The Great Gatsby Essay
A person cannot discover their true feelings about another until after they have passed on. After the death of his friend and neighbor Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway reflects back on Gatsby and his life and the effect Gatsby had on his life and his outlook on the world. In the twentieth century novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses metaphors, symbolism, and diction to reveal different aspects of Nick Carraway’s cynical yet sympathetic attitude towards Jay Gatsby.
The process of grieving causes many negative emotions. After Gatsby dies, Nick’s grievances affect his attitude toward him, and causes him to think of Gatsby apathetically. Through his use of metaphors, Fitzgerald reveals the negative aspects of Nick’s …show more content…
After Gatsby dies, Nick feels empty inside. Fitzgerald’s use of symbols reveals sympathetic aspects of Nick’s attitude towards Gatsby. While “sprawled out on the sand” one night Nick observes that, “Most of the big shore places were closed now and there were hardly any lights except the shadowy, moving glow of a ferryboat across the Sound”. The ferryboat gliding across the Sound symbolizes Nick’s perception of the world since Gatsby’s death; similar to a ferryboat, Nick feels like he is not truly living anymore, but rather just simply existing, as he travels back and forth without purpose through the days, weeks, months. The absence of symbol can symbolize as object equally as much as the symbol itself. The shore lights once symbolized the beauty of life and possibility, but just like Gatsby, they disappeared and now the lack of lights now symbolizes Nick’s attitude that life has no purpose without Gatsby in it. Fitzgerald uses the color green throughout the entire novel to symbolize: the American dream, wealth, power, and desire. Nick’s final thoughts reveal his piteous attitude of Gatsby: “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us”. Through his use of the green light symbolism, Fitzgerald describes the true nature of the American Dream as simply, just a dream. Fitzgerald insinuates that although most people cannot and will not ever truly achieve the “American Dreams”, people will persevere and pursue their dreams just as intensely as Gatsby pursued Daisy and the “green light”. Nick realizes that Gatsby could never achieve the American Dream as long as he lived, and feels pity towards him after he dies, because he believes that he lived his life for all the wrong
A person cannot discover their true feelings about another until after they have passed on. After the death of his friend and neighbor Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway reflects back on Gatsby and his life and the effect Gatsby had on his life and his outlook on the world. In the twentieth century novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses metaphors, symbolism, and diction to reveal different aspects of Nick Carraway’s cynical yet sympathetic attitude towards Jay Gatsby.
The process of grieving causes many negative emotions. After Gatsby dies, Nick’s grievances affect his attitude toward him, and causes him to think of Gatsby apathetically. Through his use of metaphors, Fitzgerald reveals the negative aspects of Nick’s …show more content…
After Gatsby dies, Nick feels empty inside. Fitzgerald’s use of symbols reveals sympathetic aspects of Nick’s attitude towards Gatsby. While “sprawled out on the sand” one night Nick observes that, “Most of the big shore places were closed now and there were hardly any lights except the shadowy, moving glow of a ferryboat across the Sound”. The ferryboat gliding across the Sound symbolizes Nick’s perception of the world since Gatsby’s death; similar to a ferryboat, Nick feels like he is not truly living anymore, but rather just simply existing, as he travels back and forth without purpose through the days, weeks, months. The absence of symbol can symbolize as object equally as much as the symbol itself. The shore lights once symbolized the beauty of life and possibility, but just like Gatsby, they disappeared and now the lack of lights now symbolizes Nick’s attitude that life has no purpose without Gatsby in it. Fitzgerald uses the color green throughout the entire novel to symbolize: the American dream, wealth, power, and desire. Nick’s final thoughts reveal his piteous attitude of Gatsby: “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us”. Through his use of the green light symbolism, Fitzgerald describes the true nature of the American Dream as simply, just a dream. Fitzgerald insinuates that although most people cannot and will not ever truly achieve the “American Dreams”, people will persevere and pursue their dreams just as intensely as Gatsby pursued Daisy and the “green light”. Nick realizes that Gatsby could never achieve the American Dream as long as he lived, and feels pity towards him after he dies, because he believes that he lived his life for all the wrong