Personal Response

I really enjoyed F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. First, it was an interesting point in history and an interesting storyline and plot. I also liked that Frederick’s writing style was sophisticated, but not to the point that it was difficult to read. I also especially appreciated that his characters were so complex—rather than some books students tend to encounter in school where there are “good” and “bad” characters, these were multidimensional characters. Gatsby specifically had so made sides to his character! Between the stories of his past, his love for Daisy, and the rumors that surrounded him, it took me a while to solidify my opinion about Gatsby. Another strong point of the novel was Fitzgerald’s creative symbolism. The use of the green light that turned on and off throughout that novel representing the “American Dream” really added a new dimension to the novel by contrasting the life story of these characters against the stereotypical “American Dream” story. My favorite symbol, however, was Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. The concept of his eyes watching over the corruption of society from his faded billboard like some omnipresent being was so creative and gave the novel greater meaning. Overall, I thought that Fitzgerald’s’ novel, small as it may be, was full of such unique style, complex characters, meaningful themes, and interesting symbols that I really enjoyed every page of it! It is books like these that provide readers with more than a quaint little story or a simple moral lesson, The Great Gatsby allows us to learn about a period of history filled with the romanization of jazz, romance, and the “American Dream” and see it in a whole new light.

Text Connections

Many aspects of The Great Gatsby are relatable to oneself or other works of literature. For example, the character Daisy is very similar to the character Lucy in Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. They are both from upper class families and have angelic, innocent traits to them, they are both described as beautiful, and they are both loved by men who cannot have them. Another connection I made was that the death of Gatsby reminded me of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet—it was a giant misunderstanding. Just as Romeo and Juliet reach untimely deaths based on a communication error, Gatsby is mistaken to be a murderer and therefore revengefully killed. I also thought that Gatsby’s home reminded me of the enchanted castle in “Beauty and The Beast”, especially when Fitzgerald writes that after a night of entertaining  “ his count of enchanted objects had diminished one by one”(93).

Syntax

Overall, Fitzgerald’s syntax tends to have loose paragraph structure, often beginning with a telegraphic sentence and then elaborating. For example he says that, “This was untrue. I am not even faintly like a rose” with which he follows with more explanation to his thought-process. This syntax mirrors the thinking of the narrator in that his logic gradually reaches a point. In another instance Fitzgerald uses rhetorical questions. “What was it up there in the song that seemed to be calling her back inside? What would happen now in the dim, incalculable hours” (108). They give the author a serious foretelling tone and the repetition intensives his tone. It creates suspense and emphasizes and foreshadows that something monumental will soon occur. Fitzgerald employs fragmented syntax on another occasion when he describes a nervous Gatsby. For example he says that “He had been full of the idea so long, dreamed it right through to the end, waited with his teeth set, so to speak, at an inconceivable pitch of intensity. In this case, Fitzgerald’s purpose is to show how much Gatsby’s love for Daisy affects him and this purpose is amplified by this use of listing syntax. My separating phrases with excess commas it reflects what the anxious thoughts of Gatsby might be—as if he is taking a mental checklist. The author utilizes his syntax similarly to create tone by his use of ellipsis. For instance when he talks about how appalled he is at Tom and Daisy he says that they “let other people clean up the mess they had made….” (179). By leaving the sentence open ended it gives of a hopeless and depressed tone—as if Tom and Daisy are a lost cause. This also aids Fitzgerald’s overall message that overindulgent upper class people can be reckless and unappreciative of the normal everyday struggles of common life. 

Diction

Fitzgerald most definitely uses diction to establish a clear tone for himself in different instances. For example when he first describes Tom Buchanan he says that “not even the effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body” (7).  Fitzgerald employs sophisticated and connotative diction to reflect his negative tone about Tom.  “Effeminate” is especially connotative and brings to mind femininity based on overindulgence, yet it is an intelligent sounding word. Therefore it demonstrates the author’s clear disapproval of Tom, without direct informal insults.

He also utilizes connotative, formal diction to voice his negative opinion of the corruption of society when he depicts the valley of ashes. He writes, “the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud, which screens their obscure operations from your sight” (23). Not only does Fitzgerald use alliteration for emphasis, but also his picturesque word choice describes the valley of ashes as a gloomy wasteland. Also, it is the connotation of words like “impenetrable” that really reflect his disapproving tone. By saying “impenetrable” its makes the valley of ashes, the decay of society, seem like something unbearable that must be conquered. 

In another occasion, Fitzgerald reduces the formality of his diction to demonstrate his raw emotion and his disgusted tone towards careless wealthy people. For example he writes that, “they smashed up things” and “let other people clean up the mess they had made” (179). Rather than litter his words with high-level vocabulary, Fitzgerald takes a more simple approach, perhaps, to make his emotion and suffering more realistic.

Rhetorical Strategies

Personification: “I had just left a country of wide lawns and friendly trees” (Fitzgerald 3)

Hyperbole: “I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything” (17).

Oxymoron: “Mr Wolfsiem… began to eat with ferocious delicacy” (71).

Polysyndeton/ Simile: “In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars” (39).

Alliteration: “Gatsby’s gorgeous car” (63).

Antithesis: I had reached the point of believing everything and nothing about him” (101).

Simile/personification/Alliteration/Allusions: “Like new money from the mint, promising to unfold the shining secret that only Midas and Morgan and Maecenas knew” (4)

The Great Gatsby is characterized by a large amount of rhetorical strategies. In fact, Fitzgerald’s writing is often supplemented by multiple rhetorical strategies in one single sentence. Often times he is elaborating on his descriptions using excessive imagery, or he cleverly uses comparisons, exaggerations, alliterations, or witty sentence structure. Not only does this make his writing more sophisticated and more interesting to read, but also his rhetorical strategies often emphasize important points or greater meaning behind his words. For instance Fitzgerald uses a great deal of negative imagery to depict the valley of ashes. He says it is a “fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens”(23). By intricately describing every feature of the valley of ashes, Fitzgerald emphasizes his message that society is corruptive and how this “valley of ashes” is symbolic of the decay societal progress can bring. Similarly the author uses many rhetorical strategies when illustrating his characters, for example Miss Baker is introduced as being “completely motionless, and with her chin raised a little, as if she were balancing something on which was quite likely to fall” (8). His metaphor allows the readers to visualize her and with that her character is more believable.  It is Fitzgerald’s attention to detail that gives the people in his book life like characteristic. Rather than just list characteristics, he paints pictures of these complex characters through his rich rhetoric.