...The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald’s use of Motif In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the motif of cheating to make his theme of lying and deceit become more evident to the reader. Throughout the novel, characters cheat on each other, cheat the laws of society, and cheat their way to wealth. Fitzgerald wanted this theme to be very evident to the reader because Fitzgerald wanted readers to see the consequences the characters had to face because of the choices they made. Fitzgerald utilizes the relationship between Myrtle and Tom in order to demonstrate the consequences of their affair. Tom’s wife, Daisy is extremely hurt that “Tom has some girl in New York” because she knows that as her husband his responsibility is to be...
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...“I had immense plans.” Explore the changes of direction and desire in the novels Heart of Darkness and the Great Gatsby. Kurtz and Gatsby both have their own hopes and desires in the respective novels. For kurtz he wanted to colonise Africa by bringing the light; for Gatsby, he wanted to winover Daisy to be his true love. However, both novels are similar in portraying how these plans can go horrifically wrong. Today i will explain how greed became the catalyst for their destruction of dreams. In Heart of Darkness, Kurtz left clues to show that he wanted to colonise Africa and make a positive difference to the lives of the Africans. He is known to paint a picture that shows a ‘blindfolded, naked woman’ holding a torch into the darkness. The light can be symbolic for the hope and direction that the europeans want to bring to Africa. In a more simplistic manner, the torch is the element for a fire and a source of energy and Kurtz could be saying that the ‘European energy’ is arriving into Africa to build up the continent. However, this painting also shows a more grave implication that the Europeans efforts will be futile. Although there is a light to guide the woman through the darkness , she is still blindfolded suggesting that they are illequipped to deal with the situation, and they are more inclined to make mistakes and not reach their targets. In conclusion, the danger of the wilderness, and the fact that the europeans are not well prepared for Africa means that...
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...like tell lies many times throughout a single day, but most of those deeds never have any consequences, however, completely immoral actions are usually the result of obscene thoughts and they will always have disastrous outcomes. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the idea of the consequences of unethical etiquette. While the people of the novel believe that they are not doing anything wrong the nefarious actions of the characters shows Fitzgerald’s true intent of informing the reader of the dangers that immoral behavior can have on not only the one causing the problem, but the ones involved with the individual too. Death is a recurring topic within the novel and it shows the intricacies and wrongness of the actions...
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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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...these things, consequences are soon to follow. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Daisy proves herself to be incapable of being fulfilled in her life; leeching off of the success and emotions of others to get what she wants. Daisy Buchanan is an incredible example of how wrong everything can go when we don’t respect the feelings of others, nor take our own into consideration. In The Great Gatsby, Daisy proves herself to be a manipulative and irresponsible person and fails to take responsibility for her actions on multiple occasions. Whether it’s taking care of her daughter, staying...
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...forever. It is human nature to regret that which is lost, therefore, one feels the need to recreate the past and is a common theme in everyday life. These attempts at trying to repeat the past, however, are usually in vain. The novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a great example of this, as the plot focuses on the concept of recapturing the past. The plot of this story revolves around the growth and press of this concept and is told relative to the main character in the story, Jay Gatsby. Fitzgerald’s usage of this character effectively conveys this idea throughout the novel. The story about how and why Gatsby is unsuccessful in recapturing his past, how his actions hurt himself and others around him and how he ultimately fails while achieving nothing. Throughout the story, we learn that Jay Gatsby is a man who depends and dwells upon his past to reach his dream. Through the narrator, Nick Carraway, we can see that Gatsby’s bad habit of holding on the past does not help him get anywhere with his goal. He believes that the past could be repeated, “'Can't repeat the past?' he cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!'” (Fitzgerald, 85). This shows Gatsby’s inability to move on from the past. This obsession with the past inspires Gatsby to do everything he does in order to win back Daisy. He gets into the business of bootleg alcohol selling. To get Daisy’s attention, he throws lavish parties every week and he buys a mansion across the bay in front of Daisy’s mansion...
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...The Great Gatsby Could you imagine life without alcohol? A world where you were prohibited to drink alcohol by an amendment in our constitution! The 18th Amendment ratifications on January 19, 1920 ban the manufacturing, transporting and any sale of intoxicating liquors. When the Prohibition era in the United States began on January 19, 1920, a few sage observers predicted it would not go well. Certainly, previous attempts to outlaw the use of alcohol in American history had fared poorly (Lerner 2010). With all the research I have read it seems like prohibition ended up causing more negative issues than positive. The closing and lay off of the employees of saloons, breweries lead to loss of jobs of truck drivers, wait staff and anyone else involved in the trade. This was thousands and thousands of jobs. With Prohibition in effect, that revenue was immediately lost. At the national level, Prohibition cost the federal government a total of $11 billion in lost tax revenue, while costing over $300 million to enforce. (Lerner 2010). This lead to an uprising in organized crime, especially, within the trade of alcohol sales. The people who ran these illegal liquor trades were called bootleggers. It is said that the growth of the illegal liquor trade made millions of Americans become criminals. It even made a lot of our Police Officers become corrupt because the money was worth it. There were two exceptions to the Prohibition law one was wine for religious purposes. Do to this...
