In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Gatz, a man of low social standing, felt that he lost the love of his life, Daisy, because he did not meet her desired standards of sophistication. Therefore, James Gatz decided to reinvent his identity as Jay Gatsby in an effort to demonstrate to Daisy, that she had only ever loved him. In doing so, Gatsby decided to construct his new character traits based off of Daisy 's husband, Tom Buchanan, who she seemed to be attracted to. Through Gatsby 's rhetorical effort to persuade Daisy, Fitzgerald had Gatsby recognize and employ Aristotle 's first version of ethos, appeal of your own character, and Aristotle 's second version of ethos, appeal to the character of one 's audience. However, Gatsby fatally flawed his rhetorical strategy which caused him to lose Tom Buchanan was said to be “...of Chicago with more pomp and circumstance than Louisville ever knew before.” (Fitzgerald 82). Being that this was said by Jordan Baker, a famous golfer, exemplified how much power Buchanan held, even with the socialites. This statement also defined his will power, arete, because it laid out how he did not stray form is code of conduct when it came to power. Since Gastby believed that Daisy found this trait attractive, he made it his goal to become powerful to make his persuasion easier. In order to gain power, money was essential, therefore, Gatsby made a lot of money fairly quickly by getting involved with Meyer Wolfshiem. Being that Prohibition was taking place during Gatsby 's rise to power, Gatsby and Wolfshiem made a lot of money by selling alcohol in addition to gambling. Even though Gatsby broke his will-power of respecting the very country that he fought to protect, he gained enough wealth to move to West Egg into a mansion that was directly across the bay from
Nick Carraway says: “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made…” (Fitzgerald 170). Nick makes this observation about his family in the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F.Scott Fitzgerald. In the spring of 1922, Nick moves to West Egg and meets a mysterious man named Jay Gatsby; there he witnesses Gatsby longing for a life with Daisy Buchanan and failing to achieve the American dream. Tom and Daisy initially show their carelessness by deciding to marry each other when neither of them were fully committed. Their thoughtless behavior carries on through their marriage as they both partake in affairs and emotionally torture their partners. When the Buchanans show their next act of carelessness it results in the death of three people. In “The Great Gatsby”, Tom and Daisy continually show how careless they are and there are many repercussions to their actions.
The most memorable figures in literature are not created simple, instead their lives are not easy to understand. These characters have multiple perspectives of the imaginary worlds that they are placed in, which allow readers to associate themselves with such a literary idol. One of these notorious figures recognized as a powerful symbol is Jay Gatsby; this man is described as a “criminal and a dreamer” in Adam Cohen’s article of The New York Times. When reading “Jay Gatsby, Dreamer, Criminal, Jazz Age Rogue, Is a Man for Our Times”, the audience is exposed to many sides of Gatsby. We are able to observe this complicated yet fascinating character through various rhetorical techniques in which Cohen uses to fully convey the image of the “mysterious Prohibition-era bootlegger”.
The character of Jay Gatsby was a wealthy business man, who the author developed as arrogant and tasteless. Gatsby's love interest, Daisy Buchanan, was a subdued socialite who was married to the dim witted Tom Buchanan. She is the perfect example of how women of her level of society were supposed to act in her day. The circumstances surrounding Gatsby and Daisy's relationship kept them eternally apart. For Daisy to have been with Gatsby would have been forbidden, due to the fact that she was married. That very concept of their love being forbidden, also made it all the more intense, for the idea of having a prohibited love, like William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, made it all the more desirable. Gatsby was remembering back five years to when Daisy was not married and they were together:
The Great Gatsby is Not The novel has no plot to mention. . The book is sensational, loud, blatant, ugly, pointless. There seems to be no reason for its existence: Harvey Eagleton (Dallas Morning News, May 10, 1925). F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is an absurd story, whether considered a romance, melodrama, or plain record of New York high life.
In The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald, dreams, goals, and ambitions have a way of enticing and enchanting the characters. A goal becomes more than a goal; it becomes something into which the characters submerge themselves and by which they define themselves. These dreams then set up impossible expectations which are detached from what can realistically be achieved. Gatsby dreams of love with Daisy, a dream which eventually consumes his life. It seduces him into giving himself up entirely for its attainment. Similarly, Tom's ambitions to control every aspect of his life end up consuming him. It might be considered this fundamental tendency of human dreams to seduce the dreamers into dedicating themselves completely to those dreams which constitute their dangerous nature.
