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The great gatsby themes and symbols
Symbols in the great gatsby and what they mean
Symbols in the great gatsby and what they mean
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Fitzgerald describes one of the parties throw by Nick Carraway’s neighbor, Jay Gatsby, near the middle of his story. Nick attends one of these famous parties, and it is described in great detail. Fitzgerald’s use of detail in this section creates a zealous tone. Nick, being next door neighbors to Gatsby, has a great view of all the things going on at Gatsby’s house. This is used to his advantage when he describes the aftermath of one of Gatsby’s party, which he can see from his house. Fitzgerald explains that there are “eight servants,” with an “extra gardener” that work all day on Monday with “mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden shears” in order to clean up the “ravages” of the party. Instead of describing the clean up in the …show more content…
way he did, Fitzgerald could have briefly mentioned the servants worked outside Gatsby’s house to clean up after the party. However, this would not have been as effective as what Fitzgerald chose to do.
By quantifying the amount of workers needed to work all day and all of the different tools they had to use to clean up, Fitzgerald suggests to the audience that this was not a small get together of Gatsby’s closest acquaintances, there were a lot of people at this party. Because of the sheer number of people there, an extensive clean up was required. Gatsby’s parties would not be so popular if people did not enjoy them, suggesting to the audience that many people looked forward to these weekly parties. Another place where Fitzgerald is seen using specific detail is when describing how much fruit Gatsby uses at each of his parties in order to amaze the audience and create a zealous tone. Fitzgerald mentions “five crates of oranges and lemons” from “a fruiterer in New York” that are delivered to Gatsby’s on Friday. On Monday, the oranges and lemons are brought out of his house “in a pyramid of pulp-less halves.” Fitzgerald intends for the audience to be amazed by this detail. Instead of just mentioning the oranges and lemons, Fitzgerald gives the audience a numerical value about how many crates of oranges and lemons are used at each one of his
parties. Five crates of oranges and lemons is far too many for one man and his servants to go through in a mere weekend, implying there are hordes of people that show up to Gatsby’s parties. By giving this small detail, Fitzgerald clues the audience in to the fact that many people show up to each one of Gatsby’s parties, implying they are very grand and exquisite, and thus, creating a zealous tone.
A soft breeze lifts off the Sound and brushes Nick Carraway’s face as he emerges from the shadows into the moonlight. His eyes first gaze across the bay to the house of Tom and Daisy where Nick sees past the walls to people who “...smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back to their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together...” (Fitzgerald: 187- 188). Nick’s head then turns to his side where he views Gatsby’ s mansion. His heart swells for the man who was unable to let go of the past, and move toward his future. With the two houses juxtaposed in his mind’s eye, Nick ponders his experiences in the East, and enters the car to take him home with a new perspective on life. Nick’s maturity becomes evident as his perspective of society becomes more realistic as a result of his observing the consequences which occur in unhealthy relationships.
Jay Gatsby is know to be a man of many riches and enjoys to throw humongus parties every weekend. However, based on Nick Carraway’s description, Gatsby’s parties are very prodigal. Nick describes the amount of workers and tools need to fix Gatsby’s house after a party: “[a]nd on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears…” (Fitzgerald 39). By listing the amount of servants needed, Nick exploits the recklessness of Gatsby’s parties. In addition, by using the word “all day” the reader can infer there was quite a big mess the servants were tasked with cleaning. Thus, Gatsby’s gigantic party is just money spent to create a huge mess. Nick also describes the
The classic novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is one that opens reader’s eyes to the clouded hallow hopes and dreams that came with the famous idea of an American Dream. The hopes that one day a person could make their own wealth and be successful quickly became dead to many around this time and it is played out by characters and conflicts within The Great Gatsby. Nick Carraway is the very first character we meet in this story. A young man who came to West Egg, Long Island the summer of 1922 for work unknowingly walked into a summer that would haunt him forever. The character of Nick Carraway is one who is characterized as someone who is extremely observant as well as the mediator between many of the characters. He is always involved
Carraway describes the atmosphere as “spilled with prodigality” (Fitzgerald 44). Gatsby’s fills his parties with wasteful extravagances like alcohol, and his efforts toward love end up as futile. The people, instead of appreciating Gatsby, backhandedly gossip about his past as a German spy, and simply partake in the alcohol being served (Fitzgerald 48). Instead of representing the upper echelon’s of 1920s’ society, in contrast to the poor, the party-goers appear weak, superficial, and unworthy of such acclaim, especially when given their tendency to gossip. With this depiction of the partiers, Fitzgerald showcases the hollow nature of 1920s society, lacking in morality and
In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are several parties that take place in the novel that provide the reader with insight on the characters. At each party the reader gains new information about the major characters. At the first festivity, it is in Tom Buchanan's house in East Egg, a large and elaborate house , owned by Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Tom , Nick , Daisy , and Jordan have dinner. It is a private dinner party, and the conversation that takes place during this dinner, includes talking about other people, and Jordan enlightening Nick on Tom’s affair with Myrtle.
