The Great Gatsby
There are a number of novels that are considered literary classics.It is interesting to examine 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald inorder to determine what makes this book a true classic. The Great Gatsby is a story of wealth, murder and broken dreamsnarrated by Nick Carraway, who is both a "skeptic and believer (Hochman)."Jay Gatsby is a man with a questionable background who is in love with TomBuchanan's wife, Daisy. Ironically, Tom is himself having an affair with amarried woman, Myrtle Wilson. When Myrtle is accidentally killed by Daisy,Tom's jealously causes him to accuse Gatsby. This accusation ultimatelyleads Gatsby's death by Myrtle's husband George, who then turns the gunupon himself. These people and the events in their lives force Nick toreturn to the Midwest where life is honest and simple. The Great Gatsby has several memorable characters. Nick Carraway isthe narrator, whom the reader can identify with and believe due toattributes such as honesty, patience, and open-mindedness. Jay Gatsby,whose real name is Gatz, is not only a bootlegger, but also a criminal whotries to win the love of another man's wife through the
"Influence of a City One of the greatest influences on F. " Gatsby feels power is only a means of successfullywinning Daisy. " There is a distinction between Nick's story and those of theindividual characters in the book which implies these oppositions. "Conclusion The Great Gatsby has remained a classic since its publication in1925. " During the 1920's there were a number of riskytransactions and even embezzlement in the stock-market, and it is notedthat "Gatsby is involved with stolen securities (Fitzgerald). " The novel's theme, however, "is widely recognized as anindictment not so much of the Roaring Twenties as of the 'American Dream,'which had attained an honored place in American mythology well before theopening of the twentieth century (Canterbery). " It is through Nick "which the voices are heard and he servesas a translator of the dreams and social ambitions of the people whosurround him (Giltrow). Fitzgerald's shifting linguistic style created the book'spolitical and psychological complexity (Giltrow). Economic Issues The Great Gatsby has been considered by economists as a "satiricalaccount of early American socioeconomic conditions that is not original andmay have been lifted from the theories of Thorstein Veblen (Canterbery). " The 1920's were the "get-rich-quick decade that brought about theorganization of crime as a concomitant of Prohibition. The Jazz Age would still have inspired Fitzgerald, however it wasHackensack's influence that fashioned his style of writing and ideas. The era known as the "Gilded Age wascharacterized by the sharp rise of competition, and capitalists raked inthousands of dollars and provided for a large chunk of the nation's wealthto remain in the hands of a favored few. At the end of the novel, Nick Carraway states"He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in thatvast obscurity of the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled onunder night. Such stories are seento derive at least part of their meaning from the interaction of teller andlistener as visible, physical presences, temporarily bound to one anotheras well as to the tale being told (Hochman).
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