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Analysis Pages

Literary Devices in The Keen Gatsby

Literary Devices Examples in The Great Gatsby:

Affiliate I

🔒 two

"equally if he were related to one of those intricate machines that reg­ister earthquakes ten 1000 miles away...." See in text(Affiliate I)

Nick refers to a seismometer, an instrument used to measure the ground movements fabricated by earthquakes. He uses this comparison to describe the extent of Gatsby'south "heightened sensitivity to the promises of life." Nick'due south description of Gatsby is idealistic to the signal of dehumanization: Gatsby's hope and "romantic readiness" are and so profound that they remind Nick of machinelike sensitivity. Therefore, Gatsby is spared from Nick's scorn—he is not a regular person and is exempt from Nick's newly discovered limits of tolerance.

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"a hostile levity..." See in text(Affiliate I)

The noun "levity" means an unseemly lack of seriousness, usually bordering on humor. Fitzgerald creates an oxymoron in attributing a "hostile levity" to Nick. An oxymoron is a combination of two contradictory words that emphasize each other through their juxtaposition: for instance, a "deafening silence." In this context, the contradictory states of hostility and levity highlight Nick's superficiality: beneath his posture of not-judgment, he is still judgmental. Furthermore, Nick's performative and calculated "hostile levity" suggests that he might deserve the accusation of "being a politician."

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Chapter 2

🔒 six

"You can't live forever, you tin't alive forever...." See in text(Affiliate II)

Myrtle's repetition of the phrase "you tin't alive forever" is an example of epizeuxis, the repetition of words or phrases in firsthand succession. Every bit with other forms of repetition, epizeuxis oft amplifies a point, significant, or emotion in the text. Here, epizeuxis underscores the intensity of Myrtle's feelings, especially those of hope and excitement when she imagines having an affair with a powerful man similar Tom. Information technology also underscores Myrtle's description as having "intense vitality," seeming more alive than her surroundings in the valley of ashes. Yet, the words "you tin't live forever" also remind readers of the fleeting nature of status, wealth, and privilege—for death is the neat blaster that spares no one. The inevitability of bloodshed becomes increasingly important in The Great Gatsby, especially towards the end of the story.

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"grew smaller..." Come across in text(Affiliate 2)

Nick uses a paradox when he describes the room growing smaller. A paradox is a contradiction that, upon closer analysis, reveals a deeper meaning or makes an important bespeak. The verb "to grow" is commonly used to depict an increase in size, besides every bit a progression to maturity that involves some type of expansion. Therefore, to describe something as "growing smaller" is a contradiction.

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"like an ectoplasm..." Encounter in text(Affiliate Two)

Nick uses a simile when he compares the photo of Mrs. Wilson's mother to "an ectoplasm on the wall." A simile is a literary device in which two unlike things are compared using the words "similar" or "as." Today, in biology, an ectoplasm is the outer part of the cytoplasm, or all of the inner materials, of a jail cell. Notwithstanding, at the fourth dimension of Gatsby's writing, "ectoplasm" would take had paranormal associations. In 1894, the French physiologist and psychical researcher Charles Richet introduced the term to describe a substance excreted from the bodies of physical mediums in the procedure of summoning spirits. Spirits, in turn, were believed to wear this substance in club to collaborate with the concrete globe. The simile emphasizes the eerie presence of the photo in a memorable way, while also indicating the extent of Nick's retroactive disgust for the environment around him.

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"He was a blond, spiritless man, anæmic, and faintly hand­some...." Encounter in text(Chapter 2)

George Wilson is a foil for Tom Buchanan. A foil is a type of juxtaposition in which two characters with contrasting characteristics are compared as a ways of highlighting the traits of one or both of them. Character foils commonly have at least i significant trait in common, or some other type of connectedness that also serves to underscore the qualities of one character. Tom and Wilson are continued through Wilson'south wife, Myrtle, with whom Tom is having an affair. Whereas Tom is wealthy, confident, and aggressive, Wilson is poor, insecure, and mostly passive. While Tom may lack moral substance, arguably as an effect of the carelessness conferred past his wealth, Wilson seems to lack concrete substance, as if poverty has drained his vitality. The differences between Wilson and Tom, as well as Tom's treatment of Wilson, emphasize how unpleasant Tom is and Fitzgerald's interest in the spiritual implications of wealth and condition, which are at the center of the American dream.

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"I think he'd tanked up a good deal at luncheon..." See in text(Chapter II)

Nick thinks Tom has already had a lot to drink. The pick of idiom is suggestive of violence even before Nick wonders if Tom might violently coerce him to get to New York. Besides the dehumanizing portrayal of Tom every bit a machine fueled by alcohol, a tank, and therefore to exist "tanked upwards," might be associated with the explosive potential of gasoline or the firepower of a war tank. Drunkenness, which develops into a motif equally the novel progresses, has magnified Tom'south arrogance; at present, he displays entitlement and a willingness to physically force people to exercise what he wants.

