Examples Of Contradictions In The Great Gatsby

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The 1920s era of America was a time of great contradictions. It was a decade of decadence, luxury,and excess. Yet, at the same time, was also a period of great poverty and destitution. Alcohol was strictly prohibited, yet drinking was prominent. And, as the ironic cherry on top, the period ended in an economic depression, the greatest America has ever seen. The Great Depression was the ultimate arbiter which threw millions of middle class Americans into economic turmoil. As a writer during the time period F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote about these contradictions in the form of a fiction book, known as the Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald noticed all of these anomalies, and almost immediately, the reader is thrown into his world. In the first chapter, Fitzgerald uses first-person point-of-view to help the reader analyze dialogue as if they were actually there. The reader begins to realize how shallow the upper class is and characterizes Tom Buchanan, an antagonist, as a violent, racist, elitist, and egotistical person. …show more content…
Nick soon learns of the love affair that Tom’s wife, Daisy had with Jay Gatsby. Eventually, Nick comes to realize how futile Gatsby’s pursuit of Daisy’s affection was, and that Gatsby may not be all what he’s cracked up to be. Fitzgerald includes these details to show how hypocritical the American upper class was during the Roaring Twenties. Fitzgerald includes the detail about Gatsby’s former lover to gain interest from the reader as well as to show how unrealistic Jay Gatsby was. (Gatsby’s ultimate ending is death by gunshot wound in his own
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