...Fate of Gatsby Many can argue that the downfall of Jay Gatsby was justified by his peers and friends but it was Gatsby himself. Throughout the novel Gatsby shows how he could have reestablished his own life in many ways. Gatsby realizes that because of his past actions he had to work even harder against fate to gather what he once had in his life. Gatsby ultimately crushed his own life, in a way only one can do to themselves. The most considerable mistake anyone can make in a long-term distant relationship is not communicating with their partner when they have the chance. When someone truly loves another person they think about them the second they wake up and until the last second before they close their eyes and fall asleep. Love is the...
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...The Great Gatsby, a story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is one based on the American Dream or should I say the “demise” of the American Dream. This so called dream in the 20’s was portrayed by wickedness and greed. Week three of our lecture we were asked to discuss what the American Dream meant to us and my response was one based off freedom, discovery, and hard work. Immigrants, salves, lower class citizens, etc. were accustomed to earning their money through manual labor, not through family inheritance as seen by most of the characters from The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald uses this story and the characteristics and actions of these characters to say that the “American Dream” was based on a lie in the 1920’s. The carefree satisfaction of the Jazz Age, also seen as the Materialistic Era, led to the extortion of the American Dream. The Declaration of Independence states that “all man are created equal and that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.” F. Scott Fitzgerald created this story to reveal that people in the 20’s were in a pursuit of selfish delight, and the equality of people was based on their financial assets. The line that states all mean are created equal is broken in the scene where Tom is bashing Gatsby for how he became wealthy. He calls Gatsby a crook, and in this in turn leads to retaliation from Gatsby and a fight almost breaking out. Two mean that hold such high class and dignity, yelling and...
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...Great Gatsby, a reporter comes to Gatsby’s door to interview him about his personal life. Jay Gatsby’s original name was James Gatz and he was born on a North Dakota farm but went to college in St. Olaf, Minnesota. He dropped out of college and later met the wealthy Dan Cody who hired him as a personal assistant. When Dan Cody died he left Gatsby $25,000, but his mistress prevented Gatsby from claiming it. After that, Gatsby was determined to become rich and successful. Later on, Nick visits Gatsby and is shocked to find Tom Buchanan there, and the next Saturday Tom and Daisy attend one of Gatsby’s parties. After the party Gatsby is worried that Daisy did not enjoy it and Nick tells him to give up on Daisy, however, Gatsby refuses and instead tells Nick about he and Daisy’s past. The quote that best describes Jay Gatsby is, “He talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy” (110). The good qualities of Jay Gatsby are he is a loyal person and he has a good heart. The bad qualities of Gatsby are he is amoral, dishonest, and throws his money away. Fitzgerald developed this character to show how people use their wealth to get love only to discover the love is not real. Additionally, he is developed throughout the novel to be an example of how living extravagantly can be an empty life. A meaningful quote in the chapter is, “The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang...
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...With The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald made a conscious departure from the writing process of his previous novels. He started planning it in June 1922,[citation needed] after completing his play The Vegetable and began composing The Great Gatsby in 1923.[2] He ended up discarding most of it as a false start, some of which resurfaced in the story "Absolution".[3] Unlike his previous works, Fitzgerald intended to edit and reshape Gatsby thoroughly, believing that it held the potential to launch him toward literary acclaim. He told his editor Maxwell Perkins that the novel was a "consciously artistic achievement" and a "purely creative work — not trashy imaginings as in my stories but the sustained imagination of a sincere and yet radiant world". He added later, during editing, that he felt "an enormous power in me now, more than I've ever had".[4] Oheka Castle on the Gold Coast of Long Island was a partial inspiration for Gatsby's estate.[5] After the birth of their child, the Fitzgeralds moved to Great Neck, Long Island in October 1922, a setting used as the scene for The Great Gatsby.[6] Fitzgerald's neighbors in Great Neck included such prominent and newly wealthy New Yorkers as writer Ring Lardner, actor Lew Fields and comedian Ed Wynn.[3] These figures were all considered to be 'new money', unlike those who came from Manhasset Neck or Cow Neck Peninsula, places which were home to many of New York's wealthiest established families, and which sat across a bay from Great Neck...
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...Gatsby was a very mysterious character in the Great Gatsby and most of his life is unknown. The Great Gatsby is a book told by the Nick Carraway, who was Gatsby’s neighbor, and he tells the story after 1922. Nick moved to West Egg, Long Island, seeking a better life. Gatsby’s objective is to be reunited with Daisy Buchanan the love he lost years earlier. Gatsby’s mission leads him from poverty to riches, into arms of beloved, and eventually to his death. I believe that Gatsby is most to blame for his own death because of his love for Daisy and getting in between Daisy and Tom's marriage. Gatsby’s love for Daisy eventually led to his demise, because he got in the way of Daisy and Tom’s marriage. In the book, Gatsby made himself believe that Daisy loved him more than she loved Tom “‘I did love him once but I loved you too.’ Gatsby’s eyes opened and closed. ‘You loved me too?’ he repeated” pg (132). In this dialogue, Gatsby is talking with Daisy while Tom, Nick and Jordan are in the room. Nick and Jordan tried to leave but both Gatsby and Tom insisted that they stay with a firm and stern look. Gatsby is trying to win back Daisy saying that she has...
