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The role of woman in literature
The role of woman in literature
Use of symbols in the novel "The Great Gatsby
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Comparing the Women in Fifth Business and The Great Gatsby
Behind every great man lies a great women. In some cases the women herself may not always be good or ideal according to society. Nevertheless it seems to add character to
the man, and also influences his actions and maybe even his morals. In the novel The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway's realization of the equality of man altered through his origin sets him up as a morally sound standard, until confronted by Jordan Baker. The "American Dream" will never be a failure if Jordan does not develop Nick into his final character. In the novel Fifth Business, Jung's theory suggests that the conscious part of Dunny's personality is brought out by Liesl. It is Liesl that allows Dunny to understand his function as "Fifth Business."
The development of Dunny's character in the novel begins when Dunny falls in love with Faustina. It is because of these female characters that both protagonists learn to accept the emotional side of their lives, which are provided by these women, who possess immoral values that allows Nick and Dunny to develop into the final stages of their characters, essentially making them the same. Nick's realization of the equality of man and morals change when he comes in contact with Jordan Baker. Jordan possesses certain qualities that only benefit her. She likes to bend the rules so that the positive result ends up in her favor. She has allowed herself to be wrapped in a blanket of dishonesty that Nick would not be able to live, until he realizes that he can.
It is undetermined whether or not Nick chooses to ignore Jordan's dishonesty or whether it goes by naturally, because, in the early stages of the novel he does not seem affected by it.
"No thanks,said Miss Baker to the four cocktails just from the pantry, I'm absolutely in training. Her host looked at her incredulously. You are!...How you get anything done is beyond me."(pg.. 27 ln16)
Now this was the first time Jordan and Nick came into contact with one another, and it is said that the first impressions are extremely important. However, for a strong moral person like Nick, his reaction is surprising when he simply states, "I enjoyed looking at her."(pg. 27 ln 23)This is a sign of his first stages of development, which will soon result into what the author intended.
The "American Dream" cannot be recognized as a fa...
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...The Great Gatsby both shape Dunny Ramsay and Nick Carraway into the same person. In the novel Fifth Business, the development of
Dunny's character begins when Dunny falls in love with Faustina. It is Liesl that allows
Dunny to understand his function as "Fifth Business." Jung's theory suggests that the conscious part of Dunny's personality is brought out by Liesl.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, the "American Dream" will never be a failure if Jordan does not develop Nick into his final character. Nick Carraway's realization of the equality of man altered through his origin sets him up as a morally sound standard, until confronted by Jordan Baker. Men and Women seem to be in constant battle for certain right but in the end, it is obvious that society has a real difficult time dealing with such issues. It is the job of society to understand this, and come to a realization about themselves.
"She lived by a light that arose from within; I could not comprehend it."
Fifth Business(pg. 52)
Bibliography
Davies, Robertson. Fifth Business Penguin Book 1996
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby The Bodley Head 1975
*Note: Jung Theories and themes taken from class notes
As much as generous and honest Nick Carraway is, he still needs a few important improvements in himself. Nick went to Yale, fought in world war one and moved to East of New York to work in finance. After moving to New York, Nick faces tough dilemmas throughout the story such as revealing secrets, and witnessing betrayal. His innocence and malevolence toward others was beyond his control. He did not have the ability or knowledge to know what he should have done in the spots he was set in. He seemed lost and having no control of what went on- almost trapped- but indeed, he had more control than he could have ever known. Because of the situations he has experienced and the people he has met, such as Gatsby, Tom, Jordan and Daisy, his point of view on the world changed dramatically which is very depressing. Trusting the others and caring for them greatly has put him in a disheartening gloomy position.
The characterization of Jordan Baker as a bored, shallow woman is introduced through the use of description, word-choice, and sentence structure, and accurately represents the rest of the people Nick meets throughout the novel who fake their lives and use the cover of wealth to distract from their inner turmoil.
However, despite Nick’s flaws and obvious misjudgement of himself, Nick does not become a ‘bad person’. On the contrary, it is these flaws and errors of judgement that shape Nick into a human, relatable character. Being human is not about perfection; on the contrary, it is flaws of character and errors of judgement that shape the human experience.
(Fitzgerald, pg. 63) Jordan is explaining to Nick how she is able to drive badly as
Among the first indicators of Nick’s unreliability as a narrator is shown through his extreme misunderstanding of his father’s advice. When Nick’s father told him that “Whenever you feel like criticizing any one, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages you’ve had” (1) he most likely meant not all people have the same opportunities in life. However, Nick perverted his father’s meaning and understood it as “a sense of the fundamental decencies us parceled out unequally at birth” (2). Nick’s interpretation of his father’s advice provides insight into his conceited, somewhat supercilious attitude, as he believes that not all people are born with the same sense of manners and morality.
