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Literary devices in the novel The Great Gatsby
Literary techniques in great gatsby
Literary techniques in great gatsby
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Barbara Millicent Roberts always said “Be who you want to be.” In the book, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Myrtle Wilson tried this, acting like she was in a high class whenever she was with Tom Buchanan, and the consequence of this was of her being killed. The point of this essay is that if you attempt to live above the class you are currently in, you will be punished. The main quote from The Great Gatsby that shows that if you try to live above your class you will be punished if from chapter seven where it states, “A moment later she rushed out into the dusk, waving her hands and shouting--before he could move from his door he business was over.” (Fitzgerald 137) This “business” that Fitzgerald was referring to was Myrtle being
hit by a car. Gatsby’s car, to be exact. Myrtle Wilson was a woman of the lower class. Her husband, George Wilson, owned a repair shop, and Myrtle thought she was above him. Cheating on George with Tom,who was above both of them, was a mistake that cost her her own life. In this quote Myrtle was in a fight with George and proceeded to run into the road, being hit by Gatsby’s car, which Daisy was driving. “Well, first Daisy turned away from the woman toward the other car, and then she lost her nerve and turned back. The second my hand reached the wheel I felt the shock--it must have killed her instantly.” (Fitzgerald 143,144) This quote here is telling, from Gatsby’s words, about when Daisy hit Myrtle with his car. Daisy knew that Tom was cheating with Myrtle so she proceeded to hit her with his car, that she was driving.
Myrtle Wilson came from a working class family with a low social standing. Due to her family’s lack of money, Myrtle’s options were limited to marrying men of equal or lower economic status than herself. As a result, Myrtle married George Wilson, a poor car mechanic. In her relationship with George, Myrtle lacked control due to her status as a woman and was thus forced to listen to her husband. However, because of her lower status, Myrtle did learn to use her physical attributes to her own advantage. In other words, Myrtle knew how to exaggerate her physical beauty in order to attract men such as Tom Buchanan; who would pay her with money and expensive gifts in return. Thus, “there is a clear connection between the material disadvantages” Myrtle faced and her lack of morals; given “the paucity of her allotment of the fundamental decencies” (Voegeli). In other words, because of her lack of economic backing, Myrtle Wilson grew up as a woman of lower class with less options in life; which limited her social power and drove her to act unlike any high class lady. Thus, Myrtle’s only option for increasing her status was through material services such as her relationship with Tom Buchanan. All in all, Myrtle Wilson’s economic status limited her to the life of a low class woman and her power others in her
Whilst lounging among her ‘friends’ and colleagues, Fitzgerald is able to show how Myrte is submissive to anyone who poses as a threat to her. During the time period in which the novel is taking place,the roaring twenties, the male in any relationship was dominant over the woman. The word “broke” also shows a strong development in words. Fitzgerald did not give Myrtle's character a fractured nose, but instead, gave her a more painful alternative,a nose that was “broke.” Fitzgerald is also able to show how Myrtle can be stricken and will not say a word about it due to the cause of her own fear. Since Tom Buchanan was angry , he physically hurt her in a
“Nick-” she reluctantly drew words. “-Did I ever tell you of the letter Myrtle sent Tom, back in Christmas, about three years ago?” I already knew I didn’t want to have this conversation. I wanted to sit and hold my breath like a toddler until I got my way and she withheld this talk with me.
In the book Great Gatsby there are many examples of society and social class, many are shown to us as the book progresses. Some are shown to us very up front while, others are hidden in the text. Society and social class play a critical part in this book such as how people interact with the lower classes, to how the rich live their lives. When we look deeper into on how the Great Gatsby handles sociality and social class, which puts the characters in the positions they are in.
There are many conspiracies in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. One of them that many people believe is that Daisy Buchanan had killed Myrtle Wilson on purpose. Myrtle was Tom Buchanan’s mistress. Tom and Daisy were married and had a child but that didn’t stop Tom from cheating on her. At the same time, Daisy was having an affair with Jay Gatsby who was her childhood lover. There is much evidence that can prove that Daisy and Tom set up to kill Myrtle and put the blame on Gatsby.
The recurring themes of society, class, and self identity can be seen throughout many different writings of the 20th century. Two of these writings include, “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald and, “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston. Both novels focus on the protagonist's goal of achieving equal rights in their own environment while at the same time trying to figure out who they are in the world. In the early 1900s, when “Their Eyes Were Watching God” takes place, slavery had very recently been abolished (relatively speaking) and the lasting effects of segregation take a toll on Janie, the protagonist. In the Great Gatsby, although Jay Gatsby is white, and thus does not have to deal with the factor of race, he struggles with many different aspects of American Society, mainly the class system and the American Dream. The American dream depicted by F.Scott Fitzgerald is a desire to gain wealth and prosperity. However, at the same time the book does not suggest that wealth equates to success. Even though Gatsby does have material wealth, he is not successful in gaining what he wants to be happy. Despite his material wealth, Gatsby is never united with the love of his life, Daisy. This shows that even though Gatsby has achieved the dream of wealth and prosperity, he has not achieved his final goal. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie too believes in the American Dream, and similarly to Gatsby, it is not a dream of wealth and prosperity. For her, it’s a dream of Freedom in all aspects of life. Both characters however, spend much of their time trying to conform to the rest of the world and essentially be like “everyone” else instead of trying to be distinct individuals. Societal norms of the early 1900s tak...
