Rhetorical Strategies

·         Simile/figurative language: “At his lip’s touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete” (111). This particular simile illustrates the expectations from the American Dream which Fitzgerald so consistently criticized, with the fleeting happiness occurring at the cost of others. Fitzgerald used quite a large number of metaphors, similes, and general figurative language, finding a comparison to be a simple way to convey a message to the reader without a misunderstanding.

·         Imagery: “Port Roosevelt, where there was a glimpse of red-belted ocean-going ships, and sped along a cobbled slum lined with the dark, undeserted saloons of the faded-gilt nineteen-hundreds” (68). Fitzgerald relies upon imagery quite a bit, as he relies upon the situations he presents to speak for themselves, as in the case of this quotation, which points out the inhabited salons alongside the industrial signs of trade and the urban signs of squalor. By doing this, he emphasizes that, despite all that may be said of hard work and what its pay-offs may be, there is still the worker, seeking a release from the poor conditions he endures while others maintain a life of luxury.

·         Repetition: “’Hot!’ said the conductor to familiar faces. ’Some weather!...Hot!...Hot!...Hot!...Is it hot enough for you? Is it hot? Is it…?’” (115). Fitzgerald makes fairly infrequent use of repetition, though this particular quote utilizes it extensively, and manages to strengthen the scenario for it. Through the usage of an excess of repetition by a worker in a scene that features the continue of the efforts to court Daisy, who is the American Dream’s outcome personified, the amount of toil needed to profit is highlighted, and the impossibility of any real progress is made a point of, as the conductor receives no response, instead coinciding with Fitzgerald’ style of critique.