Literary Devices Used In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is an extremely successful novel that was written by Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. The story revolves around Nick Carraway, the narrator and one of the main characters. The story also focuses on Jay Gatsby. Nick’s affluent neighbor who often throws large parties at his mansion. The Great Gatsby is based on the idea of the American Dream; it is a belief that with sufficient work ethic, one can accomplish most, if not all of their goals. The American Dream is real and achievable. With various literary devices used throughout the novel, as well as tone and symbolism, F Scott. Fitzgerald supports the idea that the American Dream can be accomplished.
First, Fitzgerald’s use of diction helps to portray the idea that the American

For instance, on the last page of the novel after Gatsby’s untimely death, Nick looks back on the past and mentions how Gatsby admired the green light that would shine during nighttime. During this, Nick states, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us” (Fitzgerald 180). The green light represented Daisy and the future he was eager for. As already mentioned, Gatsby was able to win Daisy’s heart again, making him closer to achieving a portion of his American Dream. He already attained the other portion through gaining money as he became older and more knowledgeable. Fitzgerald uses symbolism another time to show his position as well. In the fourth chapter of the book, after Gatsby’s party that Nick was invited to, Gatsby’s car was described as vibrant with a yellow-esque color. As noted by Nick, “ It was a rich cream color, bright with nickel, swollen here and there in its monstrous length with triumphant hat-boxes and supper-boxes and tool-boxes and terraced with a labyrinth of wind-shields that mirrored a dozen suns” (Fitzgerald 64). In The Great Gatsby, the color yellow is a symbol that represents wealth and power. Gatsby can be associated with the color yellow because it relates to his quest to gain money and get close to Daisy again. The color yellow and the green light that were portrayed in the novel represented wealth and Daisy respectively. They symbolised two portions of Gatsby’s American