...The Great Gatsby, which people consider as Fitzgerald’s best literary work, portrays the journey of a man in acquiring success and love throughout the Jazz age. The protagonist is Jay Gatsby who attempts to win Daisy Buchanan’s love a high-class woman by using illegal ways to become wealthy. This paper uses themes as a literary device as it relates to The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald. The most important underlying themes of the novel however are honesty and dishonesty, American dream, class, violence, gender roles, and moral decay. Theme of honesty and dishonesty: As compared to other works, the theme of honesty in Fitzgerald’s novel fails to distinguish compassionate characters from the uncompassionate ones. Honesty and dishonesty is a major...
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...them what they desire. For example, President Nixon in the Watergate Scandal of 1972 lied about his association with the burglars who were trying to get government information to help him win reelection. Here, he lies about his involvement in the case in order to save his chances to remain president. He tried to maintain his high status through lying; however, this dishonesty backfired and forced him to resign and lose his title as president. This is similar to characters in The Great Gatsby who lie to gain or keep a high social status. Social dishonesty in The Great Gatsby, by F....
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...The Great Gatsby Summary: The Great Gatsby is a story told by Nick Carraway, who once was the neighbor of the well-known and wealthy man, Jay Gatsby. The movie follows the mysterious Mr. Gatsby, which order only request one thing: to be reunited with his old flame, Daisy Buchanan. Mr. Gatsby uses Nick to become closer to Nick’s cousin Daisy, and to develop a new relationship with her, but Daisy already has a husband, Tom. Meantime, Myrtle Wilson is running over by a car drove by Daisy. Tom has suspects about the secret meetings between Gatsby and Daisy and talks to Myrtle Wilson’s husband, which shoots Gatsby as revenge, as he thinks, Mr. Gatsby was the driver of the car which hit his wife. The American Dream: The movie “The Great Gatsby” is about the American Dream and its influence at the people back in the 1920’s. The purpose about the American Dream is based on that everyone may participate equally no matter of the racy, history or society. American Dream’s plays a big role in the movie The Great Gatsby. Ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for success, and the success, which comes from one’s own efforts. Mr. Gatsby is a living example, when he has saved his money to become even richer than his past generations. In that way, Mr. Gatsby deals with the human aspiration, to start a new life without thinking back at his past. “I wish we could just run away”, he is saying to Daisy. Jay Gatsby is constantly holding big parties at his place...
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...In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there is a distinct development of emotions and symbols, and one of the key vehicles for illustrating this change is the final line of each chapter. Hidden within each final sentence lies an inner message that either pulls together a major theme in the chapter leading up to the sentence, or is a harbinger of the coming chapters. Beginning with the final word in chapter one, “darkness” (21), and concluding with the novel’s final word, “past” (180), Fitzgerald uses simple closing words to represent a deeper, continuous meaning that pervades the book. By doing this, Fitzgerald is able to outline major themes in the novel, including facial expressions, honesty, and balance. Most clearly and powerfully, however, the outline of lightness through positive imagery and darkness through negative imagery is presented in the final lines of each chapter. By grouping the chapters by hopefulness shown in their respective final lines, a trend is apparent. In chapters one through three, the final lines provide a dark, sullen preview for the chapters to come, while chapter four provides a transition into the final lines of chapters five and six, which signify a brief sense of giddiness that begins to darken. Finally, the last lines of chapters seven through nine mark the development and completion of the violent “holocaust” (162). Supplying a preview at the end of chapter one as to the violence to occur later in the novel, Nick says he is “alone...
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...In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s in America as an era of “decayed social and moral values,” evidenced in its greed and pursuit of pleasure. The reckless elation and enthusiasm that led to wild parties and jazz (like the extravagant, over-the-top parties Gatsby throws in the novel) resulted in the corruption of the American dream. The American dream was originally about discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness, and the desire for money and status have corrupted this dream, as it has Gatsby’s. The Great Gatsby is a symbolic contemplation of America in the 1920s regarding the collapse of the American dream in an era of prosperity and wealth. The ending of World War I in 1918 soon led to Prohibition and the Jazz Age, which was a period of fun and carelessness for young Americans. Like Gatsby, even a person from the lower class could potentially make a fortune, but the American aristocracy (old wealth) looked down upon the “newly rich.” In the novel, the East Egg and West Egg were the homes to the two separate classes of wealth, the East populating the old wealth (such as the Buchanans) and the West populating the newly rich (Gatsby). In this society, simply being wealthy wasn’t always good enough; people made distinct separation even in the upper class. Gatsby had always admired the luxury and sophistication that wealth could bring. He preferred to be around those with wealth and class, like when he joined Dan Cody on his yacht and when...
