Thursday, January 12, 2012

Fitzgerald's Misconceived Portrayals -- Personal Review

      Although F. Scott Fitzgerald’s realistic portrayal of the environment of the roaring twenties was accurate, he unfortunately became a little extremist in his portrayal of the people occupying that upscale environment. A recurring theme in the book is the greediness of the rich—the fact that they are never satisfied with life and always possess the desire to attain more. Though this is true, Fitzgerald fails to note that it is not only the rich who exhibit gluttony, but that by nature, all people want to enhance their way of life. Since the rhetor only focused on the higher classes and their endless selfishness, the reader lacks the balance that would be present if there had been some poorer characters. It seemed as though each person in the novel was already at the top of the social ladder; this did not allow for much growth in the characters. However, the speaker did effectively demonstrate what it feels like to be hopelessly in love with someone, no matter how different the two people may be. Daisy, a whimsical airhead (pardon my judgment), is in love with Gatsby, a confused yet loyal man. The two people cannot be more different, but the way in which the author portrayed their love came across as organic and natural, without any forced emotion. Overall, the book was a little stagnant in reference to the characters’ actions, but the plot was motivating and allowed for further thought in regards to going after what one wants in life and avoiding the obstacles that get in the way.

1 comment:

  1. Your review could not have been more accurate. The characters' ability to love was indeed limited, as you said, similar to how Maddie discussed Daisy to be ambiguously in love with someone like Bella Swan in Twilight. I agree with the fact that Fitzgerald created an unbalanced class structure since he did not include the poorer people and only focused on rich. The rhetor would have been able to more successfully portray the greediness of the rich had he included a less fortunate class of people. You said that the "book was a little stagnant in reference to the characters’ actions," and I agree with this, as the characters were not well developed and lacked in a genuine personality.

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