The Great Gatsby Essays
Question
Task: Provide a detailed literal analysis of the great gatsby essays.
Answer
The renowned writer Fitzgerald wrote the satirical work of The Great Gatsby essays in the year of 1920, which discussed the American ideals. By considering the context of East and West Egg, the writer has tried to display the careless attitude of everyone at that period (Goldsmith, 2003). It could be understood that Fitzgerald had tried to convey majorly two themes through the piece of literature. The primary concept conveyed through this is that the dream of American society is highly influenced and corrupted by greed towards immense wealth. The secondary theme portrays that it is the pursuit to attain success that is more satisfying when compared to that of the attainment of a dream. The writer efficiently uses these two themes to display the satirical aspect of American Ideals in The Great Gatsby essays.
As per the major ideology followed by the American community, the primary dream is to somehow get a very prosperous and wealthy life. The ideology turns out to be a matter of dispute in the relation between Daisy and Gatsby. The character of Daisy symbolizes the element for which Gatsby strives the most. The tone of Daisy is always opulent with wealth which is specified by Gatsby. Daisy's character could be compared with the modern century flapper since it is in a similar way that she attracts men with her enigmatic and husky voice. Gatsby was so much attracted to the sound of Daisy that his every action was endorsed towards winning her. It was the immense opulence that was permeated from her voice (Will, 2005). However, it becomes very late for Gatsby to understand that the only promise entailed in her voice was regarding the wealth. Nothing in the world created compassion or interest in Daisy rather than money. She was harsh and cold against all other elements. Daisy's mind and the intention were corrupted by the comparison of wealth possessed by Gatsby and Tom.
The indignity and corruptness of the American dream are signified by marriage between Daisy and Tom. They perceive life as a very unhappy one, though they belong to the most opulent community of West Egg. The couples eek on searching for the element that would bring happiness in their lives and thus could end dissatisfaction. The couple later moved to France and had wandered throughout the opulent communities by playing polo and taking part in other entertainment activities. The couples are extremely unhappy with their boring way of life. In the later stage, Tom finds it entertaining to actively take part in football club matches and finds it exciting to cheat his wife by making extramarital affairs with Myrtle (Petrosky, 1982). However, these instances fail to reveal to Gatsby that happiness could not be achieved just by wealth and power.
It had been revealed in work the prevalence of fabrications and infidelities very high in the marriage of Buchanan. The level of selfishness rises to the peak when Tom realizes about the murder of Myrtle and the infidelity of Daisy. Tom and Daisy further seek to reunite since both of them have quite an awareness regarding each other's strength in dealing with various elements of society. No element of remorse or regard was displayed by the Buchanan when Gatsby and Myrtle were murdered mercilessly. The lack of compassion is even more portrayed when they decide to leave for a vacation after their murder. They displayed no sympathy or love for anyone. Every member of the community perceived only parties and wealth as their primary objective. It is in a similar manner that Nick observed a couple of Daisy and Tom as the most uncompassionate and heartless people. They kept a very destructive attitude towards various things and resorted to their immense wealth with a very careless attitude that kept both of them united. It was the others who cleaned up their mess and carried the major burnt of their activities (Froehlich, 2011). The activities and the approaches of Tom and Daisy signify the emotionless state and destructive approach that a person could by dint of his or her wealth. The factors like external appearance and the frivolous elements of monetary value are focused as the primary preferences by most of the people in the community. People in such communities often ignore the feelings of other people.
It later seems in the story that the plans of Jordan Baker are also corrupted and negatively influenced by the evil elements of wealth. Nick realized that Jordan turned a blind eye towards the feelings of other people though he was earlier infatuated by the careless and disinterested attitude. The extramarital affair of Daisy is further encouraged and appreciated by Jordan since he believed that Daisy had the right to be happy in her life. Daisy just perceives Gatsby as an object rather than a human being. The fissures in the character of Jordan are also revealed when is observed to be frequently gossiping, disparaging, and being dishonest in his behaviour (Bloom, 2010). Daisy was involved in many scandals, and the major one of them was the involvement in the issue of moving golf ball for her advantage in a tournament. Jordan belonged to the community of East Egg and was very dishonest and unreliable in behaviour. It is the specific section of the society that is represented by Jordan, which often gets entertained by the people like Gatsby. She could be defined as such people who enjoy the courtesy and hospitality of others and don't even bid an eye towards the genuine kindness for them. Though a lot of people are served in the house of Gatsby even after his death, apart from his father and Nick, no one even attended his funeral. It was the reality that the people who enjoyed the lavish generosity of Gatsby were his true friends. When he threw the party or offered free drinks, car rides, ride on the hydroplane, etc., numerous people appeared from nowhere (Forter, 2003). No one had paid him respect when the time had arrived.
It is being conveyed by the writer in his work, The Great Gatsby essays that the pursuit towards attaining the dream is much more satiating when compared to that of achieving wealth and is reiterated multiple times in the content. The primary aim or the dream of Gatsby was to attain or win Daisy (Mansell, 1987). The concept was furthermore signified in the content by the term green light. The mention of green light is frequent whenever Gatsby looks at the character of Daisy. The green breast of the new world is metaphorically signified by the term Green Light by Fitzgerald in his work. The immense dream of Americans to find a new continent for themselves was signified by Gatsby's effort of rediscovering Daisy. It was the immense dream of Gatsby that Daisy should declare hate for Tommy and come to him to live the rest of the life in love with each other. The pursuit of achieving it was much more thrilling than just achieving that. The major reason behind throwing random parties was the hope that Daisy would come someday to the party and see him. It was solely to impress Daisy that Gatsby had amassed so much wealth and money. Though it could be analyzed that the situation would have been different if Gatsby had won Daisy. They would have gone through the same phase as the couple, Tom and Daisy had gone through. They would have similarly entered into extramarital affairs like the existing couples, and Gatsby would have to face the same difficulties. Gatsby failed to perceive this aspect of life.
By just conducting an overall reading, The Great Gatsby essays, Essay seems to be just a shallow novel written by Fitzgerald which mentions various social gimmicks like parties, jazz, and glitz that were prevalent in the early decades of the 20th century (Berman, 1996). Though the profound commentary on the social elements could be observed when conducted a thorough reading of the novel Great Gatsby Essay. It would portray the delusional and derogatory impact over the wealth over the human mind sustaining in modern society. It has been revealed that the travel to attain success is far more thrilling when compared to that of real success. It was majorly the elements of society in the 1820s that is represented satirically by Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby essays essay.
References
Berman, R. (1996). The Great Gatsby essays and Modern Times. University of Illinois Press.
Bloom, H. (Ed.). (2010). F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby essays. Infobase Publishing.
Forter, G. (2003). Against Melancholia: Contemporary Mourning Theory, Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby essays, and the Politics of Unfinished Grief. Difference: Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies, 14(2), 134-170.
Froehlich, M. G. (2011). Gatsby's mentors: queer relations between love and money in The Great Gatsby essays. The Journal of Men’s Studies, 19(3), 209-226.
Goldsmith, M. (2003). White Skin and White Mask: Passing, Posing, and Performing in The Great Gatsby essays. MFS Modern Fiction Studies, 49(3), 443-468.
Mansell, D. (1987). The jazz history of the world in The Great Gatsby essays. Details: English Language Notes 25 (Dec. 1987): p57-62.
Petrosky, A. R. (1982). From story to an essay: Reading and writing. College Composition and Communication, 33(1), 19-36.
Will, B. (2005). " The Great Gatsby essays" and the Obscene Word. College Literature, 125-144.
