The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald Analysis (Book Review Sample)

THE GREAT GATSBY BY F.SCOTT FITZGERALD
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The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald
Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby is set in the 1920s in New York. The book tells the story of love, wealth, and social class. Throughout the story, Fitzgerald sets his characters in the post-war era while depicting the poor’s struggles and their lavish lives. The story’s setting and the character all serve to tell the reader the difference between the rich and the poor’s livelihoods. From the first chapter of the book, it is evident that there is a constant power struggle between the “new” and “old” money. The characterization of the west and east Egg is crucial in the development of the book’s themes. Therefore, in this essay, it will be shown how Fitzgerald used the setting to emphasize the themes of love, social class, and wealth in The Great Gatsby.
One of the most dominant themes in The Great Gatsby is wealth. From the beginning of the book, Fitzgerald sets up the scene for the reader. Fitzgerald begins by giving an insight into the life of Nick Carraway. Fitzgerald (2021,p.2) describes Carraway as a young man who is a descendant from a wealthy family of the “Duke of Buccleuch.” However, despite being from a wealthy family, Carraway moves to West Egg to build his life. Carraway narrates, “My family have been prominent , well to do people…” (Fitzgerald 2020,p.2). is at this moment that he meets up with Gatsby, who is a neighbor. Carraway, who is set as the narrator describes the financial differences between the people of east and west Egg. Carraway describes that west egg “is less fashionable” while east Egg has big mansions that are “cheerful.” Through this description, the reader can visualize how wealthy the people of East egg are.
The narrator is also keen to describe the difference between social classes. In the book, the author depicts the existence of new and old money. According to Carraway, “Old money” are people who have been wealthy for generations. Old money families, such as Daisy and Tom, live in East egg and rarely interact with the people from west Egg. The social class clash is depicted in that they despise Gatsby because he is “new money.” Throughout the book, Tom and Gatsby are seen as set as enemies because of the social class difference. Because of the need to fit in with the old money, Gatsby emulates their lifestyles and uses his newly acquired money to hold parties and drive expensive cars. The competition between the two social classes can also be seen when Tom and Gatsby engage in a car chase as they go into town (Fitzgerald 2020,p.89). Gatsby and Tom compete with each other and end up having an accident. Additionally, the most significant separation of social class is shown by the valley of ashes which is a dirty place where only the poor live. Carraway narrates, “About half way between the west egg and New York, ...this is the valley of ashes, where ashes grow...” (Fitzgerald 2020,p.20).The rich pass by and give handouts as they go into town. Through this, Fitzgerald uses imagery to show the clash in social class.
Fitzgerald in his, book is keen to set the theme of love. The narrator describes Gatsby’s struggle to get Daisy’s attention and love. Love is a theme that is centered around Gatsby’s life. According to the narrator, Gatsby lives hoping that he will be reunited with Daisy , who is the love of his life. Gatsby makes deliberate plans to separate Daisy from her other lover and get her out of her mansion. However, Gatsby ends up being lonely because Daisy is already getting married. Gatsby and Daisy’s lives are separated in tha