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The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby was a very well written and enjoyable book. It was follows the lives of some upper class people in rural early America. This book shows the corruption and lack of morals possessed by many people. Jay Gatsby, the main character is used as a symbol of all the people in the world that struggle to get up in the world only to find that others will not fail to bring them down. During his life, he finds success, love, happiness and wealth, only to have it all destroyed by the same thing that helped him to attain his dream, his one true love.
I enjoyed the depth the author used in establishing each characters personality. Not only did it give the ability to understand the characters, but it also helped to give insight to their motives and actions. This story is set in America during the twenties. The main setting is divided into two very different parts of town. One part is known as East Egg, or the established wealthy part of town, and West Egg, the newly rich part of town. The two main characters in the story, Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby, both live in West Egg.
Gatsby lives in a quite huge mansion, while Nick lives in a modest, middle-class home near Gatsby's. Other characters, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, live in East Egg in a large Georgian Colonial mansion, as a symbol of their established wealth. The Valley of the ashes is used as a symbol for al, the dark and grim things in society. The main character in this story is Jay Gatsby.
He is a mysterious man that throws parties yet instead of attending them, he watches his guests enjoy the fun. He is devoted to his dream of perfect romance. He is very wealthy and believes that all of his dreams will come true, and his new life will come together as a result of being excessively wealthy. In the end, Gatsby is destroyed by exactly what he thought would bring him his happiness. Nick Carraway is another main character.
He a close friend of Gatsby, and because he himself is not wealthy and wrapped up in all that comes along with wealth, he is able to see the world from a stable point of view. He is one of, if not the only, logical character in the novel. Nick lives in a modest home near Gatsby's. He is the cousin of Daisy whom is Gatsby's object of affection. Nick is a good observer of character but he is reserved in expressing his opinions of people. Daisy Buchanan is the wife of Tom Buchanan.
She is Nicks cousin and the secret love of Gatsby. She is beautiful, enchanting and yet morally empty. She is in love with money and drawn to Gatsby in part because of his wealth. When she gives birth to her daughter, Party, she comments that she hopes for her to become a beautiful little fool. This shows Daisy's viewpoint on women in society. Daisy is very foolish and starved for attention.
When Gatsby finally shows her attention, she is immediately drawn to him. Tom, Daisy's husband never truly showed Daisy love. Tom was a wealthy man. He was openly unfaithful to his wife. He also seemed to be without moral standards or integrity. He looks at his wife and mistress, Myrtle Wilson, as possessions.
He is fine with his own affair but he only begins to care when it seems clear that he is on the verge of losing both Myrtle and Daisy. Myrtle Wilson is Toms mistress. She is drawn to Tom by a false sense of love and the fact that Tom possesses all the qualities that she admires in men. Not only is he wealthy, he is well kept and seems to like her back. Her husband, George, is a poor man. She has not loved him since she found out that he borrowed a suit for their wedding.
Tom owns a service station in the valley of the ashes, above which he and Myrtle live. When Myrtle is killed, Tom finally begins to think about how he loved her and he is driven to kill not only who he assumes to be her killer, but also himself. Jordan Baker is Nicks love interest. She is a compulsive liar, also with no morals.
She cheats at virtually everything, especially golf. Jordan and Nicks romance is not talked about much, but it develope's at the same rate as does Gatsby and Daisy's affair. All the characters in the story seem real. Their personalities are very well developed.
Gatsby stands out because his character is not as developed as the others and he has a mysterious quality. The story line is very smooth. Each incident develope's naturally. Characters seem to make not necessarily logical, but fitting choices. The plot is basically as follows: Nick moves to West Egg into a small home near the great mansion of Gatsby. He goes to a dinner party at the home of his cousin, Daisy Buchanan, and her husband Tom.
At this dinner party, Nick begins to see the faults of everything when he sees Tom called to the phone by his mistress, whom is openly kept. At home, Nick watches many of the parties held at Gatsby's before finally getting invited to one. When he finally does attend a party, he is surprised not to see Gatsby, then startled when he learns that a man he has been talking to is Gatsby, the host of the very party. At the party, Nick and Jordan begin to become close and develop a relationship. As Gatsby and Nick become better friends, Nick is astonished to learn from Jordan that he is needed to help Gatsby win Daisy from Tom. Nick invites Daisy to tea at his house, which has been fixed u for the occasion by Gatsby, in a plan to get Gatsby and Daisy together.
Gatsby uses his money to intrigue Daisy. As they begin an affair, Nick and Jordans relationship also progresses. Many people are suspicious of Gatsby's background and the type of business he is in. Just when speculation is at its highest, Gatsby stops throwing parties and fires all his servants in an attempt to keep his affair with Daisy quiet.
On a hot day over the summer, Daisy suggests a trip to town to get all of their minds off the heat. Tom begins to become suspicious of Daisy and Gatsby. He chooses to drive Gatsby's car to town and Gatsby drives Toms car. However, Daisy rides with Gatsby instead of Tom.
Once in town, they all go to a hotel. Gatsby finally confesses to his and Daisy's affair stating that Daisy never loved Tom. Tom gets angry and raises a fuss and Daisy, in tears, flees the room in a panic and Gatsby goes after her. They drive in Gatsby's car through the valley of the ashes, past the Wilsons garage.
On the way past, Myrtle runs into the road in hopes that Tom is driving, and will stop for her. Daisy is driving and already upset, so she does not see Myrtle and she strikes her with the car killing her instantly. On the way home with Nick and Jordan, Tom stops to see the accident. Upon seeing Myrtles body, he becomes very upset and assumes it was Gatsby that killed her.
George Wilson, having seen Tom in the car earlier, sets out on a mission to kill Tom for the death of his wife. Upon arriving at the home of Tom, Tom tells Wilson that it was Gatsby in the car. While floating on a raft in the pool, Gatsby is shot by Wilson who then turns the gun on himself. Nick is disturbed by the whole incident and the fact that he learns Daisy nor Tom cares much.
In fact, Daisy did not even call or write Nick after the death. Daisy moves with Tom to a new home away from it all. When Gatsby's father arrives, Nick learns that he and devoted his entire life to the goal of attaining wealth and love, which are what kill him in the end. Flashback is used to show parts of Gatsby's past that would otherwise not be known. Imagery is used to describe the vivid details of Gatsby's parties and the seasons and leaves surrounding Gatsby in the pool. Irony is used in the way that it is everyones materialism and dream that in the end virtually destroys them all.
Many situations are foreshadowed, such as the fact that Gatsby would be destroyed by the material objects he possesses because he took so much pride in them, especially his car. Many symbols are used, such as the valley of the ashes, representing all the corruption in society, Gatsby's car, his unread books and parties that he did not attend all symbolized his desire to look good but have little function. The theme of this story is that wealth without a worthy purpose is ultimately self-destructive. I thought the end of this story was very believe able. It was also a huge surprise to me as I did not expect Gatsby to die. I think the ending suits the theme of the story and that another ending would not have been suitable.
The ending shows consequences of actions and how not all dreams can come true with money. I would recommend this book because it is very well written and entertaining. It also teaches a good lesson about not being materialistic.
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