Chapter five starts with Nick arriving to his home late from a date with Jordan. To his surprise, Gatsby is awake and approaches him. Gatsby is trying to act cool and collected as he waits for Nick to bring up his request. Nick makes a plan for the meeting to happen tomorrow. Gatsby wants no trouble for Nick so he says the meeting can happen whenever it suits Nick. Gatsby wants to send over people to cut Nick’s grass and offers him a little job on the side. Nick declines the offer without hesitation. The next morning Nick calls Daisy and requests her to come over without Tom. Gatsby goes to Nick’s house making sure everything is perfect. He is ridiculously nervous and is doubtful that this is a good idea.
Jay Gatsby started out poor and a self-made man guided by only hope. He believed money could achieve everything, specifically love and happiness. Fitzgerald interpreted how dreams can corrupt and poison the mind, blinding oneself as they became garnished in wealth. As Gatsby continued to rise in fame and power and amassed a mansion that glowed like “the World’s Fair,” he began to meet snobbish, condescending-like people. Gatsby, being raised differently, tried to associate himself like these people. He threw lavish parties for the sake of something greater, that is, for Daisy Buchanan.
The novel, The Great Gatsby focuses on one of the focal characters, James Gatz, also known as Jay Gatsby. He grew up in North Dakota to a family of poor farm people and as he matured, eventually worked for a wealthy man named Dan Cody. As Gatsby is taken under Cody’s wing, he gains more than even he bargained for. He comes across a large sum of money, however ends up getting tricked out of ‘inheriting’ it. After these obstacles, he finds a new way to earn his money, even though it means bending the law to obtain it. Some people will go to a lot of trouble in order to achieve things at all costs. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, conveys the numerous traits of Jay Gatsby through the incidents he faces, how he voices himself and the alterations he undergoes through the progression of the novel. Gatsby possesses many traits that help him develop as a key character in the novel: ambitious, kind-hearted and deceitful all of which is proven through various incidents that arise in the novel.
This passage shows Nick making his way through New York at night, seeing the sights and narrating the way this external stimuli makes him feel. It exemplifies the manner in which Nick interacts with the world around him, often as an observer, rather than participant, and is integral to the development of his character. Fitzgerald utilizes vivid imagery throughout the paragraph, paired with a strong narrative regarding Nick’s experience in New York; furthermore provoking the audience to ponder a theme central to the novel.
In “The Great Gatsby”, Fitzgerald uses imagery, metaphors, and perspective to illustrate the differences of the East and the West, which reveal how complex and confusing the time period was.
In the twenties there were good and bad people during the twenties. There was old money and new money. Many things were fluctuating (4) during this time period. In The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald’s said, “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven‘t had the advantages that you‘ve had,” (1). Should people always think of this quote before they start criticizing someone that they do not even know personally? In The Great Gatsby, people were criticizing each other for being poor, rich, and somewhere in between. Like a lot of people in the world there was one that was complacent (1) with his self because he got everything, which is Tom. Some were Intimation (1) like Tom and Gatsby were.
F. Scott Fitzgerald was one of the most compelling twentieth century writers, (Curnutt, 2004). The year 1925 marks the year of the publication of Fitzgerald’s most credited novel, The Great Gatsby (Bruccoli, 1985). With its critiques of materialism, love and the American Dream (Berman, 1996), this dramatic idyllic novel, (Harvey, 1957), although poorly received at first, is now highly regarded as Fitzgerald’s finest work (Rohrkemper, 1985) and is his publisher, Scribner 's most popular title, (Donahue, 2013). The novel achieved it’s status as one of the most influential novels in American history around the nineteen fifties and sixties, over ten years after Fitzgerald 's passing, (Ibid, 1985)
In The Great Gatsby, many individuals are involved in a struggle to find themselves and who they want to be. Personal identity is a very challenging thing to define. Everyone has an image in their mind of who they want to be. These images are usually very different from the actual identity of a person. In this novel, Jay Gatsby’s search or struggle for a new identity for himself is an ongoing journey. He has dedicated his entire life creating an image to impress Daisy Buchanan and to set himself into her society. This image does not necessarily depict who he is in reality.
Most self respecting people have ethics and morals they try to abide by. They create standards that they live life by and construct their own philosophy with. In the novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, morals and ethics are a scarce practice. Jay Gatsby lives his life by the over bearing morals and values of devotion, corruption, and his will to control.
The past, going by in time and no longer existing, allows people to see and reflect on what they have done in their life. F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of, The Great Gatsby, chooses to include the past in many instances in his novel, allowing him to get a deeper message across to his readers. The novel takes place in New York, where Jay Gatsby, a secretive man, lives. The novel is a condemnation of Gatsby because Fitzgerald guides the reader to discern the idea that the characters of the story are unable to find happiness from reinvention and money because the only way to find true happiness is to look to their past.