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Essays on tragedy
Essays on tragedy
Lilies of the field character analysis
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The idea of tragedy has been around ever since the Greeks. It has always been a major part of literature, from Shakespeare’s plays to modern works. Thousands of authors have written amazing tragedies including the famous American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald in his novel The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby contains many tragic heroes, but the novel is truly the tragedy of George Wilson. The story of George Wilson is truly a tragic because he is a good person, he loses everything and his only part in his downfall is his trust. George Wilson is one of the few characters in the novel that can actually be considered “good”. He is hardworking, faithful and humble. George lives and works in his small car repair shop, which is “one of the three shops” on Main Street and “one shop was for rent and another was an all-night restaurant” (Fitzgerald 24-25). The Valley of Ashes is a desolate environment with very little wealth in it so to keep a business afloat in it requires a lot of dedication. A car repair shop is even harder to keep afloat, as very few people in the Valley of Ashes would own a car. Despite his hardworking attitude and ability to keep his business alive, George Wilson is not arrogant. In fact he is quite the opposite; he is very humble. George knows he is “one of these trusting fellas” who does not want to “think any harm to nobody”(158-159). Throughout the novel, humility is rarely seen in any characters but George. He knows that he is not smart and he admits that he is too trusting, which is tragically what leads to his demise. He knows his place in society and does not pretend to be someone else. This unparalleled humility just proves his good nature. He knows that he is too trusting and he knows that he always sees the... ... middle of paper ... ...s only major test shows up. He trusts in Tom. He asks Tom to tell him who killed Myrtle but Tom did not know who hit Myrtle. Tom thought that Gatsby “ran over Myrtle like you’d run over a dog and never even stopped his car” (178) so he puts the blame on Gatsby, and George as trusting as ever believes him and finishes his tragic tale of demise without actually getting revenge on those that actually caused his pain. The idea that such an honest and humble man can be corrupted is truly tragic, which is only more emphasised by his total loss, the fact that his only fault is trusting people, and that in the end he never actually gets his revenge. George Wilson is truly tragic because of his good nature, his complete and total loss and that his only hand in his downfall was his trust. Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Scribner: New York, 2004. Print.
more diverse look at the life of Gatsby. Also shows how much Gatsby dwells on
When Mr. Potter asked him to join his side so he could get more money, George thought better of himself and decided the best thing to do was to turn down the deal even though it was a once in a lifetime deal. George didn’t want to do it, but he at sometime had to face up to the problem of not getting to see the world like he wanted to when he was younger.
George Bailey: A magnificent individual. He gave a lot to his family members and others in his town. He gave up his adventurous dreams to fulfill, and help others, even the money he had saved up for his honeymoon so that others can lead a normal life until things settle down with the company. He’s very generous heart and puts others needs before him. He does everything possible to help others in any way he can. He is a very honorable man. He proves it by turning down Mr. Potter’s remunerative off to keep him and his family in good standing in the community.
"When I was just out of school I worked with a team of engineers in redesigning a nozzle for a nuclear steam turbine generator... It was an awesome machine... And when it ran... lighting up every home in New York, a feeling radiated through the pit of my stomach as if its nerve endings were connected to each of those ten million light bulbs. That was power. But the winds coming around the corners of that house was God" (251). George's experience in the hurricane is just one example of the contrasts between technology and spirituality. George ardently believes that every problem can be solved with rational thinking, planning and plenty of hard work. His obsession with fixing the bridge after the hurricane further illustrates this point; despite assurances from Mama Day and Dr. Buzzard that the bridge would be built in its own time, George diligently pushes the townsfolk beyond their capacity to work. His behavior surrounding the bridge--not to mention the boat he tries to mend--is based on his desire to save Ophelia from a strange illness. He ignores the advice and guidance of Mama Day and plunges into the crisis through rational means. Ultimately, he loses his own life when saving his beloved wife, though George never understands how or why. Dr. Buzzard had warned him that "A man would have grown enough to know that really believing in himself means that he ain't gotta be afraid to admit there's some things he can't do alone" (292).
Gatsby is quintessentially presented to us as a paradoxical enigma. As the novel progresses this sense of mystery shrouding him is heightened. We see Gatsby through the looking glass, we catch frequent glimpses of him, yet only through Nick’s trained eye. We are, to a certain extent, unable to judge him for ourselves. Even so Nick is eager to depict Gatsby as a multi-faceted character, one who hides behind his own self concocted images of himself. Is this the ‘indiscernible barbed wire’? Is Gatsby himself the ‘foul dust that floated in the wake of’ his own ‘dreams’?