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...rich and ugly collide together, making The Great Gatsby a novel with a twisted and complicated plot. The main character Nick Carraway, is from the west and moves to the overpopulated city of New York. He settles in the “West Egg” of Long Island and meets his mysterious neighbor who goes by the name of Jay Gatsby. Nick visits his cousin Daisy, who lives in the “East Egg” and soon becomes somewhat engaged within the fast, upbeat, party life. (Fitzgerald) Although he is not fully involved, he disentangles himself from the whole scene near the ending due to his observant behavior and disgusted attitude towards the whole outlook. However, his attraction towards Gatsby is a main focus. Readers are captivated by Gatsby’s admirable perseverance and determination in working towards achieving his goal of winning Daisy’s heart and beyond that, the American dream, yet his greatness predicts his downfall. Gatsby’s desire of becoming wealthy and dedication to this goal reflects how admirable he is because created himself out of nothing; he “sprang from his Platonic conception of himself; he was a son of God-.” (Fitzgerald, 104) He “reinvented” himself, using his imagination and being “faithful to the end” until he was the prosperous man he wanted to become. But this accomplished goal of becoming wealthy was only a small step towards his bigger goal; being with Daisy. Money was only a factor that connected Gatsby to Daisy; if Gatsby was wealthy then surely Daisy would be with him in...
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...The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel that takes a different spin on the stereotypical American dream. To say “through the novel, Fitzgerald puts across the idea that the American dream has been corrupted by the desire for materialism” would be accurate. Because “we see that Gatsby had a pure dream, but became corrupt in his quest towards that dream,” this is how the American dream was viewed as corrupt. Throughout the novel Gatsby displays many examples of how his quest towards the dream that was once pure, slowly becomes more and more corrupt. The first showing of corruptness in Gatsby’s dream, which is to marry Daisy, is his unethical means of obtaining a fortune. The stereotypical American dream is working hard for honest money. However, this is not the case for Gatsby. Gatsby attains his fortune through the illegal means of bootlegging. In the novel, the narrator Nick describes Gatsby, “The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a Son of God—a phrase that, if it means anything, means just that—and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end” (The Great Gatsby Chapter 6 pg). This quotation shows how Nick saw Gatsby as trying to transform himself into the ideal person. He even goes as far as to...
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...F. Scott Fitzgerald’s story, The Great Gatsby, is a rags to riches story of a man named Jay Gatsby, born in 1892. Raised in North Dakota as a squandering farmer’s son, Gatsby later became a millionaire living in West Egg, where all the new money lived. Jay Gatsby was an iconic figure of a tragic hero because he came from great mental stature, endured great physical and emotional suffering, and had a tragic flaw that inevitably resulted in his downfall. Jay Gatsby had many attributes of a tragic hero including being born into a family of high stature. He felt as if he was born a son of God. When he was a young child, his parents were poor farm workers in North Dakota, but Gatsby knew he was destined for greatness. As he grew, he received his...
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...wealth, sometimes their morals aren’t as important to them. This is illustrated by Gatsby’s involvement in illegal business, Tom’s affair with Myrtle, and Daisy’s reunion with Gatsby. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg represent the eyes of God watching over the decaying morals of American society. In Chapter Four, Gatsby invites Nick to lunch at a Forty-second Street cellar in New York City. In order to travel from Long Island to the city, they must drive through the Valley of Ashes, and therefore under the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg....
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...The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald transports one into the wealth and excitement of the 1920’s, yet reveals the dark pieces of humanity as well. In efforts to comprehend the shallow, reckless characters of this story, three traits appear to be the bases of their flawed morals: prejudice, resentment, and - what proves to often be most genuine and deadly - apathy. The type of people in this period that Fitzgerald tries to personify attain a mindset that lives on its own small, personal island. Meaning, there is only enough room for themselves. Likewise, this mindset is evident in many Americans during the time of change in the 20’s, as the voiceless people called for attention. The Roaring 20’s marked a time of economic prosperity, that...
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...The Great Gatsby is a story told by Nick Carraway, who was once Gatsby's neighbor, and he tells the story sometime after 1922, when the incidents that fill the book take place. As the story opens, Nick has just moved from the Midwest to West Egg, Long Island, seeking his fortune as a bond salesman. Shortly after his arrival, Nick travels across the Sound to the more fashionable East Egg to visit his cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband, Tom, a hulking, imposing man whom Nick had known in college. There he meets professional golfer Jordan Baker. The Buchanans and Jordan Baker live privileged lives, contrasting sharply in sensibility and luxury with Nick's more modest and grounded lifestyle. When Nick returns home that evening, he notices his neighbor, Gatsby, mysteriously standing in the dark and stretching his arms toward the water, and a solitary green light across the Sound. One day, Nick is invited to accompany Tom, a blatant adulterer, to meet his mistress, Myrtle Wilson, a middle-class woman whose husband runs a modest garage and gas station in the valley of ashes, a desolate and run-down section of town that marks the convergence of the city and the suburbs. After the group meets and journeys into the city, Myrtle phones friends to come over and they all spend the afternoon drinking at Myrtle and Tom's apartment. The afternoon is filled with drunken behavior and ends ominously with Myrtle and Tom fighting over Daisy, his wife. Drunkenness turns to rage and Tom, in one...
