...After reading The Great Gatsby, Jacqueline Lance, author of the article “Driving to Destruction with the Rich and Careless at the Wheel” in the journal Studies in Popular Culture, wrote about her observations of automobiles which represented the social status of the characters in the novel: Not only are characters defined by the kind and color of automobile they drive, but the way they behave behind the wheel strongly indicates their attitude towards life and relationships; those who are “careless” drivers approach life in the same manner with which they approach the open road. The characters in the novel who are the most careless drivers emerge as those who are the most careless in their personal relationships. Lance suggests that during the 1920s, the automobile represents the class structure and the type of automobile determines a person’s status. Color symbolically displays a person’s important characteristic. For example, Gatsby’s Roll Royce advertises his “new rich,” and its yellow color, which applies to gold,...
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...is the practice of looking closely at small parts to see how they affect the whole, but a Literary analysis focuses on how plot plus structure, character, setting, and many other techniques. That's what I intend to achieve in this essay about The Great Gatsby. In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts the theme of wealth can breed carelessness in my own opinion. Using the literary techniques of point of view, juxtaposition, and foreshadowing to create meaning in his classic work. The word “careless” sums up Nick's friends as I think and also what the author says in the book himself. For example I feel like Gatsby’s whole life trying to contract his money and status so that he could reach a certain position in life. This is what motivated him to move to west egg to be right across the lake from Daisy, making as much money by doing anything possible. I felt in his position Daisy wanted and needed a man that was wealthy so he changed himself to win her back. At a point him and Daisy were perfect for eachother when he was unwealthy, but their affair foreshadowed that it was a doomed relationship showing that she only wanted him for his money now. As we can see now, the relationship was never doomed at the end for Daisy as she runs away, as her secondary lover dies. Another...
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...Throughout Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the central character – Jay Gatsby experiences the adverse elements of wealth. Fitzgerald illustrates money as the creator of dubious assurance though Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship. Additionally, he construes money as a temporary title by examining individuals’ actions before and after Gatsby’s death. Furthermore, he also portrays money as disingenuous matter that disrupts personal principles. In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald demonstrates the negative aspect of money such as creating a false sense of security, causing of momentary admiration and disrupting one's morals. Money often creates an erroneous impression of security for many. Money gives Gatsby a deceitful confidence. During...
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...“life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. However, in The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald decries the apparent “equality” in American society by portraying men as completely dominant over women and the rich as completely excused from the consequences of their actions. Though the main character, Nick, recognizes the injustices in this inequality, he is ultimately powerless when it comes to changing them, and must accept society to be innately corrupted. From the moment that Nick meets Tom and Daisy Buchannan in New York, it is obvious to him that Tom has the dominant personality...
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...When viewing The Great Gatsby through the social power lens you see that the things that got you social power in 1920’s New York City were money, family name and race. All the characters tried to achieve these things and a lot of them did hoping it would make them happy but in the end it never did and more than once ended in tragedy. Arguably the biggest way you could get a lot of social power is money and wealth. Gatsby is the biggest example of this. Starting off as James Gatz a “shiftless and unsuccessful farm [person]” (Miller 98) and eventually made it to a successful and wealthy star with connections to important people, making his fortune through bootlegging. An important connection that Gatsby had was with the police chief after he...
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...their life. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby this idea is explored in the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy in which Gatsby uses his wealth in attempts to gain back to her love. Through symbolism, irony and imagery it becomes evident in Fitzgerald's writing that wealth and material objects cannot replace relationships or personal happiness. Through the usage of symbolism it is obvious Gatsby’s wealth is a proponent in the failure of his and Daisy’s relationship. Gatsby obtained his money and all of his extravagances in hopes of earning back the love he and Daisy once shared. However in one moment it is obvious that it is not possible, “He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them...While we admired he brought more and the soft rich heap mounted higher…, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily” (92). The shirts are representative of Gatsby's riches, which is he throwing in Daisy’s face in hopes of impressing her. Meanwhile, Daisy is realizing the life she left...
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...the layman. While The Great Gatsby may not directly talk about progressive ideals and corporations, Fitzgerald shows himself to have beliefs related to that cause. All throughout the novel, Fitzgerald argues that the wealthy only care about themselves and their own wants, and will leave others in their dust to deal with the mess. From affairs to love to death to illicit activities, the wealthy, most notably Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom, among others, consistently disregard the consequences of their actions. Exemplary of this is Meyer Wolfsheim’s rigging of the 1919 World Series, an event that...
