The Balance Within By Estherna Sternberg Analysis

The novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald exposes the economic traps and social norms of the 1920s in through symbolism context and setting. Set in the 1920s, Jay Gatsby is a character that rose the poverty to millionaire status. He represents the new money during the 1920s. Tom Buchanan symbolizes old wealth. Daisy Buchanan represents a woman who marries for money, not love and regrets it her whole life.

The book The Great Gatsby written by Scott Fitzgerald is a fascinating tale of isolation and friendship. There’s a proverb that says “loneliness breaks the spirit” (unknown). This proverb really connects to the story about how social interaction is something that the human soul needs. In the book Gatsby's isolation eventually lead to his demise. Everyone that lived in west egg and in east egg new of a gentleman called Gatsby but no one really knew who he was.

James Gatz was born in the Midwest, in North Dakota. Even when Gatsby was just a boy living in the Midwest he loathed being poor and he hoped dreamed for wealth and sophistication. Gatsby was so very determined to reinvent himself that he even made a schedule. "Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always had some resolves like this or something.

In the novel, “The Great Gatsby”, in chapter 3, Gatsby’s behavior when he would do his parties would be unusual because he would not participate in his own festivities. He would throw the parties for people to enjoy but would not behave like his guests would. He makes it look like if he wants something to happen but it never occurs yet. For example, Gatsby’s odd behavior is shown when he Nick finds him “standing alone on the marble steps and looking from one group to another with approving eyes.” Gatsby does this in a way of illustrating that he might see someone who he has been waiting for long period of time.

After the devastation of World War I, the American people had a revolution in the social standards from traditional views to more modern. The moral compass of people was no longer based on basic religious rules but instead regarded ethics as a relative concept. This venturing out from traditional ways gave the people a door to start the extreme materialism and partying as a way of life. Along with the “roarin” side of the 20s, there also came a group of writers known as the Lost Generation. One of these writers that arose with the Lost Generation was F. Scott Fitzgerald.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, there is no question that Jay Gatsby, West-Egg nouveau riche and mysterious host of frequent, extravagant parties, is wealthy; nevertheless, few of his guests understand how he became so. Preoccupied with the festivities, other newly-rich party-goers neither know much about their host nor appear interested in finding out. Nick’s sincere request to meet the man who sent him the invitation is met by amused replies that Gatsby does not exist. In large part, this statement is true; for Gatsby hardly exists beyond his guest’s fantasized perceptions of him. Because of Jay Gatsby’s ambiguous past, Rumors prevail as a common theme of conversation among Gatsby’s guests, as they speculate how he acquired such material wealth.

The feeling of loneliness is fundamentally experienced by persons irrespective of all differences. There is, however a general consensus among researchers about the inevitability of loneliness. John Donne asserted that: No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse . . .

In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby is a young man, around thirty years old, who rose from an impoverished childhood in rural North Dakota to become fabulously wealthy. However, he does not belong in the wealthy class. One reason Gatsby doesn't belong in the wealthy class would be how Gatsby manages his money. Gatsby's money did not come from inheritance, as he would like people to believe, but from organized crime. The story takes place during the time of prohibition and Gatsby has profited greatly from selling liquor illegally.

Jay Gatsby is a dream of James Gatz, a boy who grew up in an impoverished family and had an ill-defined past in rural North Dakota. Since his childhood, James resented poverty and wanted to be wealthy and prosperous- something that he would achieve later in his life, but would never enjoy. The path to richness is full of disappointments and misfortunes, but even after reaching the goal, some never acquire the desired happiness. Northrop Frye, one of the most influential literary critics of the twentieth century and the author of Anatomy of Criticism, discusses many aspects of a tragic hero in his essay “Tragic Fictional Modes.” Many of Frye’s ideas can be applied to the tragic protagonist of Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, James Gatz,

It refers to the situation in which a pair has multiple ties in different contexts of the society within the given time frame. This multiple layer of relationship in between the pair, increases their emotional bonding thus enhancing their social capital domain. Verbrugge defined multiplexity as: - the overlap of roles, exchanges, or affiliations in social relationships. Having a close friend who also is a co-worker or neighbour is an example of a multiplex relationship (Verbrugge,1979). Coleman viewed Multiplexity in social relationships as enriching social capital because it allows social organizations to be appropriated from one situation to another.

The characters in the novel pretend that they have their lives all figured out, but through their successes their downfalls and emptiness can be seen, to prove that money cannot buy happiness. Jay Gatsby is the newest and upcoming star in New York during the 1920’s. Through his business and inheritance he is one of the richest men of his time. One may think that his abundance of wealth would lead him to be eternally happy, but he is the opposite. Gatsby longs for his love of Daisy, which is his personal American Dream.

Goals can drive a man to great lengths to get what he wants even to the point of insanity and recklessness. Gatsby had great plans almost living the “American Dream” living in a waterfront mansion, acquiring endless amounts of money and even throwing lavish and exquisite parties and almost getting his “dream girl”. At the beginning of the story it seemed that Gatsby acquired greatness, but we later realize that the man we thought we knew was carrying out his life to get Daisy despite her marriage with Tom. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book The Great Gatsby, the main character Gatsby had great plans for the future, but his ways of carrying out those plans defined his character as weak and menial, since he degraded his family, attempted to steal