In The
Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald references a variety of situations that help
connect the reader to the book. Fitzgerald was successful in his comparison of
the upper and lower classes, and was able to distinguish the traits possessed
by the upper classes which can lead to – or are directly associated with –
decadence. Readers of the lower and
middle classes can relate to the analysis of characters like Gatsby and Daisy.
It is often believed that members of the upper class care about one thing above
all others: money. Fitzgerald uses a clever synecdoche to imply that money
plays a significant part – and is present in large quantities – in her life by
explaining that “Her voice is full of money” (120). Not only does Fitzgerald
address the situations of inherited wealth, but he also describes characters
that have a strong ambition to be successful. When Fitzgerald was explaining
Gatsby’s dream, he dismissed it as impractical by saying “he must have looked
up at the unfamiliar sky through frightening leaves and shivered” (111).
Fitzgerald was trying to explain that Gatsby tries too hard to live a perfect
life, or a life without mistakes. He believes that, through this lifestyle,
Gatsby is unable to see some of the bad things in life. This can further help
connect with the reader, who may know others who are sheltered by their parents
or shelter themselves from the realities of the world. Through these
explanations, Fitzgerald is able to distinguish common, but typically negate,
traits possessed by members of the upper class, allowing the reader to relate
back to their own life.
I like your first text connection of how the people in both lower and middle class in today’s era and the 1920s were very concerned about the money that the rich had and how it was unfair how all they cared about was their money. It believe that this could be a great text-to-word connection because as the lower class was concerned about the upper class back in the 1920s, we have the occupy Wall Street movement that is currently going on in present day. These are almost the same because both are concerned about the elitist nature of the one percent. Unfortunately I do find your second text connection a little bit weak and I believe it could use some more explanation as to how it is a strong connection to the reader. I understand that Gatsby has unreal expectations for himself about the world, but I believe more than one sentence should be used to explain how this could relate to others.
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