Premium Essay

Great Gatsby Is Not so Great

In:

Submitted By hunter6skolnick
Words 507
Pages 3
The Great Gatsby is Not

The novel has no plot to mention. ... The book is highly sensational, loud, blatant, ugly, pointless. There seems to be no reason for its existence Harvey Eagleton (Dallas Morning News, May 10, 1925).

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is an absurd story, whether considered as romance, melodrama, or plain record of New York high life. The occasional insights into character stand out as very green oases on an arid desert of waste paper. Throughout the first half of the book the author shadows his leading character in mystery, but when in the latter part he unfolds his life story it is difficult to find the brains, the cleverness, and the glamour that one might expect of a main character.

The Great Gatsby is a parody of itself. While Fitzgerald tries hard not to make Gatsby and especially Daisy laughable personalities, this is where he ultimately fails. There's not enough ironic distance to his characters. As Gatsby, at least in the eyes of many critics, should represent the idea of the American Dream, the presentation of his character puts the whole concept in question again, without being intended as criticism. This is mainly the fault of another weak character in the novel, Nick Carraway.

At first, the only function of Nick in the novel seems to be to act as a reporter, telling us the truth by telling us his shrewd, objective perceptions. Then, as the novel progresses, it turns out that the opposite is the case, and he is siding with Gatsby to make this character stand above all others and shine. Nick Carraway could be one of the finest examples of reader manipulation in literature. But his sympathy towards Gatsby is exaggerated, not so much in actions, but in the much praised language of the novel.

Fitzgerald's book at first overwhelms the reader with poetic descriptions of human feelings, of

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

What Makes The Great Gatsby So Great

...What makes Gatsby so great? In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, not much is known about Jay Gatsby. Gatsby showed traits that the green personality shows. Gatsby showed many traits that a green personality would show. Gatsby showed a need to gather knowledge, being unrealistic, and he did not like the feeling of having a lack of control. When Gatsby was a young boy, he showed an interest in gaining knowledge and getting smarter every day. Before Gatsby’s funeral, his father showed Nick a book with a schedule that Gatsby had created. Gatsby’s father said “Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always had some resolves like this or something. Do you notice what he’s got about improving his mind?”(173). Gatsby did not like the poor life that...

Words: 537 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby So Great

...The Greatness of Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel the Great Gatsby is a well-known classic and an extraordinary piece of literature but the title leaves little to the imagination with the exception of one question “why is Gatsby so great?” Jay Gatsby has everything at his disposal, money, success, good looks all of which are seen as his greatness to some but Gatsby is great for bigger reasons such as his hopefulness, relentlessness and the fact that he is flawed. Gatsby has many things going for him but it was not always like that. Gatsby was born James Gatz, a farm boy with little to no income or social stamina. His parents were unsuccessful and “his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all” (Gatsby, pg. 98). James...

Words: 699 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

What Does The Green Light Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

...The Great Gatsby has three huge symbols in the book, Gatsby’s new shirts, The Great Gatsby, and the green light, that are all supporting the main theme of the book, chase after your original dreams. Gatsby’s new shirts are representing what Daisy could have had if she would have waited for Gatsby, her original desire. The Great Gatsby shows Gatsby's great plan and how he has always had a bigger idea of everything to all come together to achieve his one huge dream, Daisy. Also the green light is the symbol itself of the dream that Gatsby had of Daisy and that if you try hard enough and reach far enough you can achieve your dream. Daisy has always had a dream of being with Gatsby and an important symbol that shows this was Gatsby’s new shirts that he has. In the book Gatsby takes all of his...

Words: 867 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Dishonesty In The Great Gatsby

...The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a story surrounding the decay of the American Dream in the 1920’s; a time when virtually anyone could achieve the dream. Jay Gatsby, the main character, encompasses every fault in the warped idea of the American Dream in the booming 20’s making The Great Gatsby, the perfect title for the story. The American dream is commonly defined as “The ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American. (Dictionary) Almost any American would describe the American Dream as a stable income, a sustainable job and the chance to provide the opportunity for the following generation to do even better. In the booming 20’s, that dream was available to almost every...

