How Does Fitzgerald Use Language In The Great Gatsby

Fitzgerald presents power and exposes the characters through the use of language in the extract. Fitzgerald uses language to expose Tom as a powerful character; onomatopoeia is used through the noun “boom” whilst describing an action made by Tom, and presents to the reader how Tom is dominant and very overpowering. This is later proven when Nick gets “annoyed” at him when Tom “remarked decisively” because he felt Tom’s dominance over the situation and felt intimidated by the power of him. Another example of Tom’s power is when he’s “hovering”. This presents to the reader how Tom doesn’t trust the females around Nick and feels the need to show his male dominance in the situation, like an animal hunting down a female mate. Tom’s power and authority

is shown when he interrupts Daisy telling Nick he “ought to see her (her and Tom’s daughter). She’s-”. By changing the topic of conversation (“What you doing Nick?”), we can tell that Tom doesn’t like anyone doing anything without his permission and him feeling like he has full control over the conversation and everything the other characters are doing in the room. Fitzgerald uses language to present Toms masculinity by using darker words in a hard and staccato format, “whip”, “snap”, “groan”, “boom”, “caught wind”, which presents Tom as a strong violent character who is able to destruct the females as he has authority and strength.
Fitzgerald shows the reader that Nick is self-conscious as he focuses on the “enormous couch” first, instead of the two women.

By doing this, Fitzgerald shows that Nick is intimidated and feels uncomfortable being in the same room as powerful characters. By saying “I must have stood…”, the reader is reminded that Nick is a character as well as a narrator, so we get glimpses that Nick isn’t a trustworthy narrator as he can only give his point of view, which can shape the readers understanding of events in the novel, instead of an omniscient view where we can understand everything that’s going on. By doing this, Fitzgerald presents Nick as a manipulative character, as he tries to control what the reader believes. Nick is quite a sarcastic character as he mocks the characters around him; an example of this would be “All the cars have the left rear wheel painted black as a mourning wreath,” which is also quite ironic as the cars represent death, which foreshadows the tragic accident near the end of the novel. His comment is sarcastic as it’s a very over-the-top remark to make in regard to Daisy leaving Chicago, where she was probably unknown the vast majority of people. Nick mocks Daisy by telling her what she wants to

hear.
The verb “buoyed” is used to describe Daisy and Jordan.

Although this could be said to describe the women as lively and cheerful, a “buoy” is a floating object anchored in the sea to warn of danger, which foreshadows the Daisy we see later in the novel who abuses her power by creating danger for those who she is closest to. The way Nick describes Daisy’s laugh as “absurd” and “charming” tells the reader that she is air-headed, and this being said alongside the description of her laziness on the “enormous couch”, shows that Nick is mocking the upper-class society in which Daisy is accustomed to. However, unlike Tom and Daisy, Jordan doesn’t use her power at all. She gives off a powerful persona which Nick feels and “almost” murmurs “an apology” for “having disturbed her”. However the adjective “motionless” tells the reader that she feels to need to use it in the extract; a complete contrast to the other characters. Jordan is introduced as an independent woman and by giving Jordan a unisex name, Fitzgerald has presented Jordan as strong and capable. Common nouns are usually associated with Daisy and Jordan, such as the “dresses” and the “couch”, which shows that the characters are possessions, just like the common objects described in the

novel.