In her Huffington Post blog article titled Here’s One Way to Wreck a Child’s Education: Take Away Recess, Haley Krischer takes an emboldened stand against the practice of eliminating recess; which is often done as a punishment or to make more time for instructional learning. I stand in agreement with Krischer. I do not agree with schools taking away recess for any reason with the exception of dangerous weather or environmental circumstances. Yet, research indicates how common the 86-ing of recess is occurring in schools. A study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2010) revealed 77% of school Principals reported taking away recess as a punishment, and 81.5% of schools allow students to be excluded from recess. Krischer begins the article by introducing her 9 year old son and his affinity for recess: “the only subject he will talk about”. She gives examples of how recess benefits her son such as other students who help him troubleshoot technology issues and challenging him to improve his sports skills. Indeed, the unstructured playtime allows children to explore their environment and develop new ideas and understandings of it and those within it (American Pediatric Association, 2013). Kischer also expressed that children need active play to combat restlessness and that this is especially important for children who may suffer from ADHD, noting that taking away recess as a punishment for misbehavior may be counterproductive and result in increased behavioral problems. A longitudinal study that followed over 10,000 students between the ages of 8 and 9 concluded that student recess of at least 15 minutes resulted in better behavior as rated by teachers (Samuels, 2009).
Ralph was amongst the first few characters mentioned in the story and he quickly takes to the role of gathering the surviving boys by calling out to all that are in the area. He believes in leading with a democratic style, which gives people freedom of opinion, as well as equality to all group members. This is seen as Ralph uses Piggy’s idea for the conch to gathers the boys together in order to
the ICPA also stats that The outdoors is the best place for children to burn calories, practice emerging physical skills and experience the pure joy of movement. Research has even shown that children who are physically active in school are more likely to be physically active at home, and children who don’t have the opportunity to be active during the school day don’t usually compensate during after-school hours. This will also help the students to feel more energized because the more your body works the more energy you will produce meaning students won't be so tired. Children get one quarter of gym and 3 quarters of band art and computer where you sit in a chair most of the time. And Recess can help children make friend
Everyone knows that recess is good for children, but most people do not know why, thus leaving room for schools to cut down or altogether cut out recess. This can damage children and inhibit learning. In 2005, an estimated 40% of schools had cut back or eliminated recess from the average elementary student’s school day (Bland). Teachers may need more instructional time to meet the new demand from standardized testing, but extended unstructured play is essential. It increases children’s cognitive abilities by promoting healthy chemical exchanges within the brain during physical activity, giving more room for creativity, and improving social skills.
Though Myrtle Wilson makes an attempt to escape her own class and pursue happiness with the rich, she ends up gaining nothing and eventually dies. She is basically a victim of the group she wanted to join. Myrtle tries to become like Tom by having an affair with him and taking on his way of living, but in doing so she becomes unsatisfied with her life. Her constant clothing changes show that she is unhappy with her life, she changes personalities every time she changes her dress: "with the influence of the dress her whole personality had also undergone a change.
The death penalty should be allowed. Here are some reasons to back up my strong thesis statement. It is the only just punishment in some criminal cases. Some people prefer prison over death. Lastly life in prison can be considered cruel and unusual punishment.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book The Great Gatsby was a remarkable book. Fitzgerald Made the characters of the book as real and as personal as possible. Three characteristics stood out in the novel to me. Tom’s Jealousy of Gatsby relationship with his wife, Gatsby’s lies about who he is and his life, and Daisy’s ways to tempt Gatsby to fall in love with her. The novel was inspired by the way he fell in love with his wife Zelda.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a tragic tale of love distorted by obsession. Finding himself in the city of New York, Jay Gatsby is a loyal and devoted man who is willing to cross oceans and build mansions for his one true love. His belief in realistic ideals and his perseverance greatly influence all the decisions he makes and ultimately direct the course of his life. Gatsby has made a total commitment to a dream, and he does not realize that his dream is hollow. Although his intentions are true, he sometimes has a crude way of getting his point across. When he makes his ideals heard, his actions are wasted on a thoughtless and shallow society. Jay Gatsby effectively embodies a romantic idealism that is sustained and destroyed by the intensity of his own dream. It is also Gatsby’s ideals that blind him to reality.
Tom Buchanan epitomizes the advent of moral uncertainty of the Modernist Era. Upon Tom’s introduction in the novel, Fitzgerald makes his lack of morals very evident. When Nick goes to have dinner with the Buchanans and Jordan, he learns something new about Tom. Jordan tells Nick something she believed everyone knew.