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The great gatsby character analysis chapter 1
Analysis of the great gatsby
Analysis of the great gatsby
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More handpicked essays just for you.
The great gatsby character analysis chapter 1
Analysis of the great gatsby
Analysis of the great gatsby
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Scott Fitzgerald’s work, “The Great Gatsby”, Jordan Baker is developed as a female character who undergoes self realization in the face of societal oppression through her independent characterization and through the overall theme of social rankings in the novel. She was born into money and she will accept nothing less than what life owes her. She also is ready to defy societal norms as most of the women Jordan’s age have husbands and children while she shows the world that she can be completely fine on her own. Jordan Baker perseveres through this novel as a wealthy pro-golfer living in the “old money” East Egg side of town and yet she fights for her right to be an individual and defies social traditions. These contradicting characteristics make Ms. Baker the complex character she is and Fitzgerald does this to allow her to truly define herself and her role in the
The grateful Cody took young Gatz, and named him Jay Gatsby, on board his yacht as his personal assistant. Traveling with Cody, Gatsby fell in love with wealth and luxury. Gatsby then dedicated himself to becoming a wealthy and successful man. According to Mr.Fitzgerald “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” This quote demonstrates that Fitzgerald continues to explore the theme of social class by illustrating the contempt with which the aristocratic East Eggers.
Explore the view that it is difficult to decide who is most villainous in The Great Gatsby. Remember to include in your answer relevant analysis of Fitzgerald’s authorial methods. In terms of Aristotelian tragedy, the tragic villain or the antagonist’s role in the play is to oppose the hero and ultimately create their downfall. Therefore, due to the fact that Gatsby’s downfall in caused by many factors such as the discovery of his past, his obsessive desire to be with Daisy or the effects of capitalism.
Nick narrated the situation by depicting how “Gatsby began to talk excitedly to Daisy, denying everything, defending his name against accusations that had not been made. But with every word she was drawing further and further into herself. (p.135)” This clearly exhibits how important Daisy’s thoughts about him can impact his logical thinking. He wants Daisy to see him as an affluent man with morals and virtues and when he was faced with the accusations of being a corrupt person in front of Daisy, he had to clear up his image.
It is common knowledge that Gatsby’s greatest desire is Daisy and throughout the book we watch as Gatsby stops at nothing to achieve this goal, as it is the sole purpose he is even there. The first example of this is with Jordan Baker. Shortly after Jordan meets Gatsby with Nick he calls upon her as his butler approaches them and tells Jordan that “Mr. Gatsby would like to speak with [her] alone.” (Fitzgerald.51) This was the first part of Gatsby’s plan.
Throughout The Great Gatsby, readers are exposed to a plethora of selfish activity, from Tom’s affair with Myrtle to the party guests at Gatsby’s parties. Gatsby seeks out Daisy, but ignores the fact that she has a daughter and husband, only concerned with his own happiness. Selfishness is also demonstrated through Jordan Baker, who cheated in a golf tournament and is, according to Nick, “incurably dishonest.” Jordan Baker is careless, only worrying about herself, as shown in the scene where she is driving with
Nick was the man who helped out Gatsby arrange him to reunite with Daisy in chapter 5 and had to deal with all of the drama throughout Tom and Gatsby during his summer in East Egg and West Egg. Daisy is shown to be dependent on love. During the course of the novel, she went from Gatsby, to tom, back to Gatsby, and back to Tom. “I did love him once-but I loved you too.” (Fitzgerald 132) Contrary to what others may believe, Jordan is the exact opposite of the typical 1920’s woman.
Her moral ambiguity begins with her occupation as a professional golfer, which is a male-dominated and in addition to that, her career launched off with a big scandal. At his first Gatsby party, Nick finally recalls where he remembers Jordan from and what she had done. He says, “At her first big golf tournament there was a row that nearly reached the newspapers-- a suggestion that she had moved her ball from a bad lie in the semi-final round” (Fitzgerald 57). Nick describes her as, “a slender, small-breasted girl with an erect carriage, which she accentuated by throwing her body backward at the shoulders like a young cadet” (Fitzgerald 11), so her androgynous physical appearance also connects with the color gray. Another one of her physical features, which are, “her gray sun-strained eyes” (Fitzgerald 11) directly connects her to the color gray in The Great Gatsby.
As a young man, Gatsby worked jobs all along Lake Superior in order to continue paying his expenses and to acquire money. These jobs were clearly not elegant but Gatsby was a daring young man who made money however he could. However, a different side of Gatsby can be seen when he “pulled out to the Tuolomee and informed [Dan] Cody a wind might catch him and break him up in half an hour” (Fitzgerald 98). This image of a hardworking young man shows that Gatsby is also a true soul. With his true spirit, he was able to befriend anyone and everyone in order to complete his goal of extreme wealth.
Character development is literary device used in every piece of writing. It can be large or small. The characters change in one way or another. Character development can be clearly stated or hinted by the author. Authors explain character developments via dialogue, actions, conflicts, and many other things.
The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and narrated by a man named Nick Carraway. This novel was written with the intent of showing the readers how morally corrupt the 1920s were. Throughout the novel, characters abandon their moral values for a materialistic lifestyle. The novel depicts a great picture of the roles men and women played in the 1920s. Even with the changing roles of men and women, they continued to rely heavily on whom they were married to and what social class they belonged to.
Dan Cody taught him many things about being rich. “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people…the truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his platonic conception of himself…so he invented the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent...” (Fitzgerald 104). What this quote is mainly talking about is that Gatsby didn’t come from the most well off family, nor did he think he was going to go anywhere as James Gatz so, he reinvented his whole being. He changed his image, his backstory, and even his name.
Which leads into his next lie about how wealthy he is. Gatsby also talks about his family being wealthy, and that he inherited a great amount of wealth from them. Which isn’t true because in the book it says, “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people”(Fitzgerald 105). This can be looked at in both a bad way and a good way. It’s bad because he lied to people about his wealth and his name, which is something you shouldn’t do.
The Great Gatsby Literary Analysis “They were careless people…” says Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby. In a story depicting the 1920s during a time of prosperity, growth, and the emergence of the America as a major global power, this statement may seem to be contrary. But in reality, Nick Carraway’s description of his friends and the people he knew, was not only true, but is an indication of those who were striving for the American dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests that the American Dream is foolish, the people who pursue it are immoral and reckless, and this pursuit is futile. First, F. Scott Fitzgerald proposes that the American dream is foolish.
While on the surface, Gatsby does have a ‘rags-to-riches’ story, it is not a virtuous one; he amasses his wealth through illegal channels by working with Meyer Wolfsheim, and never fulfills his dream, Daisy. Also, He changes his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby when he first encounters Dan Cody. Because Gatsby has to take on an entirely different persona to achieve success, disguising his poor upbringing and suggesting that James Gatz could never achieve the American dream. Gatsby first attempts to earn his financial success by performing menial labor for Cody, but when Cody’s ex-wife swindles Gatsby out of his inheritance, he turns to illegal means of getting rich. Not only does Gatsby illegally gain his wealth my selling grain liquor over the counter, but he also does so under the direction of Meyer Wolfsheim, breaking two essential qualities of the self-made man, virtue, and independence.