Essay on The Great Gatsby

Daisy’s superficiality and ephemeral qualities are achieved largely by Fitzgerald’s use of diction in Daisy’s conversations and descriptions of her physical characteristics. Much of Daisy’s dialogue is utterly devoid of substance, is often repetitive and its sole purpose for inclusion in the text is to demonstrate her, and indeed the upper classes’ lack of direction and purpose in life, and the resultant restlessness that originates from a life of inactivity and ease that; qualities that are perfectly encapsulated in the line on page 17; “‘Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it.’”. Fitzgerald constantly undermines the character of Daisy to demonstrate that she is the unworthy object of Gatsby’s dream, as is the social class that she symbolises. Her immorality is subtly on display through much of the novel; she treats her own daughter with indifference, objectifying her as yet another material accessory; “‘That’s because your mother wanted to show you off.’”, she remarks in Chapter VII, displaying an apparent lack of emotional connection one would expect a mother to hold with her child. Additionally after betraying Gatsby at a crucial moment and

In book, “The Great Gatsby,” F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts how the American was corrupted through wealth. Fitzgerald provides many examples. The most common example shown was Jay Gatsby. Gatsby’s idea that to achieve his American Dream must be to acquire wealth. In order to show this, Fitzgerald uses various literary elements. Two of those being imagery and foreshadowing, these played a critical role in describing the theme, and specific moods to show what was to come and as well as describe the story as a whole. These play a vital role in representing Gatsby’s life and journey to acquiring Daisy, his version of the American Dream.

Themes of hope, success, and wealth overpower The Great Gatsby, leaving the reader with a new way to look at the roaring twenties, showing that not everything was good in this era. F. Scott Fitzgerald creates the characters in this book to live and recreate past memories and relationships. This was evident with Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship, Tom and Daisy’s struggling marriage, and Gatsby expecting so much of Daisy and wanting her to be the person she once was. The theme of this novel is to acknowledge the past, but do not recreate and live in the past because then you will not be living in the present, taking advantage of new opportunities.

Shallowness and hollowness of the upper class is shown in The Great Gatsby by Daisy’s love and addiction for wealth and money. Many people may look at Daisy and call her a ‘fool’ for her addiction to money. Eventually this not only corrupts her in the murder of Myrtle; however, her shallowness leads to the death of Jay Gatsby because of the carelessness of Daisy; which allowed Gatsby to take the blame of the death of Myrtle. Daisy represents the carelessness of most women in the Upper Class for her addiction to wealth and status. Daisy is characterized as ‘the smell of money’; therefore, it is obvious that Daisy loves Tom for his money rather than his personality. “ I hope she’ll be a fool- that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool,” (Fitzgerald, p23). This quote exemplifies the shallowness and hollowness of the woman in the novel. Daisy describes her daughter to Nick and Jordan as a girl who will be like her because she is in love and is manipulated into love with the idea of money. “They’re such beautiful shirts’ she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. ‘It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such-such beautiful shirts before” (Fitzgerald, p 89). This quotes further more proves the shallowness and hollowness of Daisy because she is in love with the belongings of Jay Gatsby rather than his actual personality. Daisy obviously values the

In the book “The Great Gatsby” there is many things that people say made Gatsby a great or a not so much of a great person. Gatsby was a great man because he became someone with almost everything anybody could and would want but grew up from with nothing, He made all this money from working jobs that were not so great and people envied him for it even though they did not know what he did, and he was just a very mysterious and many people found that very intriguing about him. person For people that didn’t know who he was when he was younger, they all expect him to be old money and get the money from his parents, but as we learn he made his money by working, good or bad jobs he still made money and he was successful and he was proud of it.

“Is Tom most responsible for Gatsby’s death? Daisy? Myrtle? Gatsby himself? Give reasons why or why not each character is implicated in the murder.”

