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Running Head: WMWWYK GG Essay 1

Much Wow

So Great

Such Gatsby

West Career and Technical Academy

Jericho Sadorra

Period 8

AP Literature and Composition

Pastore

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WMWWYK GG Essay 2

In Scott F. Fitzgeralds novel about love, alcohol, and tragedy, there is a young

entrepreneur that goes by the name of Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby represents the pursuit of the

American Dream as Gatsby is a symbol of this because his story is one of rags to riches. He

starts of as a miserably poor boy, by the name of James Gatz; time slowly withered away at this

persona and gave birth to a new persona- one of eloquent and frivolous spending.

The rags-to-riches, American Dream story of Gatsby closely relates to that of Fitzgerald

himself. While working on The Great Gatsby (1925), Fitzgerald grew increasingly

disillusioned, as his wife Zelda was caught having an affair in France with Edouard Jozan in

1924 (Martin) as Martin Robert of Oxford University Press is proof that Gatsbys and Daisys

fiasco closely mimicked that of Fitzgerald and Zelda. Gatsby, like Fitzgerald, loved his woman

passionately. Though this was the case, both women found ways to betray their lovers hearts. In

Daisys case, she left Gatsby underground. She was swooped by a man of shallow morality and a

sea of never-ending money. Zelda found herself a Frenchman and later suffered severe

psychological damage that crippled hers and Fitzgeralds marriage.

Fitzgerald not only implement a pseudo-shadow of himself in his novel, but showed a

clear depiction of how the Roaring Twenties. The Great Gatsby revealed the carelessness and

irresponsibility of the people in that time. In the book, there are several instances in which

recklessness is present. So we drove on toward death through the cooling twilight. (136) is a

prime example of this. This is the foreshadowing of Myrtles unnecessary death as there could

have been many scenarios in which it could have been avoided. It shows how Daisy drove

towards death, not even stopping to see the aftermath of the situation. Recklessness is a

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WMWWYK GG Essay 3

disgusting feature in the Roaring Twenties. People do things and dont think of the repercussions

of their actions.

In The Great Gatsby, the geography is broken up into three major areas: West Egg,

East Egg, and The Valley of Ashes. In todays society, the three areas can be broken up into

three classes: the lower class, the middle class, and the upper class. The Valley of the Ashes

represents the lower class, which is filled with the unprivileged, poor, and those in the struggle.

West Egg is a place where the self-made rich reside. These people work for what they have and

is a mirror to todays middle class where they can work to get what they want and have more

opportunity than the lower class. East Egg is a place of the already rich. These people are

synonymous to todays upper class and those who are very privileged.

Nicks attitude does not surprise us as he learnsthat Tom and Daisy are careless

people, says Kristin Chan of Cornell University, which supports my statement of East Eggs

carelessness. Nick is appalled at Daisys disability of unable to clean up their own mess. Daisy

and Tom just leave after Gatsbys death. They did not think of what happened to George, or

bother attending Gatsbys funeral, which his death was caused utterly by Toms hint to

George. Tom uses this opportunity to have George clean up his problems by murdering Gatsby-

another aspect of negligence in The Great Gatsby. Georges actions are also that of negligence

and carelessness in which he acts without any concrete evidence and blatantly shoots a man with

an assumption.

The Great Gatsby holds numerous lies and dishonesty. He was a bootlegger,

blatantly stated by Ms. Jackson of Seton Hill University. Gatsby himself is dishonest. He lived in

a web of lies and brought himself up. He disregarded where he came from and his true roots to

become a son of God. Gatsby built an empire that consisted of illicit deals to get where he came

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WMWWYK GG Essay 4

from and secluded himself from any true outside interaction. These actions and business

transactions shrouded him in shadows. Nick says himself, Everyone suspects himself of at least

one the cardinal virtues and this is mine; I am one of the few honest people that I have ever

known (59). This shows the lies and deceit in society and how a person can only just trust

himself and a few other people.

Some characters in The Great Gatsby are those who are power hungry.Some peopleare willing to give up all their values including that of honesty to prosper and be accepted into a

corrupt and unhappy upper-class, from Ohio History Society clearly describes this. Myrtle is an

example of this because she is nothing but a gold digger. Myrtle has Tom playing around with

her so he can shower her in lavish things, like a pearl necklace which induced Georges rage

upon Myrtle. She threw away her husbands trust and love, just to take a leap of faith with a

married man who was fixed on staying with his careless wife. Through karma, she suffers a

disgusting death in which causes huge turmoil in the story. It blows everything out of proportion

and reveals the truth hidden in the mist that is made out of lies.

All in all, The Great Gatsby includes huge amounts of symbolism and reverberate to

Fitzgeralds life. Fitzgerald resonates the vibes of the Roaring Twenties along with personal

turmoil carefully, mixing crumbs of his failing relationship with the carelessness and excessive

drinking bound to the time. He gives characters heartlessness which most likely is linked to his

problems. The novel portrays the deceit, ill manners, underhand deals, countless affairs, class

struggles, excessive drinking, recklessness and negligence of the privileged, in a flux of

perfection and emotion.

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