Thesis:
My thesis today is that Gatsby’s appearance, in the film the Great Gatsby, exposes the reality of the American Dream between the new money and the old money after the end of World War I. The obvious theme of the film is the failed relationship between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. However the underlying, major theme is the exposure of both classes lifestyles displayed in the film, these being the newly rich and the established rich. They have both succeeded in acquiring everyone’s aspiration of the American Dream.
Introduction
My presentation today explores various elements within The Great Gatsby that led to the exposure of the reality of the American Dream. Due to time constraints I have chosen to highlight this reality through the symbolic colour of Jay Gatsby’s clothing. Through this element of costuming, we will see that Luhrmann used the appearance and fragility of Gatsby to expose the reality of the American Dream. In other words, what you see isn’t always what you get.
Firstly we need to define the concept of “The
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American Dream”. Matthew Warshauer, Professor of History at Central Connecticut State University says “the perception of the American Dream was that an individual can achieve success in life regardless of family history or social status if they only work hard enough”. Secondly we need to compare this with the reality revealed in the movie. In the 1920s the nobility of the American dream, striving for equality, changed to accumulating as much wealth and excess as possible. Wealth became known as conspicuous consumerism. As a result, the American Dream became corrupted with bigger parties, looser morals and cheaper liquor. This is shown by sudden crosscuts between scenes in the opening sequence. The use of bombarding the audience with lots of detail highlights the extravagance of this boom, and even makes us feel slightly nauseated by the excess. Luhrmann’s cinematography style of overdosing the viewer with sounds, colours and visual effects, creates the revulsion we should feel towards this excessive lavishness. GASTBY played by CORBYN [May I please have Corbyn as my volunteer][Corbyn to come up front] In the film, Gatsby is from West Egg, described by Nick to be home of “the newly rich”. I’m going to dress Corbyn as Gatsby, to illustrate how Luhrmann, used the costuming, to uncover the reality of the American Dream. I will focus on Gatsby’s pink suit and gold tie. [Corbyn to put on pink shirt] I was unable to find a pink suit, so imagine this shirt to be one instead. You are dressed in this fabulous, well-tailored, high-end pink suit because it represents your inexperience in the wealthy class, your hopefulness, and your love for daisy. You used your wardrobe to reflect the new persona you wished to create for yourself. Gatsby’s wardrobe is one of the ruses he uses as part of his grand strategy of ingratiating himself into the East Egg society, colloquially known as “old money”. The new, expensive clothes also created a deception on a mental level. New clothes make a new man. But we see when he is put under pressure, that the crust of his false character is very thin. Inexperience There is no doubt the suit cost you a lot of money, and it speaks of your desire to enter a world that is new to you. By wearing this unique outfit, you are uneducated in the wealthy class, showing that you don’t have full understanding of the world you are trying to enter. On one level, you are right, it is the cost and brand of the clothing that is important, yet on the other level, it is the colour that screams you don’t belong, that you’re a newcomer into this realm. Your clothing speaks of ostentatiousness, a trait that is not tolerated within the class of old money. In contrast, Tom Buchanan of old money, is seen to be wearing the correct conservative colours such as greys, blues and blacks. The pink suit shows the over indulgence of Gatsby and how he has tried so hard to enter a society that would never accept him because he lacked the understanding of the culture, manners and pedigree that are required to truly be accepted. Someone of that society would never have worn this outfit, regardless of its worth. This is evident through Tom’s constant disparagement towards the suit, making comments such as “he wears a pink suit for Christ’s sake!” Relating back to our topic. The American Dream changed because the new comers were uneducated into the etiquette required of them once they had their money, in order for them to transition to “old money” status. The old money was aware of the crassness of the new money and would not open its doors readily to accept the flashy consumerism. Hopefulness Nick says about you, Gatsby, at the beginning of the film “he was the single most hopeful person I’ve ever met”. You had acquired the wealth to rekindle the love of Daisy from 5 years earlier. You were hopeful that you had everything now to provide for the great prize of your wealth, Daisy’s love. This is played out during the ‘lunch scene’ at the Buchanan’s house. This was the big moment when you expected Daisy to stand beside you and declare her love for you to her husband Tom. Through close-ups of your face, Luhrmann shows the intensity of your emotion and the opportunities that you gave her to admit her love. The camera then pans out so we can see the emotions and realizations of the other characters that are anticipating the declaration. Gatsby’s hopefulness is crushed, and disappointment sets in, after lunch when the party moves on to town.