Same Goal, Different Route in The Great Gatsby A more thorough investigation of The Great Gatsby is necessary to uncover a well-disguised theme by Fitzgerald in this work. Upon a simple read through one would probably not notice the great similarities of Jay Gatsby and Myrtle Wilson, but the two characters seemed to have the same agenda for their lives. While Gatsby took the route of acquiring money at all costs to join the upper class of society and to be acceptable in the eyes of a woman, Myrtle chose to make her way up in society at the cost of her marriage by attaching herself to money. The underlying question is who had the most success. As a young man, Jay Gatsby was poor with nothing but his love for Daisy. He had attempted to
Gatsby, Myrtle and Tom lie to themselves and others through their words and actions. Gatsby and Myrtle attempt to be social climbers; Gatsby loves the idea of Daisy and Myrtle loves the idea of Tom and what he can provide for her. They both try to appear as someone they are not: Gatsby tries to appear as a successful man who comes from a wealthy family while Myrtle longs to appear as an upper class woman. Their lies have tragic results since Myrtle, Gatsby and Mr. Wilson all die needlessly. However, Tom, who seems to be successful, lies because he is selfish and thinks only about fulfilling his personal needs. Clearly, The Great Gatsby demonstrates that deceiving others, for any reason, inevitably leads to tragedy for the individual and others who touch their lives.
Many of the occurrences in The Great Gatsby produced far-reaching effects for several of the characters. Of these occurrences, one of the most influential and important incidents was the death of Myrtle Wilson. While her life and death greatly affected the lives of all of the main and supporting characters, her death had a very significant effect on the lives of Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby.
In every situation there is more than one side to every story, and in this case, the economical level. A person who has grown up with mazuma look down on those who cerebrate that not having an abundance of mazuma is an issue. “I told that boy about the ice.” Myrtle raised her eyebrow in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower orders. “These people! You have to keep after them all the time” (69-70). Myrtle cerebrates that acting like a snob makes her sound fancy, and sanctions her to coalesce in with those who she endeavors to hang around, the ‘old money’ affluent people. Fitzgerald integrates this to his story to show his readers that high class people treat the lower class with disdain and leave those of the lower class feeling unworthy. Even if the bank shows the mazuma, those involved in the higher class must dress accordingly, otherwise others will not grace them with their presence and the same amount of deference as others recieve. “About Gatsby! No, I...
This harsh cycle of the rich making their millions off the poor was not exactly a secret, nor was the use of the government as a supplement in making money hidden either. Fitzgerald decided to comment in his book about this relationship prominent throughout the Jazz age using allusion, symbolism and juxtaposition to try to inform the reader on this issue. The wealthy continue to get wealthier while the poor are continuously orchestrated by the wealthy in their excursions to make more money. In essence, this passage from The Great Gatsby about Myrtle's puppy is Fitzgerald's plea for economic reform, for the government to intervene with this public extortion. Only then will the poor be free of the oppression by the rich, and finally able to achieve their own American dream.
During Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, it is apparent to be an absurd time for the wealthy. The shallowness of money, riches, and a place in a higher social class were probably the most important components in most lives at that period of time. This is expressed clearly by Fitzgerald, especially through his characters, which include Myrtle Wilson, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, and of course, Jay Gatsby. This novel was obviously written to criticize and condemn the ethics of the rich.
Myrtle believes she can scorn her true social class in an attempt to be accepted into Ton's, Jay Gatsby who bases his whole life on buying love with wealth, and Daisy, who instead of marrying the man she truly loves, marries someone with wealth. The romance of money lures the characters in The Great Gatsby into surrendering their values, but in the end, "the streets paved with gold led to a dead end" (Vogue, December 1999). The first example of a character whose morals are destroyed is Myrtle. Myrtle's attempt to enter into the group to which the Buchanans belong is doomed to fail. She enters the affair with Tom, hoping to adopt his way of life and be accepted into his class to escape from her own.
Love is already a battlefield, but what if two people are loving the same person? Which one of these men will prove their love. There can only be one man on top of the battle. Who will be top dog. Who will have the most desired love. In Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Tom and Gatsby both love Daisy, but their approach is very different.
The biggest difference that I noticed was the acting. The acting in the older version was very poor. The older version focused more the argument between Myrtle and Wilson ,and it made Myrtle look like the bad person because of the way she was speaking towards wilson. In The old movie they showed his father ; however in the new movie they cut that out and I feel that it was best that they did , because if it would have been in the new movie it would have taken away from how close Nick and Gatsby were. The last thing that was different was the scene when Gatsby was shot again I think the first movie did a better job at portraying that . Overall the 2014 version was the better version .