Gatsby Embodies West Egg Essay Example for Free

Gatsby Embodies West Egg Essay In the novel, â€Å"The Great Gatsby†, Scott Fitzgerald uses various literary devices such as theme, irony, and characterization to embody Gatsby with West Egg characteristics. The Great Gatsby is set in New York and on Long Island, in two areas known as West Egg and East Egg. The narrator, Nick, describes West Egg as the home to the â€Å"new rich,† those who, having made their fortunes recently, have neither the social connections nor the refinement to move among the East Egg set. West Egg is characterized by lavish displays of wealth and garish poor taste. Both locations can be seen generally as: established aristocracy for East Egg and the self-made rich in West Egg. Therefore, there’s definitely a discrepancy between the two places. Gatsby, one of the protagonists of the novel, lives in a huge mansion in West Egg and is an urbane man. He hosts parties every night which are full of fun and action, he seems like a man that exhilarates people to have fun. Gatsby embodies the characteristics of West Egg as he, at least until chapter 5, has made himself rich. In chapter 5 Gatsby clarifies that he did inherit his money from his family who bequeathed it to him, however he â€Å"lost most of it in the big panic- the panic of the war† (Fitzgerald 87). Therefore he got involved in the drug business and oil business to make money again, which he is no longer involved in. This is one way Gatsby embodies West Egg as he made himself rich by working in these 2 businesses. It is clear that Gatsby is wealthy as he owns an enormous house with â€Å"a swim pool, beach, vast garden, fancy parties and marble everywhere† (Fitzgerald 11). This portrays one of the themes in the novel, the clash between â€Å"old money† and â€Å"new money†, that manifests itself in the novel’s symbolic geography: East Egg and West Egg. Gatsby would be considered the â€Å"new money†, while people such as Tom, which come from a wealthy family, is the â€Å"old money†. This is a pivotal theme throughout the novel as it affects various aspects of characters and setting. This also relates to how the discrepancy between West Egg and East Egg affects the characterization of certain characters. Gatsby is characterized as a man that is wealthy and loves to share his â€Å"happiness† with others by hosting numerous parties which are full of expensive drinks such as â€Å"Chartreuse† (Fitzgerald 88) held in his luxurious mansion. Irony is also present in the first chapters of the novel, as before Nick Carraway met Gatsby, no one truly knew who he was or where he came from. There where a few rumors, such as him killing someone or being the son of a German king, however no one knew the truth and people wanted to ascertain more about Gatsby. Many scrutinized his background as many wondered where he came from, and who he truly was. Throughout the novel the reader know learns more about Gatsby. One might expect Gatsby, the organizer of the huge parties, to be an active, energetic, and creative person; however its ironic how the reader finds out Gatsby is the complete opposite. He is describes as a man of class, elegant, who doesn’t drink, isn’t an alcoholic, and isn’t a great partier himself, as he isn’t often present during his parties where everyone else is. This is another reason why he embodies the characteristics of West Egg, because in West Egg, those who made themselves rich, don’t, or at least until now, haven’t mentioned the way they earned their wealth. Gatsby doesn’t tell everyone immediately the way he became rich, he rarely talks about it. Also Nick, the narrator, he lives in West Egg, therefore he must have some sort of wealth, however he doesn’t mention it or clarifies exactly where he got it from. Instead East Egg seems to work in a different way, since it’s the place of â€Å"old money† and established aristocracy, that means people are established rich and have most likely inherited wealth from their family, such as Tom. Therefore, Fitzgerald portrays Gatsby in such ways that fulfill the characteristics of a man living in West Egg.