This immediately marks Nick as being dishonest. Nick also admits to lying about his heritage, claiming “(his) family have been prominent, well-to-do people in this Middle Western city for three generations. The Carraways are something of a clan, and we have a tradition that we’re descended from the Dukes of Buccleuch” but later admitting that his family is not noble “my grandfather’s brother… sent a substitute to the Civil War”, nor prominent “and (he) starts the wholesale hardware business that my father carries on to-day.” Nick also begins the book by trying to deceive his readers into believing “Gatsby… represented everything for which I had an unaffected scorn,” (Fitzgerald 2), when in reality he liked “the consoling proximity of millionaires” and admires their lifestyle. Although Gatsby’s parties are the very things he hates, he never fails to attend and even pursues an interest in the host of them. Nick’s inconsistencies in his opinions clearly begin to alter him as a person and the way he tells the story over
Like his house, Nick is not showy, this characteristic allows people to easily trust him, which supports his role as the narrator of the story. Despite the fact that everything revolves around him, Nick is never actually involved in the events of the story, he simply acts as a vehicle for the other character’s wants and needs. Nick describes his house as "an eyesore” (Fitzgerald 11) compared to the mansions around it and say that “it had been overlooked" (Fitzgerald 11) in the presence of such glamorous homes. Similar to Nick himself, his house is strangely out of place among the mansions that are beside it, but is small enough that people overlook how much it does not fit in. Fitzgerald uses Nick 's house in order to show how Nick fits in, in Gatsby’s world, similar to his home, he is overlooked in the presence of such wealthy people. Nick 's House serves as a meeting place where Gatsby and Daisy meet up. Parallel to how Nick serves as an object that allows Daisy and Gatsby to reunite. Nick is unfamiliar with the world of the extravagantly wealthy, though he begins to adapt throughout the novel, he is generally out of place in the world of the rich, and blends in to the
Alli Craig AP Language Mr. Ruddy October 11, 2015 The Great Gatsby Synthesis Essay Nick Carraway the voice telling the story “The Great Gatsby” but the mastermind giving it purpose is the author Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald lived a lifestyle that was very similar to the one we see in Nick. He was also a very average man placed into a society of over the top lifestyles and extravagant wealth, possibly reflecting how Fitzgerald felt as an average person in a thriving time period being the 1920’s where people would do anything to pursue the American Dream. People, especially the rich, primarily value money over basic morals.
The second character Fitzgerald analyzes is Daisy Buchanan. Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan. Daisy is the definition of a dream girl, she is smart, gorgeous, and just an ideal woman to be around, and the relationship between her and Tom is quite odd (Baker). Daisy and Tom move to the fashionable East Egg from Chigaco (11). Daisy has everything a woman could wish for, a wealthy husband and an immaculate house. Daisy does not know that Tom is having an affair with Myrtle Wilson. Nick Carraway plays a major role in Daisy’s love life in The Great Gatsby. Nick is Daisy’s second cousin and he knew Tom from college (11). Daisy invites Nick over for dinner one evening and that is how she relearns about Jay Gatsby (11-17). Daisy met Gatsby at a dance in Louisville. They used to be madly in love with one another when he was in the army (). They had plans of always being together and being married in Louisville at Daisy’s home (118). Later in the story, Daisy was invited to go have tea at Nick’s house, but what she did not know is that it was all Gatsby’s idea to get them to rekindle their rel...
