ipl-logo

Comparing The Elite In The Great Gatsby And The Age Of Innocence

1128 Words5 Pages

Society is constantly under the criticism of authors. Many writers seek to expose certain aspects of American society and their scorn of it. Edith Wharton and F. Scott Fitzgerald are renowned for their work on this subject. In The Great Gatsby and The Age of Innocence, Fitzgerald and Wharton reveal their cynicism of the societal elite; they find the elite as a severe detriment to American society. Through symbolism and the characterization of their main characters, Wharton and Fitzgerald similarly depict the societal elite as depriving American society from a promising future by refusing to let go of the past. Fitzgerald creates Jay Gatsby to illustrate the elite as a detriment to American society. Gatsby had fallen victim to the American …show more content…

Daisy Buchanan, the “king’s daughter, the golden girl,” (120) represents the famed American Dream. Daisy is the drive behind Gatsby’s efforts to achieve the American Dream. Daisy stands “above the hot struggles of the poor” and “[gleams] like silver;” (150) her beauty invites Gatsby to join her. Gatsby, raised in a poor family, had no right to take a lady of such high standing, but he sought her anyway and fell deeply in love with her. He worked to win her affection for years, while she forgot about him and went on to marry someone else. Still hopeful, Gatsby continues to pursue her and though she seems willing at first, she soon proves unable to grant him his wishes. She does not even attend Gatsby’s funeral. Like the American Dream, Daisy promises Gatsby of her love, but then betrays him and leaves him to be ruined. Both Daisy and the American Dream proved unattainable, and thus they leave their victims lost and ruined. Wharton and Fitzgerald convey a similar message in their novels The Age of Innocence and The Great Gatsby respectively. Wharton focused more on the elite as a detriment while Fitzgerald focused on the American Dream as a detriment. Even so, both authors illustrated their scorn through the development of their characters and symbolism. They illustrated their disapproval of a society that gives them false hope before destroying them in the

Show More
Related

Rhetorical Analysis The Great Gatsby

516 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author uses many differnt retorical devices to add a personal flare to his work. He uses diction, symbolism, and irony to adress many different themes. These themes include Materialism, The American Dream, and includes a sharp and biting ridicule on American society in the 1920’s. The main point of Fitzgerald, arguement is one where he sharply criticizes the Society of the time.

Read More

Comparison Between Winter Dreams And The Great Gatsby

1374 Words | 6 Pages

Gatsby has spent his whole life trying to prove to Daisy and everyone around him that he is worthy of her. The only way to be on the same social level as her is to turn himself into new money. Since this is not possible, he has to try to convince to others that he truly is old money. To do this, he becomes rich, and lies about his past, but the only way for him to complete this idea is if he is with Daisy. She is the final piece in his American dream.

Read More

The Great Gatsby Rhetorical Devices

614 Words | 3 Pages

The Not So Great Gatsby In the cataclysmic novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald utilizes an array of rhetorical strategies to produce a tortuous and stratified narrative of unrealistic wealth, passion, and aspirations of ambitions. In Chapter eight this can be revealed by Fitzgerald using a shifting tone from solemness, to peaceful, then imagery to capture the painless death of Gatsby, and lastly an insightful perspective to recount the tragedy of the many deaths occurring in this final, fatal chapter of the book. Fitzgerald asserts the fantastical ethos of the Roaring Twenties. However he also censures the American Dream and how it manipulated the domination of wealth and authority in order to propose the idea that it will never be more than an illusion.

Read More

Examples Of Deception In The Great Gatsby

826 Words | 4 Pages

The Great Gatsby is an American novel written by Scott Fitzgerald. On the surface, the book revolves around the concept of romance, the love between two individuals. However, the novel incorporates less of a romantic scope and rather focuses on the theme of the American Dream in the 1920s. Fitzgerald depicts the 1920’s as an era of decline in moral values. The strong desire for luxurious pleasure and money ultimately corrupts the American dream which was originally about individualism.

Read More

Theme Of Jealousy In The Great Gatsby

924 Words | 4 Pages

In a book about a tragic love story, one would not expect to find a deeper meaning behind the dangers of jealousy or peril of lust. However, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there is a deeper meaning beyond jealousy and love. In The Great Gatsby, the author uses an empathetic storyline as a symbol to unwittingly give a complex depiction of the nuisance that people create that not only destroy our world but our society and gives warning to what will occur if we continue the path of destruction. With this intention, the brilliant opinionated writer, expressed his opinion through symbols such as the characters he uses, the setting the story takes place in, and the objects he uses in the book.

