Literary Criticism In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

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Literary Criticism: The Great Gatsby
Money is an iconic symbol in The Great Gatsby. It is often regarded in the 1920’s, when the book was written, as the American Dream. This recurrent dream is that in which the ultimate triumph is to make enough money to never have to worry. This dream is still shared by many people today, and differs slightly perhaps to a foreign immigrants dream, which might be freedom for their family or even simply a stable job to provide for one 's family. The Great Gatsby demonstrates power and corruption, but also a great loneliness that money has the ability to inflict upon people. The main focus of the symbolism in Great Gatsby is the money that he and Tom Buchanan share throughout the book, which critics write about
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He makes the wealthy class look like fools throughout The Great Gatsby. “Much of the novel’s treatment of power is derived from money in Fitzgerald’s thought regarding the role of wealth in America, from “The Side of Paradise” to “The Great Gatsby”””(Alberto. 1998). Fitzgerald’s opinion of wealth was shown through his book. He clearly thought it inspired loneliness and corruption and he showed that though his characters. In his novel he attacks the upper class of America. There were few characters that were not of an upper class and Wilson and Myrtle were two of them. They were always seen and viewed as less …show more content…
In any sport, sportsmanship is required. During Gatsby and Tom’s argument, due to Gatsby’s upbringing he almost resorted to violence while Tom kept his cool. “Carraway’s subsequent descriptions of Buchanan’s activities accentuate his links with this class, especially in his association of Buchanan’s life with sports”(Alberto. 1998). Sports and sportsmanship has always played a prominent role in Tom’s life and it carried over to his approach of Gatsby.
Buchanan and Gatsby were very similar to each other, but they were on opposite sides of the main struggle of this novel. “On one hand, Buchanan’s East Egg Georgian mansion overlooking the bay represents order...Yet East Egg, behind its facade of order, is much closer to West Egg that it appears to be at first sight”(Alberto. 1998). Tom’s manners may represent order, but that is not all there is to Tom. He was rash to use his physical strength to intimidate both Carraway, Gatsby, Daisy, Wilson, and

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