The Great Gatsby is a novel that is authored by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The novel is based on pure American fiction and combines triumph with tragedy to remarkably depict American society. The Great Gatsby has been categorized as social commentary. As is typical of all literature essays, an essay on The Great Gatsby will include a number of elements.
To begin with, the student writing the essay on The Great Gatsby must point out who the key characters are in the novel. This means that the student cannot avoid reading the entire novel to identify the characters, the main ones being Nick Carraway and Daisy Buchanan as well as Jay Gatsby. Listing alone is not enough as the student must adhere to the literature essay rules and provide a short introduction for each of these characters.
Having done that, the student will then proceed to discuss the major themes/topics in his/her essay on The Great Gatsby. A literature essay which explores The Great Gatsby must include apparent themes such as social issues and displaced spirituality, which are clearly evident in the novel.
The novel offers a wide range of elements that can be explored by a student to develop a splendid essay on The Great Gatsby. For example, the student could include elements which are lacking in many literature essays, such as major symbols. In this regard, the student could mention in his/her essay that Fitzgerald has regularly used eyes as well as parties to symbolize different things.
As in all literature essays, the student should conclude by telling how the novel ended, whether in tragedy or in triumph. In the case of The Great Gatsby, the student should make it clear that the story has a tragic ending.
The Great Gatsby essay example
Scott Fitzgerald managed to portray ultimately interesting aspects of the American dream in his perhaps one pf the most outstanding novels The Great Gatsby. Notwithstanding the fact that the story is positioned as being extremely romantic at the surface, however, the main themes are quite wider in scope. The point is that the author of the story had an attempt to reproduce the period of the 20s in the United States that celebrated the integration of the so called American dream into the era of material prosperity. Hence, the pursuit of wealth and pleasure has replaced the noble and more meaningful existential goals that can spiritually elevate a person, instead of declining it. Thus, this very period in the American history marked the dominance of corrupted moral and social values reflected in the greedy, envious individuals empty inside who only were striving for joy, lotus eaters that burned their lives in vain. A character named Gatsby is defined to be a “pathfinder, an original settler” (Fitzgerald 9). The primary objective of this paper in going to explore the explore the American dream concept in The Great Gatsby.
An integral part of the American dream depiction is the materialistic theory of spending, consumption and production increase. No doubt that such changes marked the particular shifts within American beliefs and values. Thus, the author apparently reveals that the concept of the American dream was originally associated with the happiness, self discovery, and individualism. Hence, the period of 1920s described by the author challenged and distorted the initial dream, represented inappropriate and immoral social values, etc.