Both men experienced a deep yearning to achieve more than they already had: the woman of their dreams and the wealth that would enable them to live with ease. This parallel created between the two men reveals a deeper connection than just a simple resemblance. Fitzgerald was able to fit himself (as Gatsby) into a novel that describes his inner struggle with his ambition. Nick Carraway, seen as the narrator, stands for Fitzgerald’s conscience, the careful and reserved observer that quietly judges Gatsby’s actions as well as the behaviors of the characters around him. Both Nick and Gatsby describe two sides of Fitzgerald’s personality. Nick is the quiet, reflective mid-Western man who is mesmerized by the glitter and glam that the East seems to uphold. Gatsby, on the other hand, represents Fitzgerald’s ambition in the way that he will stop at nothing to achieve his dreams and fulfill the image that he made for himself earlier on in life. Throughout the novel, the readers can tell that Gatsby’s hopeful ambition eventually causes his downfall. In this sense, his death signifies the death of one of Fitzgerald’s personalities. Gatsby symbolizes the epitome of the American dream: a self-made man who’s life was always climbing higher and higher. Gatsby’s death is the death of that dream; it was Fitzgerald’s realization that the American Dream had been
Nick finds out a few days after his move that an adored man by the name of Jay Gatsby lives next door to him. He hears about the parties that he throws and such from a friend of his cousin Daisy. He meets Daisy Buchanon, her husband Tom Buchanon, and friend Jordan Baker, at their house in East Egg. This is when everything begins to unravel. Nick is then invited to Gatsby 's party and attends it. After the party it is very apparent that Nick is intrigued in Gatsby. He even watches the party unwind, "There was music from my neighbor 's house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and he champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his motor-boats slid the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before." (3.1) Nick eventually meets up
The image of parties throughout The Great Gastby represents Fitzgerald’s belief that the American dream is only attainable in parts. These parties represent Gatsby’s grasp of superior status, which was part of his original goal to get Daisy back. To do this, however, he could not just hold a simple get-together. Gatsby had to throw the most outlandish and lavish party in town in hopes that Dai...
One pivotal part in The Great Gatsby is when Nick Carraway gets personally invited to attend one of Jay Gatsby’s extravagant parties. In the film, the song that represents Nick’s first approach to the party is “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody” by Fergie, Q-Tip, and GoonRock. This song’s lyrics describe Jay Gatsby’s party, the hectic event in which Nick attends. This song also applies to the lines in the novel as Nick enters Jay Gatsby’s mansion for the very first time, feeling very important to have been the only one handed an invitation to be present at Gatsby’s over-the-top gathering. Overall, the novel and the film both include the scene that reflects on the lyrics of the song, “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody.”
To illustrate, the parties that are hosted at Gatsby’s house are magnificent, filled with professional entertainment, music and dancers, and guests varying from politicians to movie stars. Fitzgerald paints the picture of the parties at Gatsby’s house in great detail in this passage “The bar is in full swing and floating rounds of cocktails permeate the garden outside until the air is alive with chatter and laughter and casual innuendo and introductions forgotten on the spot and enthusiastic meetings between women who never knew each other’s names.” (Fitzgerald 44). It can be seen that these were extravagant parties filled with lust and alcohol. The evidence shows that no ordinary man would be throwing parties of this form, only a man with great wealth and resources would pull of such a feat.
At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his motor-boats slid the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before” (pg 43) . Nick, the narrator talks about the Extravagant party and how the rich and high status people comes to these types of parties to mingle and get drunk, basically make a mess. Nick then states that after the whole hurray, the poor have to come behind and clean up everyone 's mess. 8 people are assigned to clean a house that 's most likely bigger than 12 acres. Tom happens to be one of the people whom shows up to Gatsby event later on in the book. The author decided to use allegory because it 's able to convey a