...F. Scott Fitzgerald manages to incorporate his own moral principles in his novel the Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald wrote his character Jay Gatsby to embody the characteristics of the modern person of the 1920s: naïve, life risking, and consumed by the prospect of money. Fitzgerald feared that if a person consumed by the dated interpretation of the “American dream”, they too will follow in the direction of Gatsby. Fitzgerald’s fear is expressed through Gatsby’s ultimate death and his inability to let go of the “greenlight”. Fitzgerald makes the narrator Nick Carraway, contemplate the reason why Gatsby was attracted to west egg, to express his own antagonism toward Gatsby and his hatred of money consuming all. Jay Gatsby is a character who is very...
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...Although Nick is quick to point out many of the flaws and excesses of the New York milieu, his passive temperament and lack of action often make Nick a complicit member of the New York milieu. Unlike other members of the upper-class, Nick separates himself by noticing many of the moral deficiencies of his fellow upper-class. In spite of possessing morals himself, Nick does not take it upon himself to correct the shortcomings of others. He defends this passivity with his father’s lessons, which have led him to be “inclined to reserve all judgments” (Fitzgerald 1) and implies this allows him to approach many topics with less bias. In reality, even though Nick tries to distinguish himself from his fellow, morally corrupt connections, Nick often...
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...The settings in The Scarlet Letter are more localized, in contrast to the widespread geography of The Great Gatsby. The areas are more familiar; they are places in Boston or other areas that Hester has a connection with. The relationship the characters have with the settings help to signify the proximity in which the characters are to their sins and their punishments. The scaffold in the marketplace serves the same purpose as New York City in The Great Gatsby. The locations are both areas where moral decay is on display, but unlike New York, where immorality is seemingly accepted, the scaffold is a setting where sins are exhibited to condemn the sinner and prevent others from emulating their actions. The scaffold is designed “to be as effectual...
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...The roaring 20's brought an era of American greed and the complete stand still of moral developement. Morals became loser through prohibition. Many people stood for wealth and climbing the later of success. People believed in achieving wealth and social status through hard work. People in their time period made 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...
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...Running head: THE GREAT GATSBY ESSAY #2 1 The Great Gatsby Essay #2 Logan Daniel Laabs Madonna University English 3020: Major American Writers (Tuesdays) THE GREAT GATSBY ESSAY #2 2 The Great Gatsby Essay #2 The Great Gatsby takes place over the summer of 1922 and is set in the area around Long Island, New York. At first glance Fitzgerald makes a superficial statement about romanticism; Gatsby’s love for Daisy and how that love was destroyed in 1919 when Gatsby left for the war and instead married Tom Buchanan. The better part of the story shows Fitzgerald’s real theme, the decline of the American Dream in the 1920s during a time when prosperity and material excess was at an all high. Fitzgerald renders the 1920s as a time for low social and moral values which is demonstrated by the greed, pessimism, and need to ascend to power. An example of this is the large parties that Gatsby throws every Saturday night in order to impress others. The American dream seems to fade away with the need for wealth and pleasure dominating more moral objectives. This seemed to only intensify after World War I when young Americans came back home after witnessing brutal carnage. Another factor that lead Americans to desire wealth was the rise in stock market, which could have lead many people to easily acquire a small fortune themselves. Furthermore, crime was at an all-time high due to the flourishing underworld were bootleg liquor was in massive demand by the rich...
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...The Great Gatsby (Novel) Author Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald Purpose To show the author’s conflicting feelings about the Jazz Age Relationship with the Author and the Characters Fitzgerald and Carraway Thoughtful young man from Minnesota Educated at an Ivy League school Moves to NYC after the war Found the new extravagant lifestyle seductive and exciting Fitzgerald and Gatsby Idolizes wealth and luxury Falls in love with a beautiful young woman while at military camp Narrator Nick Carraway; he also implies that he is the book’s author Point of View Both first and third person Presents only what he himself observes Tone Ambivalent and contradictory; sometimes he seems to disapprove Gatsby, and sometimes he romanticizes and admires Gatsby, describing events in nostalgic and elegiac tone Background Year written: 1925 (the Jazz Age) American economy soared; great prosperity for majority Prohibition (18th Amendment in 1919) ‘bootleggers’ Money is everything Plot Nick Carraway moves from Minnesota to New York (West Egg) to learn about bond business West Egg: wealthy and fashionable area; where the “New Rich” live Nick has social connections with East Egg, where the “Old Rich” live Nick’s classmate at Yale, Tom Buchanan, lives with Nick’s cousin Daisy in East Egg Tom has a lover, Myrtle Wilson, in the Valley of Ashes Valley of Ashes is a gray industrial dumping ground At one party, Nick breaks...