In the Great Gatsby, by F Scott Fitzgerald the novel does not reflect an autobiography, but several of Fitzgerald’s personal experiences are reflected in it. Similarities can be drawn between the novel and Scott Fitzgeralds own life. Similarities include Gatsby and Fitzgerald 's want for success through continuous failure, dreams of success, strong feelings towards alcohol, and their love life. Nick’s qualities that relate to Fitzgerald include his honesty as a man in relation to the liars surrounding him. Also his mid western values to not be judgemental makes him a perfect observer, but also makes him the perfect outsider, which is how Fitzgerald always felt in the company of rich people. The relation between Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby
Nick attempts to deceive the reader at the beginning of the novel by describing himself as a man who is inclined to reserve all judgments (3). But Nick actually evaluates everyone based off his own bias judgments. He describes Jordan Baker as an incurably dishonest (57) and careless person (58). Tom and Daisy are careless people who “smash-up things and creatures and then retreat back into their money or vast carelessness” (179), according to Nick’s description. He describes Mr. McKee as feminine (30). Nick also describes George Wilson as a spiritless man (25). He is effectively not reserving his judgments. This deception and lying from Nick is another reason why he is an unreliable narrator, which goes against how Nick generally describes himself as an honest man who reserves all judgments, showing his non-objective stance.
Nick is more of a spectator than an actor in the story. He is just an
Nick Carraway is the only character worth knowing in The Great Gatsby. He is living in East Egg with the rich and powerful people. He is on the guest lists to all of their parties and yet he is the person most worthy of attending such parties because he is well bread and his family is certainly not poor. “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” (Ch1, P1). These words were taught to Nick by his father showing the qualities that a man with goals and values would have in a place where goals and values was no existent. His Judgmental eye for character and guts of using them when desired makes him more interesting. He has a greatest fear that he will be all alone by himself.
At the roaring ages of 1920s, the booming economy brings up the notion of American dream. People chase the American dream in pursuit of happiness while some of them believe that wealth will fix everything in life. For the same reason, they are wiling to idolize Gatsby. Chasers are inspired by achievers just like how Nick is fascinated by Gatsby before knowing him .Nick’s fascination turns into idolization after Gatsby invites Nick to his party. Nick describes Gatsby had “one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life(Ch.3).” Such description unifies the appearance of Gatsby with people’s expectation of a man who accomplished the American dream.
To begin with, after the party from the city returns to Tom’s home, Jordan invites him inside, but he responds, “‘No, thanks…’ I’d be damned if I’s go in; I’d had enough of all of them for one day, and suddenly that included Jordan too” (142). By refusing to enter Tom’s house, he symbolically declines the acceptance of the upper class; something he, Gatsby, and Myrtle all avidly desired and worked towards up to this point. Rather than value those material characteristics that had appealed to him before, he chooses his moral principles instead. His relationship with Jordan perfectly symbolizes his primary choice . Later on, after Gatsby’s death, Nick “found himself on Gatsby’s side, and alone…it grew upon me that I was responsible [for Gatsby’s funeral], because… [Gatsby deserved] that intense personal interest to which every one has some vague right at the end” (164). Once again, Nick favors his personal beliefs over following societal expectations. He stands by the mysterious figure of Gatsby, who possessed “an extraordinary gift for hope”(2) that Nick admired, while everyone else keeps a safe distance and watches, as onlookers in a zoo does to the animals. By admitting his part in the events that took place, primarily Gatsby’s downfall, Nick shows he is not the same careless person as Tom and Daisy who leave their mistakes for others to fix . Whether Nick’s belief that everyone should have a living person stand by h im/her after death is a universal truth or not, he follows his heart rather than the crowd. Finally, before he leaves to the Midwest, Nick “wanted to leave things in order and not just trust that obliging and indifferent sea to sweep my refuse away” (177). Particularly, Nick wanted to end his relationship with Jordan, supporting his original belief that a person should only have one
As Gatsby, at least in the eyes of many critics, should represent the idea of the American Dream, the presentation of his character puts the whole concept in question again, without being intended as criticism. This is mainly the fault of another weak character in the novel, Nick Carraway. At first, the only function of Nick in the novel seems to be to act as a reporter, telling us the truth by telling us his shrewd, objective perceptions. Then, as the novel progresses, it turns out that the opposite is the case, and he is siding with Gatsby to make this character stand above all others and shine. Nick Carraway is one of the finest examples of reader manipulation in literature.
How significant is Nick’s final repudiation of Jordan Baker to the novel’s larger critique of modernity?
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, “The Great Gatsby”, tells a story of a world corrupted by money, greed, and pursuit of the American Dream. Even though the novel is titled after Gatsby, Nick analyzes the actions of others and presents the story so that the reader can comprehend the central theme: Despite the fact that human beings will inevitably fail, we still encompass a brilliant capacity to hope. This is the heart of the American Dream and Nick acknowledged and explained it. Without him, the story would not have been possible. Nick was like the box of a puzzle; the puzzle is impossible to put together without it.
...themselves. Even when confronted with a disproof of his perfectly honest nature, as Jordan does late in the novel, Nick responds with an appeal to his belief in his own honesty-his myth about himself is that sacred. Much like Gatsby's self-image, Nick's belief in his own honesty seems to spring from the Platonic conception of honesty, and, much like Gatsby, he simply ignores or rationalizes away anything that comes into conflict with his belief. Nick Carraway is far from one of the few honest narrators I have ever read, but he is a testament to the powers of self-deception that exist in both fictional and non-fictional human beings. "Everyone suspects himself of one of the cardinal virtues," Nick says, and as Nick himself demonstrates, nearly everyone is wrong.