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The Great Gatsby Tone Analysis

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Tone is the most important for a reader to understand. It can be contradicting in many different ways. An example of a contradicting tone is in the novel, The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald as he establishes a foreboding, gloomy and wistful tone through the setting, Valley of the Ashes and, main characters Gatsby and Nick. Despite the perception of the “Roaring 20’s” as a time of glamour and prosperity, Fitzgerald establishes a gloomy tone through his portrayal of the barren, ashen landscape, presided over by a neglected billboard. Fitzgerald’s ironic use of the natural imagery of the farm and garden establish this setting as a dead, depressing place. For example, he describes it as a “fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens”(27). Such description serves to juxtapose the common perception of the “Roaring 20’s” with a dreary dismal landscape, in stark opposition to the exciting, grandiose …show more content…

Fitzgerald establishes this tone through the dreamy setting that reflects Gatsby’s yearning. For example, Gatsby “knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God” (110). Gatsby’s decision to link his self worth with Daisy creates his current desperation to recreate the past with her. In addition, Fitzgerald continues to construct a wistful tone by illustrating Gatsby’s delusional determination to recreate the past: “‘Can’t repeat the past?’ He cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!’” (110). Gatsby’s striving to repeat the past shifts the tone into dreary sadness, contradicting the stereotype of the marvelous 1920’s. To conclude, the melancholy tone of Gatsby’s hopeless obsession, creates a stark contrast to the typical perception of the Roaring

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