Read More

How Does Daisy Present The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

241 Words | 1 Pages

In his novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald explores the reality of the American Dream. Throughout the novel, he uses Daisy to represent the American Dream. In chapter eight, after Daisy crashes the car, “she vanish[es] into her rich house… leaving Gatsby nothing” (149). Daisy is depicted as soulless; she is willing to let Gatsby take the fall for her faults. In order to remain the American Dream, Daisy must appear blameless to society; therefore, the common man must always take responsibility for her mistakes.

Read More

Great Gatsby Dbq

1189 Words | 5 Pages

F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby examines the luxurious lifestyle and societal excesses of the rich elite in 1920s America. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is comparable to today’s ideals of the American Dream; similarly, there are many threads that span over 100 years. Individualism

Read More

Democracy In The Great Gatsby

1408 Words | 6 Pages

Scott Fitzgerald is one of the great American novels of the twentieth century primarily due to book tackling the concept of the American Dream in the roaring twenties. Each of the characters in the novel symbolizes how the American Dream has turned from a form of hope and aspiration towards greed and lack of morals. The general focus of novel is on the character Jay Gatsby, who readers learn about through Nick Caraway’s point of view. Near the end of the novel, the reader learns that Gatsby is a self made man who came from a working class family, joined the army, and through extremely hard work makes a life for himself. Gatsby’s main goal in becoming wealthy was to be with his sweetheart from the army, Daisy.

Read More

What Is The Disillusionment In The Great Gatsby

587 Words | 3 Pages

After the unsettling times of World War I, people lost most of their faith in the government and society. Shortly afterward, the Modernist era emerged and took over literature as a response to how our country was greatly changed. By cause of this loss of faith, modernist literature displayed many variations of disillusionment. When one is disillusioned, one must recognize that their previous belief is now untrue, contrary to what many people may believe. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, the theme of disillusionment is represented through the use of narrator Nick Carraway who shows the disillusions of “the American Dream”, the upper class and their marriages become apparent to the reader.

Read More

Examples Of Elitism In The Great Gatsby

879 Words | 4 Pages

In “The Great Gatsby” Fitzgerald presents editorial on an assortment of topics, — equity, control, insatiability, treachery, the American dream. Of the considerable number of subjects, maybe none is more all around created than that of social stratification. The Great Gatsby is viewed as a splendid bit of social discourse, offering a clear look into American life in the 1920s. Fitzgerald deliberately sets up his novel into particular gatherings in any case, at last, each gathering has its own issues to battle with, leaving an effective indication of what a problematic place the world truly is. By making unmistakable social classes — old cash, new cash, and no cash — Fitzgerald sends solid messages about the elitism running all through each stratum of society.

Read More

American Dream In The Great Gatsby And The Epic Journey

601 Words | 3 Pages

Daisy is an ignorant woman, she destroys Gatsby’s dream and felt no guilt in leaving him. She feels safe as long as she had her money. She uses her money to cover up her wrong doings. Her ignorance and carelessness cause her to not understand the hard work behind the American

Read More

American Dream In The Great Gatsby Analysis

785 Words | 4 Pages

This brings to mind how the American Dream of fortune can’t always be brought around by hard work, in the case of George. Later on in Chapter 4 the reader learns about Gatsby’s plan to win Daisy back through his show of wealth and social power. Daisy, being the ultimate symbol of success for Gatsby, is his goal that has been for so long out of reach. Next in the 5th Chapter, Gatsby starts an affair with Daisy. This makes the audience believe that he might be successful in his ultimate “American Dream” with Daisy being the last level.

Read More

Similarities Between Fitzgerald And Jay Gatsby

853 Words | 4 Pages

Jay Gatsby, the title character of the novel “The Great Gatsby” is a man that can not seem to live without the love of his life. Trying to win Daisy over consumes Gatsby’s life as he tries to become the person he thinks she would approve of. What most readers do not realize is that Jay Gatsby’s character mirrors many personality traits and concerns that the author of novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald, had. In fact, Gatsby and Fitzgerald are similar in that they both had a girl they wanted to win over, took a strong stance on alcohol, and ironically both had similar funerals, also, both people also symbolize the American dream.

Read More

Argumentative Essay On The Great Gatsby

803 Words | 4 Pages

Daisy seemed really nice and pretty and was the goal of Gatsby to get, but turns out she's not as great and Gatsby imagined her being, represents the false sense of glory people see in the American Dream. This proved in chapter 5, page 93, "Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.

Read More

How Does Jay Gatsby Fulfill The American Dream

723 Words | 3 Pages

After Daisy moved on, Gatsby set out to make his millions to win her back. Gatsby meets her years later and gives her a choice of money or love. Daisy reveals her true colors by pursuing the

Read More

More about Comparing The Elite In The Great Gatsby And The Age Of Innocence

Related Topics

Open Document