Vulgar, Meretricious Beauty In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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“Vast, vulgar, meretricious beauty”, represents the constant personality of Jay Gatsby in the book The Great Gatsby. The author of The Great American novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald, presents the significance of Jay Gatsby by using Nick Carraway’s perception of him. This is done by using the stylistic choices of diction and figurative language to show the reader the attitude towards Gatsby. The east coast during the 1920s was a very chaotic time. A time where women were expected to be loyal and quiet, while men were granted the power to do whatever they pleased. The characters work ethics is what Fitzgerald uses to convey the message of the American Dream; being what drives people to become successful. This is what causes the narrator of the book, …show more content…
In the first two sentences of the passage, the author’s use of informal word choice throughout the beginning of the paragraph is shown when Carraway describes Gatsby’s past and says, “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people-his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all” (98). Through the first two sentences, Fitzgerald is trying to present to the reader the informal connection of word choice by being in a relaxed tone and containing the language that is used every day. He connects this to poor and unsuccessful people by showing that they don 't use complex words due to not being higher in social class. Furthermore, he uses it to help show what Gatsby grew up from, which motivated him to strive for success and accomplish his American Dream. He then switches his style of expression to formal diction, containing language that creates a complex elevated tone and elegant word choice. In the middle of the passage Carraway describes Gatsby as a “son of God- a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that-and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, meretricious beauty” (98). Here Fitzgerald gets complex by using certain words to show a different meaning. He is describing Gatsby’s persistence to achieve his dream of being with Daisy, which is characterized by the word “vulgar” showing his specific objective to his path of success due to exhibiting incredible work ethic. Fitzgerald then concludes the passage with informal word choice. Carraway states, “So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end”(98). This informality shows the relaxed tone addressing to Gatsby showing that anyone can achieve the American Dream if they change their work ethic. Fitzgerald is trying to show Gatsby had an American Dream,

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