Great Gatsby Essay - 1380 Words

In The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald, dreams, goals, and ambitions have a way of enticing and enchanting the characters. A goal becomes more than a goal; it becomes something into which the characters submerge themselves and by which they define themselves. These dreams then set up impossible expectations which are detached from what can realistically be achieved. Gatsby dreams of love with Daisy, a dream which eventually consumes his life. It seduces him into giving himself up entirely for its attainment. Similarly, Toms ambitions to control every aspect of his life end up consuming him. It might be considered this fundamental tendency of human dreams to seduce the dreamers into dedicating themselves completely to those dreams†¦show more content†¦It is likely that the Grail doesnt even exist, and it is this which is the point Fitzgerald attempts to make through this allusion: it is an objective certainty that Gatsby cannot win Daisy (who is his Grail) back, but because he has been completely seduced by the prospect of the outcome, he cannot see that truth, deceiving himself into believing that it is possible. As foils for Gatsby and Daisy (and in some respect Tom as well) we are presented with Nick and Jordan. Of Jordan, Nick says that she is â€Å"too wise ever to carry well-forgotten dreams from age to age†(135). In this single quote we have proof that neither of them is susceptible to the seductive nature of dreams: Jordan does not carry on with long-dead memories, and Nick deems her â€Å"wise† because of it. This contrast with the other characters allows their naà ¯ve pursuit of impossible dreams to be all the more apparent, especially because Nick is the narrator of the book. It would be quite hard indeed to present a book about the enchanting characteristics of dreams if the narrating voice itself was susceptible to the enchantment; that is, it is always easier to explain from an outside perspective.Show MoreRel atedThe Great Gatsby Essay936 Words   |  4 PagesThe Great Gatsby Essay By- Happy Bhoombla English- 3A Date-9/28/10 The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a story about a wealthy man named Gatsby. Gatsby lives a luxuriant life in West Egg of New York. Gatsby’s wealth has an unknown secret because nobody seems to know where his wealth emerged from. Despite of having so much fortune, Gatsby’s true American dream has not been achieved. In the great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald develops Gatsby as a failed American dream to show theRead MoreGreat Gatsby Essay702 Words   |  3 PagesMyrtle? Gatsby himself? Give reasons why or why not each character is implicated in the murder.† Great Gatsby Essay There are five people that are responsible for Jay Gatsby’s death. One of them is directly to blame, since he pulled the trigger. The other three were involved in the murder. The one who pulled the trigger was George Wilson. He was in pain because of the murder of his wife. He loved her, and he was completely insane with grief. Wilson thought that Gatsby was MyrtlesRead More Essay on The Great Gatsby1120 Words   |  5 PagesEssay on The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby is a novel about a man who tries to win over a woman he had lost many years ago. Jay Gatsby is the hero in this novel because he stands out amongst the rich. Unlike the rest of the rich people in this novel Gatsby has moral values, and the rest of them can only grasp things of material value. Gatsby spends his whole life trying to hide the fact that he wasn’t like the others. Gatsby never fits in among them because what he perceives of them is allRead MoreEssay on The Great Gatsby1254 Words   |  6 PagesIn Class Essay To what extent is The Great Gatsby a moral novel. Discuss. The society our nation lives in today has developed morals and principles through the lessons experienced from the past. The Roaring Twenties was a time of change and a chance to pave a path for the person you wanted to become. Morals and principles served as guidelines rather than rules and were merely preached that practiced. Thus, the severity of the immoral actions taking place created opportunities for lessons to beRead MoreEssay The Great Gatsby2606 Words   |  11 PagesThe Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby belongs to what Harold Bloom tags the â€Å"tomb† of literary archetypes, a family of fiction that espouses every facet of the expressive use of language (everything from Shakespeare’s plays to Dickens’ prose). As a participant in this tomb, The Great Gatsby has adopted a convenient persona in the world of twentieth century literature as â€Å"the great American novel,† a work that embodies the American thematic ideals of the self-made man, the great AmericanRead More Symbolism in The Great Gatsby Essay867 Words   |  4 PagesGatsby Essay Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. For example, a dove is usually used to represent peace. In the novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald uses a lot of symbolism to connect the characters with each other or to other objects. Fitzgerald’s use of symbolism helps advance his thematic interest in his novel of The Great Gatsby. In the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses various colors, objectsRead More Materialism in The Great Gatsby Essay1075 Words   |  5 Pagesduring the 1920s, the setting of F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby. That the majority of Americans believe that wealth and happiness are the same is a result of our market economy that encourages consumption and conditions us to think that we need material possessions to be happy. According to Andrew Bard Schmookler, Wealth and human fulfillment have become equated in the predominant ideology of liberal society, even though the great spiritual teachers of humanity have all taught otherwise.Read More Contrasts in the Great Gatsby Essay760 Words   |  4 PagesTyler Simms Great Gatsby Essay Accelerated English 11 Mrs. Cameron F. Scott Fitzgerald constructed his novel, The Great Gatsby, by sculpting numerous situation and character contrasts together through out the novel to create and deliver a magnificent work of art. Although Fitzgerald contrasted numerous characters and situations through out the novel, there are three that are very pungent; the characters Tom Buchanan and George Wilson and Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson. Not only wereRead More The Great Gatsby Essay1109 Words   |  5 PagesThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays American society in the 1920’s after WWI has just ended, a decade of unprecedented economic prosperity. In the book, Fitzgerald critiques the loss of moral values and the degradation of American society, symbolizing it as a â€Å"valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where . . . ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke† (Fitzgerald 23). Through the characters of the book, Fitzgerald exposes the American dream from behind its d azzling veilRead MoreGreat Gatsby Essay971 Words   |  4 Pagesmajor part of people’s characteristics in the 1920’s ‘easy money’ era because of the great economic boom. During this era, people earned their money by corruption with smuggling alcohol during prohibition. In addition, people earned their money by people unknowingly investing in major stocks. A few people earned their money with hard work; it was mostly made easily for them. Throughout the novel, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the shallowness and hollowness of the upper class is