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...and illusion in The Great Gatsby? Truth and illusion are two of the key themes explored in the novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Truth and illusion are explored with every character in the novel as we discover that no one is who they seem to be. There are multiple examples involving all characters in which their appearances are far different to how they are described. Jay Gatsby is one of the main characters that show he cannot see reality because his whole life is one big illusion. Another main character that portrays the theme of illusion is Daisy as we learn early in the novel that she creates an illusion to cover up who she really is. Nick is the only character that seems to be the only one who is really honest about who he is but he is only honest to the reader and not the characters. Perhaps his honesty is just an illusion about what he really is like. Jay Gatsby’s whole life is an illusion. Early in the novel we learn that Gatsby’s past was not the best and that he came from a poor background, which he tries to cover up. He gives this idea that he lives the perfect life with a huge house and always wears nice clothes and throws the biggest most amazing parties. The truth is that he does not really have any friends. This is evident when we learn that Nick discovers he was the only one who got an invitation to Gatsby’s party, this is also evident when we learn the rumours going around about Gatsby. The rumours about how Gatsby killed a man and that...
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...the American Dream was an inspiration to many, young and old. To live out the American Dream was what once was on the minds of many Americans, however soon afterward those same dreams were twisted with corruption. In The Great Gatsby, the American Dream was presented as a corrupted version of what used to be a pure and honest ideal way to live. The idea that the American Dream was about the wealth and the possessions one had been ingrained, somehow, into the minds of Americans during the 1920’s. As a result of the distortion of the American Dream, the characters of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby along with many others, lived life fully believing in the American Dream, becoming completely immersed in it and in the end suffered great tragedies. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman tells the story of the failure of a salesman, Willy Loman. Although not all Americans are salesmen, most of us share Willy’s dream of success. We are all partners in the American Dream and parties to the conspiracy of silence surrounding the fact that failures must outnumber successes. Miller amalgamates the archetypal tragic hero with the mundane American citizen. The result is the anti-hero, Willy Loman. He is a simple salesman who constantly aspires to become 'great'. Nevertheless, Willy has a waning career as a salesman and is an aging man who considers himself to be a failure but is incapable of consciously admitting it. As a result, the drama of the play lies not so much in its events...
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...Standing the Test of Times Among the numerous novels over the time, Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby reflects the class struggles between society and individualism. Bronte and Fitzgerald’s classic pieces of literature, Jane Eyre and The Great Gatsby, have both been reviewed by countless of readers over whether or not the literary works will stand the test of times. Over the decades, novels typically lose cultural insight and tend to become unnoticed. Both Bronte and Fitzgerald have incorporated classic elements such as: the battle between social norms sophistication in writing, and transcendence of individualism. These aid the novels popularity with the readers in such ways as relating it to the reader’s lives. Through the early nineteenth...
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...Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby. Many historians believe that Mr. Gatsby was inspired by F. Scott himself. They both were romantics who fell in love with the heartbreaking wild girl. They were both guys who were willing to break the rules in order to get to the top. And most diffidently they were just two guys trying to make to greener pastor. F. Scott wrote The Great Gatsby threw the eyes of Nick Carraway. Originally in awe of him, Nick uncovers the truth and grows an inner hatred for Gatsby; until he opens his eyes to see his sad life in which he feels nothing put pity and empathy for Mr. Gatsby. After being formally invited to one of Gatsby party, Nick excitedly waits to meet his interesting neighbor. Mr. Gatsby is the man, which everyone gossips about around. Whether he has killed a man or is being a spy for the American government, he is always being talked about. The first time Nick meets the fellow war veteran, he describes him as having “one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it”; that is the first thing which attracts Nick most about Gatsby(53). The smile along with the parties, and the many phone calls causes nick to be intrigued his next-door neighbor. Public Gatsby seems to be a man with “hospitality” and “nothing sinister” about him (54,65). But after nick catches Gatsby in a private moment, Nick realizes that this man has an ”emptiness” about him with “complete isolation”(60). Nick’s questions are meet with answers of Gatsby truth...
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...Gatsby: The Deadly Deceiver What makes someone truly happy in life? Is it money? Power? Love? The reasons for happiness vary from person to person. But how much happiness does someone need? Are people ever truly satisfied, or does the constant "selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food", otherwise known as greed drive people(Oxford 1)? Why are some wealthy people unhappy, when they have so much? In The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald uses Gatsby's deceptive personality, bamboozling Nick, and fabricating the truth, to explain how greed leads to a deterioration of life. Gatsby's shady history was deceiving, and effectively portrays how greed can ruin a life. The many rumors circulating about Gatsby such as "he was a German spy during the war" illustrate that no one really knew who Gatsby was(Fitzgerald 48). Through his deceptive ways he never rebuffed nor verified the claims, which led to more curiosity. Gatsby did this so that his name would radiate through town and Daisy would hear his name. Gatsby used this deception to fuel his greed for Daisy. His reputation suffered, but he was willing to sacrifice his own reputation just to impress Daisy, no matter the cost. This deception represents greed of the 1920's. Gatsby is a figure of greed, because even when he had all the wealth in the world, he was never truly satisfied. Fitzgerald wanted people to realize that greed is rampant in society, and he wanted people to be happy with what...
