Preview

Critical Examination of a Passage in Great Gatsby

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
907 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Critical Examination of a Passage in Great Gatsby
This passage is from the great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It tells a story, specifically the history which Gatsby and Daisy had. Daisy promised to wait for Gatsby until the war ended. But as it is Daisy's youth and need for love and attention has made her insecure to stay alone for so long. Soon she attended parties and dances. At one of them she met the safe and strong Tom Buchanan. Despite the fact that she loved Jay, he was not there, so she married Tom.

The diction used in this passage as well as in the whole novel is simple. Therefore Fitzgerald uses simple language to illustrate everyday aspects, such as the decline of the American dream as well as the hollowness of the upper class. By using simple language it makes the audience bigger that can relate to the novel, and therefore makes the novel universal.

Great usage of the s-alliteration is used in "…while a hundred pairs of golden and silver slippers shuffled the shinning dust." This describes the action of the multitude ladies moving around is described successfully.

Fitzgerald's style might be called imagistic. The language used is full of images-concrete verbal pictures. There is water imagery in descriptions of the rain, Long Island Sound, and the swimming pool. There are the Godlike eyes of Dr. Eckleburg and in words such as incarnation, and grail. Abstract images are used as well when there is referred to the artificial world as snobbery, sadness. These images do not only describe the world in which the characters live but shows that it does not matter how much power and wealth the characters have, they are still unhappy. Part of these concrete images is the color images. "While a hundred pairs of golden and silver slippers shuffled the shining dust. At the gray tea hour there were always rooms that throbbed incessantly with this low, sweet fever, while fresh faces drifted here and there like rose petals blown by the sad horns around the floor." Fitzgerald uses these

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    “It demonstrated one of the trademarks that would characterize Fitzgerald’s writing- his ability to capture how things were without restoring to straight documentary writing but rather using evocative details and nuances of style to convey mood.” (Tate 5)…

    • 1222 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In Chapter 5, Daisy and Gatsby are reunited in Nick’s house and then Gatsby shows Daisy around his house. Gatsby attempts to reward Nick with money for helping bring him and Daisy together again, “Well, this would interest you. It wouldn’t take up much of your time but you might pick up a nice bit of money.” This shows how Gatsby is not used to people being hospitable towards him without wanting anything in return. It also demonstrates how Gatsby thinks he has to buy Nick’s loyalty in the hope that by bribing Nick with money, he won’t tell Tom about his meeting with Daisy. Nick refuses claiming, “I’ve got my hands full,” This reveals that Nick is very class conscious as he thinks he is above receiving money for something he has done. It also shows that he is aware of the corrupt criminal world that Gatsby is involved in because he doesn’t want to take the chance of getting involved in the same world as Gatsby.…

    • 297 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chapter five of Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby focusses on the afternoon tea in which Jay Gatsby is to reconnect with Daisy Buchanan as planned in chapter four. The chapter begins with Nick coming home to West Egg seeing his neighborhood in “ablaze” and leading him to fear his home had caught on fire (Fitzgerald 86). It turns out the “fire” was simply Gatsby’s monstrous mansion illuminating light which highlights the actual multitude that is the Gatsby estate. As the chapter progresses, the day comes where Daisy arrives at Nick’s humble abode and ultimately meets Gatsby sparking an immediate reconnection between the two lovers (90-91). Later, Gatsby invites Daisy and Nick to venture to his home next door where he woos Mrs. Buchanan by showing her all the immaculate aspects of his now life such as his…

    • 890 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fitzgerald’s purpose in writing was to inform, as well as entertain, the reader about the hidden difficulties masked by the extravagance of the 1920s. He used Jay Gatsby to represent the ultimate American Dream that everyone strived for, as well as the devastating fall that came along with it. Fitzgerald also uses Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle to convey to the reader the increasing importance of the role of women. In the beginning of the book, he describes the exhilarating atmosphere during the post-war time. He then critiques the time…

    • 2015 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Passage: “Ah, I thought so. For it were strange indeed, and not very creditable to us white-skins, if a little of our blood mixed with the African's, should, far from improving the latter's quality, have the sad effect of pouring vitriolic acid into black broth; improving the hue, perhaps, but not the wholesomeness.”…

    • 169 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The 1920s in the U.S. is a golden age. More and more rich and powerful people appeared in America, everyone wanted to live in that high class society. In this materialistic world, people missing in their voluptuous life, throw away their less poor morality, and measure everything they see with interests. That makes the interpersonal relationships in upper society is built on the foundation of interests like money and status, also the relationships will disappear with the loss of interests.…

