At first glance, the Great Gatsby appears to be a book based on the hindered relationship between two lovers, however when one analyses the motifs and underlying symbols of the novel it portray ideas deeper than this. The Great Gatsby has symbols which portray the traits of 1920’s America: the corruption, the wealth, the illusion, the social differences and the restlessness. A major theme in this novel is the colossal dream which Gatsby desires. Fitzgerald embodies this dream through the symbol of the green light at the end of the Buchanan’s dock; however this dream remains unreachable because of the separation and the stark opposition between the East Egg and the West Egg, an antithesis that is built upon as the novel progresses. East to west is represented as a continuous journey, like that of life to death, forever taking Gatsby away from the past and his dream.
“The battle between the sexes has been evident throughout history and literature” Through close examination of the text The Great Gatsby and of Mice and Men show how the writers present this theme through the portrayal of their characters. The Great Gatsby and Of Mice and Men are two very dynamic novels that describe and scrutinise the aspects of the American Dream, during the late 1920s the Wall Street Crash caused huge problems for people all over America; there was little money and this was the start of the Great Depression which ran its course over 10 years, it was hard at this time to believe the idea of the American Dream, but both Steinbeck and Fitzgerald have used it as a basis for their novels. Within in novel of the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald speaks of the exploitation of the Roaring Twenties and Jay Gatsby’s tainted American Dream, for example he suggests that people are enjoying the “golden age” of the mid 1920s in New York, an age when major cities enjoyed a period of sustained economic prosperity. Some normality returned to politics in the wake of World War One, jazz music blossomed and the flapper redefined modern womanhood. Economically the era saw the large-scale use of automobiles, telephones, motion pictures and electricity, plus unprecedented industrial growth, accelerated consumer demand and aspirations, plus significant changes in lifestyle and culture.
The Importance of Color F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, the great Gatsby, takes place in the fictional peninsulas of East Egg and West Egg just after World War I during the prohibition era. The book is about the dreams of one man who is stuck in the past, embodying the American dream and his eventual destruction because of the corruption of the American dream. From both the side of this story, there is an underlying theme of power gained from wealth and artificial social status. All throughout the book, the Great Gatsby, there are many types of color symbolism, mainly referring to the colors gold and white for money and emptiness respectively; the more prominent of these symbols are the character Daisy, the clothing and major items, and the “Valley of Ashes.” Fitzgerald puts a lot of emphasis on a major character, Daisy, in his novel, The Great Gatsby. It begins with her name, Daisy, and use of the colors of a daisy with its golden center surrounded by white petals.
Now we have the true heart of the poem. She wants more than a dress. The dress is a metaphor for many things like passion, desire, beauty, sex, and confidence. Now we relate ourselves back to the title of the poem: What do women want?
We are left to believe that Fitzgerald was highly discontented with this new lifestyle- being part of the “lost generation” himself – and we get the sense that he thought that the boom wouldn’t last, which he may have accurately predicted as the stock market inevitably crashed in 1929. In fact, he often tries so clearly to highlight the darker side and harsh reality of this era, that the reader is often left considering the possibility that Fitzgerald has much stronger motives for this novel than we initially expect. Was Fitzgerald’s main reason for writing this novel to convey the immorality and corruption in society at that time? The first suggestion we get of this is through the way Fitzgerald conveys the women at that time, and through the features of the female characters. He often makes negative references to the typical “flapper” style that was present in New York at this time, and focused on the growing independence of women.
This is used as the background to the title character’s story of powerful love for his cousin Roxanne, a love Cyrano does not think he deserves, despite his wit, because of his physical appearance. Dickens, on the other hand, creates his novel, A Tale of Two Cities, during a time of great turmoil, the beginnings of the French Revolution, which would eventually upheave thousands of years of hierarchy and tradition. Dickens’s France is dark, miserable and filled with a climate of overwhelming terror behind the heroic and sacrificial tale of self-deprecating hero, Sydney Carton, who gives his own life in a selfless act of love for Lucie Manette in order to save the man she loves from the guillotine. Though Dickens’s illustration of the revolutionaries is not always positive, he has a deep sympathy towards the plight of the poor therefore his portrayal of France is extremely negative and often exaggerated. Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand and A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens depict opposing interpretations of life in France which were developed based on the personal backgrounds of the authors and expressed in romanticized portrayals of French society in the mid-17th century and late 18th century respectively.
Symbolisation is a language technique widely used by Orwell to enhance the frightening feel of the book. Several practical objects occur frequently throughout the book each carrying a symbolic meaning. All these objects shape Winston's both physical and mental journey throughout the course of
And Men Critical Analysis There are many themes in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, but I’m going to address one. The theme I will discuss is the theme that obtaining a perfect life is impossible. This is shown through George, Lennie, Candy, and Crooks’s dream of owning some land. They wanted to, “Live off the fatta the lan’.” as George put it. Of course, as you know, it didn’t come true.
Therefore, Hale is contrasted to the “glittering air” and “the silver paint [that] sparkled”, which have connotations of tackiness, and polishing over the truth with artificial objects. Greene is perhaps commenting on Britain in the 1930s, and how the government were covering up the obvious harsh reality. Of course the centre of Britain was London and Brighton is often seen as an extension of London, thus making it seemingly more certain to be a comment on contemporary Britain. The artificiality could also be a comment, however, on the emerging materialistic, consumerist society which Greene resented; “an aeroplane advertising something for the health in pale vanishing clouds across the sky”. This could be further supported by the way Greene depicts Ida as an example of someone who is drawn into these new ideas, “Ida’s mind worked with the simplicity and regularity of a sky sign”.
Allen Ginsberg’s “America”: Political Analysis on Tone Allen Ginsberg’s “America” is based on political critic with cynicism towards the Democratic America and makes use of a conveying this anger through a scornful tone. Ginsberg’s upbringing, his mother being an active member of the Communist Party, contributes to his views of a, “Socialistic society in United States based off of Russia’s Communism”. Ginsberg’s accusations may seem extreme but they at time in which the faced the Cold War stand still that uncovered the intentions of countries involved (“Cold War 1945-1960”). To help analyze the poem from a political perspective it is worth being familiar with the history of American-Russian relations. From about 1945 to 1960 the Cold War took place between “the democratic west led by the America, land of capitalistic dreams; the other end of the spectrum consisting of nations led by socialistic ideas by Karl Marx, and Russia took to the forefront as the leader of the great Soviet Union” (“Cold War 1945-1960”).