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Critical analysis of the great gatsby
Critical analysis of the great gatsby
How does wealth play a role in great gatsby
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Enormous parties, all for one girl. In The Great Gatsby, a dirt poor farmer, Jay Gatsby, became a filthy rich man by engaging in illegal business. He threw massive parties in hope that his love of his life, Daisy, would come one time to the parties and sees him. Him and Daisy met five years ago and fell in love but then Gatsby had to go to war and Daisy married a rich man. In chapter 3, Fitzgerald uses words, images, and figurative language to describe the enchanting but very destructiveness of Gatsby’s party and party goers. Fitzgerald uses specific words and images to initially portray the party scene as alluring and glamorous but ultimately destructive. As the festivities begin, Fitzgerald describes the air as, “alive with chatter and laughter.” (pg 40) Upon initial arrival at the party scene, everyone and everything seems joyous. The welcoming decorations coincided with the atmosphere of the party. In addition to the glamorous decorations, there was also an abundance of food and alcohol. The bar itself was, “stocked with gins and liquors and with cordials so long forgotten.” (pg 40) The excess of alcohol, which was illegal at the time, made the party that much more tempting to the guests who attended. While many people enjoyed the glamorous party, no one stuck around to clean up the damages. Gatsby had servants who, “toiled all day…repairing the ravages of the night before.” (pg 39) Behind the extravagant party, there were servants who did not enjoy the fun but had to work extremely hard cleaning up after everyone who did. The servants did not receive equal treatment as the guests since they were only there to make sure the guests remained happy. As the party began to wind down, Nick points out how a drunk driver drove his ca... ... middle of paper ... ... luxuries shows their lack of morals and takes away from the allure and glamour of the party. The initial atmosphere of the party is cheerful and welcoming. However, as the night carries on, the party scene is anything but glamorous as riotous behavior leads to the destruction of Gatsby’s property which take servants all day to clean. The partygoers are pleasant and courteous with each other upon arrival but as the night carries on, they become irresponsible and careless under the influence of alcohol. Many in attendance are wealthy and have a preconceived notion of being sophisticated but their behavior proves otherwise. They take advantage of Gatsby’s kindness as they live only for the moment with no thought or consideration of the consequences of their actions. Because such glamour and luxury is made freely accessible, the people have no regard to their behavior.
The story of Jay Gatsby is a romantic one that actually began years before. However, his romantic story turns into a troubling one when we realize that he is not the man he seems to be. The story of Jay Gatsby is not only filled with romance, but with secrecy, obsession, and tragedy. The symbol of Jay Gatsby's troubled romantic obsession is a green light at the end of the dock of Daisy Buchanan, a woman to whom he fell in love with five years earlier. The green light represents his fantasy of reuniting with Daisy and rekindling the love they once had. This light represents everything he wants, everything he has done to transform himself, and ultimately everything that he cannot attain.
Nick Carraway, the narrator of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, assigns certain types of images and descriptive words to Tom, Daisy and Jordan and continues to elaborate on these illustration throughout the first chapter. Nick uses contrasting approaches to arrive at these character sketches; Tom is described by his physical attributes, Daisy through her mannerisms and speech, and Jordan is a character primarily defined by the gossip of her fellow personages. Each approach, however, ends in similar conclusions as each character develops certain distinguishing qualities even by the end of the first chapter. Lastly, the voices of the characters also helped to project truly palpable personalities.
The car pulled up to Wilson’s garage. Instantly, anger filled my body. Myrtle should be alive. Myrtle should be here. But instead, that man- this man- let her go and get herself killed. I knew who it was. Gatsby. He was one with the yellow car. He was the one driving. God knows, he wouldn’t let Daisy drive.
Hugh Hefner once said, “I looked back on the roaring Twenties, with its jazz, 'Great Gatsby' and the pre-Code films as a party I had somehow managed to miss.” The parties of the Roaring Twenties were used to symbolize wealth and power in a society that was focused more on materialism and gossip than the important things in life, like family, security, and friends. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays the characters of Tom and Daisy Buchanan as the epitome of the era. The reader sees these characters acting selfishly and trying to meddle with others’ lives. On the other hand, Nick Carraway, the narrator, acts more to help others and act honestly. Initially the reader sees Carraway’s views towards Jay Gatsby as negative as Gatsby’s actions are perceived as being like the Buchanan’s. As the novel moves forward, the reader notices a change in Carraway’s attitude towards Gatsby. Carraway sees Gatsby for whom he truly is, and that is a loving person who only became rich to win Daisy’s heart. But in this the reader also sees how corrupt and hurtful Gatsby’s actions were to the love of his life. Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy reveals that just as Gatsby’s dream of wooing Daisy is corrupted by illegalities and dishonesty, the “American Dream” of friendship and individualism has disintegrated into the simple pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure.
