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Compare And Contrast Nick Carraway And Jay Gatsby

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Evan Miller Heidi Speece AP English Language and Composition 2/7/23 Comparing and Contrasting Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway The words of F. Scott Fitzgerald in “The Great Gatsby” ring particularly true in the context of the characters Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby. These two men can be compared and contrasted according to the quote, “There are only the pursued, the pursuing, and the tired.” This astute observation by Fitzgerald provides insight into the various facets of human motivation and desire. The quote also serves as a lens through which the reader can view and evaluate the actions of the characters in the novel. Nick Carraway embodies the idea of being “tired,” reflecting the struggle of an individual seeking to maintain …show more content…

Throughout the novel, he is constantly attending parties and events, and interacting with a wide array of characters. Additionally, Nick’s position as the narrator and an observer of the events in the novel constitutes his busyness. He is constantly trying to make sense of the people and situations around him and often finds himself caught in the middle of various conflicts and tensions. He notes in the novel, “I’m inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me” (1) and opens himself up as an intermediary and mediator. This requires Nick to be vigilant and active as he tries to understand the motivations and actions of the characters around him. As the book continues, it becomes evident that Nick’s role as an outsider, as well as his tireless sense of morality, places him in direct contrast to the reckless and self-destructive behavior of Gatsby and the other elite. This dichotomy serves to further emphasize the difference between the “tired” and the “pursuing” as defined by Fitzgerald in his quote, and highlights the many facets of human experience that are explored in the pages of “The Great …show more content…

Gatsby’s past haunts and threatens to catch up with him. The consequences of his actions, particularly his association with organized crime, pose a serious threat to his efforts to win Daisy back, which is the central aspect of his character. Despite his wealth and status, Gatsby cannot simply buy his way out of his past, and he is constantly faced with the reminder of his past mistakes. As the novel progresses, Gatsby becomes increasingly aware of the dark side of his pursuit of Daisy and begins to understand the extent to which his past caught up with him. Despite this, however, Gatsby remains relentless in his quest for Daisy. He refuses to let go of his dream and his belief in the idea of a brighter future, even as it becomes clear that his efforts will ultimately be in vain. The tragic nature of Gatsby’s situation is emphasized by the fact that his pursuit of Daisy is rooted in a deep and sincere love for her. He truly believes that by winning Daisy back, he will be able to attain the happiness that has eluded him for so long. Yet, despite his best efforts, Gatsby is unable to escape the repercussions of his past and the societal constraints of his time. He desperately wants to break free from his lavish life and start anew, which we know never happened. The result is a situation in which Gatsby is forever pursued by his desires, the past, and the obstacles that stand in his way. Sadly, he can never fully

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The Great Gatsby is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third book and almost universally considered his most impactful work. The novel follows the dialog of Nick Carraway throughout his time in New York, especially focusing on his neighbor, Jay Gatsby, who is trying to enter a relationship with Nick’s married cousin, Daisy Buchanan. Although the work is written from Nick’s point of view, occasionally obscured through influences such as alcohol, his descriptions of Gatsby seem to be mostly genuine and as unaltered from the truth as Nick can make them. Although Gatsby believes his ultimate goal is to create a new future for himself & Daisy, Gatsby is actually constantly trying to relive & change his past, especially in regards to Daisy. It is this unknown internal motivation that dictates much of Gatsby’s decisions &

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Will Brown AP language and composition Mr. Schowalter September 11th, 2023 A rhetorical analysis of the first few pages of the great gatsby change the readers opinion on Nick and solidify him as a solid narrator. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's honest and critical novel, “The Great Gatsby”, Fitzgerald uses the first 3 pages as a way to introduce Nick Carraway's perspective to the readers, using Nicks reflection on his fathers advice about tolerance and judgment and how it has shaped his philosophy as a window into his mind. He used the message that Nick Carrway constantly reserved judgment and was an impartial narrator to define Nick's character and help the audience understand why he would be good for an exploration into the American dream and what

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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.

