Personal Review

I found The Great Gatsby to be a throughly engaging novel. I felt I could relate to the the theme of the moral devaluation of the american dream in such a time as when millions of americans over leveraged their homes, and maxed out credit cards just to “keep up with the joneses” and fulfill material wants. Just as Gatsby’s earnings from his illegal liquor business were not legitament, neither were the billons earned in bad faith through the shady dealings of the mortgage industry.

Another piece of the novel that I found particularly interesting is the very nonchalant nature of the cheating and affairs. It seemed that everyone was involved somehow, which was puzzling to me that up untill the end, these actions seemily were without repercussions. I will note though, that when the consequences came, they were severe, as it resulted in the death of most of the main cast.

The vivid imagery was another pull factor for me, I really felt like I was able to visualize Fitzgerald’s accounts of the lavish parties, and oh did they seem truly great. As I read, I loved to bask in the dream of one day becoming as rich as someone like Jay Gatsby, who could throw such great extravagant parties for practically the entire neighborhood. Ironically it could be argued that this is the exact sort of thing that Scott Fitzgerald is trying to prevent, by showing us the destructive nature of such an extravagant and superficial lifestyle. While it is not without its consequences, the lifestyle of a billionaire “living it up” on Long Island certainly has its appeals, which was what made the novel its self so appealing to me, in that it allowed me to become lost in that sort of world, almost like a dream. 

Text Connections

The Great Gatsby has a vast number of connections to the latest HBO drama, Boardwalk Empire. Boardwalk Empire is centered around the political corruption of Atlantic City in the 1920’s, the same time period that The Great Gatsby is set in. The main character of the show is Nucky Thompson, who is the county treasurer, but more akin to an extremely wealthy town dictator. Although, if he were to be called despotic, he would most definitely be of the enlightened version, as his reign greatly improves all aspects of life for the residents of Atlantic City. This sort of theme of corruption and moral deterioration of the American dream almost identical to that in The Great Gatsby. 

Another text to world connection I was able to make was that in the novel, Meyer Wolfshein is a thinly disguised allusion to Arnold Rothstein. Rothstein was a very prevalent crime leader, known as the head of the jewish mafia. He also was infamous for throwing the 1919 world series by personally paying off players of the chicago white sox in order to reap huge rewards by betting for the Cincinnati Reds.

The third text to world connection I made was that of the life of Gatsby with his lavish summer parties to that similar environment present in the TV show, “Royal Pains” which is about a pair of concierge doctors in the hampton’s which is the same location of The Great Gatsby on Long Island. The incredible mansion parties seen frequently on that show allowed me to easily envision the similar events that happened at Gatsby’s house throughout the course of the summer.

Syntax

• “A moment later she rushed out into the dusk, waving her hands and shouting-before he could move his door the business was over” (138).
• “He murdered her” (159).
• “By half past two he was in west egg, where he asked someone the way to Gatsby’s house. So by that time he knew Gatsby’s name” (161).
• “Then he gave instructions that the open car wasnt to be taken out under any circumstances-and this was strange because the front right fender needed repair” (161).

Syntax is the ability to convey a message through sentence structure. Fitzgerald uses an incredible amount of dashes in his work, which its self can indicate what he feels is the interruption of the traditional American dream due to corruption and greed. Specifically relating to the murder of Myrtle, the first cited example is significant because the dash signifies a major interruption, one that could be interpreted as the first segment being life, while the segment after the dash portraying death. Further building on the seriousness of death, Fitzgerald writes a very short, telegraphic sentence that very clearly lays out the seriousness of the situation, “He murdered her” (159). Another example of this deadly syntax is when Wilson figures out that the yellow car is indeed Gatsby’s. Although Gatsby was not actually the murderer, Wilson is only tracking down the car, and when he discovers it is indeed Gatsby’s he shoots Gatsby while he is lounging in the pool. It is the second sentence, “So by that time he knew Gatsby’s name” (161)that is the most significant in that its simple structure allows the reader to really focus in on the frank nature of the dire circumstance that Gatsby is now in. In an ironic twist, Gatsby declines to take the car out because it poses a risk to his life if someone does recognize it, yet the car needs a repair to the front right fender. Ultimately Wilson was able to correctly identify the car because of the indentation on the fender caused by it striking his wife. Which is somewhat of a Catch 22.

Diction

Fitzgerald’s cynical tone is revealed through his careful choice of words which show the uncaring and superior attitude of the upper class during the 1920’s This is particularly noticeable during the incident in which Gatsby asserts that Daisy had never truly loved her husband, Tom. Tom becomes defensive using an expletive classifying Gatsby’s assertions as “a god damned lie” (131). The further deterioration of Tom’s composure is shown later in this conversation when he reveals to Daisy that Gatsby’s fortune has been amassed as a result of illegal liquor bootlegging operations through local pharmacies. Because of the superficial nature of Daisy’s character, this causes her to be turned off from Gasby, a further example of Fitzgerald’s view that the American dream is detiorating, becoming something based solely off greed, in a society controlled by the superficial upper class. It is interesting to note the word Fitzgerald uses to describe the exit of Daisy and Gatsby, “like ghosts” (136) It could be considering a foreshadowing of the fact that Gatsby will soon be dead. It also touches on the ghost like nature of Gatsby at his famous summer parties, in which all of the guests came to enjoy the company of the alcohol, along with the other guests, yet Gatsby was rarely seen. Which is an indication of Fitzgerald’s cynical view of the life of the upper class, and even the current moral state of America its self. At the very end of the novel, Nick is reflecting on his interactions with Tom and Daisy, just before heading off back to the midwest. Nick explains that to Tom, his own actions were justified, and he was able to “Retreat back into [his] money” (180). Retreat, although in certain contexts can be very positive, connotes negatively. The word retreat is almost a symbol for the what Fitzgerald views as a retreat of moral values in American society, especially amongst the upper class. 

Rhetorical Strategies

• Hyperbole and Simile: “as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away" (2).
• Simile: “the middle west now seemed like the ragged edge of the universe” (3).
• Rhetorical question: “neither of them can stand the person They’re married to.” “Cant they?” (33).
• Sexual Innuendo: “She held my hand impersonally, as a promise that she’d take care of me in a minute” (42).
• Misnomer: "He went to Oggsford College" (72).
• Simile: “her voice is full of money” (145).
• Repetition and Hyperbole: “suddenly she was again keeping half a dozen dates a day with half a dozen men” (151).
• Imagery and Symbolism: “drowsing asleep at dawn with the beads and chiffon of an evening dress tangled among dying orchids on the floor beside her bed” (151).

The Great Gatsby is written in a very fast paced style that quickly moves from topic to topic. This is evidenced by the first example above of Fitzgerald’s use of hyperbole, because in the context of the quote cited, Fitzgerald begins talking about personality in an abstract sense, and then relates it to a simile about a seismograph, including a great exaggeration about the distance from which such machine can measure an earthquake effectively. He continues this exaggeration with an account of Daisy’s dating practices in which he said she is keeping “half a dozen dates a day” (151) which is highly unlikely to be accurate. Fitzgerald writes with a style that is filled with vidid imagery, filled with colorful accounts of things such as Daisy’s evening gown, and orchids.