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"Occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to rest..." See in text(Chapter Two)

There is a lot of alliteration, or the repetition of sounds inside a group of words, in this paragraph. This particular blazon of alliteration is known every bit "consonance," the repetition of the same consonant sounds. Hither, the consonant "thousand" is repeated in the words "gray," "gives," and "ghastly," and the hard consonant "c" is repeated in "cars," "crawls," "creak," and "comes." Though alliteration is more frequently associated with sound and rhythm in poetry, prose writers use it to highlight specific imagery and emphasize important details. Hither, alliteration augments the striking visual and auditory imagery of the valley of ashes, which is one of the novel's most of import symbols.

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Chapter 3

🔒 ane

""No harm in trying," he said. ..." Meet in text(Chapter Iii)

The bizarre car crash is an case of foreshadowing, or a device in which an author hints at an event that does not happen until later in the story. The crash may also be interpreted as a symbol of recklessness—the obvious drunkenness of the driver—and condone for consequences—the driver's inability to recognize the fact of his motorcar being undrivable. Fitzgerald seems to associate both of these traits with 1920s American civilization. Information technology is also possible that Fitzgerald uses this particular symbol to hint that he anticipates a disastrous end to 1920s prosperity, which would occur with the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the subsequent Great Low.

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Chapter IV

🔒 4

"jug-jug-spat!..." See in text(Affiliate IV)

This is an example of onomatopoeia, a device in which a word or words evoke the sound that is being described. Onomatopoeia enhances auditory imagery so that the scene being depicted is more powerful and memorable. The auditory realism of the audio Nick describes is further enhanced by the hyphens (-) that create the same pauses that Nick (and therefore the reader) can hear: "jug-jug-spat!"

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"Snell was there three days before he went to the peni­tentiary, so drunkard out on the gravel drive that Mrs. Ulysses Swett's automobile ran over his right hand...." See in text(Chapter IV)

A penitentiary is a land or federal prison. Fitzgerald once once again includes a machine accident in the narrative, this time depicting a drunkard man passed out in Gatsby's driveway. Interestingly, Nick states that "Mrs. Ulysses Swett'due south automobile ran over [Snell's] correct hand," subtly personifying the vehicle instead of property Mrs. Swett accountable for the accident.

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"those who accepted Gatsby'due south hospitality and paid him the subtle tribute of knowing nothing whatever almost him...." See in text(Chapter 4)

Nick is using satire when he says that the condone of Gatsby's guests "paid [their host] subtle tribute." Satire is the use of wit, sarcasm, or irony in order to criticize something or someone. Here, Nick is criticizing the frivolity of Gatsby'south guests, who attend his parties in club to enjoy his lavish hospitality and gossip about his life. Withal, in that location may be some truth to Nick'southward label of their gossip every bit a "tribute": their outrageous lies have fabricated Gatsby a local celebrity, which in plow advertizes his parties and grants him social currency. Moreover, Nick's apparent disdain of Gatsby's guests seems to overlook Gatsby'southward own lack of interest in knowing them, also as his non appearing to take criminal offence at their lack of appreciation. The prototype Gatsby projects is no less superficial than those of the illustrious people around him, and it is implied that he benefits from their omnipresence as much as they do from his parties.

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"the world and its mistress..." Encounter in text(Chapter Iv)

Nick uses hyperbole when he describes Gatsby's numerous guests as "the world and its mistress." A hyperbole is an obvious exaggeration made to make a point or to reveal a deeper meaning. Nick'due south hyperbole implies several deeper meanings: Gatsby'south guests are influential; Nick lists their names largely without context, implying that they should be familiar to readers. Nevertheless, uniting a group of important people under a single phrase seems to as well advise that, despite their influence, the individual people are relatively interchangeable. Further, they are immoral: "the world and its mistress" flocking to Gatsby'south house during the hours of church building carries a clear criticism of the values (or lack thereof) of this high-class grouping.

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Chapter V

🔒 v

"at that place was a faint period of thunder along the Sound...." See in text(Chapter 5)

Similar rain, thunder has symbolic significance in the story, perhaps representing the challenges that Daisy and Gatsby will face now that they have seen each other. The thunder as well supplies auditory imagery that creates a mixture of anticipation and excitement.

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"just outside Gatsby'southward window it began to rain once again..." Run across in text(Affiliate V)

The rain that follows Daisy's inspection of Gatsby's mansion mirrors her tears, which came "stormily" while she examined Gatsby's "beautiful shirts." Rain possibly forecasts difficulties in their relationship moving forrad, especially relating to the problems that Daisy's spousal relationship will undoubtedly present if they intend to rekindle their romance. Functionally, however, it confines them within the cocoon of Gatsby's house, separating them from the reality of the outside globe and allowing Gatsby control over Daisy's feel of him—for the time being.

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"Americans, while occasionally willing to be serfs, have always been obstinate about being peas­antry...." See in text(Chapter V)

Serfdom was a position of indentured servitude in feudal Europe. Peasants—members of the working class who paid rent or tax to a feudal lord—who could not pay debts or taxes or who otherwise desired the lord'south protection could become serfs. Generally speaking, serfs lived and worked on the state of the feudal lord as opposed to maintaining distinct property and in some cases could exist sold with the land on which they worked. Nick does not mean that Americans are literally serfs; however, he suggests that under the American capitalist system, individual workers are content to be treated every bit indentured servants equally long every bit they don't announced to exist members of the lower class.

