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Literary Analysis Of'The Great Gatsby
Literary criticisms of the great gatsby
Literary Analysis Of'The Great Gatsby
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“The more people rationalize cheating, the more it becomes a culture of dishonesty. And that can become a vicious, downward cycle. Because suddenly, if everyone else is cheating, you feel a need to cheat, too,” Stephen Covey. Dishonesty is prevalent in this novel, and it is seen in Gatsby, other characters, and the Roaring Twenties. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates permeating dishonesty of people in the Roaring Twenties and their consistent beguiling patterns. Gatsby’s entire identity of a wealthy, handsome millionaire is an illusion he created. He created Gatsby after seeing the advantages of being rich working for his mentor, Dan Cody (Fitzgerald 98). “I suppose he'd had the name ready for a long time, even then. His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people- his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all,” (Fitzgerald 98). Gatsby was discontent with his life as a poor farmer’s boy, and …show more content…
Fitzgerald used The Great Gatsby as a tool to show the corrupt Roaring Twenties. Fitzgerald represented the time as dishonest, and everyone is in a free-for-all to get to the top or an “East Egg” style of living (Telgen). “The Great Gatsby has been called the ‘defining novel of the Twenties which have become trivialized and vulgarized by the people who weren’t there’ (Bruccoli, preface ix)” (Becnel). No one who was at Gatsby’s parties showed up to his funeral, except “Owl Eyes”, which shows everyone was two-faced to Gatsby, and used Gatsby for their own personal gain (Fitzgerald 175). Fitzgerald was showing the dishonesty of people in the Twenties, and the value of choosing who you surround yourself with (Telgen). The novel showed the true nature of the “East Egg” social class that of getting to the top no matter what, blaming your problems on others, and getting other people to clean up the mess you made
“He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it … It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself.” (Fitzgerald 48). In chapter 4, Gatsby was riding into town with Nick, and then a police came, all Gatsby did was raised a little white paper and the cop apologized for stopping him. This isn’t only about corruption in 1920’s, but how he was above the law. He has the reputation of the president. He can get away with anything he wanted, he loves the power and the respect. When people say Gatsby it’s like he’s an imperial. The spreading rumors of Gatsby are horrific by the sense that, they were so out of this world you don’t know how people really believed them. Everybody had different point of views of Gatsby, he loves each one if the rumor didn’t contain the truth, or him being poor. His actions seem that all he wants people to do is think of him as an opulent man. Gatsby loves recognition. This makes him lose the idea of his past life which he hated. He strived to forget how he grew up, and where he came
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby provides the reader with a unique outlook on the life of the newly rich. Gatsby is an enigma and a subject of great curiosity, furthermore, he is content with a lot in life until he strives too hard. His obsession with wealth, his lonely life and his delusion allow the reader to sympathize with him.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby many characters are not as they seem. The one character that intrigues me the most is James Gatsby. In the story Gatsby is always thought of as rich, confident, and very popular. However, when I paint a picture of him in my mind I see someone very different. In fact, I see the opposite of what everyone portrays him to be. I see someone who has very little confidence and who tries to fit in the best he can. There are several scenes in which this observation is very obvious to me. It is clear that Gatsby is not the man that everyone claims he is.
F. Scott Fitzgerald 's novel, The Great Gatsby, tells a story about wealth, love, and the complications that come with them. The 1920s was a time of prosperity and the boom of new technologies. The goal of every man was to get wealthy and find a beautiful woman to settle down with or have an exciting life. Gatsby for instance isn 't the normal type of person to do that. The differences in lifestyles between Tom and Gatsby make the novel unique and interesting.
“Every one suspects himself of one of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people I have ever known.“ This quote by Nick from The Great Gatsby ties well with The Great Gatsby’s theme: People may use dishonesty to get what they want, but in the end it may only serve to destroy them and the things and people they love. Outlined below are some examples where this theme can be found in the book.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby was born into a life of poverty and as he grew up he became more aware of the possibility of a better life. He created fantasies that he was too good for his modest life and that his parents weren’t his own. When he met Daisy, a pretty upper class girl, his life revolved around her and he became obsessed with her carefree lifestyle. Gatsby’s desire to become good enough for Daisy and her parents is what motivates him to become a wealthy, immoral person who is perceived as being sophisticated.