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In addition, the unique structure is evident in both “Chronicles of A death Foretold” and “The Great Gatsby”, but the use of structure was used to play the same purpose in both novel; and that is to demonstrate the chronology and its effect in justifying the death evident in both novels. In Chronicle of a death foretold the most prominent form of structure that was evident is narrative structure. The way in which the author divided the narrative structure of the plot and events is through 5 sections. The first section is the morning of Santiago Nasar’s Death, the second section is the historical aspect were the reader learns about the past of Bayardo San Roman and Angela Vicario, the third section is the morning of Santiago’s death which is…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Jazz Age was depicted as an era of freedom, revolution, fantasy, and mostly, corruption. The inhabitants of America during the time were jubilant over the victories of World War I and very much enjoyed the wealth brought on by the spoils of war. Many were busy as they tried to build big businesses to monopolize the flow of money, and legalities did not matter as long as the people got what they wanted. The people sought to use the new-gained wealth to make their fantasy ideals to become a reality and the “American Dream” was the popular phrase used to describe their mindsets. Gatsby is longing to reunite with his love, and he spends a fortune to have it all setup and does not even stop at the face of her husband. To put the novel into a sum, the people of the Jazz Age flare up their monotonous life with corrupted love and the most unethical society and class hierarchy built on the flow of money.…

    • 851 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    No one thinks to highly of him, but his circumstances, when tangled with the themes of the novel is what will lead to the climax of the novel. George Wilson’s purpose in The Great Gatsby is to show a contrast between corruption and innocence. He is the only passive character in this story and similar to Nick, has moral dilemmas. He is the opposite of the American dream shown through his low wealth and social status. However, as he does show to not gain anything significantly, he is not corrupted by the pursuit of the dream. George is an honest and hardworking man, but is naive and quickly intimidated and manipulated by Tom Buchanan. George defers to Tom out of necessity as he needs Tom's business. Although he believes that Tom will sell the…

    • 963 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    With the moonlight beating down on Gatsby with an almost sad, dim glow, Gatsby’s heart slowly breaks watching Daisy and Tom share a meal, talking, neither of them unhappy, just peaceful. Gatsby knows he has lost, but he is unable to let go of Daisy, and thus, he waits outside of her and Tom’s apartment until the early hours of the next morning just holding on to the smallest bit of hope that he has left. At this point, Gatsby is pathetically waiting for what he had been hoping for throughout the whole novel, something he knows he cannot have. Perpetually stuck in his past and obsessed with his love for Daisy, Gatsby is unable live a day of his current life without striving to make the past become reality.…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Nick Carraway starts off the book by telling the advice of his father. “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. ‘Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantage that you’ve had’”. (Fitzgerald, pg. 7). In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, Fitzgerald creates an artificial world where all the characters sole purpose in life is money, wealth and power. The corruption of the American dream is through materialism freedom, equal opportunities, and the chance everyone to succeed by the ambition in their hearts. The American dream became a mindset in all who set…

    • 2072 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A large part of Fitzgerald’s writing is the way that he makes the reader feel about what he has written. Over the course of his novel, Fitzgerald uses diction to allow his audience to sense the tone that he wishes to convey. Fitzgerald also uses diction to emphasize his argument, so that the reader understands his point of view. At the end of the novel, when Nick meets Tom on the street, Nick reflects on the time that he spent with Tom and Daisy, and how they contributed to the fall of Gatsby. Nick states…

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mark Twain once said “History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” This quote means that people can never exactly recreate something and feel the way they did before but they can always achieve something similar.In the novel the Great Gatsby we come across this same idea of people trying to repeat the past but only get as close to rhyme of the past. In the novel we see Gatsby who is blinded by the past and was unable to live in the present.Gatsby was so focused on recreating his past with Daisy and reliving the "golden days". Gatsby pursed visions of his future that were determined by his past. He lived with…

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fitzgerald uses language in order to create a clear division between the rich and the poor. In many ways such as the use of colour imagery and the description of people and places, a clear division between classes can be seen. Although, through the actions of the people in these classes Fitzgerald makes the division seem less prominent.…

    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    “On the last night, with my trunk packed and my car sold to the grocer, I went over and looked at that huge incoherent failure of a house once more. On the white steps an obscene word, scrawled by some boy with a piece of brick, stood out clearly in the moonlight, and I erased it, drawing my shoe raspingly along the stone. Then I wandered down to the beach and sprawled out on the sand.…

    • 2045 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays