Personal Review

            When I began the first chapter of The Great Gatsby, I figured that it would just be another boring book on the school’s reading list requirements. However, as I began to reads more, I ended up thoroughly enjoying this book. The plot line was complex and kept the book very interesting, and the characters all brought different assets to the story. For example, Jordan Baker was arrogant and somewhat rude, while her love interest, Nick Carraway, appeared to be the exact opposite. What intrigued me the most was Fitzgerald’s use of imagery and other rhetorical strategies. For example, on the last page of the book when he speaks of the green light at Daisy’s house as a symbol of Gatsby’s hope for the continuation of the past in his present, I was able to connect one of the major themes of the story to that example. I found the imagery powerful and it enabled me to almost feel like I was part of the story. The only thing that I did not like about this book was that I felt it was too short. I feel like Gatsby’s murder occurred simply as a way for Fitzgerald to conveniently end the book. Also, I do not think that Gatsby’s past was explained as well as it could have been. It appeared that he had many secrets, and I feel like not many of them were revealed in the end. Overall, this is my favorite book that I have read for a school assignment, and I cannot wait to see the movie when it comes out in theaters! 

Text Connections

            In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby goes to extreme lengths in attempt to catch Daisy’s attention. He buys a house directly across the bay from her and throws lavish parties in hopes that she will attend one of them. Through a text-to-world connection, one can relate this to how people go to extremes in order to impress someone whom they love. For example, men often buy their fiancé a large engagement ring so that she will be interested in his amount of wealth. On the contrary, some men will flirt with their love interest’s best friend in attempt to make her jealous and chase after him. Regardless, people do crazy things to try to provoke those they love. Unfortunately for Gatsby, his attempts do not prove successful. When Daisy attends one of his parties, rather than acting impressed, she appears bored and uninterested in what Gatsby has to offer. Though she is initially intrigued by his large house and fancy cars, Gatsby’s amount of wealth is not enough in the end. This theme is evident throughout The Great Gatsby. 

Syntax

·         “Please don’t. Her voice was cold. The rancor was gone from it. She looked at Gatsby” (132).

Fitzgerald’s use of this telegraphic sentence displays the change in Daisy’s attitude towards Gatsby. Gatsby tries to force Daisy to tell Tom that she never truly loved him; that she was still in love with Gatsby the whole time she was with Tom, even though Daisy did love Tom. This causes Daisy to resent Gatsby. The sharp end of each thought illustrates Daisy’s annoyance with Gatsby.

·         “They were gone, without a word, snapped out, made accidental, isolated, like ghosts, even from our pity” (135).

This rambling sentence is used shortly after Gatsby and Daisy express their feelings about each other to Tom. Of course, Tom does not approve of this, yet he is also not frightened by Gatsby either; and just like that, Daisy and Gatsby’s potential continuation of their past is ruined. This sentence displays the disparity felt by Gatsby when he realizes that the past cannot be repeated.

·         “I spent my Saturday nights in New York, because those gleaming, dazzling parties of his were with me so vividly that I could still hear the music and the laughter, faint and incessant, from his garden, and the cars going up and down his drive” (179).

Fitzgerald utilizes cumulative sentences in order to strengthen his syntax throughout the book. This exhibits Nick’s sadness due to the loss of his neighbor, Gatsby. He has to escape to New York because the memories of Gatsby are still with him so strongly. By placing the main idea of the sentence at the beginning, Fitzgerald is able to elaborate on why Nick spends his Saturday nights in New York.

Diction

·         When Daisy speaks of her daughter to Nick and Jordan, she explains, “I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (7). The use of the word “fool” can be compared to the cliché “ignorance is bliss.” Daisy wants her daughter to resemble herself; a beautiful woman without a care in the world. This shows a lot about Daisy’s character. Rather than wanting her daughter to be successful and independent, she basically implies that she would rather have her daughter be a trophy wife through the use of the word “beautiful.”

·         At the end of the book as Nick explains Gatsby’s fascination with the green light across the bay from his house, he states, “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (180). This quote relates to one of the major themes of the novel: past vs. present. The word “ceaselessly” demonstrates how Gatsby was obsessed with reliving his past. Throughout the book it is explained that the only reason Gatsby throws huge parties is in hopes that Daisy may show up to one of them. His whole lifestyle revolves around his dream of getting things back to the way they were before he lost Daisy. By definition, “ceaselessly” means without stopping. It exhibits Gatsby’s vigorous fight to get Daisy back and return to how things were before. Fitzgerald’s vivid diction enables the reader to fully grasp the exact ideas of the characters. 

Rhetorical Strategies

·         Personification: “In the early morning the sun threw my shadow westward as I hurried down the white chasms of lower New York to the Probity Trust” (56).

·         Imagery: “I began to like New York, the racy, adventurous feel of it at night, and the satisfaction that the constant flicker of men and women and machines gives to the restless eye” (56).

·         Onomatopoeia/Foreshadowing: “red, white, and blue in front of all houses stretched out stiff and said tut-tut-tut-tut, in a disapproving way” (74).

·         Simile: “Picking up Wilson like a doll, Tom carried him into the office, set him down in a chair, and came back” (141).

Throughout The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses many rhetorical strategies in order to enhance his writing. Generally, most of the rhetorical strategies relate to imagery. For example, when Jordan Baker is describing the first day she saw Gatsby and Daisy together, she states that the flags were “red, white, and blue in front of all houses stretched out stiff and said tut-tut-tut-tut, in a disapproving way” (74). While this may be onomatopoeia, it is also foreshadowing because the flags are moving in a “disapproving way”, leading the reader to think that Daisy and Gatsby should not be together. However, the use of onomatopoeia and foreshadowing illustrates the scene clearly and allows the reader to envision the day that Gatsby and Daisy were first seen together. Also, through the use of a simile, Fitzgerald depicts how weak Wilson was after witnessing his wife’s death. By comparing him to a doll, Fitzgerald portrays Wilson as lifeless and unable to move or think because he is in a state of shock after Myrtle is hit by a car.  F. Scott Fitzgerald’s use of various rhetorical strategies strengthens his writing and allows the reader to look deeper into the book.