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Humanity In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the perverted side of humanity. This is accomplished through using characters who have serious flaws as well as character and color symbolism. Fitzgerald uses Nick Caraway to illustrate the modernist side of individuality, while Tom Buchanan represents a twisted version of the American Dream. The desire of Gatsby to obtain Daisy's love and realize the American ideal is symbolized by the color green. Fitzgerald's book-the Great Gatsby is a work of modernist literature. For example, Nick exhibits a distinctive attitude. Nick is described as being less cynical than the other characters, despite the fact that he is initially introduced as a guy seeking fortune. Nick is the guy that is narrating the …show more content…

Tom is distinguished by the pedestal he puts himself on and by his lack of sympathy for other people. Tom says, "And what's more, I love Daisy too. Once in a while I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all the time." (Fitzgerald 140). Tom seems to think that his wealth gives him a pass to treat people cruelly and that this might justify his behavior. Furthermore. Due to his wealth and family, Tom has achieved some aspect of the American Dream. Despite this, he still prioritizes worldly possessions and avarice over morals. This is similar to the “picture of Dorian Gray”; the main character becomes obsessed with maintaining his youthful appearance and beauty. The American Dream may not be as satisfying as it is advertised to be, as evidenced by this. After learning that Tom is having an extramarital relationship and observing his abuse of Daisy. His personality can be seen as deceptive and fake. As long as Tom can get back to Daisy (Edwards), he keeps up his terrible behavior and seems unable to recognize the harm his actions cause to others. Tom depicts a warped interpretation of the American Dream. He demonstrates how the American Dream may fail, much like …show more content…

Fitzerald makes numerous references to green when discussing Gatsby and his desire for Daisy. Gatsby says "You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock (Fitzgerald 99).Green is frequently used to symbolize themes of optimism, self-assurance, and all-around positive concepts. Green represents for Gatsby his desire to win Daisy's love through his fortune. Gatsby spends his entire life attempting to accumulate more fortune in an effort to get Daisy, but he is unsuccessful, and as a result, he ends up with a type of broken American Dream, dying away young and without Daisy. While green is often viewed in a positive light, Osiris, the god of the afterlife in Egyptian mythology, was frequently pictured having green skin as a representation of his relationship to fertility and rebirth. However, other cultures connect the color green with the afterlife or death, which may add to the perception of green as a dark or foreboding color.. Zhang analyzes green symbolism in The Great Gatsby and writes, "In The Great Gatsby, the green color runs throughout the whole novel, and it is closely related to Gatsby's short life. So it symbolizes Gatsby's original dream and hope, his pursuit of his dream and even the corruption of his dream and life" (41 Zhang). This implies that the same green that

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Colors are everywhere in our lives. Most of artists, poets, and musicians use colors as symbols or meanings in their writing or art. In the Great Gatsby written by F.Scott Fitzgerald uses colors to represent the meanings. Fitzgerald uses the color green to represent hope. My quote is “Involuntarily I glanced seaward and disguised nothing except a single green light” chapter I page 21.

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In Fitzgerald’s book The Great Gatsby, green is used symbolically. Green could be used as wealth, new life, hope, jealousy, and love. Throughout the story green is symbolized, for example in chapter 1 it says “involuntarily I glanced seaward and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock”. In this example the green light is a symbol for Gatsby’s hopes and dreams.

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1652 Words | 7 Pages

The color green can represent many different things. In The Great Gatsby, similar to the Bible green is a symbol of money and new life. It is a representative of the Christian life that finds comfort in Christ, much like Gatsby’s worship of comfort in wealth. It is now the summer of 1922, and Nick has just bought a home next to the great mysterious Jay Gatsby. After Nick gets home from a dinner with Tom and Daisy, he gets to see Gatsby for the first time and he is reaching out his arms out over the water towards a green light.

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The color green, symbolizing greed and aiding in delusion, is prevalent throughout the novel, first seen as a small light across the sound as Gatsby stares in the direction of Daisy’s

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Tom always wants attention and he gets most of it by being rambunctious and outgoing, sometimes he can be a slight racist. He lives a very extravagant lifestyle in Long Island, he rides horses, drives fast cars, and on occasions he play polo. Tom is quite boastful about his affair. He is very self-centered, he always desires more attention and this might be why he has so many affairs. He gets attention from the other women that he is cheating on Daisy with to get that sense of power and authority.

