In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the author illustrates one of its main characters, Jay Gatsby, through Nick Carraway’s perspective. Gatsby is depicted as a wealthy and successful neighbor who Nick, the narrator, encounters after moving to New York. Throughout the novel, Gatsby’s background, behavior, and goals are revealed, bringing light to the intention of his actions. In the passage on the novel’s second page, Nick reflects upon his experience in the East, vividly focusing on the greatness of Gatsby and inciting readers to forge their own opinions on the topic. Outside the passage, Gatsby can be seen as the opposite of greatness: a liar, criminal, and morally wrong. During a car drive, Gatsby informs Nick of his past saying, “‘I’ll …show more content…
He describes Gatsby having a “heightened sensitivity to the promises of life,” like a seismometer “that register[s] earthquakes ten thousand miles away” (2). Nick, using a simile, emphasizes Gatsby’s ability to detect the “promises of life,” and forge romanticized ideas and dreams. Shown outside the passage, Nick describes Gatsby throwing “himself into [dreaming] with a creative passion, [...] decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way” (95-96). Here, the “bright feathers” resemble Gatsby’s ideas for his dream, parallel to the promises of life. Every idea he detects and crafts adds to his dream, further highlighting his ability to hope. Nick notes this in the passage saying Gatsby had “an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness” (2). Through this, Nick also highlights Gatsby’s state of anticipation to realize his dream. This readiness is further illustrated outside the passage when Nick says Gatsby “dreamed it right through to the end, waited with his teeth set, [...] at an inconceivable pitch of intensity” (92), illustrating the extent to which Gatsby dreams and his determination to realize them. Gatsby’s unbelievable “intensity” and resolute to complete his goal is what amazes Nick and makes Gatsby great. In the passage, Nick continues his description of Gatsby’s sensitivity to hope saying, “This responsiveness had nothing to do with that flabby impressionability which is dignified under the name of the ‘creative temperament’” (2). Those with “flabby impressionability” are prone to be impressed or influenced. Further, the concept of “creative temperament” is one’s tendency to adapt to situations and evade attention, inferring that Gatsby’s hope is unwavering, independent of others’ judgments and opinions. What makes Gatsby great is his ability to dream and his determination to achieve these
His quote insinuates the fact that if one remains optimistic then hopeful they will accomplish great things. For Gatsby, that meant no matter where he was in life he always was optimistic and believed he could do better and improve upon himself. In his life he was poor, but he overcame that and became one of the richest people in New York. The seemingly endless struggle will be overshadowed by their success, or that the necessary means are nothing compared to the end result. Then for Nick this means that there is still hope, and that there will be a day that humanity will evolve into a more caring, honest, just, and less corrupt world.
This means that readers' opinions of Gatsby are built on Nick’s opinion of him because of how severely Nick shows whether or not he likes the characters. This has an effect on the theme because it is centered around Gatsby’s dream so readers' opinion of him is very important in their perception of the theme. Furthermore, this idea is proven in the article “Stylistic
Also, in the passage, Nick uses many phrases to describe Gatsby that expresses his emotions. For instance, Nick characterizes his feelings for Gatsby who represents, “an unaffected scorn” which deals with everything Nick dislikes. As seen earlier in the passage, Nick
After the first dinner at the Buchanan’s, Nick Carraway recalls Gatsby was reaching toward the green lights and he “was trembling (1.152)” while doing so. Gatsby’s action of trembling exemplifies him as a hard worker individual because he’s trying his best to reach for what he wants. Also,trembling can also indicates coldness and represents how Gatsby disregard the hardships to fight for what he wants. His actions define him as an obsessive pursuit of his Platonic Ideal of himself. In the drawing, I highlighted this aspect of Gatsby
The dreams could become reality when Nick heard a taxi go up Gatsby’s driveway. “ I couldn’t sleep all night; a fog-horn was groaning incessantly on the Sound, and I tossed half-sick between reality and savage, frightening dreams. Toward dawn I heard a taxi go up Gatsby’s drive, and immediately I jumped out of bed and began to dress- I felt I had something to tell him, something to warn him about, and morning would be too late (Fitzgerald 147). These quotes foreshadow that danger is heading towards Gatsby.