To start off, Nick Carraway is responsible for the death of Gatsby. During the harmonious relationship with Jordan Baker, Nick displays tolerance of Jordan Baker’s dishonest behavior and considers her dishonesty as incurable. Nick expresses his thought to Jordan by saying, “It made no difference to me. Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply ” (58). However, Nick’s forbearance of woman’s dishonesty develops, and his tolerance of dishonesty reaches an apex. Nick soon covers and hides the origin truth of Myrtle Wilson’s death, and he lets Gatsby assume the responsibility of Myrtle’s death. The next day, Nick sees the abandoned corpse of Jay Gatsby at his pool. After the death of Jay, Nick hides the secret of Myrtle’s death from Tom, but displays his disappointment toward Tom. If Nick had told anyone that Daisy was driving the car, George would not have shot Gatsby. Nick Carraway’s wrong decision that was not to tell anyone Daisy ran over Myrtle has led the Gatsby’s death. Moreover, Carraway’s wide tolerance has not prevented the death, but caused it. He is respo...
In Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Tom Buchanan and George Wilson are two characteristics that have very different social backgrounds. Tom Buchanan is an entitled, wealthy, young man who is married to Daisy. Tom lives in West Egg, the location of the “old rich”. George Wilson in a poor man who lives in the valley of ashes with his wife Myrtle. Tom and George are similar yet contrast in their attitudes toward women, the ways they show violence, and their reactions to betrayal.
After Myrtle was hit and killed by a car, Tom told George, her husband, that the person driving the car was Gatsby. It was actually Daisy who killed Myrtle, but Gatsby paid the price for her mistake. George Wilson went to Gatsby’s mansion and shot Gatsby while he was in the pool. After killing Gatsby, George took the gun and commited suicide. Then, Tom took Daisy and their child and moved away and left Nick Carraway without his cousin or his friend. Tom did not care about Gatsby’s death, even though he was someone his wife
“The great Gatsby” is an inspiring novel written by the famous American author Scott Fitzgerald. The novel was published in 1925. It is regarded as Scott’s supreme achievement and also as a masterwork in American literature, and it’s entirely justified.
In the 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the nature of man, and that, though characters may live complete opposite lives and be from different upbringings, even the most contrasting of people can have similarities. In the novel, the readers are introduced to two characters named Tom Buchanan and George Wilson. Tom Buchanan is introduced as an arrogant, wealthy east egg man who has never had to work for his money. George Wilson is introduced as a poor man, living in the Valley of Ashes, who owns an auto shop as a living. Although these men are in different social classes, if you were to strip these men of their wealth, they would have more similarities than differences. Fitzgerald shows through his writing that the nature of man is aggressive, contentious, and cowardly.
The Great Gatsby As A Tragedy A hurried read of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby can generate. a tragic impression of the past. The deaths of three of the main characters and The failure of Gatsby and Daisy's romance can be viewed as tragic. However, a deeper analysis of the book reveals a much deeper tragedy. The relentless struggles of Gatsby parallel Fitzgerald's.
For most people, a certain colour may represent something meaningful to them. While in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, many of the colours used in the novel are meant to represent something. The novel’s setting is in East and West Egg, two places in New York. Our narrator, Nick Carraway, lives in the West Egg. Along with living in West Egg is a friend of Nick’s, Jay Gatsby; a character that is in love with Daisy Buchanan. Unfortunately, Daisy is married to Tom. As the plot unravels, the reader notices the connection between certain colours and their importance to the novel. The use of colours within The Great Gatsby symbolizes actual themes, as grey symbolizes corruption, blue symbolizes reality, and green symbolizes jealousy and envy.
According to Aristotle, a tragic hero character can be defined as being of noble status, but not necessarily virtuous. There is some aspect of his personality that he has in great abundance, but it is this that becomes his tragic flaw and leads to his ultimate demise. However, his tragic ending should not simply sadden the reader, but teach him or her a life lesson. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is the tragic hero who portrays the corruption of the American dream through his tragic flaw. His devastating death at the end of the novel portrays the dangers of centering one’s life on money and other materialistic things, and warns the reader not to follow his foolish steps.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is a superbly written and an intrinsically captivating novel that deals with the decline of the American Dream and how vapid the upper class is. To illustrate and capture the essence of these themes, Fitzgerald uses characters Gatsby, who epitomizes the actual American Dream, and Daisy, who is based on the ideal girl. Yet, as these characters grasp the topics Fitzgerald wants to convey, there is something inherently like missing from the story as a whole. To fill this void, Fitzgerald utilizes minor characters as a means to move the plot along, develop characters further, and build upon the themes present in the novel. One such character is George Wilson.
They are three people that are responsible for Jay Gatsby’s death. One of them is directly to blame, since he pulled the trigger. The other four took part in this murder. The one who pulled the trigger was George Wilson. George was really emotional because of his wife’s murder. George really loved his wife, and he was really in grief. George thought that Gatsby was myrtle lover. He said “It was the man in that car. She ran out to speak to him and he wouldn’t stop.”(Fitzgerald159). George thinks that Myrtle knew the owner of yellow car. Since Wilson had found out about the offer, he must have thought that Gatsby was driving the car and ran over Myrtle, when in reality was innocent. George should have found out who was driving the car rather than who own it. George killed Gatsby because of lie told by Tom Buchannan.