Modern Day Comparison

Cheating on spouses is a main topics present throughout The Great Gatsby. In today's society, this still happens quite often. The most recent incident of this is Tiger Woods cheating on his wife. This closely mirrors the events in The Great Gatsby because it involved higher class people doing things that condescend their status in society. This shows that even nearly 90 years after the time period of The Great Gatsby that people with wealth still act in ways that demean them and take risks that may ruin or negatively affect the lives around them.

Bibliography

www.essortment.com/all/prohibitionamer_refo.htm

www.chicagohs.org/history/capone.html

www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/biography.html

Literary Elements

The author's purpose in writing the Great Gatsby is to record the era of the "roaring 20's." America needed some classic literature, and F. Scott Fitzgerald filled the bill in recording the years of organized crime, alcohol, and morality flying out of the window. His tone, or the tone of Nick Carraway, is one of an amused spectator. He has feelings, no doubt, but he almost laughs at the wild, despicable behavior of his upper class peers. The mood that the audience perceives is one of amusement, disbelief, excitement, and shame. The roaring 20's made the common day Americans feel invigorated and entertained that our ancestors were such unbelievable people. The overall voice of the author is distant, yet present. He presents his story in an almost journalist way, but you feel the sentiments of Nick as he follows around Jay Gatsby.

Character Sketch: Daisy Buchanan

Daisy Buchanan grew up in a fluffy environment. She was born into a wealthy family, and she never had to work a day in her life. She was accustomed to the finer things in life, and not the uncomfortable ones. She grew up near the woman golf player, Jordan Baker. Jordan foils Daisy with her cool, nonchalant attitude, which makes Daisy seem like a wild child. In her youth, Daisy spent her time driving around young men in her little, white car. Many men she spent her days with with soldiers. One of them was called Jay Gatsby. He fell madly in love with her before going off to the war. Never having to be troubled, Daisy wasn't used to waiting for letters or waiting for Gatsby to come home to her. Instead, she turned her pretty little head in a new direction. She met a young, rich male named Tom Buchanan. She saw an opportunity to have a financially secure life and she took it. Five long years went by. In this time, Tom had cheated on her, Gatsby had become wealthy, and she took a more cynical outlook on life. She said to her cousin, Nick, what she said to the nurse who delivered her baby. "I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool-that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful, little fool." When she killed Tom's mistress, she didn't stick around for Gatsby. She chose the easy route and left him behind.

Character Sketch: Nick

Nick is the main protagonist of the novel.  The story follows him through his encounters with the people in the novel.  Nick is a younger man who moves to the community simply because it's a cheap place to rent out in a nice neighborhood.  While living there his life changes through meeting people and coming into contact with an entirely different culture then the one he is used to.  Nick is an easy going type of character who doesn't have any major conflicts with anyone.  In fact much of the story is almost seen as him looking onto this mess of people and drama.

"And if you think I didn't have my share of suffering-look here, when I went to give p that flat and saw that damn box of dog biscuits sitting there on the sideboard, I sat down and cried like a baby.  By God it was awful----"

This quote is significant because he sys it to Tom when he sees him after Gatsby's death.  He is angry at Tom because Tom gave away Gatsby's car to the killer.  Nick also feels that although he was seen as an outsider that eh still suffered too.

Theme of the Great Gatsby

The Themes of The Great Gatsby are numerous. The most prominent are that money cannot guarantee happiness, and love can last forever in one's mind.

Gatsby always wanted to have Daisy by his side, and not a giant pile of cash. Unfortunately, what he received was a giant pile of cash. He tried to use this money and luxurious lifestyle to woo Daisy into his arms somehow. After he met Daisy again, no matter how different she was from his memories, he denied all of it. He had his Daisy, and he was happy.

Even though it had been five long years since Gatsby had last seen Daisy, he was just as in love with her when he met her than when they had last parted. The reason for this was because he survived on the memory of Daisy. He built her up in his head as a perfect goddess. The reality, is that Daisy was a spoiled, pampered woman who never had to lift her finger for anything. He made it seem, in his head, as if Daisy never loved Tom and she married him simply because she couldn't wait for Gatsby to return from the war.

Gatsby

Gatsby is the character of which most of the focus is set on in the story. Gatsby is considered to be in his early 30s but it is never specifically given. He is a love obsessed millionaire who tries to impress the love of his life, Daisy. This love for Daisy has caused him to resort to shady criminal activity that allows him to rise to a social status that he sees fit for impressing Daisy. This love of Daisy eventually leads to his death. Gatsby tries to cover for an accident Daisy had which killed a women, and in retribution is shot in his pool. A quote that describes his optimism toward other's beliefs was, "Can't repeat the past?...Why of course you can!"