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Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born in 1896 and died in 1940. After dismissed from the army in 1917, he returned to Princeton and finished his first novel This Side of Paradise, which made him wealthy overnight. He then married Zelda, a beautiful but expensive girl. During his time (which he named Jazz Age), the whole American society was immersed in the post-war deteriorations and economic booming. The so-called lost generation forfeited their believes on American dream and solely aimed to pursue material and sensual pleasures. Fitzgerald himself also fully engaged in such main stream of "the roaring twenties". He and his wife indulged in alcohol, dancing, and jazz music in the upper class parties. While gradually he realized that all these joyous and orgiastic images were merely a disguise for their hollowness in spirit after the disillusionment, which inspired him the original idea of the Great Gatsby. Therefore, the book can be regarded as Fitzgerald’s autobiography to some degree. The book was published in 1925 and received a lot of compliments. T.S Eloit remarked it as "the first step that American fiction has taken since Henry James."
The background of the novel is set the modern American society, 1922. Nick Carraway, who was born in the Midwest of America, came to New York to study bond business in order to make money. He then moved to the Long Island and became a neighbor of the hero---Jay Gatsby. As the story went on, we came to know that the original name of the hero was Gatze. His family was quite poor when he was a child. But he was very ambitious and self-disciplined and later gained wealth over night through bootlegging and other illegal actions. He often offered extravagant parties in his luxury house to show...
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...r each other, which can be everlasting. Nick was moved by Gatsby's ideal and naive dream which he nearly realised and willing to help him. In turn, Gatsby also thought Nick as a honest and reliable person. And then their friendship established. This can be caputured in the simple answer "We were close friends" when Gatsby's father asked Nick's identity.
The last thing worth mentioning was Nick's wisdom and righteousness . That he reserved to make quick judgements helped him to be patient enough to fully observe the situation and finally made the right decision. And all the attitudes and opinions he held were proved to be the truth at last. He reminded Gatsby that he couldn't repeat the past which annoyed Gatsby and also made him much conscious. Awaring the conspiracy of Tom and Daisy, he warned Gatsby to move away on the very night after the car accident happended.
His opinions were never spoken, and no one asked for them. This characteristic about him never changed throughout the story. Nick changed in a different way, mostly involving his emotions towards Gatsby’s actions when he attempting to get Daisy back. He started partying more which then led to him drinking more in his life than he ever has before. As he got more involved with Gatsby’s situation he became more annoyed and frustrated with it. Gatsby always talked to him about it and would never leave him alone. He got pushed into awkward positions like the argument in the hotel (page 133,134,135). Nick was emotionally drained towards the end of the book, and could not deal with the drama he had became involved
“The Great Gatsby” is one of these stories with its amazing characters and its exaggeration. This book has a major drawback. Gatsby and Nick’s relationship was too close. Gatsby was so cautious that he fired all his servants, but he allowed Nick to stay with him to peek on Daisy and Tom and to make sure Daisy was not hurt. Nick accepted his request to stay outside. This is where Nick contradicts himself again, “I disliked him so much by this time that I didn’t find it necessary to tell him he was wrong.” (Fitzgerald,136). He disliked Gatsby but he still stayed to help. But why should Gatsby, such a cautious person, allow Nick to stay beside him? And why would Nick be willing to stay even if he dislikes Gatsby so much? This part of the story is illogical, and that is why I don’t like this
Money and Corruption in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby During the time in our country's history called the roaring twenties, society had a new obsession, money. Just shortly after the great depression, people's focus now fell on wealth and success in the economic realm. Many Americans would stop at nothing to become rich and money was the new factor in separation of classes within society. Wealth was a direct reflection of how successful a person really was and now became what many people strived to be, to be rich. Wealth became the new stable in the "American dream" that people yearned and chased after all their lives.
naive belief is that money and social standing are all that matter in his quest
Nick Carraway stayed out of the way when he sensed that there was going be drama coming. This kept him from losing his sanity and allowed him to witness the others as they went insane. Gatsby was one of the many that Nick had witnessed go through a mental phase. It all started when Gatsby met Daisy. That is where everything went wrong for Gatsby, is when he joined the wrong group of people. Everything could have been better if Gatsby would have just stayed away from Daisy. Daisy already had a husband, Tom Buchanan. Gatsby should have stayed away from a married woman and Daisy should have stayed away from having an affair with Gatsby. Mentally, this made Tom feel insecure and jealous but he knew that he could not do anything about it because he is doing the same thing. That would make Tom a hypocrite. G...
He believed Gatsby was just trying to impress him, by telling him what could be a fairytale. As the narrator, Nick is suppose to withhold judgement, but now he is becoming more of a character. At the beginning of the novel, Nick described others by their attributes; he had no opinion of them. However, Nick now has people he clearly likes and dislikes, and people he trusts, and others he does not. This is a sharp comparison to what a narrator is suppose to be. We can relate to Nick in this way because over time, we begin to judge people for their personalities, rather than their outer appearance. This can be related to how Nick felt about Gatsby in chapter three, compared to now. Nick no longer needs approval from Gatsby, but rather Gatsby needing approval from him.
