...Calvin Liu English IB-SL 14 September 2014 Great Gatsby Essay In Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the readers can see a change in the character of Nick Carraway. In fact the readers see a change in Nick in the very first chapter. “I enjoyed the counter-raid so thoroughly that I came back restless.” (3) shows that after Nick returned from the Great War he saw the Middle West as “the ragged edge of the universe” (3) causing him to go seek excitement in the East. Nick is introduced as a character that possesses a strong morality who came from a family that brought its way up through hard work, but by the end of the novel he possesses a bit of the dishonest and immoral life of the high social class around him. After his experiences and interactions with the wealthy and high class of the East, Nick ultimately changes from innocent and pure to judgmental and immoral. Nick’s initial experiences with that of the wealthy and high class in the story are what begin to corrupt him and change him from the man that he originally was back in the Middle West. One instance where the readers see Nick get affected by the wealthy is in chapter two. In an attempt to leave Tom and Myrtle alone during the drive to their apartment, Nick tries to respectfully leave and get off at Fifth Avenue however Tom replies to Nick saying “No, you don’t, Myrtle’ll be hurt if you don’t come up to the apartment. Won’t you, Myrtle?” and thus Tom makes Nicks efforts to disembark fruitless. Another instance...
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...Essay on “The Great Gatsby” by Francis Scott Fitzgerald The book ”The Great Gatsby” written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, processes lots of different themes. One of those themes is the so-called “American dream”, a dream of success. One of the main characters, Jay Gatsby, you could say is living this dream. His life is extravagant and filled with all the material goods money can buy, Yes Jay Gatsby has it all, or does he? All of this is seen from our narrator’s point of view Nick Carraway, who also along with Gatsby is one of the main characters. In my essay on ”The Great Gatsby” I have chosen to keep my focus on chapter 3, the chapter takes place at Nick Carraway’s first party at Jay Gatsby’s Place. As mentioned earlier the narrator of the book is Nick Carraway, with a 1st person limited point of view, so we hear every thought Nick Carraway has “I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby’s house …”. The fact that we hear every thought Carraway has helps us relate and understand the way he acts. Negatively 1st person narrative is unreliable to the reader, because we only se the situation from one point of view. It’s also a disadvantage because the main character isn’t aware of all events. And therefore as a reader we are very eager to hear what’s going on and what the other characters are thinking. In the book there is also use of direct Talk between the Reader and the narrator “Reading over what I have written so far, I see that I have …”. Because of this we get...
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...The Great Gatsby Essay In life we are all bound to meet people who thrive off of ruining the emotions of other people. These people who smash others emotions without a care in the world can be seen everywhere in our world. They will appear in our lives, our friend’s lives, on television, and even in literature. In The Great Gatsby by f. Scott Fitzgerald there are two characters, Tom and Daisy, who serve as emotion crushers. Tom and Daisy are married, but that doesn’t stop them from seeing other people. These two eventually become involved with the relationships of Jay Gatsby and George Wilson, which eventually leads all of these relationships into ruins. Tom and Daisy ruin all that they touch when they both crush Gatsby's loving affair with Daisy, Wilson's love for Myrtle, and the love in their own marriage. Tom and Daisy's power of destroying love can be seen early in the novel when the reader discovers that Tom and Daisy have ruined the love in their own marriage. When Tom and Daisy are married it is clear that the love in their relationship expired soon after the wedding ceremony. The love in their relationship is clearly all gone when Daisy has her child and Tom is nowhere to be found, and most likely with another woman. Though, the worst part about this loveless marriage is that it seems that Tom and Daisy have accepted their relationship as dead, due to Daisy knowing that Tom is cheating on her, but refuses to take action against it. Tom and Daisy’s power of the destroying...
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...The Great Gatsby Essay In the novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald shows the change in people’s morals during the 1920’s era. It also shows the how society corrupts the “American Dream” and alters it to what it should be like. He shows this in his characters like Daisy, a materialistic woman who cannot live without attention and Tom, a reluctant jerk who lets his riches and ego get the best of him. Daisy and her fiancé Tom are about to get married. While there relationship is going on, Gatsby reunites with Daisy and tries to convince her to leave Tom for him. Daisy ends up staying with Tom because he can provide the things she needs. This shows that back in the 1920’s era people did not marry for love but only for riches. It showed the rich as dominate over the poor. It also showed the altercation of what the “American Dream” should be rather than what it really was. He also shows this corruption in Gatsby as well. Gatsby’s “American Dream” was Daisy. Gatsby’s death can be used as a symbol for the death of the “American Dream”. Gatsby spends his whole life chasing after his “American Dream” he forgets about everything around him. He changes himself completely only to try and achieve this “American Dream”. When Daisy decides to stay with Tom this ends Gatsby’s “American Dream” and coincidently, Gatsby’s life. This shows how people back in the 1920’s would alter their life style in order to achieve the idea of this typical “American Dream”. No matter what the dream was...