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...The Great Gatsby is a story told by Nick Carraway, who was once Gatsby's neighbor, and he tells the story sometime after 1922, when the incidents that fill the book take place. As the story opens, Nick has just moved from the Midwest to West Egg, Long Island, seeking his fortune as a bond salesman. Shortly after his arrival, Nick travels across the Sound to the more fashionable East Egg to visit his cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband, Tom, a hulking, imposing man whom Nick had known in college. There he meets professional golfer Jordan Baker. The Buchanans and Jordan Baker live privileged lives, contrasting sharply in sensibility and luxury with Nick's more modest and grounded lifestyle. When Nick returns home that evening, he notices his neighbor, Gatsby, mysteriously standing in the dark and stretching his arms toward the water, and a solitary green light across the Sound. One day, Nick is invited to accompany Tom, a blatant adulterer, to meet his mistress, Myrtle Wilson, a middle-class woman whose husband runs a modest garage and gas station in the valley of ashes, a desolate and run-down section of town that marks the convergence of the city and the suburbs. After the group meets and journeys into the city, Myrtle phones friends to come over and they all spend the afternoon drinking at Myrtle and Tom's apartment. The afternoon is filled with drunken behavior and ends ominously with Myrtle and Tom fighting over Daisy, his wife. Drunkenness turns to rage and Tom, in one...
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...The Great Gatsby “The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.” In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald presents his audience with a novel with intricate symbolism. Nick Carroway, the protagonist, has recently moved from the Midwest to get his career started in New York. He lives on the island of West Egg the poorer side of town, across from East Egg the wealthier side of town. In East Egg are where his pompous and snobbish friends Tom and Daisy live. They gossip and party a lot, all while Tom is cheating on Daisy with a lady named Myrtle Wilson. Everyone knows except for Daisy and Mr. Wilson. Meanwhile, Nick lives next door to a mysterious man named Gatsby, who throws extravagant parties, but yet no one knows anything about him. Throughout the book Nick learns about the mysterious Gatsby and what it is like to live around people who believe in a conceited world of indecency. Fitzgerald involves symbolism into the heart of the novel so strongly that it is necessary to read passages of the book more than once to full understand. The creative yet simplistic styling of this book is a major reason why The Great Gatsby is one of the classics of the 20th century. Throughout the book, three themes dominate the text of The Great Gatsby. These themes include the loss of time, appearance and characterization, and perspective. The word time appears many times in the novel either by itself or in a...
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...Critical Analysis Essay of The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby The novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, demonstrates the destructive quality that money has on people. Money makes people do things that they wouldn’t imagine doing because it’s not who they are. Money makes people be deceitful, untrustworthy, and pompous. It corrupts the honest people, and preys on the meek. This is something Nick Carraway realizes after his living experience in West Egg, Long Island. Relocating to a different region of the world is a scary but an exciting experience. Seeing how the other half lives, and becoming affiliated with those who are the opposite of you is something that everyone should experience. Any experience, negative or positive, should be considered a life learning lesson. Although money has been known to bring joy to people, it can also cause people to be deceitful. This deceit comes in the form of greed. James Gatz, also known as Jay Gatsby, was a victim of deceit; His preparatory, Daisy Buchanan. No matter how much Jay loved Daisy or how devoted he was to her through all those years, five years to be exact, Daisy’s love for Gatsby was a facade. She saw how different he was and how much he had changed substantially but she couldn’t let go of how poor he use to be. Her greed for wealth and security was understandable especially during that specific time period. But why use Jay? Just to get revenge on her husband for cheating? Just to prove a point? ABSOLUTELY! It...
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...The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald illuminates this. In the novel Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton explores the themes of imprisonment and entrapment. The characters portrayed in her novel are trapped and imprisoned by many elements including their environment, loveless marriage, predestination, mind-set, religion and many more. These themes are also explored in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Firstly, one of the key factors that Edith Wharton presents imprisonment and entrapment is the setting and environment of Ethan Frome. The bleak and isolated town of Starkfeild is immediately imagined by the reader due to Wharton’s description of the landscape through the narrators eyes and how it seemed to be “emerging from its six month siege like a starved garrison” This brutal simile of the town suggests to the reader that the Starkfield is under attack from the elements and subsequently they begin to imagine how this type of environment may affect the characters life’s and particularly their freedom. Indeed, Wharton portrays the main character, Ethan Frome, as a reflection of Starkfield and “an incarnation of the frozen woe”. This metaphor, in part, epitomises Ethan’s personality of a slow, illiterate man whose motivation has halted or froze. This instigates sympathy from the reader that will be ever present throughout the novel. Similarly, F. Scott Fitzgerald presents Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby with feelings of isolation as a result of his environment. Gatsby resides on...
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