There are a few, very rare, moments where Fitzgerald allows some insights in the characters of his novel, The Great Gatsby. These occasions should be marked red. Most of the time, the story annoys the reader with imaginary pictures of the Golden 20’s, which really were never that golden, or images of our hero, Gatsby. All the wonderful things that critics see in the story: the novel of manners, love, American Dream, and romance have been interpreted into the story long after the fact. There are some slight hints towards these topics, but they are not really developed by Fitzgerald (e.g. the love between J. Gatz and Daisy Fay).
Dishonesty, infidelity and hypocrisy are prominent throughout F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. The main cause of this immorality is the change in culture after World War 1. Society went from hard working and determined people to people striving for a life of self-gratification.
Jay Gatsby, otherwise known as James Gatz, was originally born into poverty and raised in North Dakota. According to the novel itself, Jay Gatsby was considered “great” due to his extravagant parties, elite social status, and lavish wealth. However, when truly analyzing his character, Gatsby is nothing more than a man of no substance and a self-made con artist. Similar to a magician, he is an illusion to an act performed. Rather than serving as a metaphor for the lucre Gatsby has gained in the past years, the title of the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald displays irony in the sense of how dishonestly Gatsby himself acquired his rich lifestyle, shattering the quintessential American dream.
Jay Gatsby, formerly James Gatz, is a charming, handsome man from the Midwest who successfully pursued his American Dream of becoming gaudy rich. As a young boy, he was a dreamer who was determined and more than willing to work hard in order for his colossal dream to come true. Once Gatsby gains his newfound wealth, he turns to a much more lavish lifestyle including a beautiful mansion on the water, extravagant parties, flashy clothing, an enormous swimming pool, and a cream-colored Rolls Royce. However, along with his immense wealth came immense corruption. Gatsby transforms from a young, poor farm boy into a dishonorable and reckless man once achieving his American Dream.
During the 1920's America was a country of great ambition, despair and disappointment. The novel The Great Gatsby is a reflection of this decade, it illustrates the burning passion one man has toward his "American Dream" and the different aspects of the dream. Fitzgerald's work is a reflection of America during his lifetime. The Great Gatsby shows the ambition of one man's reach for his "American Dream," the disappointment of losing this dream and the despair of his loss.
As Matthew J. Bruccoli noted: “An essential aspect of the American-ness and the historicity of The Great Gatsby is that it is about money. The Land of Opportunity promised the chance for financial success.” (p. xi) The Great Gatsby is indeed about money, but it also explores its aftermath of greed. Fitzgerald detailed the corruption, deceit and illegality of life that soon pursued “the dream”. However, Fitzgerald entitles the reader to the freedom to decide whether or not the dream was ever free of corruption.
The 1920’s were a time of social and technological change. After World War II, the Victorian values were disregarded, there was an increase in alcohol consumption, and the Modernist Era was brought about. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a perfect presentation of the decaying morals of the Roaring Twenties. Fitzgerald uses the characters in the novel--specifically the Buchanans, Jordan Baker, and Gatsby’s partygoers--to represent the theme of the moral decay of society.
The Roaring Twenties is considered to be a time of excessive celebration and immense corruption. The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a criticism of American society and its values during this era of history. This criticism is first apparent in the people who go to Gatsby's parties. They get absurdly drunk, do not know who their host is and are rude by excessively gossiping about him. This commentary is also shown in the corruption of the police. Gatsby is able to pay off the police so that the activities going on at his home will go unnoticed and so that he may behave as he wishes. This criticism is finally shown in the corruption of friendship and love, the simple fact being that there is none. People use Gatsby and then throw him away. Fitzgerald's criticism of American society and its values during this time period is first shown in the behaviour of people at Gatsby's parties.
The Great Gatsby was written in the midst of the 1920’s, otherwise known as the Roaring Twenties or the “Jazz Age.” This was just after World War I, when the economy was thriving. Fitzgerald portrays multiple characters in Gatsby as wealthy, greedy, and materialistic, thus providing the audience with insight as to how he viewed