Rhetorical Strategies

·      Metaphor: “’Her voice is full of money,’ he said suddenly” (120).

·      Imagery: “ Turning me around by one arm, he moved a broad flat hand along the front vista, including in its sweep a sunken Italian garden, a half acre of deep, pungent roses, and a snub-nosed motor-boat that bumped the tide offshore” (7).

·      Symbolism (metaphoric language): “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And then one fine morning—So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (180).

Fitzgerald uses rhetorical strategies in order to effectively develop his style.  In the first example, he uses a metaphor when describing Daisy.  Daisy both is literally and figuratively full of money, she has a very sophisticated voice and she is also extremely wealthy.  With her voice she has the ability to get what she wants, and Fitzgerald describes her with two meanings in order to convey to his readers a more rounded view of who she is.  Fitzgerald also has a way with elegantly describing each scene in the book, and when describing the “Italian garden, a half acre of deep, pungent roses, and a snub-nosed motor boat” it gives a clear picture to the readers of the view from Tom and Daisy’s house, as well as showing how wealthy the people in the Eggs are to afford such a view.  The green light that Nick sees as he lays on the beach is symbolic of the dreams that Gatsby had in his desire to recreate the past.  His love for Daisy and his foolish pursuit of past happiness led him to his demise, and the green light is a reminder that the American Dream is rarely reached with success and real happiness.   Much of what Fitzgerald writes about has deeper meanings that can be explored with careful analysis.