Gatsby is unable to get the declaration of love he expected from Daisy. With the disappointment of hope, Gatsby reveals that he doesn’t have a polished character, driving his dream, Daisy, even further from him. Gatsby has a fit of anger. In contrast Tom, who has been told by Gatsby that he and Daisy have been conducting an affair, keeps control of the situation and his emotions.
It is here that we see the difference between the old money and the new money. Daisy starts to realise that Gatsby does not have the ‘old money’ training to excuse her shallow behavior. As Gatsby comes to his own realization, that Daisy did love Tom, Gatsby “began talking excitedly, but with every word Daisy was withdrawing further and further into herself”, as she realised the difference between Gatsby’s world and the world Tom Buchanan had to
offer. The contrast between new money and old money was that the established Buchanan name had the credentials and integrity Daisy needed to be respected despite her actions of adultery and later actions of murder. People they meet are aware of their status, for example at Gatsby’s party that both Daisy and Tom attend, they are introduced to a senator and he remarks that it is “always a delight to meet a Buchanan”. The safety of the old money culture holds Daisy’s façade because she can use it to hide from any consequences and continue to live her careless life. Old money behaviour has been built up over prior generations; they have earned the loyalty of the people. Tom is aware of this when he says to Gatsby: “we are born different, it’s in our blood”. This is demonstrated in the closing scenes of the film when Tom and Daisy’s servant lies on their behalf. A low angle shot of the servant, shows him standing at the top of the stairs taking the high moral ground on behalf of his employers. Gatsby of new money, did not have that same level of respect and loyalty. At the end of the film, Gatsby in death is deserted by almost everyone. Of the hundreds of people who regularly attended his parties, Nick was the only one to remain faithful to Gatsby and attend his funeral. Luhrmann uses sad music and dark lighting to draw the audience into the desolation and loneliness of Gatsby’s death. Relating this hopefulness back to the reality of the 1920s American Dream, the people are hopeful that their newly acquired wealth will bring them everything they ever dreamed of, but are then disappointed by the harsh realization that there are some things money cannot provide.
Daisy and Gatsby spend five years away from each other and when they get back together, the circumstances change. Daisy gets married to Tom Buchanan. Gatsby has no option except for grabbing Daisy’s attention. The love that the readers realize is passionate however this love changes into a forbidden one because Daisy is now married. Gatsby tries his best to convince Daisy that everything will go back like they used to, but she doesn’t seem to agree. The past cannot be repeated. Tom sees the love between Daisy and Gatsby but he does not say anything until the right time. The circumstances that are happening to both Daisy and Gatsby make their love forbidden. As much as Gatsby is very rich, he does not seem to be enough because he’s new money
When he first meets Daisy, Gatsby becomes infatuated with his idea of her, or rather, the false persona that she creates of herself. In fact, Gatsby reveals that “she was the first ‘nice’ girl he had ever known” (155). Gatsby was so impressed with Daisy mainly because of her wealth and her status; it is what he wants. However, Daisy chooses Tom Buchanan over Gatsby, solely because of his social status. As a result, Gatsby revolves his whole life around her: he becomes wealthy, creates a new image of himself, and buys a house across the bay from Daisy. For instance, he fabricates lies about how “ [he is] the son of some wealthy people in the middle-west” (69) and how “ [he] was brought up in America but educated at Oxford” (69) in order to impress her. These lies end up altering others’ perspectives of him - not necessarily in a positive way - and impacting his life as a whole. Daisy unwittingly transforms Gatsby into a picture-perfect image of the 1920s: lavish parties, showy cars, and a false illusion of the attainment of the American Dream. Despite Gatsby’s newfound wealth and success, he never fully accomplishes his dream: to get Daisy. Gatsby’s final act for the sake of Daisy has no impact on her feelings towards him. When Gatsby claims that he crashed into Myrtle and killed her, Daisy carelessly lets him do so, which ultimately results in his death. To make
Jay Gatsby’s funeral is a small service, not because that 's what was intended, but because no one bothered to show up. Nick wanted to give Gatsby the popularity he desired, even in death, but only three people were present in the end. Gatsby’s father, Henry C. Gatz, shows up unexpectedly from Minnesota because he heard about the news in the papers. He believes that the man who shot his son must 've been mad, that no one in their right mind could commit such a horrible act. Daisy and Wolfsheim, the people closest to Gatsby in the book, do not attend. This exemplifies that it was always about wealth and social status for them, including Tom, and they never genuinely cared for Gatsby. Nick held up hope,
Through the use of symbolism and critique, F. Scott Fitzgerald is able to elucidate the lifestyles and dreams of variously natured people of the 1920s in his novel, The Great Gatsby. He uses specific characters to signify diverse groups of people, each with their own version of the “American Dream.” Mostly all of the poor dream of transforming from “rags to riches”, while some members of the upper class use other people as their motivators. In any case, no matter how obsessed someone may be about their “American Dream”, Fitzgerald reasons that they are all implausible to attain.