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..."Civilisation is going to pieces" "If we don't look out the white race will be -- will be utterly submerged" This significant quote alone tells the reader about the different ideals and personalities Tom and Gatsby possess. In the great Gatsby, Fitsgerald uses love to contrast Tom's personality from Gatsby's. Both Tom and Gatsby, love Daisy in different ways and despite their differences, both men try to present a facade to the public. Consequently, these differences lead to unhappiness, jealousy, and grief. Tom Buchanan was polo and football athlete in his twenties. Bred in inherited money, he lives a life decadence and luxuries. Tom has a really domineering personality and is unable to restrain his indulgences for lavish goods and women. Tom's love for wealth is described by Jordan Baker when she tells Nick about Daisy's wedding, "... She married Tom Buchanan of Chicago with more pomp... then Louisville had ever seen. He came with a hundred people in four private cars and hired a whole floor of the Seelbach Hotel, and the day before the wedding he gave her a string of pearls worth three hundred and fifty thousand dollar." (Fitzgerald 82) Tom is described to be cold hearted, shallow and the type of person who doesnt care about anything but himself. Tom's reckless and violent nature is described when he, "Smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into [his] money." (Fitzgerald 187-188) Tom has no purpose in life other than to enjoy his wealth with self indulgence...
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... “The Great Gatsby,” a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, depicts life in the 1920’s. “The Roaring Twenties,” a nickname given to the decade which was loaded with money and industry. It was a time where the rich people in society only had so much to do, and so much money to spend in many ways. Jay Gatsby, one of the “newly” rich people, chooses to spend his money recklessly; throwing large, extravagant parties every weekend of the summer. Fitzgerald paints a picture of modern society by writing about these crazy parties that Gatsby hosts; and using wealth to impress, lack of morals in modern society and The American Dream. All factors of how Gatsby uses parties for support and how the American Dream can be portrayed in the “Roaring Twenties.” Gatsby’s parties were huge, they brought great numbers of people from all over New York, the people who came were all unknown to each other, not many people were actually invited, and they just came, not knowing Gatsby, they did not care about him. When Nick Carraway describes what he has seen before Gatsby’s party, “At least once a fortnight a corps of caterers came down....On the buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors d’ oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs...In the main hall a bar with a real brass rail....By seven o’clock the orchestra has arrived” (44), he tells of the luxuries provided by Gatsby in order to accommodate and impress his...
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...Analysis of “Materialistic Perception” in F. Scot Fitzgerald Using Marxist Literary Criticism Chapter I 1.1 Introduction The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald that follows a cast of characters living in the fictional town of West Egg on prosperous Long Island in the summer of 1922. The story primarily concerns the young and mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his quixotic passion for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan. Considered to be Fitzgerald's magnum opus, The Great Gatsby explores themes of decadence, idealism, resistance to change, social upheaval, and excess, creating a portrait of the Jazz Age that has been described as a cautionary tale regarding the American Dream. 1.2 State of Problem The Great Gatsby provides a critical social history of America during the Roaring Twenties within its narrative. That era, known for unprecedented economic prosperity, the evolution of jazz music, flapper culture, and bootlegging and other economy struggle that was the result of the materialism and capitalism damaging on social behavior, led to the widespread social distress. 1.3 Theoretical Framework Using literary criticism to interpret what is the ideal life of America in 19th century and what is the dream of American people after World War I. as a Marxist interpretation of the novel makes especially clear, reveals its dark underbelly instead. Through its unflattering characterization of those at the top of the...
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...The True Killer of Jay Gatsby Jay Gatsby lies dead, sprawled across the floatie in his pool. But whose fault is it when the question question of responsibility comes up? At the end of the story The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby, formerly known as James Gatz, is murdered. George Wilson is the gunman who took Gatsby's and his own life at the end of the story. However, is Wilson really to blame for Gatsby's death? With many people in the story who affect his life and his decisions, there is greater texture to the original question then noticed at first. There are many elements that contribute to the murder of Gatsby. It is clear that someone other than Mr. Wilson bears greater responsibility for this crime. Daisy Buchanan, eyes shaded with love, possesses the hand that took down the great Gatsby. Mr. Wilson, who held the gun that shot Gatsby, might not be the first person one might mention as his killer. George Wilson may have pulled the trigger, but he is merely a pawn in Myrtle and Tom’s game of love and affairs.In the end of chapter 7, Tom tells George that the yellow car isn’t his. Although this is true, George just accepts the information so easily. A minor character who never appears again, Michaelis, is a keen observer who witnesses the accident. He says that [George] “he was one of those worn-out men...He was his wife's man and not his own”(Fitzgerald,136). Fitzgerald makes it clear that George is a weak man who becomes a pawn in a big game of the American...
