P. 6:
Thesis:
In the hotel scene on pages 132-135, Fitzgerald uses Daisy as a
symbol for the degradation of the wealthy class during the
1920s and her voice as a metaphor for the true corruptive
nature of money, confirming the normalities prevalent with
“old money”.
Analysis:
[Daisy] repeatedly uses her voice as a tool to manipulate those
around her. Nick first relates it to “a wild tonic in the rain”
(85), and later calls it “full of money”(120). It is a metaphor for
a wall that protects her from facing the consequences of her
actions, just as her money and appearance contribute to
Gatsby’s infatuation with her, which blinds him from seeing the
human characteristics that she embodies despite her wealth.
Thesis:
In this passage, Fitzgerald uses juxtaposition, dramatic irony,
and an unrealistically optimistic tone to show the tragedy of
Gatsby’s naïve illusions.
Analysis:
Gatsby continues to wait outside silently and patiently,
eternally longing for Daisy, whereas Daisy herself seems to be
unconcerned about Gatsby’s well being. As Nick describes, the
atmosphere between her and Tom at the table is as if “they
[are] conspiring together”(145). Juxtaposing Gatsby’s firm
conviction to protect Daisy and Daisy’s ignorance towards
Gatsby shows the reader that Gatsby’s illusion has been futile
from the beginning. While Gatsby stands in the darkness with
a chivalrous and untainted mind, Daisy sits in her warm and
cozy dining room, co-conspiring with her husband as if
planning a sinister subterfuge.
Topic Sentence:
Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald makes subtle allusions to
forms of art to convey an image of solemn wealth, an image
that defines the essence of wealth as hollow and cold-blooded.
Analysis: discussing View of Toledo by El Greco
The comparison Fitzgerald, and Nick, makes is between this
painting and life in the West Egg. The landscape painting is,
“conventional and grotesque, crouching under a sullen,
overhanging sky and a lusterless moon” (176). It depicts a city
full of darkness, darkness that symbolizes evil and corruption
of laws, ethics, or both. This allusion provides visual context to
the surface of the East in general, and as stated, the surface is
all there is to be discovered in the East.
Though this woman is well off, “No one [knew] the woman’s
name, and no one [cared]” (176). People who provide service
to society are quickly forgotten, and many of the rich
aristocrats of the East fit this description. In this painting, a
“Lusterless moon”(176) hangs over the sky, providing no
vibrant light for the rich to dazzle their friends with. These
shallow, wealthy people only sparkle in the spotlight, and
when there is no such light, everything becomes dark and
gloomy, much like the scene in El Greco’s painting.
Analysis: use of irony in The Great Gatsby
The third example of irony occurs during Daisy’s little
monologue on sophistication and the state of the world in
general, in which she tries to validate the opinions she
expresses by saying they come from the “most advanced
people” (17) such as herself, who’ve “been everywhere and
seen everything and done everything”(17) and therefore must
be sophisticated. It is important to note, however, that she
states her own qualifications in a defiant, almost
argumentative tone, and laughs with “thrilling scorn” (17)
when she tells Nick she’s sophisticated. The irony here is
apparent. The people who Daisy lauds as being the “most
advanced” and therefore possessing the most trustworthy
opinions on the state of the world are the product and engine
of the 1920s high society. Essentially, Daisy criticizes her world
by turning to those elevated by it for an authentic opinion. Her
trust in the system is what helps her believe that the system is
not to be trusted. She challenges the status quo by embracing
it. That is irony in its purest form. This is the corruption of
logic, and relays the internal struggle between old and new,
between trust and scorn, that defined the twenties. This
example of irony recognizes the time period of the ‘20s as one
in which all could sense impending doom, but were too tied to
the status quo either to have clear judgment or to have the will
to change the course of their fate. This irony paints a picture of
a frantic, condemning, downward spiral—a complete loss of
the ability for society as a whole to perform accurate selfreflection. This is the darker side of the Roaring Twenties.
P.7
Thesis:
Through Nick, Fitzgerald uses diction and word choice
to show the difference between “true” Daisy and her
persona in a way that reveals her inherent unhappiness
and the idea that one cannot force oneself to be happy.
Analysis:
Through his specific word choice, Fitzgerald shows that
what we want most often see of Daisy is a persona, not
her true self. Usually we see Daisy as a confident,
dramatic, bored, young woman, however, in this
passage we begin to see a little of the real Daisy. When
she and Nick go outside to talk, Nick says that,
“turbulent emotions possessed her”(16), which serves
to illuminate the flaws in her carefree persona. The
woman she pretends to be would not be possessed by
emotions the way Daisy is here. Nick also says that she
“hesitates”(16), and looks at him “absently”(16), as
though she is distracted by something more important
than idle chatter. The fake socialite Daisy would thrive
on this type of conversation. The true Daisy appears to
be emotionally tired, troubled, and unsure; she uses her
façade to cover her more fragile characteristics. She lets
her persona slip just a little when she sits with Nick and
we see these glimpses of the real Daisy. When she talks,
her “eyes [flash] in a defiant way”(17), and she “[laughs]
with thrilling scorn”(17). Daisy goes from quiet and
reserved to dramatic and superior. Daisy’s quick
change in mood and attitude contribute to the
insincerity of everything she says aloud to Nick
throughout this passage. The startling difference
between the ways Nick writes about the way she talks
emphasizes the importance of Fitzgerald’s word choice
in determining when Daisy is letting her true emotions
show.
