The Great Gatsby - Structured
The success of a novel is highly dependent on an author's skill in arranging words and storylines to create maximum interest for the reader. Structuring a novel involves organizing a chain of events in a manner which will appeal to sensitive readers. F. Scott Fitzgerald (a master of novel development) demonstrates his writing talent by using flashbacks, symbolism and foreshadowing as structural tools in developing his fiction. The temporal devices used to structure Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, serve to expose the corruption present in American society during the 1920's.Foreshadowing is a temporal device used to indicate the predicted path of the story. Fitzgerald uses foreshadowing both to structurally reinforce his storyline, and to emphasize important events associated with the decadent lifestyle in American society at the time. At the beginning of the novel, narrator Nick Carraway foreshadows Jay Gatsby's inevitable death after Gatsby's life of crime. Nick says, "No-Gatsby turned out all right at the end," (Fitzgerald 8) as he foreshadows Gatsby's tragic and brutal murder, implying that Gatsby would go through some troublesome times. Fitzgerald foreshadows Gatsby's tragic demise to stress that illegitimate ways of li
Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, utilizes temporal devices such as foreshadowing, flashbacks, and symbolism to reveal the corruption present in American society during the 1920's. Fitzgerald aims to demonstrate that the upper class, in the 1920's, was money driven. By using temporal devices, readers pick up on important morals and messages that Fitzgerald wants to share. The author educates people about the corrupt nature of cities, shady lifestyles and the illegitimate activity people of his era practiced. He also indicates the dangers in pursuing the American dream of success illegitimately. Fitzgerald tells the reader that a corrupt and dishonest life style will inevitably lead to tragedy. Fitzgerald's use of symbolism to link key events creates a stronger and more coherent structure. An attentive reader can identify these symbols and create a correlation between them. Fitzgerald uses symbol-linked scenes to stress his feelings towards the fraudulent American society during the 20's. The eyeglasses of T.J. Eckleburg, looking over the valley of ashes in a "persistent stare" (Fitzgerald 27), are important both symbolically and structurally. Fitzgerald uses the eyeglasses to emphasize several key instances including the affair between Tom and Myrtle and the murder of Myrtle Wilson. Symbolizing God's watchful eyes, the glasses always appear during the trips between West Egg and New York and constantly observe the corrupt actions of illegitimate men, involving murder and adultery. The eyeglasses reveal the immorality and sacrilegious nature of society during this era. Gatsby's flashy car is another important symbol as it exposes the superficiality of the upper class. This symbol first appears with the beginning of Daisy and Gatsby's love and again when Gatsby drives to Nick's home. Gatsby's expensive car serves as a vulgar symbol of wealth, which "Everyone ha
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Approximate Word count = 1264
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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