...Title The characters in the Great Gatsby are blind from the realities of the world by their wealth and this causes them to act in such a careless manner. Carelessness would best be described in novel The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald. Main characters such as Jay Gatz, Tom Buchanan, Daisy Buchanan, Nick Carraway and Myrtle Wilson all represent a key role of carelessness in The Great Gatsby. Soon this will lead to adultery, lies, betrayal and death. First, the theme carelessness applies to Tom Buchanan unfaithful marriage with Daisy Buchanan. Tom is introduced as a yale football star and a filthy rich ,“old money”. Tom and Daisy are not your typically star cross lovers.Mainly because he is thoughtless and insensitive. Tom has affairs...
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...can turn toxic. The Great Gatsby not only includes all of those kinds of love, but many more. In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald not only writes those loves, but shows how easily they can crumble down. Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby have one of the most confusing relationships in The Great Gatsby. They meet at one of Jay Gatsby's extravagant parties and Nick seems to admire him. ‘"They're a rotten crowd,’ I shouted across the lawn. ‘You're worth the whole damn bunch put together”(45). Nick held Gatsby on a higher pedestal that all the attendants at Gatsby's rager, which starts a his admiration for Gatsby. When Gatsby realizes that Nick has relations with Daisy, Nick's cousin, he seems to really want a friendship from Nick, yet Nick is still wary of Gatsby, not even friends with him until Gatsby proves that he is the man he says he is. Their friendship was rocky for the most part, Nick didn't actually trust Gatsby the whole book. Even less so when it is revealed that Gatsby was not who he said he was. When Gatsby dies, Nick states that he never really thought of him as a friend in the first place, even though he was one of the few who attended his funeral. Their friendship was tainted by lies and trickery, yet it wasn't all much like Jordan and Daisy’s friendship. Jordan and Daisy were friends when they...
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...How far do you agree that Fitzgerald has created an affective narrator in Nick Carraway? In my opinion Nick Carraway is the best narrator possible for The Great Gatsby as he is an active participator. His opinions are not biased and I feel that if another character was narrating we would not know all the information there is to know about them e.g. if Gatsby was narrating we would never find out about his criminal record and his mischief, or if Daisy was narrating we would never find out about her affair and drunken secrets. I am not sure that Nick is completely honest about everything that goes on, and it’s clear we can’t trust him on occasions that he is drunk. I am also unsure whether Nick is as honest as he portrays, im not sure that Nick influence the readers thoughts on characters such as Tom and Myrtle; and even making the readers feel sympathy for Gatsby when in reality he’s a crook, who is trying to steal away someone’s wife! I also believe that Nick’s character reflects Fitzgerald, and it allows Fitzgerald to criticise society at the time (1920’s) through Nick Carraway. Chapter one shows how as a reader we feel we can trust Nick straight away; ‘In my younger and more venerable years’ Immediately we feel we can trust the narrator and that what he says is sensible and reliable; This implies that he is now older and wiser, perhaps endured something that has made him this way and, ‘I’m inclined to reserve all judgements’ ‘Reserving judgements is a matter of infinite...
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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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...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...
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...“The Great Gatsby”, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays a world filled with rich societal happenings, love affairs, and corruption. Nick Carraway is the engaged narrator of the book, a curious choice considering that he is in a different class and almost in a different world than Gatsby and the other characters. Nick relates the plot of the story to the reader as a member of Gatsby’s circle. He has ambivalent feelings towards Gatsby, despising his personality and corrupted dream but feeling drawn to Gatsby’s magnificent capacity to hope. Using Nick as a moral guide, Fitzgerald attempts to guide readers on a journey through the novel to illustrate the corruption and failure of the American Dream. To achieve this, Nick’s credentials as a reliable narrator are carefully established and reinforced throughout the story. The American Dream is a sensitive and beloved topic in American culture. Discussing its failure and corruption needs to be done gently and morally. Fitzgerald understood this, and therefore acknowledged the need of a kind and cordial narrator within a materialistic society. Enter Nick Carraway, who on the first page lets readers know “In consequence, I’m inclined to reserve all judgments” pg 7. This statement already serves to set Nick up as a decent and honest man that can be trusted. To back up this statement Fitzgerald included a short section regarding Nick’s family and background. The Carraway’s claim themselves to be loyal Americans. However, when...
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...The Great Gatsby: American Life during the 1920’s Cameron L. Green Lakeland College The Great Gatsby was a famous novel written by the so called “Jazz Age” novelist and short story writer Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby is a famous novel that provides vivid description and complexities of American Life during the 1920s that only leads to misery and death. The narrator of the novel in the original book is Nick Caraway who was a resident of the west-egg district of Long Island. His next door neighbour was a mysterious character called Jay Gatsby. He narrates the incidences that took place with Jay Gatsby as the central character during the summer of 1922. The novel narrates how an alcohol peddler who acquires a lot of wealth gets involved into true relationships which was mistaken by societal class. Their feelings were looked down by the societal class as “money power”, as they thought arranging parties and fests are one of the ways these people try to create a societal status. They were misunderstood in various occasions and faced tragic end like Gatsby. The Jazz age or popularly called the roaring twenties took place after the World War I and ended with the start of great recession during 1929. The result of prohibition and the banned sale of alcohol made various millionaires who were economically not sound. The period witnessed a new style of music called “jazz” which marked the extravagant and extrovert American...
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...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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...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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...From a feminist lens, The Great Gatsby criticizes and punishes female characters more than their male counterparts. F. Scott Fitzgerald best exemplifies this disparity through the characterization of Myrtle Wilson. Myrtle is criticized and cosmically punished for taking part in an affair with Tom Buchanan, while Tom walks away unscathed. Tom Buchanan is praised for his sexuality, while Myrtle is criticized and punished for her sexual nature. George Wilson, Myrtle’s husband, evokes sympathy from the audience while Myrtle is portrayed as evil and deserving of punishment. It is evident that females face greater scrutiny and punishment in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Equal participation in an affair, unequal repercussions. Tom Buchanan, a married man, begins an affair with Myrtle Wilson, a married woman. Both enter the relationship willingly and with selfish intentions. However, Myrtle is the only participant punished for her extracurricular activities. After seeing Tom drive into the city in Gatsby’s car, when she sees the car...
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...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...
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...to see life, how people can be brave and fight for their rights, and also how love can change us in all different forms. For example, in the book “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, we have Nick Carraway as a narrator and character although he isn’t the main character. This makes Nick himself somewhat tricky to observe, since we see the whole novel through his eyes. What makes him so important and venerable? The novel begins with Nick thinking back on advice that his father gave him as a boy. His father encouraged him to be careful about criticizing others and reminded him that he has had some advantages that others have not had. The advice that Nick has pondered for years makes him study people, and we learn about the other...
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...relationships is ‘true love’, but in The Great Gatsby, it’s about the economic and social stability in life. The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald which is a story about the rich and poor in the 1920’s, taking place in New York. It shows the selfishness and carelessness of the rich and how the poor always gets screwed. The character, Jay Gatsby, fell hopelessly in love with the ‘golden’ girl, Daisy Buchanan, but because of complications like money and status, getting together with her becomes a mission for him. The story is told by Nick Carraway who is thrown in the middle of a mess between the affairs of the privileged characters. Nick narrates the storyline and how the relationships in the novel...
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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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...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 he compare Daisy...
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