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Power of Language in The Great Gatsby

"Life was beginning over again with the summer." (Fitzgerald, 4) Clearly showing the optimism and excitement Nick hoped for. However as Nick grew more and more familiar with the fast paced, jived up east coast, his displeasure also grew. Ironically, the reasons for Nick moving east ultimately became the reasons for his departure. Gatsby's death was life changing for Nick. The revelations he made following Gatsby's lonely death are telling of the power that language can hold. The understanding of life that Nick underwent was only possible due to an abrupt change in characterization. Following Gatsby's death, Nick found himself in charge of Gatsby's burial. At first, Nick thought he would be planning an eventful day celebrating a man that lived his life with great honor and passion. However to Nick's disbelief not one person seemed to care. This frustrated Nick for he couldn't fathom how a man with such fame and fortune generated such a small outcome at the funeral. "When the butler brought back Wolfsheim's answer (another decline to the funeral) I began to have a feeling of defiance, of scornful solidarity between Gatsby and me against them all." (Fitzgerald, 165) Early in the novel it is clear that a certain part of Nick believed that fortune is the Key to happiness. Nick followed this pursuit all the way to the east coast only to find that purse and fortune doesn't really mean anything in this world. Nick entire ideals altered. Forced to now sit back and return back to the Midwest in search of his own happiness that he now knows is not within money and fame.
             Nick is just an example of how language can summons change. Literary theorists have debated this issue for decades. However a pressing issue still remains. Was it that Nick was able to evoke a change of mind due to a stronger intellect? As Fitzgerald proclaims, "The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two idea of a mind at the same time and still have the ability to function.


Essays Related to Power of Language in The Great Gatsby

1. Great gatsby

Further, Gatsby impresses Nick with his power to make his dreams come true "as a child he dreamed of wealth and luxury, and he has attained them, albeit through criminal means. ... In a world without a moral center, in which attempting to fulfill one's dreams is like rowing a boat against the current, Gatsby's power to dream lifts him above the meaningless and amoral pleasure-seeking of New York society. In Nick's view, Gatsby's capacity to dream makes him "great- despite his flaws and eventual undoing. While reading Great Gatsby, I also found two important symbols,...

  • Word Count: 794
  • Approx Pages: 3
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2. Moral Corruption Through Exces

Moral Corruption Through Excessive Wealth The Great Gatsby is set in the United States of America, during the Roaring Twenties. ... The economy, powered by World War I, was thriving, as the value of stock and real estate steadily increased. ... Authors, experimenting with realism, freed up their language and wrote about themes, such as life in the city and sex. The Great Gatsby, by F. ... Gatsby moves to the East Coast and makes a great deal of money, possibly bootlegging or other shady business operations. ...

  • Word Count: 938
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3. character

One may arrive at many quintessential elements a great novel possesses such as: story plot, themes, lesson, and language. ... Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, Chaim Potok's The Chosen, and Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. ... He treats her badly and Janie ultimately rebels against Joe's dominate behavior, by toppling his sense of his own power, she destroys his will to live. ... Furthermore, in The Great Gatsby, Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby, could not be any different. ... In conclusion, the characters from The Great Gatsby, The Chosen, and Their...

  • Word Count: 1149
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

4. The American Dream is seriously flawed

Jay Gatsby represents the flourishing side of the Dream. He seems to show that it is possible to achieve great success from nothing through the examples of his possessions; "I watched the guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the water. ... It seems as though Gatsby is glowing like a torch. ... The contrast between Gatsby and the Buchanans shows that dreams and ambitions create power and vitality, implying that the American Dream produces a sense of purpose and progress. ... Willy is using language that suggest...

  • Word Count: 3225
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5. The Relationship Between Literature and Society

Mikhail Bakhtin is a critic who studies literary theory, ethics, and the philosophy of language. Bakhtin "[views] language-especially literary texts-in terms of discourses and dialogues. ... Bakhtin's view of language can be summed up in two terms: addressitivity and answerability. ... To Bakhtin, language is not only important, but crucial for communication. ... Here, he is explaining the relationship between language and society. ...

  • Word Count: 2612
  • Approx Pages: 10
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6. Freedom Rides

Lu and his wife wont speak their native language of Swiss around their children and their neibors because they don't want people to know where they are from. ... This idea of land parallels with The Great West. The Great West was though of as the new frontier where cowboys lived rough and the land was true. ... In the novel, The Great Gatsby by R. ... Many aspects go into The American Dream but the dream has to feed on ideas and weaknesses to gain power. ...

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