The Great Gatsby Literary Analysis

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. Relevant information The novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published in 1925, it is one of the best known classics of literature in the world, and is considered to be the Great American Novel and it is also one of the most radical books in the American canon, a story of love, the pain of unfulfilled dream, greed, corruption, money, ambition, revenge and lies in the period that is sometimes called the Roaring 20s or the Jazz Age. The attempt to capture the American dream is the central of this novel. Adams (1931) indicated the ordinary people seek to hold fast their American dream of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". The outstanding characters of this novel lie, cheat and steal. Gatsby himself was dishonest…show more content…
Fitzgerald first began working on The Great Gatsby on 1922. He announced to his editor Maxwell Perkins: “I want to write something new, something extraordinary and beautiful and simple + intricately patterned” (Perkins, 2004). In 1924 Fitzgerald decided to visit France, and it was his experience that influenced him to write The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald also uses the vernacular instead of literary language. That language which is used in the novel is spoken in the nineteenth century by many Americans. It represents the variety of dialects in America from different races, regions and classes. The unifying element of this novel is the first person point of view, the story is told by a young man from Minnesota, using a language as it is spoken during that time, so he is called an unreliable narrator. The novel has the narrative form where the action is randomly episodic and cumulative and the episodes are held together by the narrator, Nick Carraway (Porosky, 1994). Hence, this novel rejects the traditional narrative…show more content…
The Great Gatsby shows the true danger of the “American dream”. The American dream means to overcome poverty and establish a wealthy life. However, the American dream is dangerous, because it can cause you guilt, shame, regrets and death. The American dream seems to be dangerous, a romantic myth (Gale, 2007). Nick Carraway slowly discovers that much of Gatsby’s identity has been hidden behind his mask of a rich man. He sees his dignity and human capacity. This novel is highly significant due to its deep exploration of issues surrounding the social classes. This novel deals with a variety of themes, but the most apparent one that I found while reading critically this book was the one of the American dream and love and this theme plays a crucial part through this book. Also motives and symbols play an important part in the construction of this
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