#3 Syntax

1. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And then one fine morning—
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

To contrast the significance of the past and the dreams of the future, Fitzgerald ends his novel with panicky, dual ended syntax. It’s split straight down its middle: The metaphoric current draws them back as they row toward the green light, representing Gatsby’s unattainable hopes and dreams for the future. In the novel he consistently reached blindly towards it, and Nick had earlier stretched the comparison to imagine how America, rising out of the ocean, must have looked to wide-eyed immigrants and early settlers of the brand new nation. As the author continues, the voyagers never lose their optimism. Such is mirrored in Fitzgerald’s parallel themes and omnipresent motif of the American Dream.

2. “If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away (2).”

Commas and semicolons are nearly omnipresent in The Great Gatsby. They allow for juicy, action-packed sentences that are simultaneously beautiful and ornate. His control over language gives him the freedom to include hilarious metaphor and extremely detailed recollection, jaw dropping realizations, and witty irony, all in a single sentence.