The Great Gatsby Close Reading Analysis
Great Gatsby Close Reading
America is known as the land of opportunities and achieving dreams. People have been migrating to America ever since it was discovered, however, the major wave of immigration occurred from the 1880s to 1920. The American dream is the belief that if someone tries hard enough, then they can reach their dream and attain their own version of success in society, it is achieved through sacrifice, risk-taking and hard work. However, this is not always the case. In 1925 the famous American author F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the novel the great Gatsby, which illustrates the corruption of the American Dream. Jay Gatsby is the protagonist of the story and he is holding on to an unattainable dream. Throughout the book, Fitzgerald
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The last line is one of the most popular lines in literature, it is written in iambic form because Fitzgerald wants the reader to think carefully about every single word. In the line that concludes the novel, Fitzgerald is returning to the theme of human beings struggle to achieve their goals by re-creating the past. In the metaphoric language used here, “boats against the current” shows that the current draws them backward as they row forward toward the green light. People try to move forward, but they are pushed “ceaselessly into the past” unable to move beyond that one happy point. Fitzgerald's writing reveals the eagerness of the people that are trying to transform their dreams into reality. They are never losing hope, “tomorrow we will run faster,” expending all of their energy trying to pursue a goal that keeps on moving farther and farther. By using metaphor, Fitzgerald characterizes both Gatsby’s struggle and the American dream itself. Another poetic effect Fitzgerald uses in the last line is the alliteration of the “B” sound. The point of alliteration is to make the reader focus on a particular text. The “B” sound indicates the existence of a conflict or struggle since there is a collision of forces between the boat and the
Allusions In The Great Gatsby
1352 Words | 6 PagesThroughout The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses allusions to portray Gatsby as a representative of the “American Dream” and to foreshadow the eventual collapse of the relationship between Daisy and Tom, which, in turn, presents Gatsby’s desire
Examples Of Deception In The Great Gatsby
826 Words | 4 PagesThe Great Gatsby is an American novel written by Scott Fitzgerald. On the surface, the book revolves around the concept of romance, the love between two individuals. However, the novel incorporates less of a romantic scope and rather focuses on the theme of the American Dream in the 1920s. Fitzgerald depicts the 1920’s as an era of decline in moral values. The strong desire for luxurious pleasure and money ultimately corrupts the American dream which was originally about individualism.
How Is The American Dream Unobtainable
353 Words | 2 PagesAmerica has always lured people with an unfulfilling promise of more; people come to America with nothing to try and gain something that’s unobtainable; Unfortunately, what they find is far from what they wanted to gain. F. Scott Fitzgerald expressed just how much of a lie the American dream was in The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald lived as a captive of the dream 's unlawful grip that promised so much but gave so little. He was born middle class and tried his hardest to become more than what his father was, but as ambitious as he was he never gained the wealth and elite status that he desired. The Great Gatsby was his way of stating the way that things were at the time, and he writes about how the American dream is unobtainable through symbolism.
Great Gatsby Greed Quotes
748 Words | 3 PagesThe Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925, is a novel that is known for its focus on the idea of the American Dream. The Great Gatsby has a relatively negative viewpoint, and revolves around the idea that the American Dream is indeed dead. In the 1920s the American Dream was corrupted due to the idea of easy money, and relaxed social values. The pursuit of happiness, was quickly replaced by the desire to strike it big, and get rich. For example, in the novel we are introduced to Gatsby's dream of having Daisy, and being dissatisfied with who he is.
Use Of Syntax In The Great Gatsby
864 Words | 4 PagesTrinity Roodbeen 4th Hour Rough Draft Essay Dreams are just illusions that our brain creates to help us want to succeed in life or achieve a personal goal. Sometimes our dreams can be so relevant in our minds we will do almost anything to make it a reality. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses syntax, similies, and diction to represent a place where cruel, mean men receive women longed for by dreamers like Gatsby and Wilson.
Myrtle Wilson In The Great Gatsby
951 Words | 4 PagesFrancis 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.
Examples Of Duality In The Great Gatsby
884 Words | 4 PagesThe 1920’s was a very interesting time in United States history. After all World War I had ended and many Americans did not realize that the Great Depression was in the near future, so the 1920’s fell between these two dramatic events. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby teaches many morals, but none more important than the duality of the 1920’s. Duality is evident in Gatsby's dreams, his death, his lover Daisy, his wealth, and his parties, which all reflect the duality of the 1920’s. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald makes the concept of achieving the American dream seem improbable.
