Great Gatsby Rhetorical

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The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is the story of the incredibly wealthy Jay Gatsby and his unwavering love for Daisy Buchanan. Fitzgerald’s novel is filled with elaborate descriptions of not only characters but of places. He uses similes that create vivid images. Fitzgerald is able to create his own style and give what seems to be a simple love story a deeper meaning. The theme of The Great Gatsby is the corruption of the American dream in the 1920s. He uses the idea of old and new money to help build upon his theme of the corruption of the American dream. Fitzgerald creates the division by separating the old and new money through geography. West Egg represents new money while East Egg represents old money. Gatsby and Nick live on West Egg. Nick describes West Egg as “the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them.” By referring to West Egg as such it implies that being from old money or being born rich was thought to be better. This shows that the people of the 20’s viewed making your own money and becoming rich on your own as inferior to being born into money. The Valley of the Ashes is also apart of Fitzgerald’s use of geography to illustrate the theme. Fitzgerald writes “This is a valley of ashes- a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.” This shows the poverty between West Egg and New York City. The specific word choice of “valley” and “ashes” creates a sharp contrast. The word valley is associated with nature and agriculture. It is symbolic of life. The word ashes are associated with factories and industrialization and death. This is

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