The Great Gatsby

580 Words2 Pages

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s use of flashback in The Great Gatsby proves to be an effective tool in order to reveal information from the characters’ past. These flashbacks are effective because they allow the reader to know and understand the character better before a situation in the novel arises. Three examples of flashbacks that Fitzgerald uses are when Jordan explains to Nick how and when she first met Gatsby on page 79, when Nick explains to the reader how Gatsby got his name and what his childhood was like on page 104, and when Nick explains again to the reader what happened when Gatsby returned from the war on page 160. The placement and effectiveness of these flashbacks allow Fitzgerald to give more background to each character and to allow the reader to better understand the situation that each character is experiencing. The first example of flashback that Fitzgerald provides takes place on page 79. In this flashback, Jordan explains to Nick how she first met Gatsby. She explains to Nick that when the girls were eighteen, he was with Daisy Fay in her “little white roadster.” This flashback is effective because it gives us an idea of how Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship was purely based on beauty and not friendship. The placement of the above quote was essential because it allows us to experience early in the novel how Gatsby had a relationship with Daisy. This first example of flashback by Fitzgerald proves to be...

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