A Literary Analysis Of The Great Gatsby

Inside this ravishing book we meet characters Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby, Jordan Baker, Daisy Buchanan, and Tom Buchanan. Mr. Buchanan came from a wealthy family. Nick Carraway mentions how careless Tom was in college with his money on page 6. Along with Tom’s wealth comes his conceded mannerisms. When Nick describes him he says, “two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face… the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward”(Fitzgerald, 7).

Included here are a few words that would also most likely not be in a lower class person’s vocabulary. Even in his thoughts Nick uses phrases such as “irresistible prejudice” to describe things, in this case Gatsby’s smile. While we understand what Nick means is Gatsby and the feeling behind his smile “concentrat[es]” on you, making it seem like you are the single most important thing in the world, this may be lost on others with less developed vocabulary who do not know what the words “irresistible prejudice.” The included details in the passage reinforces the separation of the social classes.

Even more interesting is how Ruthven did not take the money with him. Instead, he lost it to the aforementioned scammer, which stresses the point that his real goal was not to win money, but to make others lose

A notable example of this is when NIck says: “They’re a rotten crowd. You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.” (Page 162). This statement reveals how he understands the major role money plays in corrupting an individual. Unlike the whole West Egg crowd, Nick does not let money, dishonesty, or materialistic items dominate his life.

The two settings used the most throughout the book is West Egg and the Valley of Ashes. West Egg is the area where all the new money people live, including Gatsby. At Gatsby's house, wild lavish parties are very common. However, everyone who attends those parties don't even know Gatsby, they just come because they want to have fun and not worry about anything. Meanwhile, there's the Valley of Ashes, an area outside of the city which is a gray and dull place where ashes and other waste is dumped.

Chapter 3 of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ portrays one of the superficial and lavish parties thrown by Jay Gatsby, a prosperous man with dubious sources of money, from the point of view of his neighbour Nick Carraway. The novel recurringly depicts the American dream through the parties, including wealth, love and finally isolation. F. Scott Fitzgerald makes use of many literary devices and character descriptions to create an extravagant party atmosphere and setting. Fitzgerald demonstrates the frivolousness and carelessness shown by the characters through their descriptions, allowing for the reader to grasp a taste of the American dream. The line “men and girls” exhibits the young age of the women who attended the party, implying them as inexperienced toward this kind of parties; which have alcohol.

This is extremely close to what New York looked like during the 1920s. Long Island was and still is a place for the extreme upper class. The events unfolded in pre-depression Wall Street where people who had a starting capital could multiply their wealth 10-fold and the future looked brighter than ever before and ever sense.

Also, this image implies how fake eyes spy on people, molding the notion of that people create their identities to impress others. Another great use of personification in ‘’The murmur trembled on the verge of coherence, sank down, mounted excitedly, and then ceased all together’’ (Fitzgerald 14). On the other hand, Fitzgerald uses hyperboles to highlight things in an escalated matter, for example: ‘’ Jay Gatsby ... sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God ...

It is the “phoniness” he wants to blame. Salinger used “phony” this word many times in the book and is one of the most famous word from “The Catcher in the Rye” and it accurately describes the human nature of most adults’. During Holden’s three-day-trip in New York, he has met and encountered with many characters who are pretentious and fake, from Mr. Spencer to Luce and Sally. In society people have to lie or be “phony” just to socialize, or impress someone. Holden is a judgemental person who keeps observing other people’s phoniness but never notices them in himself.

Thousands of people, around 2,200 people to be exact, bought tickets to the Titanic and they either bought first class if they were rich, middle class if they saved up or they just had a good amount of money, or third class which were mostly poor immigrants trying to start a good life in America or Canada. Everyone called the Titanic “unsinkable” but anything’s possible so people should just call it the Titanic instead of “unsinkable” because you never know what’s gonna happen. If people knew that the ship was sinkable maybe they would have a better chance of surviving. On page 22 it says, “Phillips began to send the morse code ‘CQD’ distress call, flashing away and joking as he did it. After all, they knew the ship was ‘unsinkable’.”

Life Isn't Black and White. It's a Million Gray Areas... Characters with perfect morals are difficult to come by in a well written book, such as the Great Gatsby. Moral ambiguity not only makes the work more interesting, but adds a sense of realism to it as well. One of the many characters that could be described as morally ambiguous is none other than Jay Gatsby himself.

In chapter one, Nick Carraway says, “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” (Fitzgerald 1). Here, Nick is trying to explain to Gatsby how the upper class rarely seems to realize the problems that the lower classes face. Due to Jay Gatsby’s higher standing within society, he rarely seems to fully comprehend the atrocities of the lower class. Gatsby bases his so-called ‘superiority’ on his money, rather than his actions.

Famous author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, in these passages from his novel, The Great Gatsby, contrasts the qualities of Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan. Fitzgerald’s purpose is to illustrate the differences between the two men. He employs diction, imagery, and details to portray the contrast in the characters of Gatsby and Buchanan. Fitzgerald’s use of connotative diction while describing Gatsby and Buchanan emphasizes their differing personalities.

The Great Gatsby shows Fitzgerald’s view and portrayal of the effect of money on people’s lives. Fitzgerald implies that being wealthy can lead to many great things but that money is everything but happiness and even with Gatsby’s wealth and imaginative mind, he still can not satisfy the image of Daisy since she nor any other women could ever be the girl who he desires. (Durkin). Gatsby wishes that his wealth would bring him the happiness and satisfaction he desires but instead brings him to his deathbed.

Nick’s comments on the ethnicity are less direct and brutal than Tom’s, but still show the upper-class negative and suspicious attitude towards the ethnic groups emphasizing the importance of ethnic hierarchy. Nick suggests, “ A dead man passed us… The friends looked out at us with the tragic short upper lips of southern Europe, and I was glad that the sight of Gatsby’s splendid car was included in their somber holiday” (Fitzgerald 69). The statement that Nick makes is not as absurd as the ones of Tom but still have discriminatory motifs.