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.