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...Great Gatsby Essay Test Prompt 1 Judgement is an action that has its moral degradations when used incorrectly. In fact, it is almost impossible to use judgement and be a human being that has good moral standing. Past has proven with bullies that judgement has led to suicide in peoples lives and hence is frowned upon. However, time after time people judge others with haste and make them feel that their actions are incorrect. A big question is whether to judge or not because if people aren’t judged on something they do that is incorrect they very well may end up doing it again. Nick Carraway, a character in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a person who claims to not judge others. His remarkable ability to not place his judgement on others leads him to extraordinary circumstances because of the resulting friendships. Throughout the whole novel, Nick develops the theme that judgement is almost impossible to reserve for one’s whole life because at one point you will eventually feel ill will towards someone who has hurt you on a personal level, or simply just because they seem inferior of your thoughts. On the few first pages of the book, Nick describes himself and his illustrious friend Gatsby, and how he comes up through different circumstances because of the advice his dad once gave him “ just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had,” (1). That advice is that criticizing others is not fair to him or the person on the other...
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...Great Gatsby essay Mrs. Loughran The Green Light Nick Carraway is a man around 30 years old living in West Egg, an island separated from New York City by a small bay, in 1922 in The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald. Nick was born in the Mid-West and has since gone to Yale; he moves to New York in the summer of 1922 to learn and eventually practice the bond business. While living in West Egg, Nick observes that he has a mysterious neighbor who owns a very large mansion: The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard – it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden (11). Massive parties are thrown in this mansion almost every weekend, and all types of people show up. Nick eventually learns that the man living in this mansion is named Gatsby, and they become friends over the course of the summer. There are many rumors about him but nobody actually knows where he comes from or how he becomes so wealthy. As Nick becomes better friends with Gatsby, he learns that Gatsby is deeply in love with Nick’s cousin, Daisy. This love, however, has taken over Gatsby’s life ever since he meets Daisy before he leaves to fight in the Great War. After he comes back from the war, he finds that Daisy has moved on with her life, and is now married to Tom Buchannan and is living in New York. Gatsby moves to...
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...Tyler Landry Mrs. Potter American Studies, 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...
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...human being that has good moral standing. Past has proven with bullies that judgement has led to suicide in peoples lives and hence is frowned upon. However, time after time people judge others with haste and make them feel that their actions are incorrect. A big question is whether to judge or not because if people aren’t judged on something they do that is incorrect they very well may end up doing it again. Nick Carraway, a character in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a person who claims to not judge others. His remarkable ability to not place his judgement on others leads him to extraordinary circumstances because of the resulting friendships. Throughout the whole novel, Nick develops the theme that judgement is almost impossible to reserve for one’s whole life because at one point you will eventually feel ill will towards someone who has hurt you on a personal level, or simply just because they seem inferior of your thoughts. On the few first pages of the book, Nick describes himself and his illustrious friend Gatsby, and how he comes up through different circumstances because of the advice his dad once gave him “ just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had,” (1). That advice is that criticizing others is not fair to him or the person on the other end of the criticizing, because he has grown up with a more advantageous standing than most people. He goes on to say that throughout college he has been able to make friends...
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...Clever and captivating, F Scott Fitzgerald’s novel ‘The Great Gatsby’ is perhaps the most critically analysed American piece of the past century. Arguably this is because Fitzgerald uses many diverse literary devices to fascinate the reader. Gatsby and Daisy embody the theme of complicated relationships, which Fitzgerald uses to make the reader question the legitimacy of Daisy’s feelings and Gatsby’s persistence in chasing his dream. Fitzgerald involves symbolism in many ways including a green light at the end of Daisy’s dock to symbolise Gatsby’s dream and comment on the greed of the people of the roaring twenties. The American Dream is a theme through which Fitzgerald is able to comment on the moral decay of the Roaring Twenties society. Fitzgerald uses the theme of complicated relationships between characters as a symbol of misjudgement, this is especially evident for Gatsby and his relationship with Daisy. When Gatsby and Daisy began their love, Daisy was a symbol of wealth and the upper class of American society. Circumstantially it was the case that for Gatsby to fulfil his dream he would have to work to once again be worthy of Daisy’s love. It is hard not to question whether during their time apart Gatsby had glorified Daisy and it is uncertain as to whether she was worth it. Gatsby strongly desired the past to be repeated. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow...
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...Haley Davis Mrs.Cowgill Period 2 6th February 2013 “Corruption is like a ball of snow once it is set rolling it must increase” (Charles Caleb). Although the valley ashes and West Egg in the Great Gatsby are completely different at first glance because of their physical characteristics and the characters status they are the same when looked into more deeply. The Valley of ashes and the West Egg are similar through the violence, abuse, and infidelity that happen there. Fitzgerald uses these two places to show that despite the characters status and money there are immoral people in every place throughout the world. When looking at the physical characteristics of the Valley of Ashes and comparing it to the physical characteristics of West Egg a reader might make the generalization that there is abuse going on in the Valley of ashes because of the lack of many and happiness in West Egg because of the flow of money in households. Although once the story progresses further it is shown that abuse and unhappiness are present in both places. Myrtle is from the Valley of Ashes although her husband George is not physically abusive like Tom he is not a “gentleman” and at one point he shows abuse by saying to one of his neighbors “I’ve got my wife locked up in there”(Fitzgerald 136). George does not think anything of his abuse and ill treatment of his wife he just feels that she deserves it and should obey him or be punished. In the same way Tom abuses Daisy in West Egg. There are no...
