What Techniques and Strategies Does Fitzgerald Use to Emphasise the Meaning in His Novel?

F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel 'The Great Gatsby' displays the use of a variety of strategies and techniques to emphasize his meaning. Fitzgerald utilizes strategies and techniques to deliver his meaning of the themes within the novel such as the mystery of Gatsby, decay, and the fantasy of romance.

The character of Jay Gatsby is presented as a mystery. Fitzgerald gradually unveils the mystery of Gatsby through Nick Carraway, the narrator presented in the novel whom which the story passes through. Fitzgerald purposely presents Carraway as the narrator to convey a sense of mystery, as he is meeting Gatsby for the first time, creating a barrier between Gatsby and the reader. The enigma of Gatsby is described when Carraway sees ‘fifty feet away a figure had emerged from the shadow of my neighbour’s mansion’. Nothing is known or descrived about the figure, creating a sense of curiosity. As the novel progresses, Carraway acts a filter who familiarises himself with Gatsby’s history and intentions through speculation, slowly revealing who he truly is. Eventually, we learn through Carraway that Gatsby is actually a tragic figure, who was born poor pursuing wealth and identity for a greater purpose, his love for Daisy Buchanan. This displays Fitzgerald’s presentation of Carraway as the narrator to convey a sense of mystery and curiosity as he is a filter of the knowledge revealed of Gatsby.

The theme of decay is emphasized by Fitzgerald through the idea of the American Dream. Fitzgerald describes American society as a place filled with sin and lack of moral value, in order to pursue the American Dream. Fitzgerald uses the ‘valley of ashes – a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat… and take form of… men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air,’ as a symbol of poverty and the decaying society, watched over by the mocking eyes of Dr Eckleberg symbolizing God seeing the decline of moral value. Fitzgerald associates the American Dream with immorality and death. Fitzgerald introduces Myrtle Wilson, a character desperate