When approaching reading practices there are four different classifications, author-centred, reader-centred, text-centred and world-centred approaches. By applying the author-centred approach whilst reviewing The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald published in 1925, I was able to understand the dominant interpretation that Fitzgerald intended the readers to produce. The reader is able to recognise links between an author’s life and text (Queensland Studies Authority, November 2011, pg.4). The author-centred approach focuses on the history of the author and their personal experiences rather than the reader’s. The theories of author-centred approaches are useful in making interpretations of The Great Gatsby as the reader can interpret the novel as a biography of sorts. Literary theorists included in the review of The Great Gatsby are Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault and Moon. These theorists all work together to critically analyse the impact of the author’s personal understandings on what the reader interprets from the novel. One of the most fundamental …show more content…
The implied author is created by the reader from small hints in the work creating an imagined author figure. The novel is written in a narrative tone seen from the character of Nick Carraway, as a narrator but also significant to the novel the readers sense that Carraway is the implied author. This theory allows the reader to create more than just one interpretation but also staying close to the initial meaning of the novel. For example, the first meaning I made from the book was the ‘American Dream’ ideology however, once using this theory it can be inferred that Fitzgerald created Carraway as an interpretation of himself to put himself in the story of The Great Gatsby. Therefore, the theory of the Implied Author by Booth was valuable when understanding The Great
Sometimes the power of love does not always lead to a happy ending. In his novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald tells the story of a tragic love story on American life. Two lovers are joined together after five years knowing that one of them is married and has a child. As uncontrollable conflicts occur, these lovers are separated and forced to leave behind their past and accept failure.
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald critiques the disillusionment of the American Dream by contrasting the corruption of those who adopt a superficial lifestyle with the honesty of Nick Carraway. As Carraway familiarizes himself with the lives of Tom and Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker and Jay Gatsby, he realizes the false seductiveness of the New York lifestyle and regains respect for the Midwest he left behind. "Fitzgerald needs an objective narrator to convey and prove this criticism, and uses Carraway not only as the point of view character, but also as a counter example to the immorality and dishonesty Carraway finds in New York" (Bewley 31). Fitzgerald must construct this narrator as reliable. Due to the nature of the novel, the reader would not believe the story if it were told from the perspective of any other character. Fitzgerald cannot expect the reader to believe what the immoral and careless characters have to say, and he spends so much time establishing them as such. Thus, Carraway is deemed narrator and the reader trusts him.
In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nick’s unreliability as a narrator is blatantly evident, as his view of Gatsby’s actions seems to arbitrarily shift between disapproval and approval. Nick is an unreliable and hypocritical narrator who disputes his own background information and subjectively depicts Gatsby as a benevolent and charismatic host while ignoring his flaws and immorality from illegal activities. He refuses to seriously contemplate Gatsby’s negative attributes because of their strong mutual friendship and he is blinded by an unrealized faith in Gatsby. Furthermore, his multitude of discrepancies damage his ethos appeal and contribute to his lack of dependability.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was being set in New York in 1922. . It was in Long Island where the rich and wealthy people lived and that was split into West and East Egg. The wealthy people lived in East Egg. There are seven characters that make up The Great Gatsby is. First there is Nick Carraway and he is a graduate student from Yale, and he used to live in the Midwest. He was in World War 1 and later moved to New York to become a bonds salesman. Next there is Jay Gatsby. He is a millionaire that lives in a mansion and is known for throwing massive parties. He got all of his fortune from doing illegal criminal activities. He is in love with a woman named Daisy Buchanan. Daisy is Nick’s cousin and is married to Tom. She has had history with Gatsby before she got married to Tom. Tom Buchanan is a millionaire that lives in East Egg. He is rich because of his family name and He attended Yale with Nick. Jordan Baker is one of Daisy’s friends that is a professional golfer. She later ends up being Nick’s girlfriend for a while. George Wilson is a man that owns an auto shop and is married to Myrtle. Myrtle is Tom’s mistress that he fools around with. Lastly there was a man named Meyer Wolfshiem. He was known for fixing the 1919 World Series.
Written during and regarding the 1920s, ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald is both a representation of this distinctive social and historical context, and a construction of the composer’s experience of this era. Beliefs and practises of the present also play a crucial role in shaping the text, in particular changing the way in which literary techniques are interpreted. The present-day responder is powerfully influenced by their personal experiences, some of which essentially strengthen Fitzgerald’s themes, while others compete, establishing contemporary interpretations of the novel.
Close Analysis of a text and knowledge of context can enrich our understanding of a text's meaning. To what extent do you agree with this in relation to The Great Gatsby? The message of numerous literature novels are connected to the context of the time and can enlighten readers to understand the meaning. This is true of the novel, The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and first published in 1926. It highlights a materialistic and consumerist society where social and moral values were slowly decaying.
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.
Preston, Elizabeth. "Narrative." Implying Authors in "The Great Gatsby" 5.2 (1997): 143-164. JSTOR. Web. 16 Apr 2014.
Jay Gatsby’s funeral is a small service, not because that 's what was intended, but because no one bothered to show up. Nick wanted to give Gatsby the popularity he desired, even in death, but only three people were present in the end. Gatsby’s father, Henry C. Gatz, shows up unexpectedly from Minnesota because he heard about the news in the papers. He believes that the man who shot his son must 've been mad, that no one in their right mind could commit such a horrible act. Daisy and Wolfsheim, the people closest to Gatsby in the book, do not attend. This exemplifies that it was always about wealth and social status for them, including Tom, and they never genuinely cared for Gatsby. Nick held up hope,
Think about being separated from the one you love. You thought this person would be in your life forever and always. You may have spent days and weeks thinking and planning your future together, but then one day they disappear from your life. That person has moved on, and chose to live a life that no longer including you. It would be assumed in most cases that the love of your life is no longer the person they were before, so should you stick around and try to win them back? In the case of Gatsby and Daisy, Gatsby did not realize Daisy would be different, and although he still thinks he is in love with Daisy, is he in love with her for who she is now, or the idea of everything she used to be the answer may shock you, and this is all due to the unreal expectations he has for her to fill. Because Gatsby is not in love with who she is at the time they are reunited. Instead, he is caught up in the idea of who she used to be. The actions of Gatsby, how he talks about her, and the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy once they are back together again show who Gatsby is really in love with, and that is the old Daisy.
Trilling, Lionel. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 13-20.
Bloom, Harold, ed. Modern Critical Interpretations- F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Print.
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 Resource Center. Web. 24 Feb. 2011.
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)
The extent of contextual information that the reader is able to understand allows the reader to understand the text in a greater depth. The Great Gatsby, written by F.Scott Fitzgerald, follows Nick Caraway as he retells the story of Gatsby and his love for Daisy that lead to his downfall. The knowledge of history and the context of the 1920’s allow meanings within The Great Gatsby to be enhanced. The novel refers to contextual factors such as the suffragette movement, liberation of the twenties, prohibition, roaring twenties typical social lifestyle and the America Dream. These are all displayed with the use of elements of characterisation, symbolism, descriptive language and setting that the contextual information is able to relate to. These