The Great Gatsby Analysis Essay

2075 Words Mar 24th, 2008 9 Pages
Diction: In the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald utilizes a heavily elegant and sometimes superfluous diction which reflects the high class society that the reader is introduced to within the novel. The speaker Nick Carraway talks directly to the reader. The diction is extensively formal throughout the novel using high blown language the borders on being bombastic. An example of this formal language is seen when Nick states,"The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of Goda phrase which, if it means anything, means just thatand he must be about His Father's business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty." The words "platonic" and "meretricious" …show more content…
The tone is hopeful and dignified. Much detail is used and even some ironic detail such as Gatsby being "gorgeous." Even though one would not normally describe a man with such a word it fits perfectly in this sentence. The language is formal and it reveals Nicks positive view on life and on Gatsby. The syntax in this passage is made up of strung-together sentences and clauses. All of the sentences within this passage are complex or compound-complex. These long and airy sentences emphasize the tone of upper-class people speaking as well as the emphasis on a dream. The sentences are extensively poetic and carefully thought out giving it a nonchalant and superior tone.

Passage 2: "I didn't call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone - he stretched out his arms towards the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward - and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness." (pg 16) The diction in theis passage is a little less elegant than the previous passage because this passage is reflective of Gatsby's true nature. It is one of insuperiority and one of a dreamer who sees his dream right across the bay but yet it is so far away. It