...moral decay, that women became more independent. Women began to take on more prominent roles in society, leaving their domestic lifestyle behind. However, despite all of these changes, omen were still seen in a negative light. As they began detaching themselves from this "proper and prim" manner in society, new stereotypes were placed upon them. Females were immediately labelled as dishonest, materialistic and unfaithful. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald is successfully able to depict women as immoral and irresponsible beings through the use of Daisy, Jordan and Myrtle. Daisy is presented as one of the most enigmatic female characters in The Great Gatsby. Perhaps her most noticeable quality is how materialistic she appears to be throughout the novel. This idea is most clearly presented when Gatsby decides to give her a tour of his house. Daisy begins weeping stating "It makes me sad because I've never seen such-such beautiful shirts"(Fitzgerald,89). This presents the reader with an idea of how much material items really mean to daisy as she was brought to tears by the sight of beautiful expensive clothing. Her materialism is pointed out once again when Gatsby says "She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me" (Fitzgerald,124). Although love did seem important for Daisy, it did not seem to surpass the fact that Gatsby was not rich. In the end Daisy's materialism kept her away from true love. Another apparent trait Daisy Buchanan possesses...
Words: 338 - Pages: 2
...Symbolism of Houses and Cars in The Great Gatsby Francis Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, is full of symbolism, which is portrayed by the houses and cars in an array of ways. One of the more important qualities of symbolism within The Great Gatsby is the way in which it is so completely incorporated into the plot and structure. Symbols, such as Gatsby's house and car, symbolize material wealth. Gatsby's house "[is] a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy" which contains "a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy" is a symbol of Gatsby's large illegal income (Fitzgerald 9). Gatsby's large income isn't enough to keep him happy. He needs "The house he feels he needs in order to win happiness" and it is also the perfect symbol of carelessness with money which is a major part of his personality (Bewley 24). Gatsby's house like his car symbolizes his vulgar and excessive trait of getting attention. Gatz's house is a mixture of different styles and periods which symbolizes an owner who does not know their true identity. The Buchanan's house is symbolic of their ideals. East Egg is home to the more prominent established wealth families. Tom's and Daisy's home is on the East Egg. Their house, a "red and white Georgian Colonial mansion overlooking the bay" with its "wine-colored rug[s]" is just as impressive as Gatsby's house but much more low-key (Fitzgerald 11) (13). East egg and Tom's home represents the established wealth and...
Words: 1128 - Pages: 5
...The Great Gatsby: The Corruption of the American Dream through Materialism The American dream is an ideal that has been present since American literature’s onset. Typically, the dreamer aspires to rise from rags to riches, while accumulating such things as love, high status, wealth, and power on his way to the top. The dream has had variations throughout different time periods, although it is generally based on ideas of freedom, self-reliance, and a desire for something greater. The early settlers’ dream of traveling out West to find land and start a family has gradually transformed into a materialistic vision of having a big house, a nice car, and a life of ease. In the past century, the American dream has increasingly focused on material items as an indication of attaining success. In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is a self-made man who started out with no money—only a plan for achieving his dream. He is so blinded by his luxurious possessions that he does not see that money cannot buy love or happiness. Fitzgerald demonstrates how a dream can become corrupted by one’s focus on acquiring wealth, power, and expensive things. Gatsby’s dream “is a naïve dream based on the fallacious assumption that material possessions are synonymous with happiness, harmony, and beauty” (Fahey 70). His American dream has become corrupted by the culture of wealth and opulence that surrounds him. Gatsby is a “nouveau riche,” and his romantic view of wealth has not prepared him for the self-interested...
Words: 2539 - Pages: 11
...In the Great Gatsby, the American Dream is supposed to stand for independence and the ability to make something of one selves with hard work but, it ends up being more about materialism and shellfish pursuit of pleasure. In modern times, people still conform to and rebel against societal expectations. In ‘’The Book Thief’’, the younger generation brings hope for a better future by rebelling against the Nazi. In the Political Cartoon, women rebel against society’s expectations on how they were forced to live their life. When the American dream was pure, motivation and ambition were some key aspects of the pure American dream, ‘’He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way…and distinguished nothing except a single green light’’. It shows how Gatsby was striving for his goal and trying to accomplish it. When the dream was pure, motivation and self- discipline were present....
