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Why Is Driving Important In The Great Gatsby

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The most accurate representation of one’s character and morality is their actions. In the opulent neighborhoods of the East Egg and West Egg, the majority of characters act immorally and dishonestly, especially towards inferior counterparts living in the Valley of Ashes (Elmore 428). Characters in The Great Gatsby are defined by their actions behind the wheel; often, driving ability and cars indicate character's attitude towards life and their relationships. Fitzgerald often uses cars as a means of revealing “carelessness and materialism of his characters” (Lance 29). Fitzgerald consistently uses personification to link cars with the personality of its driver, further developing the connection between characters and their driving. In The Great Gatsby, Scott Fitzgerald …show more content…

Driving plays a large role in the novel, as affluent characters utilize fancy cars as a means of expressing wealth. In the end of the novel, Daisy, driving Gatsby’s yellow car, runs over and kills Myrtle Wilson, Tom’s adulterous lover. Daisy’s carelessness behind the wheel ends up taking a life and forces the Buchanans to move West. Driving proves an extremely interesting theme in the novel because in contrast to some other questionable activities that the members of the Eggs partake in, reckless driving can bring grave consequences to others. Daisy’s carelessness causes her to take a life and brings harsh consequences to the entire town. It is so essential that people are completely focused on the road while driving and are never under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Careless driving, different from other mistakes, affects both the driver and everyone else in the area. In a world where electronics are always present, it is increasingly essential that drivers remain focused solely on the road in an effort to avoid injury to themselves or anybody

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195 Words | 1 Pages

Material objects, such as cars and money, lead to the carelessness of the main characters, eventually beckoning to their unnecessary demise and fatality. The recurring carelessness surrounding cars is adamant within the Great Gatsby, such as Tom Buchannan who not only causes a car crash, but also helps to cover up another. Even after just marrying Daisy, his carelessness is exemplified when he, “ran into a wagon, and ripped a front wheel of his car” (78). This event took place because the Tom was reckless without care and he had the money and opportunity to cover up the car crash despite the injuries and damage done.

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1372 Words | 6 Pages

Author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, in his novel, The Great Gatsby, recounts the story of two love-struck people through another character called Nick. Fitzgerald’s purpose is to show how different characters change throughout the story by using many rhetorical elements like descriptive imagery, the choice of strong diction, and metaphors/similes. The author focuses on the characterization of three main characters which are Gatsby, Daisy, and Nick because they are seemingly connected. These characterizations relate back to the themes of achieving the American Dream that is to be rich and powerful but still have love and a family to come home to every night. Even though many of the characters have changed and evolved throughout the story, some of them

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1062 Words | 5 Pages

The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is told through the eyes of Nick Carraway, who comes to 1920's New York to fulfill the American dream. Instead, he realizes the hollowness behind industrial wealth driven ideals. After Nick gets settled in West Egg, he finds himself in the company of millionaires Daisy, Tom, and Jay Gatsby; all of whom demonstrate either an inability or unwillingness to acting with consideration to those around them. Even Nick, who is meant to be reflective and unbiased, ended up being a morally ambiguous character at best. The one thing contrasting the stories ubiquitous impropriety, is the billboard of T.J. Eckelberg's bespectacled eyes.

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491 Words | 2 Pages

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, tells a story revolving around the life of the wealthy folk. Throughout the book, Fitzgerald describes and involves cars in the plot on several occasions. In The Great Gatsby, cars come to represent the carelessness of the wealthy. The cars’ symbolism first appeared in the novel after Gatsby’s first big party.

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838 Words | 4 Pages

This shows that Tom has no sympathy for Gatsby and no regret over causing his death. In addition, this shows that Daisy did not tell Tom that she was the one driving the car, showcasing her selfishness. Fitzgerald also uses pathos to appeal to the readers emotions. After Tom tells Nick what he said to Wilson, Nick thinks, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” Nick directly relates Tom and Daisy’s carelessness to their wealth while simultaneously making the reader feel sympathy for the victims of their carelessness.

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1132 Words | 5 Pages

After an intense and emotional confrontation between Gatsby and Tom Buchanan over Daisy’s love, Daisy was in a rush to escape the chaotic argument that had occurred. Daisy drives Gatsby's car from New York trying to clear her head from the events, but unfortunately introduces a new plot line to the story by hitting her husband's mistress Myrtle with Gatsby’s car. As the death of Myrtle Wilson shocked everyone, George Wilson was determined to avenge Myrtle after being killed in a hit and run “By half-past two he was in West Egg, where he asked someone the way to Gatsby’s house. So by that time he knew Gatsby’s name” (Fitzgerald 160). They believed the car was to be driven by Gatsby since it was a bright yellow car known to be owned by him, which was not the truth at all.