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Nick often means more or less that what he says, or his impressionability and fastidiousness alternately swallow each other. The key to Nick’s response is his admission that his “incredulity was submerged in fascination” (Fitzgerald 67). Fitzgerald displays Carraway becoming increasingly convinced of Gatsby, which simultaneously, moves the reader as well. When Nick starts to believe that Gatsby was this wealthy man from Oxford, it left the readers with a feeling with acceptance as

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He comes back from the war looking to gain his ex-girlfriend’s heart again but creates an illusive dream of Daisy that no girl could ever fulfill. Gatsby comes back from the war and gets involved in underground work to get himself to the same class as Daisy even though he knew that Daisy could not be with a man who did such work since it would ruin her social reputation. Fitzgerald originally portrays Gatsby as being an intelligent man with a lot of money in which he can throw major parties and everyone will know him as a mysterious and intelligent man. As the novel draws closer to the edge, Gatsby is driven closer to the edge of insanity. Fitzgerald portrays the truth of Gatsby by exploiting him for not being happy or satisfied but shows that he was missing love the whole time.

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Recounting heartbreak, betrayal, and deception, F. Scott Fitzgerald paints a bleak picture in the 1920’s novel The Great Gatsby. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, witnesses the many lies others weave in order to achieve their dreams. However, the greatest deception he encounters is the one he lives. Not having a true dream, Nick instead finds purpose by living vicariously through others, and he loses that purpose when they are erased from his life.

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Gatsby was a very optimistic character. He never gave up on his dreams for his relationship with Daisy. As Gatsby states “Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!’ He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking around him here

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Gatsby has evolved into a different person then who he was when he was happy with Daisy. In the Novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald the author shows choices being made to live The American Dream that cause the past unable to be repeated. Overall The Great Gatsby teaches the readers that choosing to chase The American Dream instead of chasing true happiness can cause you to make many mistakes and hurt the people around you and cannot be fixed, reminding readers happiness and love doesn't come with

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Gatsby's ambition to win Daisy back causes him to neglect his own well-being and he ultimately dies in pursuit of this goal. Both characters are willing to go to great lengths to achieve their goals and are willing to sacrifice their morals and integrity in the

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However, it was also his past that haunted him. Due to his unknown background Gatsby retained a mysterious and even negative background. As a result, Daisy would not choose to be with Gatsby because Gatsby was not the man who benefitted her and it would ruin her image to leave Tom for Gatsby. The moment Gatsby realizes that Daisy will not be with him, his dream dies. Without any dreams to aspire to achieve Gatsby’s purpose in life becomes nonexistent.

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Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby and the 2013 film version directed by Baz Luhrmann poignantly showcase with dramatical flair how the contradictions of ourselves often hold us back more than anything else. The novel Great Gatsby is written from Nick Carraway’s perspective. While he himself describes himself on the first page as one to “reserve judgment” (Fitzgerald 2), his judgments are not reserved to the reader. Early on in the novel, we see Carraway ’s immense gifts of perception from fleeting glances or brief conversations.

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F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway are among the most prominent exponents of literature of the twentieth century. Forming part of the Lost Generation, these authors not only develop similar themes throughout their works, but heavily influenced each other. The Great Gatsby being Fitzgerald’s magnum opus, serves as a prime illustration of the staples of contemporary literature. In the novel The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald, the author depicts himself through a character, Nick Carraway, conforming to other self depiction common in the Lost Generation, such as Hemingway in the Nick Adams stories. Nick Carraway and Nick Adams represent Fitzgerald and Hemingway, both serving as apertures into Fitzgerald’s and Hemingway’s view of the world.

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In the book The Great Gatsby, we are set in the period of the roaring twenties which was an era of change and growth. The novel is set in New York soon after World War One when prohibition was reinforced, but many superficial beings ignored the law. We see many characters in the novel fall into different categories such as “The pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired”. The quality F. Scott Fitzgerald wishes were more of in The Great Gatsby would be more compassion and benevolence, he portrays the characters who lack these qualities to be shallow and unhappy, while those who possess them, such as Nick, are able to see the world more clearly and find greater realization. We are faced with a quote said by Nick Carraway in Chapter four

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Gatsby finds himself in an a great deal of chaos; he feared losing his love, so he was determined to “... fix everything just the way it was before,” (Fitzgerald 117). Gatsby was obsessed with repeating history, and was determined to get Daisy back at any

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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby represents the everlasting disconnect that happens with every generation. With every new generation, the one prior seems to lose faith or the ability to sympathize with and understand their younger predecessors. The Great Gatsby is a perfect model of this divide. In the novella, we are introduced to characters who embody the traits imposed onto younger people to the extreme making most characters little more than caricatures. The narrator Nick Caraway, acts as a mouthpiece for Fitzgerald, often making comments about the disparity of the world and the supposed crumbling of society: "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or

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