Last night was all a blur. It was definitely one of the most memorable night of my life. Everyone was all done up in expensive and ornate clothing. I felt so plain in my simple party dress. I silently drifted through the crowd choosing to observe the crowd rather than joining in on their festivities. After all, the only way I was able to obtain an invitation was through work. You see, my boss wanted me to write an article on Gatsby’s party. I was refused at first but my boss knows some things about me that I do not under any circumstances want exposed.

Through Fitzgerald’s characterisation of the protagonists, the moral chaos within the society becomes evident, with a society of immense greed and wealth being born, revealing the dreaded materialistic trait within individuals in the society leading to drastic consequences. Similarly to the prodigious increase in wealth during the “roaring 20’s”, the luxurious society of New York revolves heavily around money, with “the rich getting richer and the poor getting children”. The materialistic trait is evident within the protagonist Daisy Buchanan - ‘a careless person”. We learn of Daisy’s materialistic behaviour through her decision to marry Tom Buchanan over Jay Gatsby “because she was

When Cody died, he left the boy, now Jay Gatsby, a legacy of $25,000. Unfortunately

Any American is taught a dream that is purged of all truth. The American Dream is shown to the world as a belief that anyone can do anything; when in reality, life is filled with impossible boundaries. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald gives us a glimpse into the life of the upper class during the roaring twenties through the eyes of a moralistic young man named Nick Carraway. It is through the narrator's dealings with the upper class that the reader is shown how modern values have transformed the American Dream's pure ideals into a scheme for materialistic power, and how the world of the upper class lacks any sense of morals or consequence. In order to support Fitzgerald's message

Fitzgerald again deconstructs the idealism we hold dear in the United States as he shows even those who go from nothing to wealth are doing it through illegal actions and to make an honest living is just as a myth of the American Dream. Throughout the novel, the theme that the rich have money and power so, therefore, can do whatever they want with no consequences is something to bring attention to. There are numerous illegal actions that are glanced over by, Nick our narrator who should be the reader's moral compass, the police and even other members of the novel. Ranging from adultery from both of the Buchanans, speeding by Gatsby himself on the streets of New York only to be let off the hook because of his name and the illegal bootlegging of medicine and drugs which gained Gatsby all his

The carelessness of the wealthy is represented through F Scott Fitzgerald’s characters as they do immoral things that they think they can get away with because of their high social status. For example; In ‘The Diamond as Big as the Ritz’ the Washington family Imprison or kill visitors who might spill their secrets. This has become a routine tactic for Braddock Washington and his daughter Kismine finds this only mildly upsetting, but her own distorted moral views are revealed when John asks her when her father has their summer visitors murdered: “In August usually—or early in September. It’s only natural for us to get all the pleasure out of them that we can first.” Because of their wealth and isolation from the world they do not get caught until one day when one of the prisoners escapes.

Despite these admirable qualities, he dies alone, drunk, and betrayed. Through Dan Cody, Fitzgerald suggests that 1920s society manipulates its visionaries, milks them for their hard-earned money, and then, promptly forgets them.

Daisy, Tom’s wife and the object of Gatsby’s romantic quest, for example, possesses a voice “full of money,” (144) which blatantly associates her character with wealth. Fitzgerald makes Daisy seem desirable, but never describes her physical features, which is odd considering she is the force behind the profound obsession of Jay Gatsby. Perhaps Fitzgerald chooses to ignore Daisy’s physical description to purposefully display her as a bare character. In essence, he dehumanizes her to better reveal her shallowness. One of the few times a physical description of Daisy appears comes in conjunction with Miss Baker, another character under the spell of wealth, when Nick comments on their white dresses with “their impersonal eyes in the absence of all desire” (17). With

In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald’s use of exposition to illustrate the superficiality and flaws within Gatsby and Daisy conveys his disapproval with classism, and the letter to his daughter extends his hope for societal reform. When Gatsby insists that Daisy leave Tom to marry him, Daisy firmly postulates, “Rich girls don’t marry poor boys” (Coppola). Fitzgerald elucidates the social stratification in West Egg through Daisy’s love for materialistic items and her reluctance to marry Gatsby. Daisy is a token of the social trend to gain material and represents the twentieth century misconception