Nick also matures throughout the novel. In the beginning he is very innocent, saying he only drank once in his life, and he believes in the good of people. Throughout the novel Nick’s innocents drains slowly. He see’s Gatsby as a role model until he finds out how much Gatsby does for Daisy, which bothers him. Nick has also admired Gatsby for living a lavish lifestyle which is betraying in what he believes in. Nick would do anything to make Gatsby happy; his...
Nick is our narrator and the voice of reason in a time and place where parties are the goals and having a good time is all that matters. Parties at Gatsby’s mansion are the rule not the exception and all who attend pay homage to their false prophet Gatsby. He is their leader the charming man living in a mansion and driving and awesome care. Too bad he has no sense of real worth. Yet nick seems to be loyal to him the whole time “They're a rotten crowd, “I shouted across the lawn. “You're worth the whole damn bunch put together.”I’ve always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave him, because I disapproved of him from beginning to end. First he nodded politely, and then his face broke into that radiant and understanding smile, as if we’d been in ecstatic cahoots on that fact all the time” (Pg 162). Nick appears on the sidelines more than in the mix with all the drinkers and boasters and unfaithful spouses. “I forgot to ask you something,...
At the end of the book, it is revealed that all of Tom, Daisy, and Nick are extremely careless. Nick’s carelessness detriments his reliability as a narrator. Because of Nick’s deep and familiar connection with Gatsby, Gatsby is “the exception” and Nick cannot be a reliable narrator towards him. Nick really admires and appreciates Gatsby as a friend, although it seems that Gatsby may not feel nth same way ads Nick. Gatsby may have befriended Nick solely because of his connection with Daisy. Nicks obsession with Gatsby and Gatsby’s obsession with
Corruption formed the basis of 1920s society. Rampant speculation with borrowed money, combined with a lack of market information, both caused the market crash that sparked the Great Depression and, in the meantime, provided opportunities to corrupt individuals who took advantage of this chaotic reality. This stemmed from the effects of World War I. A new class of people, exposed to the terrors of the war and disillusioned with pre-war social norms, turned away from harsh realities and towards a flippant lifestyle filled with parties and alcohol. The old rich, upset with this changing society, similarly withdrew from reality and lived in nostalgic dreams. The corrupt could easily exploit these large groups of wealthy people who were out of
In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald explores the idea of the American Dream as well as the portrayal of social classes. Fitzgerald carefully sets up his novel into distinct social groups but, in the end, each group has its own problems to contend with, leaving a powerful reminder of what a precarious place the world really is. By creating two distinct social classes ‘old money’ and ‘new money’, Fitzgerald sends strong messages about the elitism underlying and moral corruption society. The idea of the American dream is the ideal that opportunity is available to any American, allowing their highest aspirations and goals to be achieved. In the case of The Great Gatsby it centres on the attainment of wealth and status to reach certain positions in life,
Nick expresses his opinion about Gatsby quite clearly: "I disapproved of him from beginning to end" (162). However, he makes this remark at the end of the novel and actually does like Gatsby when he first meets him. "I could see nothing sinister about him" (54). Nick's image of Gatsby only begins to be tainted once he learns of his relationship with Daisy. Nick's dislike does not stem from jealousy; it comes from the fact that Gatsby shapes his life around what Daisy wants. Nick does not see Gatsby as a real person, only as an image set out to please Daisy and conform to what she desires. The epigraph of the novel states:
Though the story is told from Nick’s point of view, the reader gets many perspectives of Gatsby from different characters. One can see from characters like Jordan Baker -Nick’s girlfriend through the majority of the novel, or Tom- the husband of Nick’s cousin Daisy; that Gatsby is not as good as everyone where to think. Based on how these characters act and feel about Mr. Gatsby it is evident that they dislike him to some extent, showing a bit more of a flawed human side of him. Tom is quoted saying “I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn't far wrong.” about Gatsby depicting Tom’s harsh feelings towards him and showing the reader Tom’s negative feelings about Gatsby. Because the story is told from Nick’s point of view, Gatsby is still painted as this mysterious man because Nick is a bit curious of him and does not know Gatsby in the beginning. ‘"They're a rotten crowd," I shouted across the lawn. "You're worth the whole damn bunch put together."’ Nick says to Gatsby, showing that he thinks he is worth more than Daisy, Tom, or the other characters. With this quote one can infer that Nick holds Gatsby on a bit of a high platform than the other characters, giving the reader Nick’s indirect characterization of
In the novel The Great Gatsby, the 1920’s was a “throwaway culture, in which things (and people) are used and then abandoned” (Evans). This is true of the lives of the wealthy elite who ruled the East and West Eggs, causing the domination of materialistic thought. The substitution of money for integrity ultimately provided a way for corruption to take deep roots in the characters. The frivolous lives and relationships described by F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby depict the emptiness of the shallow 1920’s era.
In the book “The Great Gatsby” we have the character Nick, which at first, gave the impression of a nice person, because in the book he states that keeps all judgments to himself, stated in, this quote, “ In consequence I am inclined to reserve all judgments.” This gives an idea that Nick while knowing the character of another keeps his ideas to himself, in addition, it shows that Nick is aiming to keep the judgments that his father gave him with out giving up, even though it has caused Nick a lot of trouble. That make Nick boring, nonetheless, he continued showing an ambition to keep his fathers advise, ...