Show how the writer has used one or more of these to direct your response in The Great Gatsby.

In the novel The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald shows a clear contempt of the American Dream, an ideal that the characters that he has created either chase or have achieved. Through his excellent writing technique, Fitzgerald reduces the characters of the novel to seeming obsessed with material possessions, petty, superficial and selfish, and indeed he seems to attribute much of this to the setting of the novel, America in the 1920's. Through both subtle hints within the plot, as well as passages that blatantly support Fitzgerald's own views, the reader is left only to agree with Fitzgerald's feelings towards post war upper class Americans after concluding the novel.

The main characters in The Great Gatsby all have very different personalities. Despite this however, all of the characters are affected by money, and Fitzgerald uses this fact to influence the response of the reader. Some characters,

The only relationship that Fitzgerald has created to show that the American dream is not always easily attained is the one between Gatsby and Daisy. Although it may seem to us that Gatsby has well and truly obtained the dream, that is becoming successful and rich, we must recognise that Daisy herself is a further personification of it. The true function of Gatsby becoming rich and successful is so that he can finally have Daisy, and Fitzgerald recognises that reality is not always kind to dreamers. In this case, the strong, bullying character of Tom represents reality, and with his powerful nature he easily quashes any hopes that Gatsby may have of a relationship with Daisy. Although Fitzgerald may despise all that the American dream stands for, more importantly he illustrates that it is not always easy to obtain it. For those born into wealthy families, Fitzgerald hints that the American dream is a hereditary right. For those from lower classes however, Fitzgerald makes it clear that acquiring the fulfillment of the dream is not always as easy.

Through the course of the novel we see the characters that Fitzgerald has created continually act in a superficial way. Tom Buchanan is an excellent example of a trivial and superficial man. He displays this in the first chapter of the novel, with the comments he makes about the threat to white supremacy. To further emphasis his superficial nature, Fitzgerald uses irony later in the novel, when Tom insists that he has "almost a second sight sometimes" (pg 116), a fact that is so obviously incorrect that it is humorous. However, Tom is convinced that he is something of an intellectual and seems to get satisfaction from making what he believes are smart comments, such as when he says: "here's your money. Go buy ten more dogs with it" (pg 30), as well as trying to listen to other intellectuals talk: "do you mind is I eat with some people over here? A fellow's getting off some funny stuff." (pg 102) Daisy too comes over as being a shallow character, a fact best supported by her comment "what'll we do with ourselves this afternoon? And the day after that, and the next thirty years?" Daisy does not phrase the question seriously. She is merely wondering how she will fill her empty days for the rest of her life.

Much of the American arrogance can be attributed to the events of World War One. It is generally acknowledged that without the intervention of America in 1917, the Allied Powers would not have been capable of winning the war. Americans were justifiably proud of this fact, but in some classes this pride was stretched to great arrogance.

The character that Fitzgerald evidently wants his readers to dislike the most is Tom Buchanan. From his description of Tom in the opening chapter we can tell this much. He is described as having a "body capable of enormous leverage- a cruel body" (pg 12) and

Some common words found in the essay are:
Tom Buchanan, Chicago Nick, Daisy Fitzgerald, American Dream, Gatsby Tom, Allied Powers, Daisy Jordan, Son God, Tom's Jordan, Gatsby's Myrtle's, american dream, tom buchanan, characters gatsby, upper class americans, class americans, daisy fitzgerald, upper class, nick mentions, gatsby tom, characters novel, tom represents,
Approximate Word count = 1928
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)