...The Great Gatsby: Summary: Nick Carraway, a young man from Minnesota, moves to New York in the summer of 1922 to learn about the bond business. He rents a house in the West Egg, Long Island, a wealthy area populated by the new rich, people who made their fortunes due to the economic upswing of the Roaring Twenties. Nick’s next-door neighbor in West Egg is a mysterious man named Jay Gatsby, who lives in a huge mansion and throws extravagant parties on the weekends. Nick is unlike the other inhabitants of West Egg—he was educated at Yale and has social connections in East Egg, a fashionable area of Long Island and the home of the upper class. Nick drives out to East Egg one evening to have dinner with his cousin, Daisy Buchanan, and her husband, Tom, a former classmate of Nick during his time at Yale. Daisy and Tom introduce Nick to Jordan Baker, a beautiful, cynical young woman with whom Nick begins a romantic relationship. Nick also learns a bit about Daisy and Tom’s marriage: Jordan tells him that Tom has a lover, Myrtle Wilson, who lives in the valley of ashes, a gray industrial dumping ground between West Egg and New York City. Not long after this revelation, Nick travels to New York City with Tom and Myrtle. At a random, vulgar party in the apartment that Tom bought because of his affair, Myrtle begins to taunt Tom about Daisy, and Tom responds by breaking her nose. As the summer progresses, Nick eventually gets an invitation to one of Gatsby’s legendary parties. He encounters...
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...The Great Gatsby In the United States Declaration of Independence our nation founding fathers came up with the idea that “all men are created equal” in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. However there has always been a great divide in our country’s society and class, with the top one percent nearly owning all of our nation’s wealth. With the majority of society being of middle and lower class population some of which are struggling to make ends meat living paycheck to paycheck. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby which takes place in the early 1920’s. There is also a great divide in class and society. You have the wealthy and arrogant east egg and west egg citizens who have either had money in their family past down from generations of inheritance also receiving a fine education at an ivy league school or you have the new money and live in west egg earning a living as a bootlegger or involved in other mob activities like Jay Gatsby who was raised on hardships growing up. But like most people in today’s society you have the valley of ashes which resembles our middle and lower class of people who may be hard working people yet they don’t have the financial benefits of being born into wealth. The American Dream of living a prosperous life and being rich and earning a high level of importance in society just to impress people or attract someone to you is something that all of the characters surrounding Nick Carraway have in common. They idealize fame and fortune...
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...Throughout the text of The Great Gatsby, we see evidence of the time period in which it was written/set and the mindset of the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald. If we use this book as any indication of Fitzgerald’s thoughts we can see that he did not think very highly of women, especially within the upper class. All of the women in The Great Gatsby are either unpleasant, dishonest, or shallow. While this book makes the statement that men can be all these things as well, we are given at least one honest and morally decent male character, Nick. There are three female characters in The Great Gatsby; Daisy Buchanan, the love interest of Gatsby and wife of Tom, Jordan Baker, friend of Daisy as well as nicks romantic interest, and Lastly Myrtle Wilson,...
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...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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...writers of the 20th century and the time called the „Jazz Age”. His most famous works are „The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and „The Great Gatsby” which have been adapted into films. The Great Gatsby has been the basis for many movie adaptations of the same name in 1926, 1949, 1974, 2000, and the latest in 2013. 2. Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony "Baz" Luhrmann (1962 - ) is an Australian film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for directing Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge, Australia and the newest version of The Great Gatsby released in 2013. 3. „The Great Gatsby” – the plot of the novel The Great Gatsby is an American novel written in 1925 that follows a cast of characters living in the fictional town of West Egg on Long Island in the summer of 1922. The story primarily concerns the young, handsome and mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his unrealistic illusion and passion for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan. Major characters Nick Carraway – a Yale graduate originating from the Midwest, a World War I veteran, and, at the start of the plot, a newly arrived resident of West Egg, who is about 30 years old. He serves as the first-person narrator of the novel. He is Gatsby's next-door neighbour and a bond salesman. He is an easy-going, occasionally sarcastic, and quite optimistic person. Jay Gatsby (originally James "Jimmy" Gatz) – a young, handsome and mysterious millionaire with shady business connections, originally from North...
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...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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...The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (published on April 10, 1925) is one novel that anyone would regret not reading. It has gone down in history as one of the most important works in American literature — and, to many, the great American novel. Fitzgerald has succeeded in offering up commentary on a variety of themes — justice, power, greed, betrayal, the American dream and so on through Nick as a narrator. There are two most impressive symbols in the novel. The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock and the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg remains obsessing in readers’ minds. The first is a perfect example of the manner in which characters The Great Gatsby. Situated at the end of Daisy’s East Egg dock and barely visible from Gatsby’s West Egg lawn, the green light represents Gatsby’s hopes and dreams. Gatsby associates it with Daisy, to whom “ he bought house to be near her, he threw all those parties hoping she would wander in one night”. In Chapter 1 he reaches toward the green light on the other side of the river, in the darkness as a guiding light to lead him to his goal. Gatsby’s quest for Daisy is broadly associated with the American dream: “all man are created equal and that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness”, the green light also symbolizes that more generalized ideal. Though, The Great Gatsby illustrates the downgrade value of American Dream, instead of...