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...A Analysis 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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...every problem they encounter. Jay Gatsby, a main character in Great Gatsby The was one of these people. Gatsby and other characters of his class all strived for happiness, wealth, status and love. To their dismay, they realized that the desire for wealth could lead to their downfall. Through Gatsby, Fitzgerald proves that the pursuit of wealth is corruptive, useless and dangerous. The old money crowd’s actions make the pursuit for wealth danger. The people of this crowd were born into their wealth which makes them careless. They don’t have to worry about consequences and whatever they want they get. The characters of this novel, Daisy and Tom, are a part of this crowd. They have no regard for other people or empathy. Daisy killed Myrtle in a car accident but didn’t get punished as a normal person would. Instead, Gatsby said he’ll take the blame for her and Daisy left with Tom. For example, it says “I called up Daisy half an hour after we found him, called her instinctively and without hesitation. But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them”(164). Daisy realized she cannot be with Gatsby because his wealth is illegal and won’t protect and secure her like Tom does. Wilson asked Tom who was in the car that killed Myrtle, Tom said Gatsby, because it was his car, which ...
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...The theme, morality is exchanged for wealth, was dramatically strengthened in chapter four. In the motorway plot, the book narrated that “With fenders spread like wings … a frantic policeman rode alongside … Taking a write card from his wallet … Know you next time, Mr. Gatsby. Excuse me!” (F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925, The Great Gatsby) When Gatsby exceeded the maximum speed on the highway, he escaped punishment by simply giving the officer a white card. Whenever someone breaks the traffic laws, they ought to be fined or maybe even sent to jail. Because of this, people are usually afraid of being caught by a traffic police, so that they tend to follow the rules. Gatsby, however, apparently do not worry about the consequence of not obeying, and...
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...Molly Dadrugue December 13, 2014 Gatsby and the American Dream “I have spent my life judging the distance between American reality and the American dream.” -Bruce Springsteen Through the use of metaphors and analogies, Fitzgerald creates a reflective and logical conclusion to The Great Gatsby. In this concluding passage, the narrator, Nick, provides an explanation regarding the extinction of the American Dream, the theme of the novel. The American Dream is not shown to be the American reality in this emotionally and figuratively colorful novel. Fitzgerald uses the analogy of the American Dream in comparison to the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. The green light represents Gatsby’s dream of being with Daisy. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.” (Fitzgerald) This quote describes the metaphor of the green light being Gatsby’s glimpse of hope that he and Daisy will be together in the future. Gatsby’s ignorance caused him to lose touch with the reality that year by year Daisy is moving further and further from Gatsby. This is similar to the American Dream because the green light is being compared to the continent of America. The Dutch sailors mentioned in the passage see American as a glimpse of hope for mankind. With this the American Dream is created, but as time goes by the American Dream seems to fade into a fantasy, just as Daisy fades into an element of Gatsby’s fantasies. At the end of this...
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...numerous of times with Gatsby but never fully committed to Gatsby, she always went back home to her husband, which is what she did after the death of Gatsby. Daisy and Tom always had something going on in their relationship , but she always stayed even when Gatsby stepped up and did things Tom never even tried to do. There is something we don’t know about the two, but at the end Nick says that they are crazy and he see why they're together. Throughout Daisy Buchanan’s confusion with Tom and Gatsby shows that you have to know what you want and where to get it to ever get it. Despite Daisy’s love for Gatsby , she still chooses Tom. Throughout The Great Gatsby Daisy Buchanan actions creates the question , Why won’t Daisy leave Tom...
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...Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. The assumption that wealth makes happiness leads to many characters making drastic measures to find "happiness.” Many characters only care about money throughout the book, Daisy is one of them. She thought that lots of money would make her happy but in reality, it was really Gatsby that made her happy. Daisy loved Gatsby so much but he never had enough money, so once he left for the war she looked for someone who had money. She found Tom, and even though she never really loved Tom she still decided to marry him. Daisy wanted a good, expensive life, someone who could provide for her and give her all she needs and wants, Tom was the person who could do that. "Daisy marries and stays with Tom because of the...
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...Nikki Woldar Mr. J Romano AP English Language and Composition 22 November 2016 Great Gatsby Essay In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, certain characters do not think about their actions and the consequences that come from these choices. Tom Buchanan and Daisy Buchanan are two characters who portray a nature of carelessness and selfishness. In the novel, Fitzgerald wrote, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they made…” This quote signifies that Tom and Daisy are so corrupted by their wealth and perception of life that they...
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...compare Jay Gatsby from Francisco Reteche. When I first saw Gatsby, I already noticed one similarity that I can pair with Reteche wherein they were both mysterious in the starting part of the story and we could not predict what were they thinking. There were still some similarities that I noticed between the two of them like their main problem was about a girl wherein they wanted to be with a certain girl who left them. They were both sad and broken-hearted with the respective girls that they loved hooked up with another men. In the story Zita, Reteche was living alone since his girlfriend left him, as well as in the movie, Jay Gatsby was also living alone since he left his family when he was sixteen years old to earn a living. And lastly, the reason on why Zita from the city and Daisy left Reteche and Gatsby was similar wherein Zita from the city left Reteche because he was just an ordinary man and Zita from the city wanted a rich man, so she left him and clung to a rich guy, while Daisy did not wait for Gatsby anymore because before when there where still a spark between them, Gatsby used to be a nobody, so Daisy married Tom because she felt more secured with Tom because of his wealth and stability in life. I noticed only few differences between Reteche and Gatsby wherein I can say that there were more similarities between them in terms of how the story revolves. The first difference that I noticed was that Reteche was just a poor or average schoolteacher, while Gatsby was rich...
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