Literary Devices in The Great Gatsby

Myrtle’s repetition of the phrase “you can’t live forever” is an example of epizeuxis, the repetition of words or phrases in immediate succession. As with other forms of repetition, epizeuxis often amplifies a point, meaning, or emotion in the text. Here, epizeuxis underscores the intensity of Myrtle’s feelings, especially those of hope and excitement when she imagines having an affair with a powerful man like Tom. It also underscores Myrtle’s description as having “intense vitality,” seeming more alive than her surroundings in the valley of ashes. However, the words “you can’t live forever” also remind readers of the fleeting nature of status, wealth, and privilege—for death is the great equalizer that spares no one. The inevitability of mortality becomes increasingly important in The Great Gatsby, particularly towards the end of the story.

Nick uses a paradox when he describes the room growing smaller. A paradox is a contradiction that, upon closer analysis, reveals a deeper meaning or makes an important point. The verb “to grow” is usually used to describe an increase in size, as well as a progression to maturity that involves some type of expansion. Therefore, to describe something as “growing smaller” is a contradiction.

Nick uses a simile when he compares the photograph of Mrs. Wilson’s mother to “an ectoplasm on the wall.” A simile is a literary device in which two unlike things are compared using the words “like” or “as.” Today, in biology, an ectoplasm is the outer part of the cytoplasm, or all of the inner materials, of a cell. However, at the time of Gatsby’s writing, “ectoplasm” would have had paranormal associations. In 1894, the French physiologist and psychical researcher Charles Richet introduced the term to describe a substance excreted from the bodies of physical mediums in the process of summoning spirits. Spirits, in turn, were believed to wear this substance in order to interact with the physical world. The simile emphasizes the eerie presence of the photograph in a memorable way, while also indicating the extent of Nick’s retroactive disgust for the environment around him.

George Wilson is a foil for Tom Buchanan. A foil is a type of juxtaposition in which two characters with contrasting characteristics are compared as a means of highlighting the traits of one or both of them. Character foils usually have at least one significant trait in common, or some other type of connection that also serves to underscore the qualities of one character. Tom and Wilson are connected through Wilson’s wife, Myrtle, with whom Tom is having an affair. Whereas Tom is wealthy, confident, and aggressive, Wilson is poor, insecure, and mostly passive. While Tom may lack moral substance, arguably as an effect of the carelessness conferred by his wealth, Wilson seems to lack physical substance, as if poverty has drained his vitality. The differences between Wilson and Tom, as well as Tom’s treatment of Wilson, emphasize how unpleasant Tom is and Fitzgerald’s interest in the spiritual implications of wealth and status, which are at the heart of the American dream.

Nick thinks Tom has already had a lot to drink. The choice of idiom is suggestive of violence even before Nick wonders if Tom might violently coerce him to go to New York. Besides the dehumanizing portrayal of Tom as a machine fueled by alcohol, a tank, and therefore to be “tanked up,” might be associated with the explosive potential of gasoline or the firepower of a war tank. Drunkenness, which develops into a motif as the novel progresses, has magnified Tom’s arrogance; now, he displays entitlement and a willingness to physically force people to do what he wants.

There is a lot of alliteration, or the repetition of sounds within a group of words, in this paragraph. This particular type of alliteration is known as “consonance,” the repetition of the same consonant sounds. Here, the consonant “g” is repeated in the words “grey,” “gives,” and “ghastly,” and the hard consonant “c” is repeated in “cars,” “crawls,” “creak,” and “comes.” Though alliteration is more often associated with sound and rhythm in poetry, prose writers use it to highlight specific imagery and emphasize important details. Here, alliteration augments the striking visual and auditory imagery of the valley of ashes, which is one of the novel’s most important symbols.

The bizarre car crash is an example of foreshadowing, or a device in which an author hints at an event that does not happen until later in the story. The crash may also be interpreted as a symbol of recklessness—the obvious drunkenness of the driver—and disregard for consequences—the driver’s inability to recognize the fact of his car being undrivable. Fitzgerald seems to associate both of these traits with 1920s American culture. It is also possible that Fitzgerald uses this particular symbol to hint that he anticipates a disastrous end to 1920s prosperity, which would occur with the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression.

This is an example of onomatopoeia, a device in which a word or words evoke the sound that is being described. Onomatopoeia enhances auditory imagery so that the scene being depicted is more powerful and memorable. The auditory realism of the sound Nick describes is further enhanced by the hyphens (-) that create the same pauses that Nick (and therefore the reader) can hear: “jug-jug-spat!”

A penitentiary is a state or federal prison. Fitzgerald once again includes a car accident in the narrative, this time depicting a drunk man passed out in Gatsby’s driveway. Interestingly, Nick states that “Mrs. Ulysses Swett’s automobile ran over [Snell’s] right hand,” subtly personifying the vehicle instead of holding Mrs. Swett accountable for the accident.

Nick is using satire when he says that the disregard of Gatsby’s guests “paid [their host] subtle tribute.” Satire is the use of wit, sarcasm, or irony in order to criticize something or someone. Here, Nick is criticizing the frivolity of Gatsby’s guests, who attend his parties in order to enjoy his lavish hospitality and gossip about his life. However, there may be some truth to Nick’s label of their gossip as a “tribute”: their outrageous lies have made Gatsby a local celebrity, which in turn advertizes his parties and grants him social currency. Moreover, Nick’s apparent disdain of Gatsby’s guests seems to overlook Gatsby’s own lack of interest in knowing them, as well as his not appearing to take offense at their lack of appreciation. The image Gatsby projects is no less superficial than those of the illustrious people around him, and it is implied that he benefits from their attendance as much as they do from his parties.