The Great Gatsby Passage Analysis
951 Words | 4 PagesThe novel concludes “So we beat on, boats against the current borne back ceaselessly into the past” (108). This means as we keep trying to move forward we are still restricted and defined by our past. Throughout the book Gatsby could not let go of the past and Fitzgerald related this to society. America was meant to be the new world filled with potential but this idea was soon ruined by old aristocratic values, like the Buchanans represent in the novel. To Fitzgerald, America is not full of possibilities, its frontier that failed to rise above its aristocratic European origins, just as Gatsby failed to escape from his
Essay On The American Dream In The Great Gatsby
923 Words | 4 PagesThe Great Gatsby discusses and portrays various themes and ideas that tie into the American Dream. Fitzgerald develops several life-like characters that convey the reality of achieving the ideal every American dreams of. F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of the novel The Great Gatsby, illustrates the corruption behind aiming to achieve the American Dream through Gatsby’s
How Does Jay Gatsby Fulfill The American Dream
723 Words | 3 PagesThe Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald shows how Jay Gatsby tries to fulfill the ideals of the American Dream. When Gatsby was young, he set goals and worked hard to improve. He pursued the typical American dream of gaining wealth, finding a companion, and being admired by others. Gatsby thought it was best to try and change everything about himself. He wears a thick mask of lies throughout the story, hiding his past, changing his name, suppressing his emotions, and even adapting his word choice.
Literary Analysis Of The Great Gatsby
1218 Words | 5 PagesThe Great Gatsby Literary Analysis “They were careless people…” says Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby. In a story depicting the 1920s during a time of prosperity, growth, and the emergence of the America as a major global power, this statement may seem to be contrary. But in reality, Nick Carraway’s description of his friends and the people he knew, was not only true, but is an indication of those who were striving for the American dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests that the American Dream is foolish, the people who pursue it are immoral and reckless, and this pursuit is futile. First, F. Scott Fitzgerald proposes that the American dream is foolish.
Is The Great Gatsby Still Relevant To Today's American Society
819 Words | 4 PagesWe all like to believe that hard work and persistence pays off. The Great Gatsby is a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald that includes many themes such as wealth, love, dissatisfaction, and most importantly, the American dream, and how it’s really only a dream. The characters, especially Gatsby, are trying to achieve this dream of a perfect life throughout the entire book. It becomes apparent that instead of reaching the success they desire from the hard work that they put in, they destroy their entire lives and relationships with one another in the process. Unfortunately, this story is not too far off from something that could happen today.
Personification Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby
1140 Words | 5 PagesGatsby wallows in his suffering, unable to see America as a land where he can be revitalized. Hereafter, he becomes a "a boat against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past" (159). According to a classic nursery hymn, 'life is but a dream ', a fact that Gatsby silently
The American Dream In The Great Gatsby Essay
1133 Words | 5 PagesF. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is a reflection of the American Dream. Written in 1925, the book tells the story of a man named Jay Gatsby, whose main driving force in life is the pursuit of a woman called Daisy Buchanan. The narrator is Gatsby’s observant next-door neighbor, Nick Carraway, who offers a fresh, outsider’s perspective on the events; the action takes place in New York during the so-called Roaring Twenties. By 1922, when The Great Gatsby takes place, the American Dream had little to do with Providence divine and a great deal to do with feelings organized around style and personal changed – and above all, with the unexamined self .
The Negative Side Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby
772 Words | 4 PagesAnd one fine morning— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past" (Pg. 182). Dreams tie to places or people previously in everyone’s lives, or tirelessly enduring optimism that blinds and obscures the truth. However, Gatsby shows that although these qualities may hold people back, it is one’s past that shapes their future. Through the love, heartbreak, money, fame, liquor, and revelry, Gatsby keeps hope for his future with Daisy. It is the disconnect between dreams and reality that causes the wishes of the past to swell up like waves on the bay and threaten to capsize the vessel of hope bearing the emblem of
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