The rhetorical devices used in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, portrays the flaws in Jay Gatsby’s ability to attain an American Dream that, ultimately, kills him. This reveals the reality that many Americans experience while attempting to attain their dreams due to the hardships they encounter. Fitzgerald conveys these difficulties through Nick’s final reflection of Gatsby’s American Dream. He recurringly uses color symbolism to amplify the central message: living in the past results in fatal failure. Fitzgerald communicates that Gatsby’s American Dream was incoherent, as one cannot recreate the past. His strategic usage of alliteration, metaphors, oxymoronic diction, and symbolic parallelism of the historical past, reveal the
…show more content…
As the Dutch colonists’ American Dream was to conquer the “fresh, green breast of the new world,” Gatsby’s was to reach “the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock”(Fitzgerald 180). The parallelism Fitzgerald uses appears in the color symbolism between the two dreams. The color “green” is stated in description of both dreams, in which “green” symbolizes power, hope and renewal. Gatsby wanted a new life apart from James Gatz, a life full of wealth and luxury, and he believed that Daisy fully represented his ideals, thus reaching toward the “green light.” Likewise, the Dutch colonists came to America in hopes of finding a new life that gave them freedom and power, wanting to divert away from their European customs believing that America’s “green breast” gave them that opportunity. Fitzgerald’s parallelism of Gatsby’s ambitions to the Dutch’s portrays the consequences that resulted from these dreams. Both desires were corrupted; the dreams involved ideals that became obstreperous. Nick explains that Gatsby “came a long way to the blue lawn”, in which the “blue lawns” are symbolic of Gatsby’s depression despite all of the luxuries and wealth he retains. The color “blue” symbolizes melancholy, which is paralleled to the oceans that the Dutch colonists’ sailed on. Gatsby believed he lacked a high social status, the final component to complete his American Dream. The Dutch were unsatisfied with their lifestyle in Europe. This dissatisfaction drove Gatsby and the colonists to desiderate to achieve more. Gatsby’s dream focused too much on his past and the Dutch altered and stripped America of its antecedent freedom and prosperity, “[vanishing] the trees” that “made way for Gatsby’s house”(Fitzgerald 180). “Gatsby’s house” is representative of the destruction of the “green breast of
As the Dutch colonists’ American Dream was to conquer the “fresh, green breast of the new world,” Gatsby’s was to reach “the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock”(Fitzgerald 180). The parallelism Fitzgerald uses appears in the color symbolism between the two dreams. The color “green” is stated in description of both dreams, in which “green” symbolizes power, hope and renewal. Gatsby wanted a new life apart from James Gatz, a life full of wealth and luxury, and he believed that Daisy fully represented his ideals, thus reaching toward the “green light.” Likewise, the Dutch colonists came to America in hopes of finding a new life that gave them freedom and power, wanting to divert away from their European customs believing that America’s “green breast” gave them that opportunity. Fitzgerald’s parallelism of Gatsby’s ambitions to the Dutch’s portrays the consequences that resulted from these dreams. Both desires were corrupted; the dreams involved ideals that became obstreperous. Nick explains that Gatsby “came a long way to the blue lawn”, in which the “blue lawns” are symbolic of Gatsby’s depression despite all of the luxuries and wealth he retains. The color “blue” symbolizes melancholy, which is paralleled to the oceans that the Dutch colonists’ sailed on. Gatsby believed he lacked a high social status, the final component to complete his American Dream. The Dutch were unsatisfied with their lifestyle in Europe. This dissatisfaction drove Gatsby and the colonists to desiderate to achieve more. Gatsby’s dream focused too much on his past and the Dutch altered and stripped America of its antecedent freedom and prosperity, “[vanishing] the trees” that “made way for Gatsby’s house”(Fitzgerald 180). “Gatsby’s house” is representative of the destruction of the “green breast of