The Great Gatsby Literary Devices Analysis

From Dr. Seuss to Shakespeare we have been introduced to an abundance amount of authors since the age of five. Every author, whether they are writing a children 's book, or a novel, use some type of literary devices in their works of literature. These devices enhance the story for the reader by making it more enjoyable. A literary device is defined as a technique a writer uses to produce a special effect in their writing (dictionary.com). These devices include the use of flashbacks, similes, foreshadowing, irony and many more. One particular well known author, who is also known for using literary devices in his work is F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald uses a countless number of literary devices in his famous novel The Great Gatsby alone. Most, if not all of Fitzgerald 's writings also come from his life experiences. F. Scott Fitzgerald 's writing interests me with his usage of symbolism, flashbacks and similes.
To begin with, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism throughout the entire story of The Great Gatsby. Symbolism uses objects to depict a specific scenario or even an idea. A major theme in The Great Gatsby is “The American dream” which is all about having the …show more content…
An example of a simile in "The Great Gatsby" is in chapter 7, “Daisy and Jordan lay upon an enormous couch like silver idols, weighing down their own white dresses against the singing breeze of the fans” (Fitzgerald 127). Fitzgerald describes Daisy and Jordan "like silver idols" to make the reader envision two wealthy people who should be idolized. Another simile used is when Fitzgerald is describing "The Valley of Ashes" as "A fantastic farm where the ashes grow like wheat (Fitzgerald 23). This simile relates how wheat grows to how the ashes grew in this abandoned farm land. Fitzgerald wants you to picture a run down dead area. Similes are a good literary device to show a relation between two