The Great Gatsby Rhetorical Analysis

People are shallow and prone to frivolity as well as gaiety. This is just one of the many messages sent by F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald conveys this message through his characters, Tom, Daisy and Jay, their actions and their lifestyles. He also uses a cheery lighthearted tone to show that the characters have no worries or cares. These tones are demonstrated with the use of vibrant imagery, realistic experiences and optimistic thoughts. Fitzgerald uses one of the main characters in the book, Tom, to display shallowness. Tom displays his shallowness consistently with segregation and hatred toward the lower classes.“It's up to us, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things.”

Gatsby could be one of the most shallow, unaware and manipulative characters in the book. The only things he cares about are money, material things, and Daisy. His judgment is clouded by love and desire for these things. Although much of Gatsby's actions are based upon the pursuit of material possessions, he values one thing even more, Daisy. Gatsby, throughout the whole book, only has one goal: to get Daisy, and he will stop at nothing to get her. Everything he does and has done was for her. He moved to West Egg to be across from her and holds all his parties hoping one day she will come. The same quote “There such beautiful shirts, It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such-such beautiful shirts before” (Fitzgerald 92) shows his shallowness. By bringing Daisy to his house and showing her his clothes, he knows she will be impressed and acquire a desire for him. He is using his material possessions and wealth to try and lure Daisy back to him, by doing so he is manipulating Daisy to “fall” back in love with him. He constantly manipulates Nick throughout the book by offering access to his parties and the ability to impress Jordan all for the sole purpose of bringing Daisy in order for Gatsby to get closer to her. Gatsby is as noted above, manipulative, but also is unaware as he remains solely focused on his pursuit of Daisy. By doing these things, his personality and true desires are