Rhetorical Strategies

Hyperbole: “He found the house, a weather-beaten cardboard bungalow at eighty a month,”(3).
Allusion: “Promising to unfold the shining secrets that only Midas and Morgan and Maecenas knew,”(4).
Antithesis: “And so it happened that on a warm windy evening I drove over to East Egg to see two old friends whom I scarcely knew at all,”(6).
    Throughout the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author employs many different forms of rhetorical strategies to color the language, and critically analyze the downfalls of high society during the Roarin’ 20’s. At the beginning of the novel, the author describes the state of the house his friend had found for them to live in with a hyperbole in order to emphasize the contrast between his little “bungalow” squeezed in between two rather more expensive mansions. With this description the author creates an almost comical imagery of a tiny house squeezed between the houses of millionaires. It could be construed that because such homes with a difference in price point are stuck in such close proximity to each other, it symbolizes how not only the rich, but also the poor can suffer from the lies and drama started by high society. Next, the author alludes to such figures as King Midas, Morgan, and Maecenas, to exemplify the mindset of individuals during the 1920’s. Those figures that are famous for being rich were common idols for people. Everyone was trying to be richer, whether it be monetary richness, or being rich with love and admiration. In many cases, like Gatsby, this search for more could lead to their eventual downfall. Finally, the antithesis Fitzgerald creates about the “old friends that I scarcely knew at all” truly epitomizes the high society of the 1920’s. People that lived together in that great society all hardly knew each other. Daisy barely knows Tom, Nick barely knows Jordan, and Tom barely knows Gatsby. These individuals thrive off of lies and misconceptions about each other, living in a blissful state of unawareness. Once that state is lifted, all of the lies fall apart right on top of everyone’s heads.