Fitzgerald’s American Dream Told Through Rhetorical Elements
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (20) may be the last line of The Great Gatsby but it is one of the lines most remembered by all who have read it. Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is known as an American classic and represents an era in American history known at the 1920’s. Fitzgerald uses point of view, selection of detail, and syntax to make a social commentary about the American Dream in the 1920’s. Fitzgerald uses third person point-of-view to narrate Gatsby’s story and idea of the American dream. The narration is told by a man named Nick Caraway. He is an outsider to the city; he just moved into “the old, unknown world” (10) as Fitzgerald showed the “East and West Egg” way of life through Nick’s eyes. To show what society was like in the twenties Nick describes Gatsby’s dream as …show more content…
He includes details such as “as the moon rose higher”, “inessential houses began to melt away”, and “for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent” to create the scene of Gatsby’s house taking over the small island. He chooses to use these specific words about Gatsby’s house and the land it’s built on to create a picture in the readers’ mind of his home. He includes details about the moon rising, there being hardly any lights, and the shadowy glow from the ferryboat to tell that it’s turning into night time. Lastly, Fitzgerald uses a variety of syntax when describing the American Dream in his time period. He uses a simpler form of syntax by putting a dash in the following quote, “…flowered once for Dutch sailors’ eyes--a fresh, green breast of the new world.” He is using the dash to describe the land that once caught the Dutch sailors’ eyes, but no longer does. He uses a dash in a different way to show emphasis
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (20) may be the last line of The Great Gatsby but it is one of the lines most remembered by all who have read it. Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is known as an American classic and represents an era in American history known at the 1920’s. Fitzgerald uses point of view, selection of detail, and syntax to make a social commentary about the American Dream in the 1920’s. Fitzgerald uses third person point-of-view to narrate Gatsby’s story and idea of the American dream. The narration is told by a man named Nick Caraway. He is an outsider to the city; he just moved into “the old, unknown world” (10) as Fitzgerald showed the “East and West Egg” way of life through Nick’s eyes. To show what society was like in the twenties Nick describes Gatsby’s dream as …show more content…
He includes details such as “as the moon rose higher”, “inessential houses began to melt away”, and “for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent” to create the scene of Gatsby’s house taking over the small island. He chooses to use these specific words about Gatsby’s house and the land it’s built on to create a picture in the readers’ mind of his home. He includes details about the moon rising, there being hardly any lights, and the shadowy glow from the ferryboat to tell that it’s turning into night time. Lastly, Fitzgerald uses a variety of syntax when describing the American Dream in his time period. He uses a simpler form of syntax by putting a dash in the following quote, “…flowered once for Dutch sailors’ eyes--a fresh, green breast of the new world.” He is using the dash to describe the land that once caught the Dutch sailors’ eyes, but no longer does. He uses a dash in a different way to show emphasis