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...an idea that seems simple, but is strangely hard to define. At the root of it, is the sense of a society’s greed for success obtained by hard work, honesty, and modesty. If in fact this Dream were in the reach of anybody, then society would exist as a community where "all men are created equal" and everyone would have the opportunity of social mobility by doing the best for themselves as they could. But the reality of American society is cruel. A once high, mighty, and pure ideal has become degraded and buried by the merciless greed for money. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby, many of the characters, believed in the Dream and that wealth and social mobility was within his or her reach. Fitzgerald illustrates three specific social classes: old money, new money, and the lower class, with old money and new money taking center stage. Gatsby, himself, represents new money: he climbed the social and economic ladder and succeeded by way of shady dealings of bootlegging. On the other hand, Daisy Buchanan, the love of Gatsby’s life, represents old money. She received everything she has on a silver platter; she earned nothing but her inheritance. Gatsby, aware of this segregation, attempts to act as though he is “old” money in order to be accepted by Daisy’s class. By illustrating social-economic class differences through Gatsby and his desire for Daisy, Fitzgerald depicts the mistaken hype of the corrupted American Dream and the unreachable gap of economic class. In the...
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...an idea that seems simple, but is strangely hard to define. At the root of it, is the sense of a society’s greed for success obtained by hard work, honesty, and modesty. If in fact this Dream were in the reach of anybody, then society would exist as a community where "all men are created equal" and everyone would have the opportunity of social mobility by doing the best for themselves as they could. But the reality of American society is cruel. A once high, mighty, and pure ideal has become degraded and buried by the merciless greed for money. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby, many of the characters, believed in the Dream and that wealth and social mobility was within his or her reach. Fitzgerald illustrates three specific social classes: old money, new money, and the lower class, with old money and new money taking center stage. Gatsby, himself, represents new money: he climbed the social and economic ladder and succeeded by way of shady dealings of bootlegging. On the other hand, Daisy Buchanan, the love of Gatsby’s life, represents old money. She received everything she has on a silver platter; she earned nothing but her inheritance. Gatsby, aware of this segregation, attempts to act as though he is “old” money in order to be accepted by Daisy’s class. By illustrating social-economic class differences through Gatsby and his desire for Daisy, Fitzgerald depicts the mistaken hype of the corrupted American Dream and the unreachable gap of economic class. In the...
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...Calvin Liu English IB-SL 14 September 2014 Great Gatsby Essay In Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the readers can see a change in the character of Nick Carraway. In fact the readers see a change in Nick in the very first chapter. “I enjoyed the counter-raid so thoroughly that I came back restless.” (3) shows that after Nick returned from the Great War he saw the Middle West as “the ragged edge of the universe” (3) causing him to go seek excitement in the East. Nick is introduced as a character that possesses a strong morality who came from a family that brought its way up through hard work, but by the end of the novel he possesses a bit of the dishonest and immoral life of the high social class around him. After his experiences and interactions with the wealthy and high class of the East, Nick ultimately changes from innocent and pure to judgmental and immoral. Nick’s initial experiences with that of the wealthy and high class in the story are what begin to corrupt him and change him from the man that he originally was back in the Middle West. One instance where the readers see Nick get affected by the wealthy is in chapter two. In an attempt to leave Tom and Myrtle alone during the drive to their apartment, Nick tries to respectfully leave and get off at Fifth Avenue however Tom replies to Nick saying “No, you don’t, Myrtle’ll be hurt if you don’t come up to the apartment. Won’t you, Myrtle?” and thus Tom makes Nicks efforts to disembark fruitless. Another instance...
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...Upper Class and Unethical Behavior – Then and Now In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, there are many conflicts that arise between the different social classes showing just how much of a difference having “old money”, “new money” or “no money” can make in the way people behave. The numerous interactions between them throughout the book show how the different classes behave. Each class is portrayed to have different attitudes and personalities. People think that with money comes power. However, we will learn that is not always correct. Like it is said, money is the root of all evil. Social class, or socioeconomic status (SES), refers to an individual’s rank vis-à-vis others in society in terms of wealth, occupational prestige, and education (2, 3). Abundant resources and elevated rank allow upper-class individuals increased freedom and independence (4), giving rise to self-focused patterns of social cognition and behavior (3). Relative to lower-class individuals, upper-class individuals have been shown to be less cognizant of others (4) and worse at identifying the emotions that others feel (5). Furthermore, upper-class individuals are more disengaged during social interactions—for example, checking their cell phones or doodling on a questionnaire—compared with their lower-class peers (6). (Piff 1) In The Great Gatsby, which takes place in the 1920's, there are three social classes defined, much like today’s society. There is ‘old money”, ‘new money” and...
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...The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, presents the American Dream as corrupted in that success and wealth are valued more than hard work. Examples of this alternate American Dream are shown throughout the novel through Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson, George Wilson, Jordan Baker, Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan. Early in the book, Daisy is shown to have empty values in life. Daisy Buchanan has a corrupted approach to achieving the American Dream because she merely strives to be a fool and to be loved, yet she still obtains wealth and success. Daisy believes that women shouldn’t be anything more than an object to rich men in order to have it all. She wants her own daughter, Pammy, to follow her own desires for wealth and success. "And I hope...
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