Topic Sentence:
Fitzgerald uses very specific diction to portray Gatsby’s
viewpoint.
Analysis:
This dream that Gatsby clings to for so long, the thing
that motivates his every action for five years ends up
being the very thing that destroys him. According to
Nick, Gatsby “has thrown himself into with a creative
passion, adding to it all the time”(95) demonstrating
how Gatsby throws his whole life into the obsession
with Daisy. The words “creative passion” make it seem
as if Gatsby is an artist, and in a way he is. This man is
the artist of his own future, constructing it as he pleases
to make him more appealing to Daisy. Outside of Daisy,
Gatsby has nothing to live for. He ends up wasting his
life on a woman who does not even attend his funeral.
When Gatsby is sitting with Daisy in the music room,
Nick says he looks “as though a faint doubt had
occurred to him as to the quality of his present
happiness” (95). This is because all of Gatsby’s
happiness rests in Daisy’s destructive, manipulative
hands. The word “faint” makes it seem that this
moment of doubt is only a flicker, and then Gatsby is
back under the spell of his own illusion.
Thesis:
In this passage, Fitzgerald uses symbols and imagery to
show that Gatsby chooses a materialistic lifestyle that
gives him a warped sense of reality and keeps him from
pursuing happiness.
Analysis:
This passage demonstrates Gatsby’s attachment to
material goods and how he sees relationships as
replaceable items. . . Nick describes Gatsby as walking
“up and down a desolate path of fruit rinds and
discarded favors and crushed flowers”(109). These
“fruit rinds,” “discarded favors,” and “crushed flowers”
are symbols of the perishable and fleeting earthly
possessions with which Gatsby surrounds himself.
These discarded and used items are the goods he
consumes and replaces because he can afford to. It
doesn’t matter that the material goods he buys never
last, because he can always buy more. Because he can
always buy more and keep replenishing, he sees these
material items as everlasting. To Gatsby, anything can
be bought and so he thinks the same of Daisy. Gatsby is
mistaking a meaningful and irreplaceable relationship
with a person for disposable, tangible items.
Thesis: Through the use of techniques such as the
recurring symbolism in the green light, the color green,
and the metaphor of rowing boats against the current,
Fitzgerald articulates the fact the American Dream is
unattainable, illustrated at the end of the novel by the
collapse of Gatsby’s dream when he was so close to
achieving it. By asserting that the American Dream is
unattainable, Fitzgerald implies that the American
Dream is not associated with any dream in particular,
but that the American Dream is simply having the
capacity to dream.
Conclusion: Ultimately, Gatsby’s plan to win Daisy back
fails, and he can hardly believe it. To Gatsby, it is not a
matter of whether or not Daisy chooses him, but when
she does. Fitzgerald writes that Gatsby’s dream may
have “eluded [him] then, but that’s no matter-tomorrow [he] will run faster, stretch [his] arms
farther”(180) and try again. Gatsby’s death was
untimely considering the situation at hand, but through
the final passage that Fitzgerald composes about
Gatsby, it can be inferred that Gatsby would not have
given up on Daisy. Even if he didn’t give on her, he
never would succeed, because the American Dream is
meant to remain a dream. Fitzgerald uses metaphors,
symbols, and colors to validate this point in the final
passage of the novel. Gatsby devoted his life to pursue
Daisy, but he could not unravel the threads of the past,
which prevented him from being with Daisy. Although
Gatsby may have remained oblivious to the fact that he
would never be able to achieve his dream, he dreamt
nonetheless, showing that he had the capacity to dream
and chase that dream like a true American.
Thesis: In his final passage, Fitzgerald uses recurring
symbolism and irony to enhance his overall theme that
mankind’s inability to stop repeating the past often
takes the form of human dreams; this innate attachment
to the ideal is often what prevents one from moving
forward.
Analysis:
…Fitzgerald shows the encompassing theme that one’s
aspirations often prevent advancement through his use
of irony in this passage. The fact that incongruity is not
only used in this passage, but rather the whole novel,
only furthers its impact. In the story, Gatsby’s common
goal of regaining his lost love is hindered by a five-year
gap between meetings. Though Daisy is now married
and has a child, the solitary Gatsby is determined yet to
win her back. When confronted with the idea that he
may not be able to revive his past relationships, Gatsby
disbelieving replies, “Can’t repeat the past? Why of
course you can!” (110). Here, Gatsby’s inability to
realize the paradox he has created, that one cannot
replicate something that has already happened, is what
is essentially preventing him from leaving his own past.
Though Daisy has moved on with her own life, Gatsby’s
dream is what prevents him from moving forward, as he
has built his whole life around the idea of recapturing
Daisy. This concept is further accentuated in the final
passage. While writing about Gatsby’s dream, Nick
describes Gatsby’s blind faith in “the orgastic future that
year by year recedes before us” (180). Fitzgerald’s use
of the words “future” and “recedes” in this sentence
creates an ironic contradiction. The idea that the future,
something known to be very expansive and vast, is
withdrawing creates a conflicting image in the reader’s
mind, one that is meant to be associated with the idea of
human dreams.