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Colors are everywhere, just because green isn’t a primary color doesn’t mean it’s not important. Green can represent so much, goals, dreams, money, wealth, etc. Whether it’s an obvious example or a ‘read between the lines’ example, the color green has a meaning for all the main characters of The Great Gatsby. The color green represents Gatsby in a way that it’s his goal and dream. Across the lake, at the end of Daisy and Tom’s dock is a green light.

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1311 Words | 6 Pages

First off, Fitzgerald uses the color green to symbolize Gatsby’s money and love

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1374 Words | 6 Pages

The colors green, gold, and yellow are frequently mentioned throughout. Green is arguably the most prominent color used as a symbol in The Great Gatsby. Gatsby is often seen standing in his lawn, staring at the green light emanating from the end of Daisy's dock. Nick notes that at one point, Gatsby ''stretched out his arms toward the dark water'' to reach the light that he cannot obtain (Fitzgerald 21). In this context, the green symbolizes Gatsby's desire to attain Daisy’s love once more.

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The color symbolism in The Great Gatsby is represented by the colors green, pink, and black. The color green is represented by the light at the end of the dock in The Great Gatsby. “possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of the green light…”(Fitzgerald 93). The green light means a lot to Jay Gatsby it represents what he wants and what he has.

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1017 Words | 5 Pages

Moreover, he is not loyal to his wife. It is said in the book that “Tom’s got some woman in New York” (15). In the American Dream, the average man is faithful to his wife; Tom is the exact opposite of this. He is cheating on Daisy with a mistress named Myrtle, and even worse, Daisy is aware of it. Despite being in a relationship with a woman of a much lower class than him, he is still condescending towards others.

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866 Words | 4 Pages

This callous disregard for Myrtle’s life further emphasizes Tom’s lack of empathy and humanity. Additionally, Tom demonstrates his treatment of Daisy as a possession to be controlled when he states, "I've got a nice place here… you ought to see the baby" (16). This quote reveals how Tom sees Daisy and her daughter as objects that complement his possessions, rather than human beings with their own desires and aspirations. Tom's treatment of Daisy serves as a powerful example of how the pursuit of wealth can dehumanize individuals and erode their sense of empathy, as he values his own wealth and social status more than her life and freedom. He also uses his wealth and power to maintain his position of privilege in society.

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1850 Words | 8 Pages

The color green has its own significance in the novel, as it is mainly attached to Gatsby. The color green is usually attached with nature as in rebirth of spring, growth, wealth, hope and envy. Green embodies Gatsby’s dream and the perpetual pursuit of it. The green color is visited by the reader for the very first time through the element of the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock.

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2309 Words | 10 Pages

As Nick approaches the Buchanan residence for lunch and to be re-acquainted with Daisy, he recalls going to college with Tom. Nick recollects that “his family were enormously wealthy—even in college his freedom with money was a matter for reproach—but now he’d left Chicago and come East in a fashion that rather took your breath away; for instance, he’d brought down a string of polo ponies from Lake Forest. It was hard to realize that a man in my own generation was wealthy enough to do that”(Pg 6). While a main facet of individualism includes the American dream, the ideology is not only limited to those attempting to gain social status. The branch of individualism that drives Tom is prioritizing the individual and their desires above all else.

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860 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout The Great Gatsby, the author use color imagery and symbolism which describe characters and the setting, to set the theme of the book. One example of a color that the authors uses is green. Green is presented in the book as a green light at the end of Daisy's dock. This represents hope to Gatsby for a future with

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1148 Words | 5 Pages

Gatsby’s life is filled with various colors which signify the messages Fitzgerald is trying to convey. Color symbolism plays an important role through the novel, The Great Gatsby. In the novel, the color green detonates Gatsby’s hopes and dreams, but in other characters it represents envy, jealously, and money. When Nick returns home from his cousins house, he spotted Gatsby outside on his dock: “—he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way…I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing but a green light, that might have been at the end of a dock” (Fitzgerald 21).

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