Gatsby’s love life has become surrounded by ideas from the past. No longer is he able to fall in love with the moment, but instead he is held up on what have and should have been. He spends his time reminiscing on old times and previous relationships while he has also been building up a new life in order to return to the past. The unreal expectations he has for Daisy prove to us that he has trouble letting go of his old romantic ideas. Gatsby doesn’t want to accept and love this new Daisy, and instead he is hoping for the Daisy he knows to come back. But people change and there can be no expectations for someone to continue to remain the same after a number of years. Instead we must let go of the past and embrace the future for everything it could be.
To recollect, F. Scott Fitzgerald scrutinizes the collapse of the American Dream through Jay Gatsby in, “The Great Gatsby.” From his highs to his lows, the reader experiences this fall of an idea through the eyes of the narrator in a powerful story of wealth and
Thesis: How does F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, compares the American Dream in today's generation and back in the 1920's-30's? What did the American Dream really mean and why? So why did this issue happen? Do you think America can change in the future? What is the american dream really about? When did the phrase: ‘american dream’ started? Have you ever wondered what the 20s and 30s were like back then? How can this so called dream ever bring hope to our country? These are all the questions I would like to know myself. I’ve found three online sources & one source from the novel that can help explain about the 20th century, the Gatsby novel, today's generation, and about Mr.Gatsby from the book.
The book, “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a great book that captures multiple aspects of the young rich life of Jay Gatsby and his love for a girl that got away, Daisy Buchanan. This brings us to the thesis statement that Gatsby will do almost anything he can to get back with Daisy, who he lost before, such as move very close to her, throw huge parties, have someone else invite her to his house, and even argue with her husband.
When it came time where he published The Great Gatsby and got his wife, Zelda,
The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald that follows a cast of characters living in the fictional town of West Egg on prosperous Long Island in the summer of 1922. The story primarily concerns the young and mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his quixotic passion for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan. Considered to be Fitzgerald's magnum opus, The Great Gatsby explores themes of decadence, idealism, resistance to change, social upheaval, and excess, creating a portrait of the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties that has been described as a cautionary tale regarding the American Dream.
The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, perfectly symbolizes many emerging trends of the 1920’s. More importantly, the character of Jay Gatsby is depicted as a man amongst his American dreams and the trials he faces in the pursuit of its complete achievement. His drive to acquire the girl of his dreams, Daisy Buchanan, through gaining status and wealth shows many aspects of the author's view on the American dream. Through this, one can hope to disassemble the complex picture that is Fitzgerald’s view of this through the novel. Fitzgerald believes, through his experiences during the 1920’s, that only fractions of the American Dream are attainable, and he demonstrates this through three distinct images in The Great Gastby.
The Great Gatsby is a novel about a man who tries to win over a woman
Choose one of the following topics and write a well-organized essay with evidence supporting the statements you set forth. Your response should be two pages, double spaced with a 12 font in Times New Roman:
In this story by F. Scott Fitzgerland the characters are Jay, Nick, Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson, George Wilson, Catherine, Henry C. Gatz, Dan Cody, Ewing Kilpspringer,
Themes of hope, success, and wealth overpower The Great Gatsby, leaving the reader with a new way to look at the roaring twenties, showing that not everything was good in this era. F. Scott Fitzgerald creates the characters in this book to live and recreate past memories and relationships. This was evident with Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship, Tom and Daisy’s struggling marriage, and Gatsby expecting so much of Daisy and wanting her to be the person she once was. The theme of this novel is to acknowledge the past, but do not recreate and live in the past because then you will not be living in the present, taking advantage of new opportunities.