Capital Punishment is State Sanctioned Murder Essay example -- Argumen

Capital Punishment is State Sanctioned Murder Capital punishment is state sanctioned, premeditated murder. It is morally, ethically, and socially wrong. Murder is the intentional killing of one person by another. Capital punishment does just that. It takes the life of one person and uses another, "the executioner," to do it. In the state of Indiana, the warden of the state prison acts as "the executioner." The killing takes place before the hour of sunrise on a fixed day. The warden, "executioner," flips a switch that sends electrical current into the body of the convicted prisoner, thus ending the prisoner's life. What happens during the execution is one person's life is intentionally ended by the act of another. The difference, however, is that capital punishment is condoned by the state. The state's Supreme Court, Appeals Court, Superior courts, and prosecutors all play an important role in condoning the use of capital punishment. Many precautions are taken to ensure that all due process rights are given to the offender. I wonder how many times we have executed an innocent man or woman? Last month, in the state of Virginia, a man was executed for the brutal rape and murder of his sister-in-law. Throughout his 11 year stay on death row, he claimed he was not guilty of this crime. We may never know the truth, yet his life was ended. If his innocence could be proven today, there would be no way to reverse the punishment. There is no doubt that we have executed innocent people in this country. Throughout our lives we are taught that it is wrong to take the life of ... ...ustice that is being served? In my involvement with offenders on death row, I see the pain of their families as they go through the appeals process hoping and praying that their loved one's sentence be overturned. The use of the death penalty shows us that revenge is honored in our society. The cost of incarcerating an offender for their lifetime is much less than the cost of executing that same offender. In spite of the lower cost to imprison, we continue to execute offenders. To me, this mindset shows a system that considers the death of another to be a victory. Murder and capital punishment are synonymous. Both consist of the intentional killing of a human being. Both are morally, ethically, and socially wrong. The only difference is one form of killing is considered to be lawful.

