Fitzgerald's Rhetorical Devices

• ·      Adage: “’Whenever you feel like criticizing any one… just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantage that you’ve had’”(1).
• ·      Paradox: “I drove over to East Egg to see two old friends whom I scarcely knew at all” (6).
• ·      Irony: “Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it” (11).
• ·      Sarcasm: “’Do you want to hear about the butler’s nose?’ ‘That’s why I came over to-night’” (13).
• ·      Onomatopoeia: “When she moved about there was an incessant clicking as innumerable pottery bracelets jingled up and down upon her arms” (30).
• ·      Parallelism: “I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life” (35).

In “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author employs various rhetorical strategies to display his specific way of communicating the characteristics of the narrator, Nick Carraway. The author utilizes the adage at the very start of the novel to make a sufficient summary of the story’s main theme- the judgment of others (such as Gatsby). Fitzgerald adds in the tie back to the narrator in order to establish the character’s well-being and his state of mind throughout the plot of “The Great Gatsby”.

      At the beginning of the plot line (through the juxtaposition of “friends” and their relationship), Nick Carraway displays the isolation he feels from his own acquaintances. The fact that one of the friends he is visiting happens to be his cousin makes the statement even more depressing and pitiable. This utilization of paradox allows the reader to fully grasp Nick’s inability to communicate well with others.

      The dialogue of others to the narrator himself conveys his incredulity at the pettiness of the old rich in the East Egg as he relays Daisy Buchanan’s ridiculous remark on the longest day of the year. To “miss” something that took such a large duration of time is an ironic implication and creates a tone of sarcastic disdain from the author.

      Nick Carraway sarcastically replies to an innocent question from one of his friends at the party he is attending. This demonstrates the narrator’s lack of respect towards his peers and the disinterest he feels when discussing topics such as “the butler’s nose”. The biting answer is meant to make the question and thought process of the rich as empty and insignificant.

The narrator's hollow view of the rich continues with the onomatopoeia in the description of the woman’s attire, which develops the idea that the decorations along her arms are pointless and annoying (since “clicking” and “jingling” are used in a negative connotation in this example). The fact that the narrator emphasizes the aggravating sound of the jewelry makes him seem overly judgmental.

            As he describes his existence with a sentence containing parallel structure, the narrator utilizes the juxtaposing words to better illustrate his contradicting opinions of life. He cleverly encompasses both sides of an argument and exposes his undying grief regarding human nature and its unpredictability.