Gatsby

Alice Xu

Period 4

The Great Gatsby

1. The title The Great Gatsby is very ironic. The themes of the novel seem to mock Gatsby's perceived “greatness." Gatsby represents the ideal life and the achievement of the American dream that was a major common goal of society at the time the novel was written. His ideal life was centered on carelessness, greed, and money. This theme suggests 2 meanings to the novel’s title. The first is that the values of society back then were awful, therefore bringing out the greatness of the tragedy. The second is more sarcastic: Fitzgerald was trying to show the reader just how “great” the great Gatsby was through irony. For example, it is ironic that Gatsby, who has so much wealth and fame, would participate in illegal bootlegging and throw extravagant parties in order to pursue a married woman when there are hundreds of other women dying to see him. Thus, the ironic meaning of the novel's title is the true meaning of the greatness of Gatsby: a moral failure who is only a successful person in the eyes of society’s other downfallen individuals.

2. Theme statements:

1) The American Dream has become corrupt: it is no longer a vision of creating a better a life; it is just about getting rich.

The Green Light symbolizes this theme. It is located at the end of Daisy’s dock and can faintly be seen from Gatsby’s house. It represents Gatsby’s hopes for the future, and the true American Dream. Gatsby associates the light with Daisy, and in Chapter one he reaches toward it in the darkness like it’s a light guiding him to his goal. Gatsby’s pursuit of Daisy is associated with the American dream. In Chapter nine, Nick compares the light to how America must have looked to early settlers.

Quote: “And as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors' eyes – a fresh, green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that...