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The Great Gatsby: Admiration for Gatsby's Character as Fitzgerald's Novel Progresses

Decent Essays

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote “The Great Gatsby,” in 1926, however he set it in the summer of 1922, or as he christened it, the Jazz age. Through the way Gatsby is perceived we can see Fitzgerald’s ideas on the American dream and the effects it has on those who chase it. I chose this question as it relates strongly to how my views towards Gatsby change as the novel proceeds. Fitzgerald achieves this alter in feelings through his writing style, the theme of the novel and his use of narration. My initial feelings for Gatsby were ambivalent. He is dishonest and shallow. This superficiality can be shown in the dream he holds of the perfect life with money, Daisy and no cares in the world. However, his dream reveals how determined and stubborn he …show more content…

During one of the key scenes in the novel in the ------ hotel, Nick, his narration and point of view once again allow more of an insight to Gatsby, which allows my admiration to grow. If not for Nick, and his input in the events, many people would see Gatsby as a sly shallow liar who invents stories merely to entertain acquaintances. Instead of this however, nick says, “I had one of those renewals of complete faith in him that I’d experienced before.” This sentence shines a different light on Gatsby, one which shows how in love, how determined and how admirable Gatsby truly is. He refuses to let Tom Buchanan walk all over him even when he knows there is no hope of gaining Daisy anymore. Without Nick’s contribution to the events through his narration Gatsby would never be viewed in this way and so through Fitzgerald’s use of narration, my admiration for Gatsby grew once more. Another technique Fitzgerald uses to achieve a growth in my admiration is his style. “The Great Gatsby” is full of imagery and symbolism. The most powerful image of Gatsby would be that of his death, it is the first day of a new season and the end of summer, the end of his dream of being with daisy. His death symbolises the death of his love and his hope. The image of the inflatable

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