Diction!

When Nick first relocates in to his house in the West Egg he witnesses Gatsby’s lavish parties, night after night imagining what it must be like to be experiencing them from the other side. This became a reality when one day he was personally invited by Gatsby’s butler to attend his next social. Fitzgerald uses heavy diction, through the character Nick, as he gives a detailed description of his first experience. This scene makes the author’s opinion of this type of lifestyle clear when he describes the mannerisms of the people, and the way the interact with one another. He writes that Jordan “responded absently and held [his] hand impersonally” (43). Through the use of these words the authors tone of vacancy is revealed. Although the party seems lively, the people are often absent and unconsciously going about their lives without thoughts of  the future or consequences of present actions. Fitzgerald also describes a man at the party’s actions as “cynical and melancholy” (45). the word melancholy denotes  thats his sadness had no obvious cause, and connotes a felling of perpetual depression. This same feeling of sadness is also displayed by a chorus girl who “during the course of her song, she had decided, ineptly, that everything was very, very sad” (51). The detail that she was highly intoxicated proves even more the author’s tone of concealed sadness. Often, when people have become drunk, suppressed feelings can come to surface. This gives substance to the idea that underneath the seemingly happy partygoers lies some unexplained sadness or feeling of absence, that comes from lack of structure or purpose in their lives

The Lord of the Gatsby

Nick Carraway, the narrator in the novel The Great Gatsby, resembles one of outside perspective and in depth thought. While Gatsby’s frequent extravagant parties are in full swing, Nick elects to observe them from his house, giving detailed descriptions from a safe distance. Nick’s inner thoughts always serve as constant voice of reason, however, he is rarely brave enough to voice them aloud. His character comes from a place of moral values, always analyzing a situation before deciding his course of action. Much like Nick, the character Simon, from the novel lord of the flies by William Golding, shares similar attributes. While many of the boys on the island quickly abandon their civility and morals, Simon retains his sense of ethics. He goes against the human impulse to resort to savagery or, in the case of The Great Gatsby, self-indulgent behavior. Nick portrays the quiet self-reserved character who feels out of place in the West Egg island near to the flashy New York City. Likewise, Simon feels distant to the boys because he feels uncomfortable with their behaviors. He spends most of his time in the jungle meditating and reflecting, rather than participating in the decline of the boys self-made community. Furthermore, Nick thoughtfully observes the madness around him, like his cousin Daisy and her cheating husband Tom’s failing marriage. Both characters depict integrity and ethics and contrast to the unruly majority of the people around them. 

My Opinion Matters...

In my opinion, The Great Gatsby was not one of my favorites. The plot lacked structure and the characters lacked accessible personalities. However, Fitzgerald proves his strong writing abilities by still keeping the book interesting. After completion I was left unsatisfied and slightly disappointed, however after later reflection I realize the subtle genius behind his work. The reason the characters are dry yet intriguing is the fact that they are so predictable. The characters are immensely lacking in terms of morals and having a conscience, with exception to Nick. For example, Jordan Baker, Nick’s love interest throughout the story, seems to be one of the more stable characters nevertheless, eventually her true personality unfolds to reveal she is a habitual liar. This book made me realized the twisted nature of the people of this era, with special attention to Gatsby himself. The so called “great” Gatsby is disclosed to show that he gained his wealth, not by inheritance, but through selling alcohol on the black market during the time of the prohibition. Everyone at this time behaves selfishly; doing what they must to gain what they want without any regards to morals or the law. That being said, this book although not at the top of my list is in fact, a good read because of the way the author, Scott Fitzgerald, uses formal diction and enticing syntax to establish interest. He makes the characters during this era actually interesting enough to want to continue reading.

Syntactical Genius

• “His eyes would drop slowly form the swinging light to the table by the wall, and then jerk back to the light again, and he gave out incessantly his high, horrible call....” (138).

This sentence is carefully written in order to evoke a sense of utter realization of what had just taken place. The compound complex sentence instates the complexity of the situation, while the simple clauses that make up the sentence, prove how George Wilson mind has resorted to simple methodical thoughts as he tries to cope with the idea that his wife, Myrtle, has just been brutally murdered. How “his eyes would drop slowly.. then back to the light again” reveals that Wilson has already gone into a sate of shock, where thoughts are being constantly repeated which then are mirrored by his repetitious actions.

• “Thirty -- the promise of a decade of loneliness, a thinning list of single men to know, a thinning briefcase of enthusiasm, thinning hair” (135).

The parallel syntax of this sentence lends itself to demonstrate Nick’s thought process. He begins with abstract ideas and a morose concept of this decade of age, and ends withs the frank reality “thinning hair”. Due to the smooth, subtle transition, the reader is taken to their imaginations and then abruptly brought back to reality. This exemplifies Nick’s personality in that he sometimes gets caught up in the glamour of having rich friends and a fast pace life style of living in New York City, but yet always seems able to reign himself back to the real world he lives in.

Rhetorical Devices At Their Finest

• Metaphor: “At 158th street the cab stopped at one slice in a long white cake of apartment houses” (28).
• Personification: “They got into automobiles which bore them out to Long Island, and somehow they ended up at Gatsby’s door” (41).
• Parallelism: “And i hope she’ll be a fool -- thats the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (17).
• Simile:"In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars” (39).
• Imagery: “The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic... they look out to no face, but instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel focuses on the lifestyles of wealthy people during the 20’s. He manipulates the use of rhetorical strategies in order to institute his style of literary devices in order to clarify his theme centered around the idea of selfish and mindless behavior.  The metaphor, “They got into automobiles which bore them out to Long Island, and somehow they ended up at Gatsby’s door” (41), establishes the idea that these people did not have a personal connection to the host, they simply went to party. The word “bore” personifies the action of driving into the characteristics of the animal the mole. Moles have almost no vision and are led purely by other senses, much like the people of this era. they pay no attention to the host or the other people that will be attending the party, but go for the pure enjoyment of drinking and mindlessly socializing into the late hours of the night. This also establishes the authors style by using other means of description, rather then simply stating, “they drove to his house”. Likewise, Fitzgerald recounts the common events of Gatsby’s parties and writes that "in his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars” (39). This simile creates the idea that the men and women were essentially using Gatsby’s for his money and ate away, like moths, his food and champagne, then leave without a notion of gratitude to Gatsby himself. He also refers to the female party goers as “girls” and the males as “men”. the fact that he contrast the two terms, instead of saying “women”, attributes to the point that women were brought up in this society to be ladies. Not to be educated and independent, but tend to their husbands and watch over the house. Fitzgerald furthers this concept when he quotes Daisy when she says, “And I hope she’ll be a fool -- thats the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (17). Daisy truly believes that the best way for women to fit in to the current time is to succumb to men and minister to their every need. Once again, the author establishes his literary style by referring back to  his topic of mindless selfish nature. Fitzgerald effectively uses these devices to progress his style of using other means to express ordinary actions and depictions