It is said that Gatsby's ability to present himself as successful is due in part to his keen awareness of what other people want. Nick believes that Gatsby has "an unbelievable gift for hope," which he checks quite sensitively, like a seismograph. Gatsby is aware of what other people desire and never intends to let them down. Throughout the book, he organizes extravagant parties and presents everyone with gifts to keep himself in peoples' minds. Gatsby is a lonely man who yearns for love and acceptance from people around him.
Within the selected passage from The Great Gatsby, the narrator, Nick, seems to be talking about Gatsby with a longing, almost nostalgic tone. He portrays this tone through his use of long sentences full of adjectives, his imagery focused on nature, and his frequent talk of modes of transportation. He speaks with precise detail, making sure every word helps create his overall message. This message simply seems to be that his misses Gatsby and everything that Gatsby stood for and taught him.
Nick also feels “at [his] best” when Gatsby smiles at him in this way which signifies how dreams are not only beneficial to those who have them, but also the society around them (Fitzgerald 48). Nick’s appreciation of Gatsby’s dreams is additionally expressed when he “[looks] with admiration at his car” because, as previously mentioned, everything about Gatsby is built on his dreams, including his car, so Nick’s “admiration” for the car represents his admiration for the dreams which that car stands for (Fitzgerald 164). Likewise, Hustvedt argues that Gatsby is only great because of such opinions from Nick as “Nick is the only one who is able to see the greatness of his wish” which further demonstrates how important Nick is to seeing the power of dreams and how Nick sees dreams, “wish[es],” as things of greatness (Hustvedt 266). These interpretations on the power and greatness of dreams by Nick are translated to the readers as they follow the only train of thought which they are offered, their narrators, leaving them, as James Mellard argues, with a “belief in the quest and the quester” and a support of dreams as a whole (Mellard
Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby and the 2013 film version directed by Baz Luhrmann poignantly showcase with dramatical flair how the contradictions of ourselves often hold us back more than anything else. The novel Great Gatsby is written from Nick Carraway’s perspective. While he himself describes himself on the first page as one to “reserve judgment” (Fitzgerald 2), his judgments are not reserved to the reader. Early on in the novel, we see Carraway ’s immense gifts of perception from fleeting glances or brief conversations.
If only Mr. Gatsby had been able to hold reverence for himself in the way, he did in making others feel great. He held an iconic but misleading way of presenting greatness to others despite his innate self-defeating obsessive thoughts about himself. In Nick’s description of Gatsby’s power in his smiled he captured his friends nature to be like and please others. “He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life.
This was very signatance to Gatsby because along with Gatsby Nick had hope. Nick father teaching taught him to have hope in people. Sharing hope in Gatsby he had reassurance “Gatsby turns out to be alright at the end,” Fitzgerald uses this in the beginning to give hope. Fitzgerald also use “creative temperament” then later on say “it is what preyed Gatsby, what a foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams of temporarily closed…” Throughout the novel Nick shows his native of his Midwestern terms in his hope for Gatsby.
Recounting heartbreak, betrayal, and deception, F. Scott Fitzgerald paints a bleak picture in the 1920’s novel The Great Gatsby. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, witnesses the many lies others weave in order to achieve their dreams. However, the greatest deception he encounters is the one he lives. Not having a true dream, Nick instead finds purpose by living vicariously through others, and he loses that purpose when they are erased from his life.
Next Nick uses the terminology “wake of his dreams” Gatsby never fully reached his dreams and Nick mentions this
The Great Gatsby, as written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays Nick Carraway’s final attitude towards Jay Gatsby in the novel’s conclusion (pages 188-189). Nick has conflicting views on Jay Gatsby, whether it was he looked up to his optimism or never say die attitude but in the end he felt sorry for him and the way he turned out. Fitzgerald manages to depict his attitude by using rhetorical devices. After Gatsby’s death, Nick had somehow caught Gatsby’s party side because he spent his Saturday nights in New York. “ I spent most of my Saturday nights in New York because those gleaming, dazzling parties of his were with me so vividly…” (pg. 188).