Nick uses hyperbole when he describes Gatsby’s numerous guests as “the world and its mistress.” A hyperbole is an obvious exaggeration made to make a point or to reveal a deeper meaning. Nick’s hyperbole implies several deeper meanings: Gatsby’s guests are influential; Nick lists their names largely without context, implying that they should be familiar to readers. However, uniting a group of important people under a single phrase seems to also suggest that, despite their influence, the individual people are relatively interchangeable. Further, they are immoral: “the world and its mistress” flocking to Gatsby’s house during the hours of church carries a clear criticism of the values (or lack thereof) of this high-class group.

Like rain, thunder has symbolic significance in the story, perhaps representing the challenges that Daisy and Gatsby will face now that they have seen each other. The thunder also supplies auditory imagery that creates a mixture of apprehension and excitement.

The rain that follows Daisy’s inspection of Gatsby’s mansion mirrors her tears, which came “stormily” while she examined Gatsby’s “beautiful shirts.” Rain perhaps forecasts difficulties in their relationship moving forward, especially relating to the problems that Daisy’s marriage will undoubtedly present if they intend to rekindle their romance. Functionally, however, it confines them within the cocoon of Gatsby’s house, separating them from the reality of the outside world and allowing Gatsby control over Daisy’s experience of him—for the time being.

Serfdom was a position of indentured servitude in feudal Europe. Peasants—members of the working class who paid rent or tax to a feudal lord—who could not pay debts or taxes or who otherwise desired the lord’s protection could become serfs. Generally speaking, serfs lived and worked on the land of the feudal lord as opposed to maintaining distinct property and in some cases could be sold with the land on which they worked. Nick does not mean that Americans are literally serfs; however, he suggests that under the American capitalist system, individual workers are content to be treated as indentured servants as long as they don’t appear to be members of the lower class.

The black wreath would have been hung on the front door as a symbol of mourning after the brewer’s death. The fact that Gatbsy, who has arrived at a pivotal moment for his dream of winning back Daisy’s love, lives in the same house suggests that Fitzgerald is foreshadowing a similar failure for his dream of establishing himself in society.

Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) was a prominent German philosopher who would become a central figure in both modern Western philosophy and Enlightenment thinking. He made great strides in the areas of empiricism and rationalism and argued that human reason guides moral law and that anything built upon the foundation of human understanding is true—even science and religion, which often contradict each other. Nick’s likening himself to “Kant at his church steeple” alludes to the rumor that Kant developed his philosophies while staring at the church steeple outside his window; Fitzgerald perhaps means to show the degree to which Nick is being philosophically influenced by Gatsby or to remind readers of Kant’s belief that a person (here, Nick) can only know that which he himself experiences.

Fitzgerald again uses—and then distorts—epizeuxis, the repetition of a word or phrase without any intervening words in between, to capture the emotional intensity of the moment. The disruption of the pattern in the third of Wilson’s cries augments auditory imagery so that the reader can better experience his agony.

Gatsby’s “dead dream” is not only the loss of Daisy’s love, but also the fantasy of truly entering the upper class. Interestingly, Gatsby and Daisy are removed from the interaction in this paragraph—she “draw[s]...into herself,” he gives up on defending himself, and only his “dream” and her “lost voice” are left. Reducing the characters to their single most defining traits highlights their metaphorical natures and the thematic implications of their dynamic: Daisy is the unattainable, insubstantial promise of the American dream, and Gatsby is the hopeless attempt to achieve it.

Gatsby pointing out that his huge house is directly across the sound from Tom and Daisy seems to symbolize the distance between “new money” and “old money.” Both are monied classes, and seem like they should enjoy the same social standing. However, there is great tension between them over who is deserving of status. The “green Sound, stagnant,” joins the color of Gatsby’s hopes—the green light—with an image of immobility: the gap between “old” and “new” money may not be as traversable as he thinks.

Fitzgerald uses epizeuxis in the conductor’s dialogue when he exclaims “Hot! Hot! Hot!” Recall that epizeuxis is a device in which a word or phrase is repeated in succession with no words in between to break up the repetition. Epizeuxis often emphasizes a point, conveys humor, or creates emotional intensity. Here, epizeuxis highlights the oppressive quality of the heat, which foreshadows the emotional tenor of the characters and represents the powerful emotions that they struggle to control.

It is unclear whether Nick refers to Gatsby’s contact with other women of Daisy’s class or with other upper-class people in general. At this point in Gatsby’s life, he was penniless, which would have created a social barrier between himself and a woman like Daisy. Moreover, Gatsby’s idealism and beliefs about his destiny have prevented him from sharing intimacy with women before this point, as Nick has already revealed. This “indiscernible barbed wire” may in fact be Gatsby’s ambition, which has prevented him from becoming genuinely attached. Either way, Gatsby’s status as an army officer has overcome the class barrier that otherwise would have kept him out of Daisy’s circle.

Nick interprets Gatsby’s willingness to confide in him about the past as evidence that his persona has shattered “like glass” under Tom’s attack. The specific simile emphasizes the fragile nature of the “long secret extravaganza” Gatsby carried on for so long. Its breaking implies that the “new money” class cannot truly stand alongside the wealth of families like the Buchanans. The American dream, therefore, is untenable.

The green motif returns in Nick’s “vivid memories” of returning to his home in the West from where he attended school in Connecticut. At a time when many people relocated to the East to make their fortunes, Nick’s memory of returning to the Midwest suggests a symbolic return to the authentic self without the corrupting desire for success and wealth.