Syntax

Syntax Blog

            Throughout The Great Gatsby, novel 1920s author F. Scott Fitzgerald conveys his distaste for affluent lifestyles and the seemingly impeccable but ignorant egotism it creates. He communicates this almost satirical dislike by subtly mocking the “ineffable gaudiness” of such people through the utilization of syntactical variation in the structure of his sentences. One of Fitzgerald’s morally emptiest characters, Daisy Buchanan, confesses to her cousin Nick, “ ‘Sophisticated—God I’m sophisticated!’” (17). The telegraphic, fragmented clause contradicts the statement it makes—a “sophisticated” individual cannot make a grammatically correct remark about her own class. The broken structure also contributes to the inadequate state of Daisy’s mental stability. This transparently satirizes the lifestyle and person Daisy is, revealing the slightly humorous style of Fitzgerald’s writing. Because of these despicable individuals, the Earth itself is also paying a painful price. Fitzgerald explicitly illustrates the wasteland between West Egg and New York by saying, “This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke,” (23). Powerful and insightful, the anaphora invites the reader to behold the disaster that rich men with big dreams have engineered—a stretch of once rolling green hills now transfigured into a barren desert of man’s waste. Candidly, Fitzgerald furthermore demonstrates his lack of affinity for the wealthy and inconsiderate population of the covetous syndicate that pollutes the human race. While attending one of Jay Gatsby’s legendary parties, Nick notes the “whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos and low and high drums” (40). The omission of commas and excess of conjunctions highlights the unreasonable amount of instruments at the party, suggesting the abundance of money that is spent as if it is Gatsby’s hobby to do so. The author ridicules the display of money, as he sees it as not only unnecessary but immensely immature. Ultimately, the author witnessed the pitiful characteristics of such people and lifestyles due to living during the Roaring Twenties, and therefore effectively permeates his scorn for this abomination to humanity through his satirical style that is decorated with various syntactical strategies.