Rhetorical Analysis On The Great Gatsby

Antithesis is a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect F Scott. Fitzgerald employs this technique to contrast the character of Nick Carraway with that of the overarching themes present in the society that are also possessed by the other individual characters. This society is steeped in the social stratification and conspicuous materialism that is characteristic of the jazz age of the 1920’s. “These characters… constitute America itself as it moves into the jazz age” , and just like the society that was looking to increase in prosperity, the individual characters in the Great Gatsby were also in pursuit of acquiring and maintaining this money, status and social prestige.

His difference in upbringing and lifestyle is evident from his acute moral compass that is showcased time and time again. He begins the novel by narrating the advice given to him by his father: "'Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.'" Whether or not he actually was able to follow this advice fully is not of importance, such level headed upbringing and origins sets him apart from everyone else and he becomes a man of “fundamental decencies" . An early indication of that is when Nick “had been actually invited” to Gatsby's party instead of just showing up without invitation as the others did. At the actual party, upon arrival Nick “made an attempt to find [his] host” whereas the others “conducted themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with amusement parks, sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all” . His behavior at the party shows to the reader that Nick is different from all others present at the party; he was the moral foil to others' careless

In this way Fitzgerald uses Nick's background to establish him as different from the other characters, since he doesn’t have to subscribe to or fight against any economic labels. Nor did money have to determine his actions and relationships. Nicks affections for Gatsby were very obviously present without any hope for a material advantage or reward. When Gatsby offered him some material gain for setting up a meeting for him and daisy, nick very firmly refused. This shows that money wasn’t an incentive for nick but because Gatsby was so used to relationships that required transaction, he offered nick such a proposition anyway .This relationship is unlike the others in the novel that are manufactured or broken for money. An instance of that is Daisy’s relationship with Gatsby; she only begins an affair with Gatsby once she has ascertained his level of wealth after a tour of his mansion. She also really exposes her emotions when Gatsby unveils his shirts and she breaks down into tears after seeing “such beautiful shirts” , revealing that it is only material objects through which affections can be gained in upper class New York. Another example of this is Gatsby's relationship with Wolfsheim, which