Words: 837 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

To What Extent Do You Agree That Fight Club Is an Updated Version of the Great Gatsby That Captures the Zeitgeist of Modernism?

...To what extent do you agree that Fight Club is an updated version of The Great Gatsby that captures the zeitgeist of modernism? The extent to which Palahniuk’s Fight Club bears resemblance to Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is debatable despite the fact that there are numerous similarities between the two texts in terms of its narrative structure dominant themes and the presentation of characters thus their respective zeitgeist of modernism, both texts have clearly their own mark that make them truly unique. Clearly the extent of the similarities between the two texts cannot be overlooked when Palahniuk stated himself in the Afterword that ‘’Gatsby’s updated a little’’, as both novels have apostolic narratives it can be seen that both reveal the hollow superficial nature that existed within society in both the 1920’s and 1990’s. Fight Club and The Great Gatsby can be contrasted as, Fitzgerald describes Gatsby’s lavish parties, flamboyant suits and mansion to be a template for the narrator’s own existence in ‘Fight Club’. His life is dominated by his IKEA ‘’condo’’ and his own job, which he then finds that he has nothing to live for and is empty inside. He is someone who has ‘’ lost everything’’ and is ‘’ Lost in oblivion. Dark and silent and complete.’’, which also illustrates the impossibility of the American Dream of both novels. ‘’Fight Club’’ thrusts the idea of conspicuous consumption even further as the narrator describes the destruction of material possessions no longer...

Words: 1904 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

The Great Gatsby

...The Great Gatsby ‘’The Great Gatsby’’ is a Charles Scribner's Son novel based on tragedy . The novel was published in 1925 in NYC . Nick Carraway the novel narrator , explain with details how he was living in this time , including his point of view of the things that happen on his environment . is As a ‘’Modernism’’ novel great Gatsby is a non poetic story based on the search of truth and identity . The great Gatsby is an amazing novel that tells the life of Nick Carraway who travel to New York. Nick wants to be a professional writer . He believed that these time of his life would be success full . On his journal nick tells that the begging he was very happy to be in New York. He was gaining good money, attracting women and the fame was very good. "The Great Gatsby provides a critical social history of America during the Roaring Twenties within its narrative. That era, known for unprecedented economic prosperity, the evolution of jazz music, flapperculture, and bootlegging and other criminal activity, is plausibly depicted in Fitzgerald's novel." (Bruccoli, Matthew Joseph). He has a cousin called Daisy who already were living in New York. She was married to a rich man whose name was Tom Buchanan a popular polo player . Nick doesn't know how his cousin was living. He asked her and she told him that every thing is good.The first thing he realized was that his Cousin Daisy was living a nightmare being married with Tom, he was unfaithful and abusive but she kept...

Words: 1362 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby Great?

...What Makes “The Great Gatsby” Great “Art is subjective” A Roman saying, “De gustibus non est disputandum” in translation means- it’s all a matter of taste. This indeed stands a proof that there is no constant in art. It all comes down to personal preferences. What one might find a masterpiece of a work might be absolute trash to some other. Art can never be confined within rigid boundaries of vision. Art lies above and beyond such fixities of an individual’s likes and dislikes. No piece of art can be called great. Likewise, no piece of art can be called worthless. If a work of art manages to play with the strings of just one heart, it has done its job already. After all, that’s what art is supposed to do, right? Transcend the inky sheets to...

Words: 1384 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Archetype In The Great Gatsby

...I am doing my research paper on Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby, and the archetype I have chosen is American Dreamer. An American Dreamer is someone who sees the American Dream as an obtainable goal and vigorously pursues it. Jay Gatsby qualifies for the archetype American Dreamer because in his journey to wealth and prosperity he is reunited with a lost love from five years previous, her name is Daisy Buchanan. I am doing my research paper on Jay Gatsby because I have wanted to read this book for some time and I figured who better to do than the main character of the book. F. Scott Fitzgerald created many interesting characters in his novel The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby, The main character from The Great Gatsby fits the archetype of the American...