Words: 418 - Pages: 2
...very American idea of materialism started and changed American Lifestyle 1920’s. Industry was exploding and new innovations such as credit, shopping malls, refrigerator, vacuum cleaners, and radio. These inventions were the “must have” items that everyone was now required to own. But this idea of needing more and not worrying about the consequences, led to the Great Depression, one of the hardest economic times in American history. This idea of mass consumerism and materialism is also apparent in The Great Gatsby. Gatsby’s character was largely influenced by his wealth and his need for more. Illustrated by Gatsby’s need for Daisy Buchanan that resulted in his decline and ultimately his death....
Words: 1064 - Pages: 5
...F. Scott Fitzgerald criticizes the American Dream in his novel , The Great Gatsby. He shows the readers that during this time period the American dream was centered on riches, material wealth, youth and selfishness. People show no regard towards strong moral values and chose material wealth. Hypocrisy and corruption are a way of life for the elite high-class society. Tom is hypocritical in his possessive views of his relationship with Daisy. Gatsby and Wolfsheim’s morals are corrupted by their money-god, and the value of life disappears in all of their lives. F. Scott Fitzgerald believes that the American dream is nothing but a defective illusion and people will always be suppressed from accomplishing true achievement. Meyer Wolfsheim is a...
Words: 825 - Pages: 4
...materialistic vision of a big house, nice car, and living the easy life. As represented in the novel The Great Gatsby and Baz Luhrmann’s, The Great Gatsby, the American Dream was more focused on instant gratification of material things and needing material things as an indication of success. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby and Baz Luhrmann’s, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is a renaissance man; a man who has it all but started out with nothing. His plan was to achieve his dream. He was so blinded by his possessions, in front of him, that he could not see that money could not buy love or happiness. Fitzgerald demonstrated how a dream can be corrupted by one’s focus on accruing wealth, power, and expensive things. Gatsby’s dream was “ambiguous, contradictory, romantic in nature, and undeniably beautiful while at the same time grotesquely flawed” (Hearne 189). His American Dream had become tarnished and corrupted by the culture of money and opulence that surrounded him. Gatsby was ‘new money’, and his romantic view of the wealthy did not prepare him for the self- absorbed, snobbish, group of people he was about to associate himself with. He threw lavish parties every night, yet he had no real friends to surround himself with. Gatsby bought expensive things and entertained a lot of people, but he was hoping for something more. Nick Caraway realized that Gatsby was involved in a few...
Words: 2843 - Pages: 12
...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...
Words: 2349 - Pages: 10
...Camille Warden Mrs. Cole 4/9/13 PDP English II Gatsby Final Essay “’Her voice is full of money,’ He said suddenly.” (120) The Design of Jay Gatsby If you were to ask someone about the character Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, they will probably describe him similarly to the fashion that the book’s narrator Nick does. He is perceived as a kind, generous, and down to earth man amongst the cutthroat wealthy elite. They may criticize Daisy portraying her as being the cruel temptress who brought him to his doom, or they might see Gatsby and Daisy’s love as immortal comparing the two to Romeo and Juliet. Gatsby on the other hand you will rarely ever hear being demonized. He is seen as mysterious, sad, romantic, and strange, but never overbearing or sexist. He is far from the worst character in the novel and may still be the most generous one in spite of his ambition tainted love, but he shouldn’t be impervious to critique since his mindset is widely prevalent in society and quite harmful if not checked. Through the chosen quote, Fitzgerald reveals the inherent materialism of Gatsby’s love for Daisy, illustrating the dehumanizing effect of female objectification by men. When all five main characters swarm frenetically around Tom’s house then decide to go to town in a desperate attempt to break the unspoken stalemate between Daisy’s husband and lover, Nick postulates that her husband Tom already knows about the affair because Daisy has “got an...