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725 Words | 3 Pages

The 20th century was known as the “Roaring Twenties” for America. The wages grew by 33 percent and people had more money to spend on leisure activities. For this reason the author F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote his book called The Great Gatsby. The novel is about a man named Jay Gatsby who grew up poor but came into a lot of money after he was in the Army.

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785 Words | 4 Pages

In "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, we see the

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Dan Seiters, a literary critic, states “Carelessness plus cars equal chaos.” The Roaring Twenties, a time of economic prosperity as well as dramatic social and political changes, was an age of carelessness. With the adoption of automobiles, radios, and telephones, America became a consumer-oriented society. Automobiles gave many Americans the freedom to go and do whatever they desired. In the novel The Great Gatsby written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, automobiles play a major role in the theme of the book.

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In conclusion, The Great Gatsby is a work of fiction by F. Scott Fitzgerald which includes detailed characters, an exploration of universal themes about money and happiness, and the writings of an author with a very interesting life and influence for his writing. It is still relevant to the modern day because of its commentary on unhappiness in relationships and its powerful storyline about a man searching for joy. F. Scott Fitzgerald, in this masterpiece, successfully created a story to be read and celebrated for a long

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513 Words | 3 Pages

The second article “Murder Machines: Why Cars Will Kill 30,000 Americans This Year” talks about how dangerous the cars had become to pedestrians especially in the cities after the war,“In the first four years after World War I, more Americans died in auto accidents than had been killed during battle in Europe”(Murder Machines: Why Cars Will Kill 30,000 Americans This Year).It talks about how back in the 1920s they didn 't have laws like they do today to protect prediction from the large cars on the narrow roads, because the government wasn 't catching on to how dangerous the cars had become. In “The Great Gatsby” there are several scenarios where there car prove how dangerous they are but there one scene that is perfectly fits the article. Several years after Gatsby comes back from the war and meets up with Daisy and her new husband Tom and they go into town together in separate cars. However on the way back Daisy and Gatsby drive back from town and Gatsby lets Daisy drive, with Gatsby 's bright yellow car she hits Myrtle Wilson, her husband 's mistress, it was a total accident but it was fatal to Myrtle killing her because she came running out onto the street and Daisy couldn 't stop the

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94 Words | 1 Pages

The most important function of the automobile in The Great Gatsby however is what O’Meara writes near the end of her article. “The cultural obsession with commodities allows an ordinary automobile to transcend its functional purpose to become and embodiment of dreams.” (O’Meara) The automobile leads to the downfall of several characters’ American Dreams in the same way which their inessential homes did. The characters substituted their pursuit of happiness for a pursuit of wealth, believing that wealth would satisfy their dreams and lead to happiness, however lives were lost in the process instead.

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1659 Words | 7 Pages

Characters throughout The Great Gatsby present themselves with mysterious and questionable morals. Affairs, dishonest morals, criminal professions, weak boundaries and hypocritical views are all examples of immorality portrayed in The Great Gatsby. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, lies and mischief fill the lives of many and significantly damage numerous relationships. First, Jay Gatsby's whole life is consumed into a massive lie. His personality traits set him apart from others and the attention he accumulates motivates him to falsely portray his life.

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853 Words | 4 Pages

Jay Gatsby, the title character of the novel “The Great Gatsby” is a man that can not seem to live without the love of his life. Trying to win Daisy over consumes Gatsby’s life as he tries to become the person he thinks she would approve of. What most readers do not realize is that Jay Gatsby’s character mirrors many personality traits and concerns that the author of novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald, had. In fact, Gatsby and Fitzgerald are similar in that they both had a girl they wanted to win over, took a strong stance on alcohol, and ironically both had similar funerals, also, both people also symbolize the American dream.

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1196 Words | 5 Pages

The Rise of the Automobile in 1920s in The Great Gatsby Perhaps no invention affected American everyday life in the 20th century more than the automobile. The invention and improvement of the automobile not only changed the America society, but also the whole world. The rapidly growing automobile industry led by Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company produced new and better models every year to supply the insatiable public demand. Increased wages and lower cost vehicles made possible through mass production meant that cars became increasingly affordable, although 3 out of 4 cars were bought on installment plans.

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