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...The Great Gatsby People spend a portion of their lives trying to better themselves. Many people set goals as motivation for something they would like to achieve. Having goals was definitely a factor in the lives of Jay Gatsy, Tom Buchanan, and Nick Carraway. Jay Gatsby has the goal of being a success and getting Daisy for his own and admitting she has never loved Tom. Tom Buchanan has the goal of running down Gatsby and proving his illegal ways. Nick Carraway also has the goal of being a success but his main goal is to keep his morals and honesty. All three men work to achieve their goals. Some succeed fully while some only succeed partially. The goals of these three men play a major role in the novel The Great Gastby. Jay Gatsby had the goal of becoming a success and getting Daisy for himself and having her admit that she has never loved Tom. Jay Gatsby has only partially met his goals. Jay Gatsby met Daisy when he was a poor solider with the name of James Gatz. At first he thought of her as just a woman to use but than he discovered he loved her. She was part of the blue bloods and her social class did not approve of them together, her parents would not even let her say goodbye to him when he left for war. Gatsby knew in order to have Daisy he would have to make himself rich and successful. This motivated him to change his name to Jay Gatsby and make a whole new person out of himself. Gatsby became involved in illegal activities such as bootlegging and became rich. He than...
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...In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, there is an obvious hiatus between the different social classes. Jay Gatsby is a wealthy man who resides in West Egg. Before Gatsby moved to West Egg, he had a relationship with Daisy Buchanan, who is Nick Carraway’s cousin. Gatsby went away from Daisy so he could fight in the war. While Gatsby was away, Daisy married Tom Buchanan and eventually moved to East Egg, where all the old money is. Gatsby moves to West Egg, where all the new money resides, so he could get back with Daisy. Between West and East Egg is an area called the valley of ashes, which all the working class and poor people live. In his novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism and characterization to create the theme of the disconnect between the social classes. Fitzgerald uses symbolism for the valley of ashes to display the disconnect between the social classes. The valley of ashes is a poor area which connects West Egg to East Egg. It is full of “men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” (Fitzgerald 23). The valley of ashes symbolizes the poor people who live in the dirty...
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...The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald that shadows a cast of characters living in the fictional town of West Egg on the prosperous Long Island in the summer of 1922. The story focuses primarily the young and mysterious bachelor Jay Gatsby and his quixotic passion and obsession for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan. The Great Gatsby offers a vivid variety of social commentary, dwelling heavily on the theme of the abandoned American dream, Fitzgerald exposes this due to the apparent blind fixation on the past that the story exhibits with the characterisation of Jay Gatsby. Perhaps none is more sophiscated and well established than the sense of social stratification. The book is regarded as a remarkable piece of writing as it conveys the moral issues different social classes had to deal with in the 1920’s. Through exposing distinct social classes Fitzgerald delivers a strong sense of elitism circulating the society. Fitzgerald’s first method of approach was to create the riches and place them into distinct groups, new money and old money. New money were the people who benefited from the ufrom prohibited business trades such as the illegal selling of liquor Gatsby participated in. Characters in the story that acquired the majority of their wealth through inheritance include Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan and Jordan Baker – these characters are referred to as examples of “old money.” Their family were rich and...
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...The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel about a man by the name of Jay Gatsby, trying to win the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan, but his background eventually destroys him. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a horrendous novel due to its attack on social classes, the American dream, and going against traditional and religious values. The attack on social classes is shown through characterization by displaying the upper class as full of bootleggers, adulterers, and racists. The novel´s antagonization of the American dream is shown through theme showing that a man who started from scratch makes millions and it leads to his own downfall. The plot of The Great Gatsby also goes against traditional and religious values by making the novel about two lovers having an affair....
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...Throughout the work of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”, Jay Gatsby’s incapability to maintain his identity is evident as everything he does is not for himself, but for Daisy. The characterization of Gatsby is important in proving that the corruption in mortality is the result of the obsession with completing a goal; consequently, Jay loses all his initial morals and develops new morals all in the hope of winning Daisy back. Simply stated, Gatsby’s actions of selling illegal alcohol and trading in stolen securities, lead to this corruption. Although, Gatsby believes that his actions of bootlegging are not corrupt since it is all going towards acquiring great wealth by which he will attain Daisy’s attention and win her back. Gatsby’s...
