F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is considered by literature critics to be the “Great American Novel” with the only other work considered to be of the same caliber being Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. Yet what makes a “Great American Novel” one may ask? A Great American Novel has to show the reader the culture of America at a specific time period. And F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Novel The Great Gatsby shows us the negative effects of American Society’s Notions of Materialism and the recession of the American Dream. The novel as a whole makes us challenge the notions of materialism and the notion of opulent lifestyles defining people, denying themselves of actually intimacy. Materialism is one of the important elements the Fitzgerald
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To the point which the only way they can express their emotions is by displaying themselves with their opulence. One example is set up clear in the beginning of Chapter 3 by Gatsby 's Actions, ““See!” he cried triumphantly, It 's a bona-fide piece of printed matter. It fooled me. This fella 's a regular Belasco. It 's a Triumph. What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop, too – didn 't cut the pages. But what do you want? What do you expect” (Fitzgerald 45-46) While some may assume that Gatsby read the book. One key detail here is the sentence didn 't cut the pages. Books in the past were printed and folded to be glued to the spine, however some are left uncut leading for the reader to finish the task. Gatsby 's hastiness putting the book away to hide away the fact that the pages weren 't cut thus preserving his boast. This is similar to Tom 's rant about the Rise of the Colored Empires. Both don 't know their subjects clearly yet it is an excellent foil executed by Fitzgerald show that in order to impress their fellow guests they demonstrate whatever material they have on hand to uphold their own claim of intelligence. Both are defending their claim for attending prestigious school. This shows how even though the wealth of knowledge that Gatsby and Tom attempt to flaunt, true knowledge cannot be bought. Fitzgerald uses this to …show more content…
“I 've got a man in England who buys me clothes. He sends over a selection of things at the beginning of each season, spring and fall.....Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily. They 're such beautiful shirts, she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. It makes me sad because I 've never seen such beautiful shirts before” (Fitzgerald 92). While one may argue that Gatsby and Daisy are both flabbergasted and lack the words to express their true emotions, yet I argue that they have no other words to express due to Materialism. Fitzgerald shows us that Gatsby 's true motivation for throwing the epic party 's was to win back Daisy 's affection. Yet since Louisville both went on separate paths,being in the Old Money side of the upper class only knew and cared about the material things in life. While she still loved Gatsby, Daisy married Tom since she wanted someone who would take charge of everything even down to not worrying about finances, material things. Gatsby knew that the best possible chance for him to see and win back Daisy 's heart was to become rich. Yet both became disillusion from the first reason they fell in love in the first place. Disillusioned to point of Gatsby saying, “Her voice is full of money.”(Fitzgerald 120) Daisy chose to be with Tom getting gifts and traveling
To the point which the only way they can express their emotions is by displaying themselves with their opulence. One example is set up clear in the beginning of Chapter 3 by Gatsby 's Actions, ““See!” he cried triumphantly, It 's a bona-fide piece of printed matter. It fooled me. This fella 's a regular Belasco. It 's a Triumph. What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop, too – didn 't cut the pages. But what do you want? What do you expect” (Fitzgerald 45-46) While some may assume that Gatsby read the book. One key detail here is the sentence didn 't cut the pages. Books in the past were printed and folded to be glued to the spine, however some are left uncut leading for the reader to finish the task. Gatsby 's hastiness putting the book away to hide away the fact that the pages weren 't cut thus preserving his boast. This is similar to Tom 's rant about the Rise of the Colored Empires. Both don 't know their subjects clearly yet it is an excellent foil executed by Fitzgerald show that in order to impress their fellow guests they demonstrate whatever material they have on hand to uphold their own claim of intelligence. Both are defending their claim for attending prestigious school. This shows how even though the wealth of knowledge that Gatsby and Tom attempt to flaunt, true knowledge cannot be bought. Fitzgerald uses this to …show more content…
“I 've got a man in England who buys me clothes. He sends over a selection of things at the beginning of each season, spring and fall.....Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily. They 're such beautiful shirts, she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. It makes me sad because I 've never seen such beautiful shirts before” (Fitzgerald 92). While one may argue that Gatsby and Daisy are both flabbergasted and lack the words to express their true emotions, yet I argue that they have no other words to express due to Materialism. Fitzgerald shows us that Gatsby 's true motivation for throwing the epic party 's was to win back Daisy 's affection. Yet since Louisville both went on separate paths,being in the Old Money side of the upper class only knew and cared about the material things in life. While she still loved Gatsby, Daisy married Tom since she wanted someone who would take charge of everything even down to not worrying about finances, material things. Gatsby knew that the best possible chance for him to see and win back Daisy 's heart was to become rich. Yet both became disillusion from the first reason they fell in love in the first place. Disillusioned to point of Gatsby saying, “Her voice is full of money.”(Fitzgerald 120) Daisy chose to be with Tom getting gifts and traveling