Jay Gatsby's Death

The roaring twenties was the prime time in American history, it was the time to be alive. There were parties around every corner, the stock market was rocketing. There was not a problem in the world and if there was, people were too drunk to acknowledge it. This is the setting of the novel, The Great Gatsby, by Scott Fitzgerald. This novel is a story of two lovers who reconnect through a third party. When the war ends the young generation is all about living lavishly and allowing themselves the worldly pleasures that were once only a possibility, true love is not as common as it once was so when one finds it subsequently loses it how else must they cope besides perhaps winning them back. These two were living the American dream, they had

With the end of the life of Jay Gatsby comes the end of what Fitzgerald views as the ultimate American dream: self-made success. The intense and excessive devotion Gatsby has towards his rebirth is conspicuous by the plans set forth in Gatsby's schedule as a young adult, such as "Practice elocution, poise and how to attain it." Gatsby's death ironically comes about just as he sorrowfully floats in his pool, witnessing the "youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves" (157) come crashing down on him. The rhetorical devices employed in the above passage illustrate the demise of the self-made success and how that is the American Dream, the central theme of The Great

Scott Fitzgerald is a shining example of the principle that the most powerful messages are not told but rather shown. Although the novel is written in the form of largely impartial narration by Nick Carraway, Fitzgerald's criticism of American life and culture during the Roaring Twenties subtly and powerfully permeates the plot. Fitzgerald shows that American society, flushed from victory in the First World War and bombarded with advertisements expounding the wonders of consumer items from cars to refrigerators, has experienced a radical shift in its value system. Through his portrayal of the main characters, Fitzgerald implies that the traditional virtues of thrift, sincere friendship and true love, as described in books like Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack, have been replaced by the vices of reckless spending, shallow friendships and superficial love. Furthermore, Fitzgerald implies that although members of high society in the Roaring Twenties would party all night long, their perversion of the values of frugality, friendship and love help repress and reinforce feelings of loneliness and