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...age dictate the individual’s actions within the given society, often transpiring to intrinsic expectations. Ethical and moral justification emerges in ones actions often leading to infatuation and obsession in order to achieve society’s expectations. This is predominantly exposed within the texts “The Great Gatsby” by Fitzgerald and “Sonnets from the Portuguese” by Barret Browning. Within the Victorian era individuals were bound by strict moral code. This impacted the way literature was written evident in Barret Browning’s poems. Deontological ethics bound Barrett to write in a sense of selflessness which included concepts of moral absolutism. Barrett also adapted concepts of preference utilitarianism in her relationship with Robert. Sonnet 22 “What bitter wrong, Can the earth do to us, that we should not long, Be here contented?” The rhetorical question emphasizes Barrett’s contentment with Robert whose relationship fits in her view of a utilitarian world. In this way Browning meets society’s expectations and succeeds in her role as a woman. Comparatively within the Jazz age moral code was loosened to the point where previous norms were set aside as mores and values evolved into a self-focused frame of mind. This mindset persists through ‘The Great Gatsby” as characters are governed by concepts of hedonism, majorly seen in the character Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is blinded with obsession and infatuation of Daisy who will complete his American dream of idealism and perfection. ...
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...Themes Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. The Decline of the American Dream in the 1920s On the surface, The Great Gatsby is a story of the thwarted love between a man and a woman. The main theme of the novel, however, encompasses a much larger, less romantic scope. Though all of its action takes place over a mere few months during the summer of 1922 and is set in a circumscribed geographical area in the vicinity of Long Island, New York, The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic meditation on 1920s America as a whole, in particular the disintegration of the American dream in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess. Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values, evidenced in its overarching cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure. The reckless jubilance that led to decadent parties and wild jazz music—epitomized in The Great Gatsby by the opulent parties that Gatsby throws every Saturday night—resulted ultimately in the corruption of the American dream, as the unrestrained desire for money and pleasure surpassed more noble goals. When World War I ended in 1918, the generation of young Americans who had fought the war became intensely disillusioned, as the brutal carnage that they had just faced made the Victorian social morality of early-twentieth-century America seem like stuffy, empty hypocrisy. The dizzying rise of the stock market in the aftermath of the war led to a sudden, sustained...
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...The Great Gatsby: Summary: Nick Carraway, a young man from Minnesota, moves to New York in the summer of 1922 to learn about the bond business. He rents a house in the West Egg, Long Island, a wealthy area populated by the new rich, people who made their fortunes due to the economic upswing of the Roaring Twenties. Nick’s next-door neighbor in West Egg is a mysterious man named Jay Gatsby, who lives in a huge mansion and throws extravagant parties on the weekends. Nick is unlike the other inhabitants of West Egg—he was educated at Yale and has social connections in East Egg, a fashionable area of Long Island and the home of the upper class. Nick drives out to East Egg one evening to have dinner with his cousin, Daisy Buchanan, and her husband, Tom, a former classmate of Nick during his time at Yale. Daisy and Tom introduce Nick to Jordan Baker, a beautiful, cynical young woman with whom Nick begins a romantic relationship. Nick also learns a bit about Daisy and Tom’s marriage: Jordan tells him that Tom has a lover, Myrtle Wilson, who lives in the valley of ashes, a gray industrial dumping ground between West Egg and New York City. Not long after this revelation, Nick travels to New York City with Tom and Myrtle. At a random, vulgar party in the apartment that Tom bought because of his affair, Myrtle begins to taunt Tom about Daisy, and Tom responds by breaking her nose. As the summer progresses, Nick eventually gets an invitation to one of Gatsby’s legendary parties. He encounters...
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...Tyler Landry Mrs. Potter American Studies, English July 22, 2015 The Great Gatsby Essay Just after the World War 1, in the US there had been huge changes that involved all aspects of American life, including a tendency towards materialism, changes in clothing, women getting the right to vote gangster life emerging, parties and dances, and most importantly the American Dream. Fitzgerald’s novel define that American dream changed by time; the first time for European living in America was American dream, and originally any discovery which gave them happiness was American dream, but in the ear of 20s mean for American dream has become perverted into desire for wealth by whatever means; thinking that money will bring happiness. The Great Gatsby, was published in this era; therefore; it gives us a vivid portrayal of that time by demonstrating symbols and character behavior the impossibility of American dream. The characters that Fitzgerald describes in his novel all tie in with many aspect of the 1920s lifestyle. The Jazz Age was a tendency toward materialism, and characters are described in the way that shows materialistic tendency. Callahan says “Critics from several different generations have noted how Fitzgerald used his conflicts to explore the origins and fate of the American dream and the related idea of the nation.” (Callahan). Fitzgerald describes Gatsby, the main character in the novel, as a dream achiever, who is looking for wealth and property even...
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