Art Of The Late Ninegteenth Century Essay

Speaking about the late nineteenth century art, it is necessary to say that the transition from one century to another is always marked by the feeling of disillusionment as far as conventional themes and methods are concerned. There is an emptiness which prompts artists to search new forms, new means of expression. It is not always easy, however, which leads them to aspiration to escape from the usual reality to exotic countries and ways of life. The cultural phenomenon of fin de ciecle (end of the century) naturally manifested itself in visual arts and lead to emergence of impressionism and post-impressionism. Partially, impressionism appearance was caused by the fastening of life tempo and industrial revolution. As a result, impressionists aimed to depict the ever-changing reality; they wanted to catch the moment of the life flow, which is never the same. Impressionist painters inherited the romantic naturalist philosophy but chose different devices to reveal nature.   The term â€Å"postimpressionism† was coined by the English artist and critic Roger Fry (1866-1934) in 1910 as a name for the various movements that grew out of Impressionism, but moved away from its naturalist tendencies. In the current paper I intend to analyze some of postimpressionists’ paintings to trace the influence of traditional art and innovation. One of the most prominent painters on the brink of the centuries was Paul Gauguin. When we speak of fascination with primitive and exotic art, we primarily mean this artist’s attempt to move in this direction. Like most postimpressionists he started as impressionism and was devoted to traditional objective rendering of nature with the help of new coloring and light and shadow effects. In the course of time, when he was already a famous painter he realized inherent limitations impressionism had in itself and chose another direction. He did it not only in the figurative sense but he physically moved to Tahiti to investigate new opportunities for art progress. Let’s look closely at some of his canvasses of Tahitian period to discover what novelty they bear and how they correlate with impressionist tradition, on the one hand, and primitive art forms on the other hand. One of the most illustrative pictures of the series is called Femmes de Tahiti [Sur la plage] (Tahitian Women [On the Beach]) The name itself suggests that the conventional subject matter of impressionism – conveying fleeting states of nature – is put aside.   The painter made people his objects and applied revolutionary technique to depict them. The fist thing the eye catches is the unusual exotic coloring for the sky, the sea and the sand, which has nothing in common with the palette applied for European landscapes. The colors are rich and warm; it seems they soaked exotic sunlight. At the same time we see that the artist doesn’t aim at showing every subtle hue (if we speak of color) or every subtle bend of human body (if we speak of shape). On the contrary, he wants to make the impression of ultimate simplicity of color and form, which follows the tradition of primitive art. Despite of this primitivism, the women in the painting feel exceptionally real and palpable, not in terms of photographic similarity and anatomic precision but in terms of emotion conveyed. Natural rich colors of Pacific islands and simplicity of form make them a part of surrounding nature. As a result they feel real in a sense that they are devoid of any artificial glossiness, which civilization imposes. Another famous painting of Gauguin, which was considered to be scandalous and indecent by many of his contemporaries, is called Spirit of the Dead Watching. It depicts a nude young girl lying and mystical world surrounding her. This painting inherits the tradition of primitive art not only in terms of form but also in discovering the mythology of Tahitians. In this case Gauguin managed to do a unique thing – with the help of simple, rough, down-to-earth colors and forms he depicted an ephemeral world of spirits Edgar Degas is another famous postimpressionist of the late nineteenth century. Unlike Gauguin, he was not much into exotic themes. He inherited much from impressionist tradition, and was greatly influenced by the naturalist philosophy of romanticism. Still, if we look at his landscape paintings, it becomes plain that the emphasis is quite different, as well as the role of nature. For example, the canvass Aux courses en province (At the Races in the Country) is a perfect illustration to this dual influence. The painting is no way an ode to nature, as it was the case with impressionists and romanticists. It is rather the point, where the two worlds – rural and urban – intersect. The contrast between the picturesque scenery and the people who came to the country to enjoy themselves is really huge. This contrast is not manifested through color but through some specific details, which make the impression that the people are outsiders for the nature. Thus, a sun parasol a woman wears, her husband’s top hat, the cart among the field, and especially the horses’ eyes covered with blinders – all these details disclose the painters’ idea that people no longer belong to the nature. Degas is said to be the one who was greatly influenced by the revolutionary invention of the late nineteenth century – photography. Thus, his painting Absinthe is illustrative of the new perspective and spacing photography opened to artists. The canvass reminds of the technology of painting black and white photos, which was applied at this period of time. To sum up, the late nineteenth century was marked by the trend of transformation, transition from Romantic to Postimpressionist art and way of thinking. The painters of these periods were exposed to dual influence- on the one hand, they inherited the technique and tradition of impressionist art and naturalist philosophy, on the other hand the felt like the old principles and themes were exhausted, that’s why they resorted to new sources of inspiration like primitive exotic art and photography. Bibliography    Broude, Norma. Impressionism: A Feminist Reading: the Gendering of Art, Science, and Nature in the Nineteenth Century. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1997. â€Å"Impressionism , in Painting.† The Columbia Encyclopedia . 6th ed. 2004. Rewald, John. Post-Impressionism: From Van Gogh to Gauguin. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1956.   

Definition of Assemblage - Art History Glossary

(noun) - As one familiar with the word assembly might assume, assemblage is a form of sculpture comprised of found objects arranged in such a way that they create a piece. These objects can be anything organic or man-made. Scraps of wood, stones, old shoes, baked bean cans and a discarded baby buggy - or any of the other 84,000,000 items not here mentioned by name - all qualify for inclusion in an assemblage. Whatever catches the artists eye, and fits properly in the composition to make a unified whole, is fair game. The important thing to know about assemblage is that it is supposed to be three-dimensional and different from collage, which is supposed to be two-dimensional (though both are similarly eclectic in nature and composition). But! Theres a really fine, nearly invisible line between a bulky, multi-layered collage and an assemblage done in extremely shallow relief. In this large, grey area between assemb- and col-, the safest course is to take the artists word for it. Pronunciation: ah ·sem ·blahj Also Known As: construction, bricolage, collage (inaccurately), sculpture Examples: Lets save many thousands of words here and look at some pictures of assemblages done by different artists. Raoul Hausmann: Mechanical Head (Spirit of Our Age), ca. 1920Man Ray: , 1964 (replica of 1923 original)Louise Nevelson: , 1957Meret Oppenheim: , 1936Kurt Schwitters: Broad Schmurchel (Breite Schmurchel), 1924Joseph Cornell: Navigating the ImaginationRobert Rauschenberg: Combines (Exhibition Image Gallery)