Scott Fitzgerald's Use Of Literary Devices In The Great Gatsby

Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the audience is introduced to a wealthy young man by the name of Jay Gatsby who embodies many qualities. These distinct qualities are shown through multiple literary devices to form Gatsby’s character. Fitzgerald’s use of these devices such as diction, imagery, and symbolism emphasizes the importance of Gatsby’s character to help fully understand the novel and the message it brings to its readers. From a young age, Gatsby was a poor boy that persevered to acquire wealth and sophistication. Serving in the military, he met a captivating young woman named Daisy Buchanan whom he fell in love with, and since then has made it his personal mission to win her heart. As his young

Fitzgerald continuously mentions a single green light across the water that Gatsby gazes towards in the direction of the Buchanan’s dock, showing the reader that although she was nearby, she was unreachable. In the narrator Nick Carroway’s view of the green light, he claims in the very last page of the novel that “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter- tomorrow we will run further, stretch out our arms farther…” (180). This reveals the green light also acts as a representation of Gatsby’s unfavorable quality of being stuck in the past along with excessive anticipation for the unrealistic prediction of the couple’s future that Gatsby longed to establish himself. Yet even then it does not matter, for the future will forever remain obscure. In addition, Nick also says, “so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past,” (180) to refer to the notion of Gatsby trying to move forward by winning Daisy, but his love with her sadly remains in the past, for she has chosen Tom. This teaches