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"the black wreath notwithstanding on the door...." See in text(Chapter V)

The black wreath would have been hung on the front door as a symbol of mourning after the brewer'due south expiry. The fact that Gatbsy, who has arrived at a pivotal moment for his dream of winning dorsum Daisy'southward dearest, lives in the aforementioned house suggests that Fitzgerald is foreshadowing a similar failure for his dream of establishing himself in guild.

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"like Kant at his church steeple..." See in text(Chapter 5)

Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) was a prominent German philosopher who would become a central figure in both modernistic Western philosophy and Enlightenment thinking. He made cracking strides in the areas of empiricism and rationalism and argued that human being reason guides moral constabulary and that anything built upon the foundation of human understanding is true—even science and religion, which oft contradict each other. Nick's likening himself to "Kant at his church steeple" alludes to the rumor that Kant adult his philosophies while staring at the church steeple outside his window; Fitzgerald peradventure means to show the caste to which Nick is beingness philosophically influenced by Gatsby or to remind readers of Kant's conventionalities that a person (here, Nick) can merely know that which he himself experiences.

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Chapter Seven

🔒 4

""Oh, my Ga-od! Oh, my Ga-od! Oh, Ga-od! Oh, my Ga-od!"..." Meet in text(Chapter Seven)

Fitzgerald again uses—then distorts—epizeuxis, the repetition of a give-and-take or phrase without any intervening words in between, to capture the emotional intensity of the moment. The disruption of the design in the tertiary of Wilson's cries augments auditory imagery then that the reader tin can improve experience his desperation.

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"simply the dead dream fought on as the afternoon slipped abroad, trying to touch what was no longer tangible, struggling unhappily, undespairingly, toward that lost voice across the room...." Run across in text(Chapter Seven)

Gatsby's "dead dream" is not simply the loss of Daisy's dear, but besides the fantasy of truly entering the upper class. Interestingly, Gatsby and Daisy are removed from the interaction in this paragraph—she "draw[due south]...into herself," he gives upwards on defending himself, and only his "dream" and her "lost voice" are left. Reducing the characters to their single most defining traits highlights their metaphorical natures and the thematic implications of their dynamic: Daisy is the unattainable, insubstantial promise of the American dream, and Gatsby is the hopeless endeavor to reach it.

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""I'k right across from you." "And then y'all are."..." Run into in text(Chapter VII)

Gatsby pointing out that his huge business firm is directly across the sound from Tom and Daisy seems to symbolize the distance between "new money" and "old money." Both are monied classes, and seem like they should savour the same social standing. However, at that place is great tension betwixt them over who is deserving of status. The "greenish Sound, stagnant," joins the colour of Gatsby's hopes—the green calorie-free—with an image of immobility: the gap between "old" and "new" money may non exist equally traversable as he thinks.

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"Hot! . . . Hot! . . . Hot! . . . ..." Encounter in text(Chapter VII)

Fitzgerald uses epizeuxis in the conductor's dialogue when he exclaims "Hot! Hot! Hot!" Recall that epizeuxis is a device in which a word or phrase is repeated in succession with no words in betwixt to break upwardly the repetition. Epizeuxis often emphasizes a point, conveys humor, or creates emotional intensity. Here, epizeuxis highlights the oppressive quality of the oestrus, which foreshadows the emotional tenor of the characters and represents the powerful emotions that they struggle to control.

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Chapter 8

🔒 2

"In various unrevealed capacities he had come up in contact with such people, but e'er with indiscernible barbed wire betwixt...." Run across in text(Chapter 8)

Information technology is unclear whether Nick refers to Gatsby's contact with other women of Daisy's class or with other upper-class people in general. At this signal in Gatsby's life, he was penniless, which would have created a social bulwark between himself and a woman like Daisy. Moreover, Gatsby's idealism and beliefs nearly his destiny have prevented him from sharing intimacy with women before this point, as Nick has already revealed. This "indiscernible barbed wire" may in fact be Gatsby'due south appetite, which has prevented him from condign genuinely attached. Either way, Gatsby's status every bit an regular army officer has overcome the class barrier that otherwise would have kept him out of Daisy's circle.

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""Jay Gatsby" had cleaved up like glass against Tom'southward difficult malice..." See in text(Affiliate VIII)

Nick interprets Gatsby's willingness to confide in him about the by every bit evidence that his persona has shattered "like glass" under Tom'southward attack. The specific simile emphasizes the delicate nature of the "long cloak-and-dagger extravaganza" Gatsby carried on for and so long. Its breaking implies that the "new coin" class cannot truly stand up aslope the wealth of families like the Buchanans. The American dream, therefore, is untenable.

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Chapter Ix

🔒 1

"long green tickets..." See in text(Chapter IX)

The greenish motif returns in Nick's "brilliant memories" of returning to his dwelling in the West from where he attended schoolhouse in Connecticut. At a time when many people relocated to the East to make their fortunes, Nick's retentivity of returning to the Midwest suggests a symbolic render to the authentic self without the corrupting desire for success and wealth.

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Analysis Pages