The Great Gatsby is a beautifully written novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. As the novel analyzes the transition of love from the past into the present, it is made crystal clear to the reader that Gatsby's emotional state is out of step with time when he is reunited with Daisy in chapter 5. Fitzgerald has allowed the readers to understand the extent of Gatsbys feelings for Daisy through his use of characters actions, tense mood and diction. “In a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and a gold-colored tie, hurriedin. He was pale, and there were dark signs of sleep beneath his eyes.”
Gatsby makes an effort by stalking Daisy until “about four o’clock,” reflects how hopeless he is in attaining Daisy’s love and affection(147). For instance, the way Gatsby despairingly “clutches at some last hope,” which exemplifies his unbreakable bond for the girl he will never have. The fact that Nick “couldn’t bear to shake him free” from his dreamlike reality, illustrates how Gatsby has become consumed by a world of desperateness (148). Despite the novel being set in a grandiose era, Fitzgerald contradicts this tone through Gatsby’s despairing and hopeless journey of retrieving his lost “golden
F.S. Fitzgerald viewed the Roaring 20s as a gilded decade, sporting extravagant parties and a booming economy which hid the illegal activities going on behind the scenes. The Great Gatsby takes place during this decade and unveils the golden facade through hypocrisy and unfairness, resulting in the death of the protagonist. Ultimately, Tom and Daisy are the cause of Gatsby’s death because of Tom’s unfaithfulness, hypocrisy, and jealousy. Tom cheating on Daisy started the whole domino effect, resulting in Gatsby’s death; if Tom had stayed loyal to Daisy, Gatsby would have stayed alive. When Nick first visits Daisy he is introduced to their marital problems, and realizes that Daisy is not living the dream life he thought she was.
The 1920’s were a time to be alive. Full of decadent parties and promiscuous behavior, fun was at the top of the list for everyone. From the prohibition act to newfound rights for women, F.S. Fitzgerald encapsulates the glitz and glamour perfectly in “The Great Gatsby”. Yet, beheath the champagne-soaked parties and secrets kept within speakeasies, a man named Jay Gatsby experienced the highest highs and the most devastating lows, all due to one woman. Even though Gatsby’s self destruction contributes to his death, Daisy is the true, underlying cause through her half-hearted love affair, her mercilless killing of an all-too-famliar street woman, and her inability to confess her wrongdoings.
American author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, in his novel, The Great Gatsby illustrates that similarly as the American Dream itself has declined into the coarse pursuit for material riches, Gatsby, as well, strives just for riches once he had become hopelessly enamored with Daisy, whose trivial, limited creative ability could consider nothing more prominent. Fitzgerald’s purpose is to capture the disillusionment Nick imagines Gatsby would see should he have realized Daisy wouldn't call. He utilizes dejected diction to depict what Gatsby's false hope would lead to when he becomes aware of his future without Daisy. Fitzgerald begins with the disillusion Nick has for Gatsby's future by describing the dreary feeling he imagines in Gatsby. He captures
Fitzgerald exemplifies the elusiveness of the American Dream through Gatsby’s reaching for the green light, which delineates his aspirations. Despite Gatsby’s accomplishment of his lifelong goal by winning over Daisy’s affection, “the colossal significance of that light...vanished forever... His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one” (Fitzgerald 98). Over the years, Gatsby gradually builds up an unrealistic image of Daisy, idealizing her as an enchanted object that he could fit into his self-envisioned life. Essentially, Gatsby tries to reap more than he could sow; he forces Daisy to conform to the fabricated conception he had of her in his younger years, but when she inevitably fails to do so, Gatsby debases to a melancholy state where he is hopeless for the future.
Fitzgerald’s short stories and novels are known for the 1920’s time frame and his romantic imagination. Daisy Buchanan, whose life is being told by Nick Carraway in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, is a woman who is more worried about where she stands in social class than focusing on what truly makes
The idea of holding relentlessly onto memories and hoping to retrieve the past is ironically portrayed in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s modernist novel The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby’s “extraordinary gift for hope” is usually depicted in a positive light by narrator Nick Carraway (2). However, in a passage in Chapter 8 (152-3), a more dim light is cast upon his dream, foreshadowing Gatsby’s downfall in his pursuit of it. Gatsby has breakfast with Nick and denies the fact that Daisy has ever loved Tom and tells Nick the story of him visiting Daisy’s former hometown Louisville, during Tom and Daisy’s honeymoon.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” envisions life in the 1920’s. Gatsby is enjoying his time in his pool when an angry George Wilson arrives and rains on his parade, he cuts Gatsby's life short. Though Wilson pulled the trigger, his involvement in the death of Gatsby is minuscule. Both Tom and Daisy Buchanan hold more responsibility. Although not as involved in his death, Nick allowing Gatsby to continue with his delusional visions of Daisy also contributed to his “friends” passing.
In today’s duplicitous society, men often pursue the “perfect woman”. This woman is construed to be; fit, provocative and ravishing. However, in greatly distinguished American novel, The Great Gatsby, the men have strayed from stalking women for their looks. Instead, Gatsby chases Daisy to achieve her as a prize of his bounty and any affection Gatsby demonstrates toward her, is simply to appease to her sense of status and wealth. The author F. Scott Fitzgerald, exhibits Gatsby’s these feelings for Daisy through the clever usage of connotation, symbolism and metaphors.
The 20s were a colorful era in history, things were changing, and mindsets were challenged. Daisy stays at home, doesn't do much, is shallow, materialistic, has nice clothes, a lavish lifestyle, and a rich husband. In the 20s, it was the ideal for men to stay home and embody the “softer things”. When Daisy’s introduced Nick describes, "It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down, as if speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again”. By making Daisy sort of live that stereotype, Fitzgerald portrays her as a man's dream and centers attention on her.
The Jazz age was a time where people forgot the worries and stresses of WWI by living in excess if able, to and enjoying life in general. Fitzgerald lived in this age and it shows heavily in The Great Gatsby. Throughout the book their are innumerable party 's, some at Gatsby 's and a few at other locations. These party 's are described as having many people drinking and having a good time. While as the reader we know Gatsby throws these parties to attract Daisy, for the people these events are for pure joy of partying.
The challenging discourses in the novel are seen as an expression of the struggles of the society during the 1920th that was known as a period of economic growth. This shows how society has become money-oriented worried with material matters and associated with the idea that physical comfort is the main value in one’s life. Gatsby desires for Daisy as he thinks that his life is going to be a perfect. Gatsby was a poor man who feels that he can win Daisy back if he becomes a wealthy man. Although he earned lots of money and moved close to her to reach his goal, but he was unfortunately not able to achieve it.
The interwar period was the age of the Lost Generation. Exhibiting the decayed and frivolous lifestyle of the upper class, literary works in this period shared a common theme of the corruption of the American Dream. One of the most representative literary works that discusses this theme is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, in which Gatsby’s love with Daisy Fay in his youth promoted him to be a pursuer of the upper-class lifestyle to marry her. Gatsby’s accidental encounter with Daisy in his past frames his character’s development and thus the overall development of the plot. Utilizing symbolism and motif, F. Scott Fitzgerald exhibits the degeneration of Gatsby’s dreams and values to denounce the emptiness of materialism and the death of the American Dream.
Have you ever dreamed to live well? Or Did you know someone who has lived a good life? If so, how can you define a good life? According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, the good life can be defined as “a life marked by a high standard of living. In my opinion, the good life can be defined as a way that someone plans to live virtuously by having a great education, enough money, and helping others.
