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The Great Gatsby is a story about a mans great love for a woman and its unfortunate consequences. It also concerns the nature of wealth and its influence on people. This book was said to be F. Scott Fitzgeralds finest novel. In this essay, I will discuss the many themes as well as others of the story.
I will also discuss the matter, settings, and characters. The story begins with the narrator, Nick Carraway, describing him as moralistic. He also tells the reader that he has a gift that enables him to not be judgmental. We learn that Nick is moving from the west to the east attracted to the values of wealth and sophistication which he later learns were false.
The story of someone trying to move and start a new life again is a common subject to which everyone can relate. At one point all of us have wanted to get away from our regular lives and make a fresh start, whether attracted to a certain location by appearance or reputation. This is exactly what Nick does, he is bored with his life in the west and goes to the east under the pretense that he hopes to learn the bonding business. Two important locations in this story are the East Egg and the West Egg. They symbolize the new rich and the old rich. The East Eggers are the established rich who see the new rich as a threat to the entire structure of society.
Contrasting them are the West Eggers who are the newly rich and have a flamboyant way of showing of their money. The symbolism of each egg is that both look identical at a distance, as are both of the groups of the people who inhabit each egg. However, when looked at more closely the eggs are extremely different in every way except size and shape, as are their inhabitants whose only similarity is their wealth. A common theme among this book is the effect of wealth on people.
This is an obvious problem of people today as it was during the time that the story was written. Fitzgerald portrays the wealthy, both old and new, as extremely foolish and take too much faith in their money. One of the main characters, Gatsby, fits the mold of the foolish West Eggers and is confident that his new money will help him fulfill his dream. He is helplessly in love with a married friend of Nicks who lives in the East Egg. Gatsby is sure that he can buy back the past or that it can be recovered for him simply because of his recent wealth. Although part of his dream does seem to come true for him, the reader realizes at the end of the book that it wasnt really and no matter what you do, the past is gone.
This subject in the book is universal. Everyone at one point in his or her lives have wished or believed that the past could be recovered. Some people may have even thought like Gatsby and tried to buy it back, but unfortunately as Nick pointed out to Gatsby that it couldnt be done. The story goes into great detail about the people involved in the story. Fitzgerald uses the different settings to either compare or contrast their different personalities. At the beginning of the story, Nick gives describes himself with great detail in every way, except for his physical appearance, which allows us to concentrate on his personality traits more.
By offering so much information on Huck, we are able to foreshadow how he will interact with different people throughout the book. When the other characters are introduced, however, more of their physical appearance is given than their personality traits. This contributes to the fact that all these characters never change during the book, besides Nick they all remain stagnant. This proceeds to lead many of them to their downfall. The scope of this story is mainly confined to the West Egg, East Egg and New York City. Although many references are made to the east, the story takes place mainly in the west.
The real world is fairly large however, because most of the characters talk of their travels to other parts of the world. The story begins as the narrator, Nick Carraway, moves from his home in Minnesota to New York. He goes under the pretense that he is going to learn the bond business, but he feels as if he is in the ragged center of the universe and is bored. When he gets to New York, he plans to have a roommate but at the last minute ends up living by himself, in a house in the West Egg. The West Egg is the home of the new rich, a group of people who love to show off their recently made fortune. And Nicks mysterious next-door neighbor, Jay Gatsby, is absolutely no exception.
We learn that Gatsby lives in huge mansion and throws wild and lavish parties. As Nick describes these weekly parties, the reader is able to see that Gatsby seemingly has an unlimited budget. One night Nick drives out to the East Egg, which is the home of the old rich, to see his cousin, Daisy Buchanan and her husband Tom, who went to school with Nick at Yale. While hes there Nick is introduced to Jordan Baker, a professional golfer who Nick will soon begin to date.
At this meeting Jordan tells Nick that Tom is cheating on Daisy with another woman, Myrtle Wilson. When Nick finds out about Toms affair he is not greatly surprised, though it takes a few minutes to understand when Jordan tells him. This incident shows how Nick is not judgmental, instead of commenting on his opinion of Tom after he discovers this, he simply states that he is not surprised. Nick is soon invited to one of Gatsby's great parties. At the party, we see through his eyes the people there and their personalities. Most of the people that attend Gatsby's parties are involved in movies or new money.
Nick also learns that many are not invited and just show up with other people and most show up and leave without even meeting their host. Nick soon learns more about his neighbor, and begins to spend more time with Jordan also. Nick goes to the city one day with Tom and unwillingly meets Toms girlfriend, Myrtle, who contrasts Daisy completely. As Nick describes her, the reader learns that she is married, yet is the perfect match for Tom because she of her single-mindedness and her selfish desires. Nick learns from Jordan that Gatsby knew Daisy from five years before when they were in love and Gatsby still loves her deeply.
The main reason for his wild parties was to get her attention and impress her. At Gatsby's request, Nick arranges for Daisy and him to meet. Although the meeting was uncomfortable at first, soon the two rekindle their love and they begin to have an affair. As soon as their affair begins, Gatsby stops having his famous parties because the only reason for the parties was to impress Daisy and now he has her.
Although she does attend one of his parties she does not enjoy herself at all. This is ironic because the whole point of Gatsby's parties was for Daisy and she doesnt like them. The subject where Gatsby uses his money and new...
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