Words: 1628 - Pages: 7
...In the book The Great Gatsby , we meet a guy Nick Carraway and he slowly gets to find out the truth of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby , his first encounter with Jay is when he sees him at the dock looking over longside searching for the green light. Later in the novel that green light symbolizes his hopes and american dream with Daisy. Because money plays a huge role in the 1920s/30s , it determines your social class and definitely how much money you have. The time period is still the very late 1920s, what people had thought to be the “American Dream” they have now, in this novel atleast is now the “Materialism Dream”, no one wants just a regular house, couple of kids , a picket fence, maybe a pet , what people want is everything , if they have the money for it, they’re most likely getting it. The more people that have that power/ money the more and more ambitious and the more greedy they be ....
Words: 1075 - Pages: 5
...In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway serves dual roles. The first one introduced, Nick Carraway is the novel's most well-developed character. The opening paragraphs of the novel reveal Nick's morals and ideals as a person. Though believing himself to have been given a fair amount of the "fundamental decencies [that are] parcelled out unequally at birth", Nick still is inclined "to reserve all judgements" (6, 5). With that inclination, he is then able to get to know most of the characters quite intimately, thus being able to see all the situations as a whole. An example that exemplifies his habit of reserving judgement is just before he meets Gatsby himself. At the first party of Gatsby's that he attends, he had not yet met the host, when already he hears of several rumors concerning Gatsby's past. Unaffected by rumors such as "[Gatsby has] killed a man once" and being "a German spy during the war", Nick still gets to know Gatsby quite well, helping the plot as well as Gatsby's character development (47, 48). Nick's personality qualities qualify him for being a good narrator. The most honest of all characters in the story, Nick is also honest with himself. For example, although Nick cares for Jordan, he admits to himself that Jordan is dishonest and selfish, thereby not letting emotion cloud his judgement. Nick seems to be The Great Gatsby's only uncorrupted and disillusioned character. Every other character, including Gatsby himself, uses money for every...
Words: 1364 - Pages: 6
...purple to symbolize the truth and principles within and about the American dream. The colors mentioned the most and used to enforce a greater meaning in the Great Gatsby are: green, yellow, red, blue, grey and white. Each color is a crucial detail in the book relating to intentions and foreboding. Throughout the history of literature colors have been used as motif. *add quote about color motifs in literature* Red commonly means power, danger, passion and love. Yellow is associated...
Words: 960 - Pages: 4
...Analysis of “Materialistic Perception” in F. Scot Fitzgerald Using Marxist Literary Criticism Chapter I 1.1 Introduction 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 that has been described as a cautionary tale regarding the American Dream. 1.2 State of Problem 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, flapper culture, and bootlegging and other economy struggle that was the result of the materialism and capitalism damaging on social behavior, led to the widespread social distress. 1.3 Theoretical Framework Using literary criticism to interpret what is the ideal life of America in 19th century and what is the dream of American people after World War I. as a Marxist interpretation of the novel makes especially clear, reveals its dark underbelly instead. Through its unflattering characterization of those at the top of the...
Words: 6033 - Pages: 25
...The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby gives the readers a visual image of every character’s life by expressing their feelings; the colors are used very often as symbols that depict the person’s character and represents their behavior. The author utilized the colors white, green, red, blue, yellow, and gold. The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock is symbolic to the limitless promise of the dream Gatsby pursues. “Gatsby believed in the green light with such intensity that he did not realize his immature dream was unattainable from the start.”(Fitzgerald) Gatsby, was hoping that his American Dream would come true, it was his inspiration, his hope, and, ironically, his death and downfall. he was expecting to get married...
Words: 1674 - Pages: 7
...“He says he knows the car that did it… it was a yellow car.” This line from The Great Gatsby talks about an infamous yellow car involved with a hit and run. A love story gone wrong, a girl and her lover leave her husband after a fight, only to end up hitting the husband’s mistress. This later leads to the death of the girl’s lover and the mistress’ husband. The 1920s set story talks about longing and love, life and death, and of course the personality and ideals that were so prominent during this time period. Embellished with materialism and illegal dealings, this book covers many dark subjects, one of the most overlying - death. This said car and its color have great symbolism and value in the story, and we can examine it to gain a better understanding of the story’s plot. The...
Words: 878 - Pages: 4
