Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby are polar opposites. Nick is poor while Gatsby is rich, Nick is laid-back while Jay is social and throws extravagant parties every weekend, and Nick is honest and doesn’t hide who he is while nobody truly knows who Gatsby really is or how he got his riches or even what he really does. So, how are the two such close friends? Through the differences, Fitzgerald immaculately used multiple elements and devices to style his writing and portray Nick and Jay’s characters and their relationship.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s modernistic novel, The Great Gatsby pointed to many instances where the theme of disillusionment was apparent. All three examples, the American Dream, the upper class and marriage all point to the lesson that not everything that seems perfect on the outside really is perfect. One could have all the riches in the world but still feel as poor as a beggar on the street. Fitzgerald conveyed this to the readers through Gatsby, Daisy and Tom lives through the eyes of an honest, smart and level-headed Nick
The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a classic 20th century story -that period was also known as the “roaring twenties”- which critiques the vision of the American Dream people in general have. At that time, the idea of a free market, and industrial revolution provided the opportunity for many to seize the market and people were starting to see that they could become rich without having any type of restriction. New York city was the centre of this wealth-creating society. After the war, this movement generated new opportunities and ambitions for people wanting to start a wealthy upper class life. That period of time was all about alcohol, partying, gambling, fashion, and money. The Great Gatsby presents its characters as having living the American Dream. However, it is only a belief; the behaviors they have and decisions they take only leave them with a false perception of life and lifestyle. The Great Gatsby relates to the corruption of the American Dream for those materialistic people who were after money. Fitzgerald reveals the idea of corruption in the American Dream through conditions such as wealth and materialism, power and social status, and relationships involving family and affairs. He uses examples of this corruption to show the reader that people are willing to lie, betray others, and commit crime to be able to live a ‘better and fuller’ life.
Humans, by our very nature, are always striving to achieve more in life. Unfortunately, our materialistic society, and that of the Roaring Twenties, interpret this as striving for wealth. That pursuit often becomes all-consuming, eventually hindering our pursuit of gratifying life goals. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts wealth as a fraudulent thief whose pursuit must be abandoned for the sake of tangible fulfillment. He illustrates the dangers of attempting to find gratification in wealth through the life of Jay Gatsby, who ironically sacrifices morality, identity, and love in order to gain wealth, which he attempts to use to justify his claim to these very things. When Gatsby loses everything, we see that wealth not only fails as a means of fulfillment but actively participates in the destruction of this goal. Fitzgerald suggests that wealth cannot lead to happiness, rather it undermines the existing and potential good in life. It should therefore should not be used as means of attaining fulfillment.
In the text, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses a wide range of literary techniques to convey a lack of spirituality, and immorality. Techniques such as characterisation, symbolism, and metaphors help to cement the ideas Fitzgerald explores. However, there are some features to this world that redeem it. Which are displayed through expert execution of techniques like characterisation, contrast, and repetition. The world of The Great Gatsby is home to many morally corrupt and spiritually empty characters however, the world itself is not a spiritual and moral wasteland.
The 1920’s was a time of prosperity in the United States. The economy was booming, and everyone believed that they could become wealthy. Everyone also believed that they could be anything they wanted. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald many characters strive for wealth and status but fail, and those with wealth lead unfulfilling lives. This is because social class barriers are insurmountable. Furthermore, it is almost impossible to escape poverty when no opportunities to escape are presented. Finally, those who belong to the upper-class exhibit carelessness and subsequently lead empty lives. Although the American Dream has great ideals and is amazing in theory, it ultimately fails when put to the test as exhibited
The act of ownership has the power to completely take over one’s sense of self and identity. More specifically, in today’s society, people have become so consumed with wanting to own certain tangible and intangible aspects in order to portray themselves in their desired persona.
In the drive for economic power there is sacrifice, as money cannot buy enduring happiness. The Great Gatsby is a parable for this timeless life lesson, exploring the limitations of economic power. The sombre tone in ‘It was strange to reach the marble steps and find no stir of bright
Francis Scott Fitzgerald once stated, “The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart and all they can do is stare blankly.” Throughout his famous work, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrayed the American Dream. Contrary to the ideology of the “Roaring Twenties” society, he described the American Dream as a delusion. People of the era focused on materialism in order to boost their wealth and status and forgot the importance of their relationships. Several characters within the novel sought to gain a higher status in society. Throughout The Great Gatsby, Myrtle Wilson desired to fit in with the upper class; however, her marriage to George Wilson prevented such from occurring. Myrtle failed to recognize her husband’s hard work and true character due to her efforts to rise in social status. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald emphasized Myrtle’s hatred towards her marriage through her conversation with Catherine, depicting how people of the twenties focused more on wealth and power compared to moral American values.
The novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitz Gerald embodies many themes. A major in the story is the pursuit of can be labelled the American Dream. The American Dream is defined as someone starting low on the economic or social level, and working hard towards prosperity and or wealth and fame. By having money, a car, a big house, nice clothes and a happy family symbolizes the American dream. The Great Gatsby shows what happened to the American Dream in the 1920’s, which is a time period when the dreams became corrupted for many reasons. Through the empty lives of three characters from this novel—Myrtle, Daisy, and Jay Gatsby—Fitzgerald shows that chasing hollow dreams leads only to misery.
The Great Gatsby is probably F. Scott Fitzgerald 's greatest novel--a book that offers damning and insightful views of the American nouveau riche in the 1920s. The Great Gatsby is an American classic and a wonderfully evocative work.
After World War I, America seemed to provide unlimited opportunities for anyone willing to work hard—an American Dream. For many people the idea of accomplishing their American dream corrupted them, as they acquired wealth it changed them and made them a completely different person. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, we learn about a few character that appear to take advantage of the freedom of the 1920s, their lives reflect the hollowness that results when wealth and pleasure become ends in themselves. The three characters in this novel — George Wilson, Jay Gatsby, and Daisy Buchanan—show that chasing the American dream can have a very high cost in the end, and only end in misery.
1. One of the outstanding themes of The Great Gatsby is society and the classes that are involved in the society. The overall message about society is not one that is pleasant. Society is thought to be divided based on money and personality -- someone who has more money and the high class attitude is put on the top rather someone with little money and a lower class personality is dropped to the bottom. But within this anaylsis, Nick finds something even bigger than just division. After Gatsby held his extravagant parties “eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before” (39). Gatsby is in one of the higher classes and the lower class, the servants have
On many occasions, the American dream is associated with the search for happiness. Indeed, the idea of this dream arises from the American Declaration of Independence that portrays the United States as the land of freedom, rights and happiness. However, this dream has changed over the years. In other words,
The American Dream is the opportunity for all Americans to live a life of personal happiness and material comfort, but is it actually achievable? F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, is a story of characters working hard to achieve the American Dream, but ultimately they are unable to ever realize their perfect life. The novel makes a naturalism argument about about the rigid class system in society and disillusionment of the American Dream.