James Smith Bessette H English II 15 Mar 2023 Fitzgerald’s Condemnation of a Newly Avaricious America The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a perfect window into the values of the American people living in the Jazz Age of the 1920s. The frivolity of nearly every American person, rich or poor, is snapshotted in the novel. Fitzgerald chooses to highlight these characteristics for many reasons, namely to show his obvious disappointment in what America has become. He tells his story through the eyes of Nick, who watches his tiny world of East and West Egg crumble around him because of the scramble for money and social status. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald negatively characterizes Daisy, Myrtle, Tom, and Gatsby’s regards on money to show …show more content…
This notion is established through Myrtle’s own dialogue with Tom, with her begging for “one of those dogs” (23). In response, Tom arrogantly decides that “[the dog] is a bitch” and to “go and buy ten more dogs with [the money]” (24). This contrast between rich and poor highlighted within Tom and Myrtle’s relationship depicts how even between two polar opposite people, money will have the same negative affect on each of their mindsets. The way Fitzgerald characterizes Myrtle from the start as one with a personality and relationship with money similar to that of Daisy illustrates perfectly how greed and avarice have permeated the minds of even those without it in the first place. With this exchange, Fitzgerald characterizes Tom as one with faux power, making people believe that with his surplus wealth, he can do anything, however, as the book progresses, the only thing he can do with his wealth is win those that see wealth as power, like Daisy or Myrtle. This vanity that Tom embodies is further explained when Robert Ornstein, in his article for College English, states that “the smug conceit of the Rich Boy has hardened into Tom Buchanan’s arrogant cruelty” (Ornstein 140). This process driven by money that transforms any person, bad or good, into one driven by material gain is perfectly exemplified through the synthesis of Tom’s avaricious and smug …show more content…
Fitzgerald’s synthesis of Gatsby’s true origins indirectly characterize Gatsby as one who views money as a resource with the utmost power. Fitzgerald goes as far to state that the facade of Jay Gatsby “sprang from his Platonic conception of himself” and that his secrecy was only hidden so that the world would view him differently (76). The use of direct characterization in this quote evinces the true nature of why Gatsby acts so humble as opposed to arrogant, which is displayed in Tom’s character. The fact that the material change Gatsby, or rather Gatz, went through only affected his outward presence as opposed to his true turmoil he feels on the inside that fights his outward expression further develops the idea that even if money has no true power in the world, it will continue to be treated as if it does. Fitzgerald purposely directly characterizes Gatsby to inform the reader that he is not who he is on the inside, while also indirectly characterizes Gatsby’s and his relationship with money. Because the reader now sees that Gatsby is essentially a fraud made of money (that he himself made), the reader can infer that Gatsby believes that money is the only thing that holds power in modern society. Even though this is viewed as extremely shallow to the reader, Daisy is attracted to this because of the same problem Gatsby
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby deceives everyone around him concerning the legitimacy behind his wealth, claiming that he had become affluent through respectable means. Gatsby’s deception is intended to regain Daisy Buchanan’s love, which he had long-missed ever since before he went to war. However, with this deception, Fitzgerald makes clear the hypocrisy and deceit present in the 1920’s – deceit not only within relationships and interactions but also in the very mantra of the United States, the American dream. Fitzgerald reveals his views with Gatsby’s superfluous luxury, which he prominently displays, whether in the form of lavish parties or a grandiose house. He takes every opportunity to make his wealth known; for example, he often offers a multitude (and often excessive) of favors to Nick, implicitly desperate to make his wealthy reputation spread across the city.
The Great Gatsby Imagine a world of money hungry men and women, willing to risk it all for a popular title. Well this world was America in the 1920’s. It may be hard to picture, or else it makes perfect sense. Either way, a picturesque scene of this greedy world is displayed in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s most well known book. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests that the American Dream is corrupt, the people who pursue it are selfish, and the pursuit is ultimately useless.
Rhetorical precis: The Great Gatsby Ch. 1 Scott F. Fitzgerald, an American author, in chapter one of his novel “The Great Gatsby” (published in 1925), claims that the rich Americans are using prestigiousness, wealth, and power to allude their unsightly truth. By using the Buchanans as an example, a wealthy, powerful, and socially solid old family, Fitzgerald reveals dishonesty of Daisy and Jordan, worst of all, a racist, dishonest, and adulterer Tom Buchanan. Fitzgerald's purpose is to discourage the practice of formulating a conclusion based on the superficial appearance in order to make his readers reconsider their views of America. He builds an intimate relationship with his audience of readers who are interested in his novels.