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...to transform a person via wealth. As a result, the American Dream is recreated and seen to be the ideal lifestyle desired by the residents of the nation. Although a paradox, this golden dream of commodities, individualism and hard work to gain abundant money becomes a nightmare of materialism and carelessness. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic arbitration of the disintegration and underside of the American dream and portrays the consequences of those in pursuit it. Although ironic, Fitzgerald uses cars as a motif to represent the wealthy class living the corrupted American dream, whose careless actions drive the destruction of the 1920’s decade. He demonstrates this by using the car accident after one of Gatsby’s parties to foreshadow disastrous events, by emphasising Jordan Baker’s carelessness towards cars and her driving skills as a further insight to the recklessness of the wealthy, and by referring to Gatsby’s car as the “death car” after the incident of Myrtle’s death, applying a deeper meaning to the title. Fitzgerald applies the car crash that takes place in the third chapter to foreshadow the danger of the upper class’s carelessness. Nick Carraway and Jordan Baker...
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...The Great Gatsby’s main theme is definitely the American dream. American Dream is loosely based on the concept of a home, family, and a car. Success, and wealth combine to create an alter ego for the wealthy, and the less fortunate are just neglected. Fitzgerald clearly uses satire to critique chasing the American Dream, because in the end it’s just a dream. This “dream” is the motives behind what Gatsby does, and the same motives that ended him. Gatsby can often be signified for his “colossal dream” that Nick mentions halfway through the book. Gatsby creates an illusion that correlates with his dream, abandoning his old self, his wealth makes a new persona of himself. Almost to the point as if Gatsby is just a detriment, that will end up...
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...English July 22, 2015 The Great Gatsby Essay Just after the World War 1, in the US there had been huge changes that involved all aspects of American life, including a tendency towards materialism, changes in clothing, women getting the right to vote gangster life emerging, parties and dances, and most importantly the American Dream. Fitzgerald’s novel define that American dream changed by time; the first time for European living in America was American dream, and originally any discovery which gave them happiness was American dream, but in the ear of 20s mean for American dream has become perverted into desire for wealth by whatever means; thinking that money will bring happiness. The Great Gatsby, was published in this era; therefore; it gives us a vivid portrayal of that time by demonstrating symbols and character behavior the impossibility of American dream. The characters that Fitzgerald describes in his novel all tie in with many aspect of the 1920s lifestyle. The Jazz Age was a tendency toward materialism, and characters are described in the way that shows materialistic tendency. Callahan says “Critics from several different generations have noted how Fitzgerald used his conflicts to explore the origins and fate of the American dream and the related idea of the nation.” (Callahan). Fitzgerald describes Gatsby, the main character in the novel, as a dream achiever, who is looking for wealth and property even he compare Daisy as an object of wealth. He...
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...materialistic vision of a big house, nice car, and living the easy life. As represented in the novel The Great Gatsby and Baz Luhrmann’s, The Great Gatsby, the American Dream was more focused on instant gratification of material things and needing material things as an indication of success. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby and Baz Luhrmann’s, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is a renaissance man; a man who has it all but started out with nothing. His plan was to achieve his dream. He was so blinded by his possessions, in front of him, that he could not see that money could not buy love or happiness. Fitzgerald demonstrated how a dream can be corrupted by one’s focus on accruing wealth, power, and expensive things. Gatsby’s dream was “ambiguous, contradictory, romantic in nature, and undeniably beautiful while at the same time grotesquely flawed” (Hearne 189). His American Dream had become tarnished and corrupted by the culture of money and opulence that surrounded him. Gatsby was ‘new money’, and his romantic view of the wealthy did not prepare him for the self- absorbed, snobbish, group of people he was about to associate himself with. He threw lavish parties every night, yet he had no real friends to surround himself with. Gatsby bought expensive things and entertained a lot of people, but he was hoping for something more. Nick Caraway realized that Gatsby was involved in a few...
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