Since the beginning of time, man has written himself into history. Whether it was on cave walls, or in scripts, men have wanted to leave behind a legacy. One of the most well known men is author F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald had always wanted to write the greatest American novel- and so he created the Great Gatsby. Although it is not the greatest American novel, it is studied by high schools and has several movie adaptions. However, he had to take a great journey to create this story about Jay Gatsby and his endless hope. Despite his creative mind, the characters and conflicts in this story did not come from his imagination. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, author F. Scott Fitzgerald reflects the dramatic life he shared with his wife though he characters Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan.
Ever since he was a young child, F. Scott Fitzgerald wanted to be a writer. He wanted to leave behind a great legacy, and found that one way to do this was through writing. While he was writing his first novel, Fitzgerald met a woman named Zelda Sayre, and he fell in love with her. Because she had high standards, she wasn't too impressed with Scott. From there, he became determined to publish his book. Before he did this, he proposed to Zelda, but she refused. Since Fitzgerald was so madly in love, he rewrote the novel and called it This Side of Paradise. Once the book was published, then she accepted his proposal. The funny thing was that he had written the two of them straight into the story. The two main characters, who fall in love, were obviously based on them. In the documentary, Sincerely, F. Scott Fitzgerald by Jay McInerney, a man who was interested in creating a movie adaption of the book asked Scott and Zelda to star in it (McInerney).Thi...
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...e this book, the only description of Gatsby is his smile. “It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it that you may come across four or five times in life” (Fitzgerald 52). In McInerney's documentary, he said that whenever Fitzgerald looked into the mirror, he saw Gatsby. He was certainly not kidding. Gatsby is Fitzgerald, and Daisy is Zelda. The similarities between these people and characters are hardly a coincidence.
Works Cited
Bruccoli, Matthew J. "A Brief Life of Fitzgerald." A Brief Life of Fitzgerald. University of South Carolina, 4 Dec. 2003. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Collier, 1992. Print.
McInerney, Jay. "Sincerely, F Scott Fitzgerald." The Culture Show. BBC Two. London, Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
Willett, Erika. "F. Scott Fitzgerald and the American Dream." PBS. PBS. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's, The Great Gatsby, the pursuit of the American dream in a corrupt period is a central theme. This theme exemplifies itself in the downfall of Gatsby. In a time of disillusionment the ideals of the American dream are lost. The classic American dream is one of materialism and when Gatsby incorporates Daisy, a human being, into the dream he is doomed to fail.
Fitzgerald, F S, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald: A New
“Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:9-10). “The Great Gatsby” by F.Scott Fitzgerald tells a tragic tale of materialistic wealth, and uses the colors green, yellow, and blue to convey wealth, hope and unhappiness, respectively, in this classic tale; hope being Gatsby’s saving grace and his ruination.
Mizener, Arthur, ed. F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1963.
Back in the roaring twenties America was seeing such world-changing phenomenons such as The Great Gatsby, and penicillin, but what took the world by surprise was none other than Walt Disney and his lovable creation, Mickey Mouse. Walt Disney, throughout his entire lifetime and career, always had an idea, a spark, and a way to make things better. Even in the face of tough times, he never failed to keep his optimistic attitude and kind faith in humanity from infecting those around him. A major part of his success was due to the technological innovations that revolutionized the film industry.
Lust is a desire that can drive an individual to go to all extents, just to get what they wish for. Literature is very broad in the way that it is available to everyone and can help us gain knowledge in many different aspects. In my opinion, I believe that literature is about gaining knowledge about a certain event and being able to connect with the story and relate the situations to what is actually happening in reality. I also think that literature can cause people to form different opinions that can end up being very eye opening when things are looked at from a different perspective. As a class, we read a variety of stories, all with different types of knowledge and opinions associated with them. The two stories that stood out to me were The Great Gatsby and “The Cask of Amontillado.” In these two stories the general message is lust and how lust can take over one’s body and the way they live their life.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald focuses on the lifestyle of a group of people who will do anything to accomplish their goals. The characters go through different changes that come to affect their life decisions and will cause them to lie, sacrifice and feel lonely in their lives. They live the American dream and have power but chase a dream that would affect and change their lifestyles. They judge and discriminate against one another not knowing they have a certain symbol in common in their lives. Their desire to accomplish their goals became a type of new life to the characters.
The legendary Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald reflects onto his readers and exceptional childhood and educational background emmating from his life experiences. It is believed The Great Gatsby reflects his point of view of his fortunate life as an author. F. Scott Fitzgerald is an author of many short stories and novels in Americas history primarily however his works explimfied the era of the nineteen twenties.
F. Scott Fitzgerald uses The Great Gatsby in order to display the wretchedness of upper-class society in the United States. The time period, the 1920s, was an age of new opulence and wealth for many Americans. As there is an abundance of wealth today, there are many parallels between the behavior of the wealthy in the novel and the behavior of today’s rich. Fitzgerald displays the moral emptiness and lack of personal ethics and responsibility that is evident today throughout the book. He also examines the interactions between social classes and the supposed noblesse oblige of the upper class. The idea of the American dream and the prevalence of materialism are also scrutinized. All of these social issues spoken about in The Great Gatsby are relevant in modern society. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses this novel as an indictment of a corrupt American culture that is still present today.
Eble, Kenneth. F. Scott Fitzgerald Limited Edition. Ed. Sylvia E. Bowman. N.p.: Twayne Publishers, 1977. Print. Twayne’s United States Authors Series.
Bewley, Marius. "Scott Fitzgerald's Criticism of America." The Sewanee Review 62.2 (1954): 223-46. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
Magill, Frank N. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Survey of Long Fiction. Vol. 3. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Salem, 1983. 953-67. Print.
Trilling, Lionel. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 13-20.
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.
Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print. The.