Satire in The Great Gatsby Is Fitzgerald's novel a love story that exposes the American ideals, or may it be a satire that highlights troubles throughout the American Society in the twenties? The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald uses satire to comment on the American society during the roaring twenties. Satire is visible through the contrast between Jay Gatsby and George Wilson, but most importantly through the Valley of Ashes and Gatsby’s parties. Using these characters and places, Fitzgerald shows the American dream has died and been replaced with the pursuit of money, rather than happiness.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, characters have very distinct identities that develop throughout the book and many inferences are needed to understand the characters. One example of this is Daisy Buchanan. Daisy Buchanan cares greatly about wealth and is a very careless person. Throughout the novel, many of her decisions are due to her greed and carelessness, even though those decisions may not be the best decisions for her. Daisy displays her greed throughout the novel; she marries Tom Buchanan because of his wealth.
Gatsby is rich, powerful, and influential, but that was never enough for him. He has everything that everything that people covet and wish for but to him it is only the things that exist to enable him to get what he wants. It is because of his fantasies about the American Dream with Daisy that everything he tried to build for years has been destroyed by those bad things that he did. Gatsby’s desire for money and social status led him to exhibit his negative qualities such as involvement in crime, dishonesty, and delusions about his life with a married woman.
The negatively displayed aspects of the wealthy elites in The Great Gatsby presents Fitzgerald’s view of how money
The Roaring Twenties, jazz music, flappers, automobiles, radios, the telephone, prosperity, modernism and cultural growth, a great decade with great accomplishments. Or so we think. Having lived during this time F. Scott Fitzgerald is able to critically write about the corruption of this time. The Great Gatsby, one of the many novels written by Fitzgerald is a story about love, deception, power, class, greed, and The American Dream. Set in 1920s New York City, the novel is told through the lens of a Miswesterner named Nick Carroway.
Within The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald presented Myrtle as a character who was unaffected by true love and craved extreme wealth. Many people like Myrtle in the 1920s felt having lots of money meant being able to live a luxurious and happy lifestyle. They refused to accept the idea of a simplistic lifestyle and always anticipated more. Fitzgerald’s writing revealed more than Myrtle constantly insulting her husband’s situation. He exposed the corruption of the “new” American Dream and the relationships it destroyed as a
This quote shows that Gatsby himself knows that Daisy is a symbol of money. He sees her as a woman of money. He is biased toward her personality due to knowing that she can fulfill his American dream. “‘I told you what’s been going on,’ said Gatsby. ‘Going on for five years - and you didn’t know.’”
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ was set during the 1920's, a period of great enormous expansion and industrial prosperity in America. With this came the rise of the bourgeoisie and ‘American Dream.’ While this idea was idealized by mass culture, Fitzgerald wished to that show it, and the upper class that followed was not as perfect as it seemed. Thus, a key theme in the novel is the decline of the American dream and money, both tied to a major concept of the shallowness, materialism, and vainness of the upper classes. Fitzgerald illustrates this through his characterization of key individuals: namely Tom Buchanan, Daisy Buchanan, and Jay Gatsby, who represent the upper-class man and wife, and the self-made-man, respectively.
Aaron Teng Marina Litushko English 10 19 May 2023 Lost Happiness of the American Dream As an exaggerated, yet realistic depiction of the Roaring twenties in America, the Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald highlights the flaws in people and society. While Gatsby, the main character, is the one of the most obvious followers of the American Dream, nearly everyone in the book chases after some form of that dream, with the same unrealistic expectations of perfect relationships and reputations. The classic American Dream includes a family of four, a dog, a nice house with white picket fence, and other imaginative things that paint a fantastical image of happiness in life.
Tom is a strong example of the corruption that comes with wealth. Tom is described in Deceitful Traces of Power as, “In many ways Tom Buchanan embodies the decadence of the upper class” (Lena 98). Fitzgerald uses Tom to express the ways of an old money consumer (Lena 99). Toms comes from old money, meaning that the majority of his money is from his family, not from himself. Because of this Tom does what he wants to, abusing Myrtle, cheating on Daisy, going about as he wishes.
Throughout the novel, Gatsby has only focused on achieving materialistic success in order to win the love of his life back- as he threw many luxurious parties and frequently flaunted his lavish lifestyle for others to perceive. Money only matters to Gatsby as he believes it will help him win Daisy back. Unfortunately, he fails to win back his true love’s heart, as Daisy chooses Tom over him, which ultimately leads to his failure to find genuine happiness. Fitzgerald implements in diction to describe the concept of how wealth does not always lead to happiness, as for both Gatsby and Daisy- they possessed enormous
The Great Gatsby Literary Analysis “They were careless people…” says Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby. In a story depicting the 1920s during a time of prosperity, growth, and the emergence of the America as a major global power, this statement may seem to be contrary. But in reality, Nick Carraway’s description of his friends and the people he knew, was not only true, but is an indication of those who were striving for the American dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests that the American Dream is foolish, the people who pursue it are immoral and reckless, and this pursuit is futile. First F. Scott Fitzgerald proposes that the American dream is foolish.