Daisy as well as Jordan are described as innocent and pure throughout the first couple chapters of the novel – “ They were both in white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering…”. However it is just a façade, Daisy has flaws which she hides through wearing white, in reality she is cold and “her voice is full of money”. Gatsby wants Daisy to admit that she has never loved Tom, however Daisy loves them both and that is when Gatsby’s dream fails. He realises that Daisy is not the person who
| “He’s so dumb he doesn’t know he’s alive.” –Tom describing Wilson (p. 26) | Ironic because Daisy is found to be unfaithful to Tom as well, later in the novel. Maybe Tom is just as “dumb”. I don’t like him, he is ignorant and cocky. | Myrtle selects a new taxi after rejecting older ones. (p. 27) | She is not really wealthy; maybe she is trying to show off for Tom?
He compared Vanderbilt to medieval robber barons because he preyed upon monopolists. Pacific Mail had total market control of the sea lanes to California, and it bought off Vanderbilt in order to preserve its monopoly. Raymond attacked the Commodore for pursuing “competition for competition’s sake; competition which crowds out legitimate enterprises.” To the editor of the New York Times in 1859, Vanderbilt was a robber baron because he was a challenger, a spoiler—almost the opposite of the current meaning of the term. So how did the definition of
The first time we meet Daisy she is dressed in white which is ironic because Daisy is far from “pure”. The fact that Daisy is putting on a fake persona makes the reader wonder if she really is as naive as she acts. White in the novel also symbolises materialistic insubstantial love, this is shown when Daisy chooses her marriage partner based on $350,000 string of white pearls, and this suggests that Daisy is extremely materialistic because she “chose” Tom purely because he bought her an expensive gift. Fitzgerald also uses pastel colours, “coral...and lavender and faint orange, with monograms of Indian blue”. Pastels connotes a fairytale, ephemeral quality, this represents the unreality of the Buchanans’ lifestyle and what they have, relationship wise won’t last for a long time and will eventually wither away.
Fitzgerald places American society at the end of the era and shows his view of the American dream in The Great Gatsby, This Side of Paradise, and Tender is the Night. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald describes the 1920’s as an era full of greed, corruption, and never ending social activities. He uses symbols to depict the 1920’s, such as the valley of ashes symbolizing how the poor were affected by the new way of life. Through his novel, Fitzgerald shows the dramatic change in social behavior occurring during this era. He again uses high society families to show changes occurring in society through two other novels, This Side of Paradise and Tender Is the Night.
In “America,” Hoagland uses metaphors to illustrate the growing influence of consumerism, capitalism, and most of all the greed that rules the modern American society. Consumerism is a modern day blessing and a curse for America. Consumerism is the theory of society’s preoccupation with consumer goods. This is evident in the beginning of “America.” Hoagland writes, “Then one of the students with blue hair and a tongue stud/ Says that America for him is a maximum-security prison/ Whose walls are made of RadioShack’s and Burger King’s, and MTV episodes/ Where you can’t tell the show from the commercials.” Here, Hoagland lists the details of American “trendiness” by mentioning hair color and body piercings. Also, Hoagland describes modern day businesses like Radio Shack, which market and sell consumer based goods, and fast food restaurants like Burger King that gives super-sized food portions.
Although the two novels share a common theme, the authorial purposes contrast in nature. Both Steinbeck and Fitzgerald depict the illusion of the American Dream; Steinbeck however conveys the belief that American society in the early 20th century severely retards individuals’ opportunity of attaining the American Dream. Fitzgerald focuses on expressing his disdain toward the wealthy, and uncovers the downside of the extravagant lifestyle the rich possess. Nonetheless, Of Mice and Men and The Great Gatsby encompass the fallacy of the American Dream and tell a story of desperate individuals struggling to capture a dream just out of reach. Throughout The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald consistently uses characterization to provide an in depth view of the characters in the story.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are numerous examples of failed relationships throughout the novel which supports the statement that “love is presented as an unobtainable fantasy”. One example of a failed relationship in The Great Gatsby is the affair between Tom Buchanan and his mistress Myrtle Wilson. Their affair is based on mutual exploitation as Tom uses Myrtle for sex while Myrtle receives gifts and money in return. The fact that Myrtle believes that Tom will leave Daisy and marry her is a clear example of unobtainable love as Tom does not see Myrtle as a person but rather as a sexual object. This is made clean by his degrading treatment of Myrtle at one of their parties, when he breaks her nose for mentioning his wife's name.
A dream residing in a triad of deceit. Corruption, pursuit of wealth and lost hope is all that is promised by the elusive American dream writes Tahnea Blackman The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a post WWI novel. Set in the wild time of the roaring 20’s, where the prohibition of alcohol created opportunities for anybody with the right ambition to get rich. The protagonist, Jay Gatsby, became endlessly wealthy due to the prohibition, but not necessarily for selfish reasons. Love, though it is a noble cause, can blind people.
From the knowledge Dan taught him, Jay was able to make a fortune from what he calls “…a little business on the side, a sort of sideline” (82). Furthermore, Fitzgerald hints at numerous real world situations, where he refers to Wolfsheim as “the man who fixed the World’s Series back in 1919” ( 73). However, the actual person who fixed the World Series is Arnold Rothstien, Wolfsheim in the novel. In 1919, two men by the names of Arnold Rothstien and Joseph Sullivan paid players on the Chicago White Sox, who were heavily favored to win the series, to intentionally lose the games. The White Sox lost the series 5-2, which at the time, proceeded to be the biggest sports upset ever recorded.