There are many different types of people in this world. Apart from physical features, it is the characteristics of a person that makes him/her original. Nick Carraway the narrator of The Great Gatsby, has qualities which are the complete opposite of those of Tom Buchanan, his cousin-in-law. In the novel, the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, uses the comparison between two cousins to show how their differing characteristics reflects the themes of morality and reality versus illusion.
the 1920s as we can see with Gatsby's five cars, one of which he gives
Gatsby downfall came when he sacrificed his morality to attain wealth. Gatsby realises that the illusion of his dream with Daisy, demands wealth to become priority, and thus wealth becomes the desire overriding his need for her [Daisy’s] love. Gatsby claims to others that he has inherited his wealth, but Nick discovers "[h]is parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people" (Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, pg 104) and that Gatsby has lied about his past. In a society that relies on luxuries, Gatsby throws parties to attract Daisy’s attention. Also, Gatsby expresses that same need to keep busy, just as Daisy does, in a society of the elite. Nick describes Gatsby as "never quite still, there was always a tapping foot somewhere or the impatient opening and closing of a hand" (Fitzgerald, pg 68). Gatsby fills his house "full of interesting people...who do interesting things" (Fitzgerald, pg 96). Gatsby's dream is doomed to failure in that he has lost the fundamental necessities to experience love, such as honesty and moral integrity.
In chapter three, the author uses a great example of immorality through Gatsby's party. The author goes in depth about Gatsby's party so he can help the reader understand Gatsby's character and the purpose of his assembly. At Gatsby's party, most of the guests that are present have not been formally invited to the party but have been brought by others or just to drop in. The uninvited guests drink Gatsby's liquor and eat his food without even attempting to meet Gatsby's or give their appreciation, this shows their unethical manners. The women purposely dress in silvers and gold's to show their wealth and only pretend to have fun. The only reason the uninvited guests come to the party to show off their riches with their clothes or appearance. The guests do not realize that they are only pretending to be happy. At these parti...
Everybody is getting drunk everywhere. And Gatsby gives no thought to cost- at one party he has an entire orchestra playing for his guests. People come to the party who aren’t invited, yet Gatsby makes no effort to get rid of them (he lets them stay, maybe hoping that they’ll help to ...
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...
The novel, The Great Gatsby focuses on one of the focal characters, James Gatz, also known as Jay Gatsby. He grew up in North Dakota to a family of poor farm people and as he matured, eventually worked for a wealthy man named Dan Cody. As Gatsby is taken under Cody’s wing, he gains more than even he bargained for. He comes across a large sum of money, however ends up getting tricked out of ‘inheriting’ it. After these obstacles, he finds a new way to earn his money, even though it means bending the law to obtain it. Some people will go to a lot of trouble in order to achieve things at all costs. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, conveys the numerous traits of Jay Gatsby through the incidents he faces, how he voices himself and the alterations he undergoes through the progression of the novel. Gatsby possesses many traits that help him develop as a key character in the novel: ambitious, kind-hearted and deceitful all of which is proven through various incidents that arise in the novel.
Several individuals mark Gatsby to be a man of great wealth, with a beautiful estate, and an abundance of friends. To illustrate, 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. Furthermore, this was the prohibition era, which meant that alcohol and the consumption of alcohol was illegal. After this brief look into Gatsby’s life, one can understand why he was considered “great”, but to truly understand Gatsby’s greatness, one must look into his
loses anything of value, of victories without hope and worst of all, without pity or
Gatsby has all the money yet he is not happy when he throws gigantic parties at his house. Daisy, the one he tried to lure in with his parties, never cared to show up. The love shown by Gatsby towards Daisy, “’I want to wait here till Daisy goes to bed. Good night, old sport.’ He put his hands in his coat pockets and turned back eagerly to his scrutiny of the house as though my presence marred the sacredness of the vigil. So I walked away and left him standing there in the moonlight – watching over nothing” (Fitzgerald 145).