Blog Project # 1 Figurative Language
Throughout the text of the book, it becomes quite clear to see that the book is comprised of contradictions and an over exaggeration of the lust and greed of the early twentieth century. F. Scott Fitzgerald makes this more than obvious through his use of rhetorical strategies to show the decay of the East.                                                                                                                                         Allusion and Alliteration: “I bought a dozen volumes on banking and credit and investment… promising  to unfold the shining secrets that only Midas and Morgan and Maecenas knew” (Fitzgerald 4).                                                                       .                                                     ~ This alliteration and allusion shows that while trying to become successful like the people form the east, the narrator, Carraway, believed that there would be some secrets that could come up that would make him rich. This helps to show that even the narrator believes that the wealth and richness of the east all comes from secrets that have helped to propel them into their wealth. In essence, this could be a foreshadowing for Gatsby himself who had a dirty and dark secret that helped him to obtain his high social class in eastern society.                                         Apostrophe:  “I'll get somebody for you, Gatsby. Don’t worry. Just trust me and I’ll get somebody for you” (Fitzgerald 164).                                                                                          ~ This apostrophe allows the author to show that the people in the east who were supposedly friends of Gatsby were nothing but phony the whole time. These people will not show up to his funeral showing that the people of the east have decaying values and that the position of their social stature is of more importance than friendship. This can be seen through Mayor Wolfshiem, Klipspringer, and the Buchanans not attending the funeral.                                                           Allusion and Symbol:  "A fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens, where ashes take the form of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air" (Fitzgerald 23).                                                                                                     ~ This is a perfect example of the author trying to show the decay of both the physical geography of the east, but also of the people who live there. The land is covered in ash and the men are stated to be crumbled which is allows the Fitzgerald  to explicitly state that because of the decaying morals of the society, the people are rotting and the land is being destroyed because of the aftermath of the big cities and the smoke and problems they release.                                    Symbol:  Used throughout many times in the book is the Symbol of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg staring down at the decay of the Valley of Ashes, both literally and symbolically.