Regionalism In The Great Gatsby

The American Dream suggests that every American citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work. One of the major ways that Fitzgerald portrays this is by alluding to outside events or works of literature specifically from that time period. Another major relationship that develops in The Great Gatsby is between Tom and Daisy. F. Scott Fitzgerald alludes to things such as the World’s Fair and “The Love Nest” to display the eventual dismantling of Tom and Daisy’s relationship. Both of these separate plots consolidate under the idea of Gatsby trying to become the epitome of the American Dream, as seen through his strive for a “perfect life.”

In “The Great Gatsby, By Jay Gatsby”, there is a symbol called the Valley of Ashes. The symbols symbolize that during the 1920s life was good; for some people it was. As people would grow from the economy's growth others would get caught in the middle of it. Many would work their lives away in the factories and not gain anything while others such as the business owner would. In The Great Gatsby there is a quote that says, "Fine health to be pulled down out of the young breath-giving air"( Fitzgerald, Chapter 1).

No matter how hard Gatsby tried to be worthy of Daisy, there were always lies and “foul dust float[ing] in the wake of his dreams” that kept them apart. Ultimately, this same dust killed him in the form of George Wilson who was living in the ash. At the conclusion of the book, Nick reflects on Gatsby’s continued hopeful attitude up to the very end of his life. However, as Nick writes, the different punctuation suggests he is slowly realizing what his experiences with Gatsby really mean.

Daisy!” shouted Mrs. Wilson. “I’ll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai—” Making a short deft movement Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand. Then there were bloody towels upon the bathroom floor, and women’s voices scolding, and high over the confusion a long broken wail of pain.”

The Great Gatsby is an American novel written by Scott Fitzgerald. On the surface, the book revolves around the concept of romance, the love between two individuals. However, the novel incorporates less of a romantic scope and rather focuses on the theme of the American Dream in the 1920s. Fitzgerald depicts the 1920’s as an era of decline in moral values. The strong desire for luxurious pleasure and money ultimately corrupts the American dream which was originally about individualism.

Later on in the novel the violence escalates, “The death car, as the newspapers called it, never stopped...” (Fitzgerald 137). This quote is referring to Myrtle getting hit by a car. This incident causes a reaction from her husband, George Wilson. From his reaction we get to see a glimpse into the nature of man.

The grey dust symbolizes how Gatsby will never be able to achieve his goal, yet he keeps trying, only to become a slave to his own desires affecting him negatively. Fitzgerald describes Gatsby is killed by an “ashen and fantastic figure” (161). The appearance of this grey figure indicates Gatsby’s disillusionment and death. It also means all the things including Gatsby’s dream and life are ended in the bleak and gloomy tragic grey atmosphere. Thus, the color grey is used to illustrate the impossibility of the American Dream, as both George Wilson and Jay Gatsby are consumed and ultimately destroyed by their own

After the unsettling times of World War I, people lost most of their faith in the government and society. Shortly afterward, the Modernist era emerged and took over literature as a response to how our country was greatly changed. By cause of this loss of faith, modernist literature displayed many variations of disillusionment. When one is disillusioned, one must recognize that their previous belief is now untrue, contrary to what many people may believe. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, the theme of disillusionment is represented through the use of narrator Nick Carraway who shows the disillusions of “the American Dream”, the upper class and their marriages become apparent to the reader.

In the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author uses many differnt retorical devices to add a personal flare to his work. He uses diction, symbolism, and irony to adress many different themes. These themes include Materialism, The American Dream, and includes a sharp and biting ridicule on American society in the 1920’s. The main point of Fitzgerald, arguement is one where he sharply criticizes the Society of the time.

Fitzgerald uses myriad symbols such as a valley of ashes, a billboard, and a green light across the bay from Gatsby’s mansion, to convey his themes and influence the plot. A valley of ashes is used to convey the theme of the inequality of wealth that was so widespread in the 1920s. Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s husband, and Nick Carroway go on a drive to visit Tom’s mistress. Myrtle lives in an apartment above her husband’s workshop, in the coal and ash covered mining town on the outskirts of New York City. Fitzgerald, in narrator Nick

Particularly interesting, however, is the use of dust throughout the novel. Dust is introduced early in the book, as Gatsby's downfall; “foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams” (Fitzgerald 4). The dust symbolizes the stigma of the lower class, which Gatsby and the Wilson’s can never seem to escape. The day after Myrtle’s death, Nick visits Gatsby and finds an “inexplicable amount of dust everywhere” (Fitzgerald 157), showing how dust manages to stalk Gatsby even in his luxurious mansion. Later, Tom attempts to shift the blame for Gatsby’s death, saying, “‘[t]hat fellow had it coming to him.

Literary deaths always have a meaning, and the abrupt demise of various characters in The Great Gatsby is no exception. As tensions build and secret loves are proclaimed, characters begin to meet untimely deaths. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses Gatsby and Wilson's deaths, along with Gatsby's funeral, to symbolize the death of the American dream. Both men simply want to be successful and happy, and neither of them achieve their ultimate dreams.

Weather and heat are frequently used to represent the setting of internal emotions within the characters. Therefore, Fitzgerald uses weather to symbolize Gatsby’s inner emotions and heat to symbolize the climax of the story and the anger

Although the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald emphasizes the parties and prosperity of the American 1920's, it reveals many major characters meeting tragic ends. The characters who meet these ends - Jay Gatsby, Myrtle Wilson, and George Wilson - possess the same tragic characteristic: they endeavor for something more out of their lives than what they have. This ambition for what they could not have ultimately spelled their doom: Gatsby wanted money and Daisy; Myrtle wanted wealth and luxury, and sought it from Tom Buchanan; Wilson earned what he could only to please Myrtle. The Great Gatsby reveals a tragic nature through the trials and tribulations these characters endure to progress and prosper, only to receive death for their ambition. The exciting and wild time period of the "Roaring Twenties" provides a stark contrast to the deaths in order to further highlight the tragic nature of the novel, and leaves a theme that even those with the most hope and strong ambitions can fail and die miserably, no matter how much money they have.

Major themes that were constant throughout Scott’s writings were those of “wealth, youth, and beauty”. Fitzgerald’s writing of the Great Gatsby focused on binging of various items or ideas. In every activity that the character Gatsby took a part in, he binged. He drank excessively, only the most superb drinks of course, or he served large amounts to large quantities of people. Gatsby, following his creator’s perspective of romanticism, was all about finding his love.