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...When my family moved to America from Pakistan before I was born, they chased the American Dream. This dream consists of having a fulfilled life with wealth, happiness and protection for the family. In the novel written by Scott Fitzgerald in 1925 called The Great Gatsby provides a great commentary for the life that people lived in the 1920s. The protagonist, Nick Carraway witnesses corruption with different relationships because of lavish lifestyles. Jay Gatsby, Nick’s neighbor throws lavish parties in hopes to attract his past lover, Daisy. He lost the love of his life when he went to war and came back realizing that she married a man with more wealth and security, Tom. The American Dream is defined as someone with low income or social status...
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...In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, gender disparities between the characters play a significant role within the novel. Male superiority is a concept seen most frequently, especially within characters such as Tom. Fitzgerald represents his women characters as strictly their husbands’ wives, which is relative to the time period. By looking at chapter seven through the gender lense, one can see the display of sexism and authority that men had over women in this novel as a whole. The gender lense is exemplified by sexist statements made by male characters, Gatsby and Tom fighting over Daisy, and George’s harsh actions towards Myrtle. Power relations between men and women in The Great Gatsby is a relevant theme that Fitzgerald demonstrates...
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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 Great Gatsby, which people consider as Fitzgerald’s best literary work, portrays the journey of a man in acquiring success and love throughout the Jazz age. The protagonist is Jay Gatsby who attempts to win Daisy Buchanan’s love a high-class woman by using illegal ways to become wealthy. This paper uses themes as a literary device as it relates to The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald. The most important underlying themes of the novel however are honesty and dishonesty, American dream, class, violence, gender roles, and moral decay. Theme of honesty and dishonesty: As compared to other works, the theme of honesty in Fitzgerald’s novel fails to distinguish compassionate characters from the uncompassionate ones. Honesty and dishonesty is a major...
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...The title of a novel creates the first ideas and pictures of Gatsby before any word is read; great describes Gatsby in simple language and places him on a pedestal before the events of the novel unfold for the reader. Fitzgerald gives the first example of Gatsby’s greatness when describing his mansion as “a factual imitation of some Hôtel 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,” (Fitzgerald 5) but the diction chosen also creates an oxymoron between a great house that is simply a new imitation. For the reader, this brings up the possibility of Gatsby’s facade while also setting the stage for further exploration of outward...
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...The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald talks about selfishness of others and judgment of God. Gatsby, also known as our protagonist, is a guy who sets his life around one desire. The thing that he desires the most is to be reunited with Daisy Buchanan, a women he feel in love with many years ago. Although this might seem romantic, unfortunately Daisy has a husband, Tom Buchanan, known as our antagonist. Tom is wealthy, yet a very despicable man. The Main conflict is really Tom and his actions. Tom has a conflict with everyone in the book because he is such a cynical and aggressive man. His biggest conflict is with Gatsby. Tom is very selfish and does not have the desire to change his self or his attitude. Along with Tom's selfishness is...
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...Application of Marxism on The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald Marxist literary critics tend to look for tensions and contradictions within literary works. This is appropriate because Marxism was originally formulated to analyze just such tensions and contradictions within society. Marxist literary critics also see literature as intimately linked to social power, and thus their analysis of literature is linked to larger social questions. Since Marxism is a belief system which can be used to analyze society at the grandest or most detailed level, Marxist literary criticism is ultimately part of a much larger effort to uncover the inner workings of society 1. Title of the Book – The Great Gatsby: Gatsby became rich because, most probably Cody – the owner of the yatch, left him money but at the same time he is was committed to earning money at an early stage in his life. And the adjective Great added to the word noun, accounts for Fitzgerald reason why a man could be called a great that is he struggled hard to achieve the love of his life by trying to raise his stature. The word “Great” is added to emphasize the fact that he rose from rags to riches, and this fact should be respected and valued. Nick: “I suppose he'd had the name ready for a long time, even then. His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people--his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all. The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception...
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...All throughout The Great Gatsby, we see people cheating on their wives or husbands cheating on their wives. It was a happy but very sad time in American history. Fitzgerald perfectly reveals this in his book with the characters Tom Buchanan and George Wilson. These men are different yet are the same in many ways. Either they had their wife cheating on them or they were cheating on their wife. With Tom, he was cheating on his wife, while Wilson had his wife cheat on him. These men represent the men of that time and what went through many of the relationships of that time. Tom Buchanan was the man that every girl wanted. He was athletic, good looking, and came from a wealthy old family. George Wilson was from the lower class and did not have much money to live off....
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