Words: 956 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Examples Of Ambition In The Great Gatsby

...delicious on the the whim such as getitng involved in the stock market. Stocke market could led it major wins and major lossses. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote a tragic tale full of obsessions, longing for social mobility, and the American Dream. Jay Gatsby has many unhealthy obsessions throughout the novel. But the most infamous obsession is his love for Daisy. Gatsby believes in a sick way that he is hers and she is his. It was love at first sight for him. Gatsby believes that they are practically married. In The Great...

Words: 1553 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Gg Reading Response

...October 10th, 2012 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Reading Response The novel The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald is a book that deals with the American Dream: an ideal presented in American literature where the dreamer rises to wealth, very present in the twenties. In this bestseller, Gatsby – the protagonist – embodies the evolution of one to greatness. Beginning his life as a simple, poor farmer’s boy. James Gatz, upon meeting the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan who is wealthy, decides to rise to success and fortune – and carries the name of Jay Gatsby, who “sprang from his Platonic conception of himself”(95). Through this process really achieves the American dream. In addition, Gatsby becomes great to the narrator and his close friend, Nick Carraway – however, the novel ends as a tragedy, and by having the great Gatsby shot dead. Through the use of the symbol of Daisy Buchanan as well as the significance of the title, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald explores the idea of the American Dream and that it rarely equaled to absolute happiness. Daisy Buchanan symbolizes the failed attempt at finding ultimate happiness through money: ”For Daisy was young and her artificial world was redolent of orchids and pleasant, cheerful snobbery and orchestras which set the rhythm of the year, summing up the sadness and suggestiveness of life in new tunes” (143). Daisy is the cousin of Nick Carraway, but most importantly Gatsby’s love. Daisy and Gatsby had been romantically involved...

Words: 1259 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

The Great Gatsby Title Analysis

...In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the title appears to be ironic to the readers, as Gatsby doesn't actually seem to be that “great” by the end of the book. At the beginning of the book outsiders see Gatsby as this glamorous, rich, and powerful man who throws extravagant parties. Also, when reading the title at first you have a preconceived notion of Gatsby being “great”. But, as the reader gets deeper into the book, Gatsby proves to be a very insecure man and readers start to perceive Gatsby as weak. In the book, The Great Gatsby, the title is meant to be ironic and reflects the contrast between how Gatsby appears to outsiders with how he truly is. At first sight, Jay Gatsby is shown as magnificent and dazzling, but towards the end of the book...

Words: 728 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

The Truly Great Gatsby

...The Truly Great Gatsby Is his novel the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald creates Gatsby as a character who becomes great. He begins life as just an ordinary, lower-class, citizen. But Gatsby has a dream of becoming wealthy. After meeting Daisy, he has a reason to strive to become prominent. Throughout his life, Gatsby gains the title of truly being great. Even before Gatsby is introduced, he is hinted at being out of the ordinary. The first evidence of this is when Nick says, "Gatsby turned out all right at the end." (2) Nothing was known about Gatsby at the time and Nick is already saying Gatsby was okay. There's a air of mysteriousness surrounding Gatsby. Everyone knows of him, but no one knows who he really is or where he comes from. Even at our first glance of Gatsby, he's reaching out for something only he can see. There were many stories flying about Gatsby but no one knew what to really believe. In on instance Jordan made the comment, "I think he killed a man." (49) Even when Gatsby confessed about his past he didn't always tell the truth. He told Nick he inherited great wealth, but in reality, Gatsby gained his wealth on his own. Even though Gatsby lied, the fact that he made himself what he was makes him even that much greater. When Gatsby was still James Gatz, he had a dream of leaving his life on the farm behind and become part of the upper-class. Even Gatsby's father knew when he said, "If he'd lived, he'd of been a great man." (169) Little did...

