The Great Gatsby Essay 2
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, parallel scenes exist throughout the novel that outline patterns or juxtapose changes in characters or themes. One particularly decisive and insightful example is when Nick drives across the bridge towards the city (Fitzgerald 68) and then drives again across the same bridge some months later, this time away from the city (Fitzgerald 135 – 136). Because Nick constantly tries to offer, through the language of his narrative, glimpses of his own observations, he structures the language of scenes revolving around the Bridge, the City, and Death to reflect his state of mind and personality at the time at which the scenes occurred, allowing him to chronicle his change of worldview …show more content…
First of all, his language regarding the bridge changes. In the first scene, the bridge was “great” (Fitzgerald 68). In this scene, the bridge is “dark” (Fitzgerald 135). This reflects a change from his willingness to see things as better than they are to how they really are. Specifically, he notes that “human sympathy has its limits, and we were content to let all their tragic arguments fade with the city lights behind” (Fitzgerald 135). Likewise, the past is “[fading]” now, and the fact that “tragic arguments fade” along “with the city” implies a connection between the city and tragedy. Therefore, the city did not represent a “promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world” for which Nick had hoped (Fitzgerald 68). However, the word “promise” is the only word that is present in both passages. He elaborates on the new promise that he sees; he says that it is a “promise of a decade of loneliness, a thinning list of single men to know, a thinning briefcase of enthusiasm, thinning hair” (Fitzgerald 135). But whereas the “promise” of the first scene is a promise of “mystery”, thereby indicating uncertainty (Fitzgerald 68), the “promise” in this scene is far more certain: Nick literally lists the promises that his future now holds,
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, parallel scenes exist throughout the novel that outline patterns or juxtapose changes in characters or themes. One particularly decisive and insightful example is when Nick drives across the bridge towards the city (Fitzgerald 68) and then drives again across the same bridge some months later, this time away from the city (Fitzgerald 135 – 136). Because Nick constantly tries to offer, through the language of his narrative, glimpses of his own observations, he structures the language of scenes revolving around the Bridge, the City, and Death to reflect his state of mind and personality at the time at which the scenes occurred, allowing him to chronicle his change of worldview …show more content…
First of all, his language regarding the bridge changes. In the first scene, the bridge was “great” (Fitzgerald 68). In this scene, the bridge is “dark” (Fitzgerald 135). This reflects a change from his willingness to see things as better than they are to how they really are. Specifically, he notes that “human sympathy has its limits, and we were content to let all their tragic arguments fade with the city lights behind” (Fitzgerald 135). Likewise, the past is “[fading]” now, and the fact that “tragic arguments fade” along “with the city” implies a connection between the city and tragedy. Therefore, the city did not represent a “promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world” for which Nick had hoped (Fitzgerald 68). However, the word “promise” is the only word that is present in both passages. He elaborates on the new promise that he sees; he says that it is a “promise of a decade of loneliness, a thinning list of single men to know, a thinning briefcase of enthusiasm, thinning hair” (Fitzgerald 135). But whereas the “promise” of the first scene is a promise of “mystery”, thereby indicating uncertainty (Fitzgerald 68), the “promise” in this scene is far more certain: Nick literally lists the promises that his future now holds,