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...illusion in The Great Gatsby? Truth and illusion are two of the key themes explored in the novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Truth and illusion are explored with every character in the novel as we discover that no one is who they seem to be. There are multiple examples involving all characters in which their appearances are far different to how they are described. Jay Gatsby is one of the main characters that show he cannot see reality because his whole life is one big illusion. Another main character that portrays the theme of illusion is Daisy as we learn early in the novel that she creates an illusion to cover up who she really is. Nick is the only character that seems to be the only one who is really honest about who he is but he is only honest to the reader and not the characters. Perhaps his honesty is just an illusion about what he really is like. Jay Gatsby’s whole life is an illusion. Early in the novel we learn that Gatsby’s past was not the best and that he came from a poor background, which he tries to cover up. He gives this idea that he lives the perfect life with a huge house and always wears nice clothes and throws the biggest most amazing parties. The truth is that he does not really have any friends. This is evident when we learn that Nick discovers he was the only one who got an invitation to Gatsby’s party, this is also evident when we learn the rumours going around about Gatsby. The rumours about how Gatsby killed a man and that...
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...“Dreams are renewable no matter what our age or condition, they are still untapped possibilities within us and now beauty waiting to be born.” -anonymous This quote is portrayed in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby. The novel begins when the main character Nick Caraway moves to a town in long island call west egg. He lives in modest home amongst extravagant mansions. His neighbor, Jay Gatsby, throws lavish parties almost every night. His cousin Daisy, and her husband tom, also lives in the west egg community. Once nick get an invite to one of Gatsby’s parties he become thirsted into the wealthy lifestyle of the people around him. In his novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald used the colors of white and cream, the color yellow, and the green light to illustrate the theme that desire facilitates moral decay and is therefore a destructive emotion. The colors white and cream capture the characters external innocence and purity, but since it is false beyond the skin, it is just a disguise covering the desire and moral decay. The white room shows how Daisy and Jordan can appear pure and lovely from the outside. When nick arrives at Daisy and Tom’s home he notices, “ The windows were ajar and gleaming white against the fresh grass outside that seemed to grow a little way into the house,”(8). At the start of the book we are introduced to Daisy and Jordan, the author used the white color of the room to illustrate how pure the characters appear from Nick’s first...
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...The Great Gatsby: American Life during the 1920’s Cameron L. Green Lakeland College The Great Gatsby was a famous novel written by the so called “Jazz Age” novelist and short story writer Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby is a famous novel that provides vivid description and complexities of American Life during the 1920s that only leads to misery and death. The narrator of the novel in the original book is Nick Caraway who was a resident of the west-egg district of Long Island. His next door neighbour was a mysterious character called Jay Gatsby. He narrates the incidences that took place with Jay Gatsby as the central character during the summer of 1922. The novel narrates how an alcohol peddler who acquires a lot of wealth gets involved into true relationships which was mistaken by societal class. Their feelings were looked down by the societal class as “money power”, as they thought arranging parties and fests are one of the ways these people try to create a societal status. They were misunderstood in various occasions and faced tragic end like Gatsby. The Jazz age or popularly called the roaring twenties took place after the World War I and ended with the start of great recession during 1929. The result of prohibition and the banned sale of alcohol made various millionaires who were economically not sound. The period witnessed a new style of music called “jazz” which marked the extravagant and extrovert American...
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...character of “The Great Gatsby”, progresses from awkward to over accommodating to assertive. At the start of the novel, Nick begins showing awkwardness. For example, when Nick visits Daisy for the first time and meets Jordan Baker. NIck “was almost surprised into murmuring an apology.” This instance show that Nick does not know exactly what to do in this type of social situation thus bringing out his awkwardness. Meeting someone as intimidating Jordan makes Nick bumbly because he wants to prove himself, but it just comes off as awkward. Also, at the apartment in New york on 158th street, where Tom and Myrtle would go to get away from George and Daisy, Nick asks questions about Tom’s affair like why Tom and Myrtle have not left their significant other while watching the the other guests party. At this time everything has a “dim, hazy cast” to Nick since he got...
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...In this line, Gatsby no longer cares about his life and his onset of life was negative. He realized how consumed he was with everything that he dedicated his time to. Daisy was the main reason why he did what he did in life. Gatsby moved to West Egg across Daisy's house in East Egg to be near her. He also hosted parties with all kinds of people in hopes of seeing Daisy in one of them some day. On page 161, it says Gatsby "lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream" (Fitzgerald 161). The "warm old world" Gatsby lived in brought happiness to him, it was warm and comforting, not too hot not too cold. However, he longer felt this warmness in the world and he blames this on the fact that he invested much of his...
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