The Great Gatsby Structure Essay

Form, Structure, and Plot

The Great Gatsby, written by Scott Fitzgerald, is 47,094 words spread out over nine chapters. Some techniques Fitzgerald used in the novel were flashbacks, chronology of events, foreshadowing, parallel events, and a simple plot. The first use of flashbacks occurs when Jordan explains how she first met Gatsby. She describes herself as a “little white roadster” when she met Gatsby (Fitzgerald 79). This flashback provides the reader an experience between Jordan and Gatsby when they were younger. Some examples of foreshadowing are when Nick and Gatsby were driving to New York, and they see a funeral carriage going in the opposite direction. Later, you noticed that it foreshadows Myrtle's death which was caused by a car

The Great Gatsby portrays many types of irony, such as verbal irony and dramatic irony, even the title of the novel is ironic. Jay Gatsby isn't really that great, he earns money illegally through bootlegging while working at a drugstore. Another example of irony was when Meyer Wolfsheim says “Yeah, Gatsby's very careful about women. He would never so much as look at a friend's wife” (Fitzgerald 77). It is ironic because Gatsby does look at another man's wife: Daisy, and eventually wins her back for a short time. Furthermore, another type of irony is introduced when Tom tells Wilson that Gatsby has killed Myrtle because he was driving Tom's car, but in reality, it was Daisy who was driving and killed Myrtle. This type of irony is called: Dramatic, because only reader grasp the facts of the accident and the characters do not. The use of irony begins not in the book, but in the title. When the reader sees “Great Gatsby”, they think of a wealthy and powerful man, but as they discover the history behind Gatsby, the audience realizes the imperfection and flaws of his life. Fitzgerald creates a type of irony in his novel which contrasts Gatsby as he appears and truth about his private