Blog Topic #5: Personal Review

Twentieth century author F. Scott Fitzgerald’s elite novel, The Great Gatsby, unfolds the twisted lives of New York socialites during a time when money ruled all, and anyone that could get their hands on it was destined for a life of pleasure and joy-or so they thought. Personally, I found this book to be one of the most entrancing and exciting books that I have read. As the reader, I got a glance into the extravagant and intertwined lives of New York’s “new money” through the eyes of Nick, a young and good hearted boy from the Midwest. The Great Gatsby is a tale of betrayal, defeat, and the triumph of love. Not only is the story immensely intriguing, but it seems to tell itself. Fitzgerald writes with such lyrical language that it seems to almost dance off the page and into your ears, turning into beautiful notes and revealing colorful and detailed pictures into your mind.

Another attractive characteristic of the novel is the daring and unorthodox nature of the characters. During the roaring twenties, such attitudes and actions were common among people in the largely urban areas of America. Also, money was booming.  A mass portion of Americans were striking it big, and new money had sprung up all over the country. This gave a rippling effect to a very common lavish lifestyle. The carefree attitude of the roaring twenties attracts our mind and helps us ‘live’ the story.

The Great Gatsby left a stain of adoration on my mind and heart. The emotion leapt from the page and burned inside my thoughts. I found myself dreaming about Gatsby’s gardens; I found myself envying the extravagant guests and the lavish parties; I found myself jumping awake from a nightmare of a pair of great blue eyes gazing deeper into my life than I had ever imagined. The Great Gatsby unwound the entangled love triangle between a group of New York socialites.  The Great Gatsby stripped away their wealth and greed and peeled off each superficial layer of their character. The Great Gatsby exposed the true colors and nature of human beings, and tested their strength and sanity beneath the ultimate consequences.

Blog Topic #4: Text to Text Connections

            While reading The Great Gatsby, I made several text connections to literary works that I have read within the past few years. One very strong connection that I found was the similarity between Gatsby and Romeo Montague, from Shakespeare’s world-wide known play, Romeo and Juliet. Both Gatsby and Romeo had chosen-either aware or not-to be completely blinded and helpless to the enormous power of their love for somewhat forbidden and unreachable women. Gatsby, falling for Daisy Buchanan, a unique and ‘caged’ woman, was married to Tom Buchanan, with whom they gave birth to a child. Tom was both a physically and mentally intimidating, strong, and wealthy man. On the other hand, Romeo fell for Juliet Capulet, the daughter of his family’s sworn enemy. Both men realize the risk and danger of acting on their love for the individual women, and sadly both men ultimately follow their hearts to their ill fate. Although, one very large difference is the fact that Romeo took his own life out of grief for his “deceased” love, or so he thought. Gatsby, on the other hand, died protecting Daisy from a fate he didn’t want for her, and took the blame and fate meant for Daisy, death. This heroic action out of pure love is reminding of the sacrificial heroic actions of Sydney Carton, in Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. Sydney Carton took the consequence of an action he did not commit, and sacrificed his life for the happiness of the woman he loved, Lucie Manette. Both Gatsby and Sydney’s action reveal Christ-like qualities within the two men, for they both sacrificed their life for others. Through both connections, one can infer the nobility, loyalty, and love-struck blindness of Jay Gatsby.

Blog Topic #3: Syntax

          Within F. Scott Fitzgerald’s critically acclaimed novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses an intense amount of varied syntactical styles to convey his attitude and emotion within his writing. He writes, “’I hope she’ll be a fool-that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool”’ (page 17). The importance of the punctuation in this excerpt is that the beginning is blunt, defensive, and somewhat resentful. Daisy, most likely because of the intimidation of Tom, feels as if she, as a woman, is not treated equally in society and in her own life. She expresses this in the short fragmented sentence, but then she digresses, as to highlight the fact that it is not her daughters fault that all she can be in their society is a “beautiful little fool.” Deeper into the novel, Fitzgerald brings to light yet another deep and misleading example of his syntactical use of language. "He was a son of God-a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that-and he must be about His Father's business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty" (Page 98). Fitzgerald’s carefully placed dashes and commas illuminate the feeling of awe that Nick has towards Gatsby, so far as for Nick to closely compare Gatsby to Jesus Christ himself, whom many believe to be the epitome of a Saint, so much that the reader themselves admire Jay Gatsby and his enigmatic persona.

Blog Topic #2: Diction

          Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby, the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, uses a great amount of both evil and negative word choice, with blissful and driven diction as well. When Nick describes Tom Buchanan’s physical characteristics, he says that “…he was a sturdy straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner. Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward. Not even the effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body- he seemed to fill those glistening boots until he strained the top lacing, and you could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat. It was a body capable of enormous leverage-a cruel body” (page 7).  A very important factor in this example is the detail, length, and vocabulary that Fitzgerald uses to describe Tom. The fact that that Nick chose such harsh and negative words-such as “hard,” “supercilious,” “aggressively,” “strained,” and “cruel,”-to only describe Tom’s physical appearance creates an overwhelmingly negative and intimidating tone that surrounds Tom’s character. Being on the other end of the spectrum, Wilson-whom was broken down after his wife was killed-portrays a man in the midst of the ultimate agony, the death of a spouse. Nick explains, “…Wilson was reduced to a man ‘deranged by grief’” (Page 164). By choosing such a strong word as deranged-which is validated when Wilson murders Gatsby-Fitzgerald burns the agony into the readers own mind, and sets up the horrific crime of premeditated murder, an act that only a deranged human can commit.

Blog Topic #1: Rhetorical Strategies

List of Strategies:
   •Symbolism: “Standing behind him, Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at the eyes of Doctor  T.J. Eckleburg, which had just emerged, pale and enormous, from the dissolving night. ‘God sees everything,’ repeated Wilson” (Pages 159-160).
   •Simile: “In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars” (Page 39).
   • Metaphor: “When he realized what I was talking about, that there were twinkle bells of sunshine in the room…” (Page 89).
   • Hyperbole: “He’s so dumb he doesn’t know he’s alive” (Page 26).
   • Repetition: “…a small living room, a small dining room, a small bedroom…” (Page 29).
   • Personification: “It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down” (Page 9).
          Throughout the novel, The Great Gatsby, author F. Scott Fitzgerald uses a number of rhetorical strategies to convey his both underlying and obvious themes, and to create the magical and wondrous tone that was alive during the roaring 20’s.  One of the strategies Fitzgerald uses is deep and ominous symbolism. He writes, “Standing behind him, Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg, which had just emerged, pale and enormous, from the dissolving night. ‘God sees everything,’ repeated Wilson” (Pages 159-160). In this example, Nick is highlighting the connection Wilson made with the giant eyes on the old advertisement to the eyes of God, and that both Doctor Eckleburg and God’s eyes see everything that happens within the corrupt lives of the New York socialites. Another strong device that Fitzgerald uses is the simile to help describe the mindset of the time. While visiting one of Gatsby’s extravagant parties, Nick describes how, “In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars” (Page 39). Nick reveals the fantasy and innocence of Gatsby’s guests, which conveys the story-like mindset during the carefree era. “Men and girls” danced around, not only through the garden, but throughout their fanciful lives as well.