Use Of Setting In The Great Gatsby

While many authors have their own distinct genre and writing style, readers may not realise that they all instinctively follow the same basic guidelines, whether it is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1926 novel The Great Gatsby or Jane Austen’s 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice. Within these novels it can be seen that similar semiotic techniques have been employed to foreshadow specific plot points in the narrative, particularly when noticing their use of place and setting. Thus, both Fitzgerald and Austen utilise the place and setting of their novels as a catalyst or mode of attraction for the characters by using specific grammatical choices. Throughout this essay the metaphorical use of place, particularly focusing on Gatsby’s mansion and Pemberley serving
Words operate within the given framework and demand to be acknowledged by an audience (Kidd 2015, 1-40). The author merely provides the reader with the stimulus, while the reader is free to interpret it in any way they choose. For this to be clearly identified, various examples of how the grammatical choices made by an author create literature paradigms in order to ignite a response or realisation with readers will be exposed.

When looking at The Great Gatsby, it can be seen that Fitzgerald’s description of Gatsby’s mansion reflects largely on the relationships in the narrative, particularly Gatsby and Daisy’s. Throughout the novel, it is made known that the purpose of Gatsby’s ridiculously large mansion is meant to attract Daisy. The large, elaborate parties were thrown in the hope that one-day Daisy may just wander in and be mesmerised by the extravagance. Here the information is very explicit, but when looking at the detail put into the word choices made by Fitzgerald, it can be seen that there are many implicit and suggestive grammatical choices. This can be first seen on page 11, when Nick Carraway describes the mansion. It reads, “The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard”. By using the word
Even though these authors were actively writing a century apart, their incorporation of place and setting are comparable. The most notable similarity is the utilisation of the word ‘mistress’. Both Fitzgerald and Austen use this within the context of specific place, these being Gatsby’s mansion and Pemberley. While the meaning of the word may be different, with Fitzgerald representing a person having an affair and Austen representing matrimony, it is still used effectively as a mode of attraction for the characters. This relates directly back to Saussure’s theory of the link between a concept and a sound pattern. The concept is to use ‘mistress’ to describe the house, and the final interpretation or sound pattern of the particular word is left to convey the romantic relationships that either are or will soon occur. This is an effective way of incorporating subtle representation into a story. Fitzgerald and Austen successfully create meaning that is constructed through the chosen descriptive language. The words demand to be acknowledged by readers, therefore igniting many different opinions and responses to the place and setting (Kidd 2015, 1-40). The two novels are both appropriate to the time at which they were written, because the description used for the houses successfully exploit the cultural identity of the era.