Words: 1243 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

The Great Gatsby

...Exploring The Many Themes Of The Great Gatsby “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald There are many messages authors try to send the readers when they write books, but at the end of the day, people receive different messages from the masterpiece. Author Francis Scott Fitzgerald wrote a book in 1925 which was The Great Gatsby. “Even if Scott Fitzgerald is, as someone suggested years ago, essentially a one-book author, only a prig would dispute either the stylistic beauty or the cultural importance of The Great Gatsby.”(Barbarese) Although he is arguably a one-book author, this story about a Jay Gatsby has a story to tell. This piece is about a wealthy young man named Jay Gatsby, who has everything anyone would dream of, besides the love of his life. Making money through bootlegging and making illegal sales of alcohol, but soon finds it hard to believe that money can not really buy happiness. The book contains many conflicts between Jay Gatsby and himself, Jay Gatsby against society, and even Jay Gatsby and the love of his life’s husband. The wealthy This novel is filled with all the themes of love, revenge, money can’t buy happiness, the “American Dream”, and many more. There are so many themes to pick from, the audience has their individual ideas on which them Scott Fitzgerald is trying to send. The truth is he isn’t sending you any themes, how you interpret the novel is all on your own making of the story. Scott Fitzgerald has many themes all mixed up within...

Words: 2732 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

The Goodfather

...Overview: The Great Gatsby The novel's events are filtered through the consciousness of its narrator, Nick Carraway, a young Yale graduate, who is both a part of and separate from the world he describes. Upon moving to New York, he rents a house next door to the mansion of an eccentric millionaire (Jay Gatsby). Every Saturday, Gatsby throws a party at his mansion and all the great and the good of the young fashionable world come to marvel at his extravagance (as well as swap gossipy stories about their host who--it is suggested--has a murky past). Despite his high-living, Gatsby is dissatisfied; and Nick finds out why. Long ago, Gatsby fell in love with a young girl, Daisy. Although she has always loved Gatsby, she is currently married to Tom Buchanan. Gatsby asks Nick to help him meet Daisy once more, and Nick finally agrees--arranging tea for Daisy at his house. The two ex-lovers meet and soon rekindle their affair. Soon, Tom begins to suspect and challenges the two of them--also revealing something that the reader had already begun to suspect: that Gatsby's fortune was made through illegal gambling and bootlegging. Gatsby and Daisy drive back to New York. In the wake of the emotional confrontation, Daisy hits and kills a woman. Gatsby feels that his life would be nothing without Daisy, so he determines to take the blame. George Wilson--who discovers that the car that killed his wife belongs to Gatsby--comes to Gatsby's house and shoots him. Nick arranges a funeral...

Words: 644 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Great Gatsby

...novel the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald creates Gatsby as a character who becomes great. He begins life as just an ordinary, lower-class, citizen. But Gatsby has a dream of becoming wealthy. After meeting Daisy, he has a reason to strive to become prominent. Throughout his life, Gatsby gains the title of truly being great. Even before Gatsby is introduced, he is hinted at being out of the ordinary. The first evidence of this is when Nick says, "Gatsby turned out all right at the end." (2) Nothing was known about Gatsby at the time and Nick is already saying Gatsby was okay. There's a air of mysteriousness surrounding Gatsby. Everyone knows of him, but no one knows who he really is or where he comes from. Even at our first glance of Gatsby, he's reaching out for something only he can see. There were many stories flying about Gatsby but no one knew what to really believe. In on instance Jordan made the comment, "I think he killed a man." (49) Even when Gatsby confessed about his past he didn't always tell the truth. He told Nick he inherited great wealth, but in reality, Gatsby gained his wealth on his own. Even though Gatsby lied, the fact that he made himself what he was makes him even that much greater. When Gatsby was still James Gatz, he had a dream of leaving his life on the farm behind and become part of the upper-class. Even Gatsby's father knew when he said, "If he'd lived, he'd of been a great man." (169) Little did his father know that Gatsby was already...

Words: 1239 - Pages: 5