Figurative Language
The Great Gatsby, page
182:
Quotation:
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back
ceaselessly into the past.“
First: identify which type of figurative language the
quotation is.
In the above quotation it is definitely imagery, but it is
also a metaphor!!!
(Thank you,
Kamron!!!!!)
What is being compared to what?
We are being compared to boats.
What do the boats do? Beat or go against the current.
What does the current represent?
Time. Current could also represent life, life’s struggles.
Borne means carried.
What is Fitzgerald saying about us, our struggles, about
time and about life?
What is the thing we are trying to escape from? The past!
Does Fitzgerald think we can escape from the past?
Did Gatsby escape from the past?
What is the tone or attitude Fitzgerald takes in this
quotation?
Serious, hopeful, determined, philosophical, contemplative,
depressed, nostalgic
Connotative:
Beat: wearing oneself down with fruitless, repetitive, and
exhausting action
Ceaselessly: never stopping, exhaustedly, fruitlessly
Fruitless = futile, pointless, without a positive result, a
failure!!!!!!
Current: a strong flow of water, which can be difficult, if
not impossible, to overcome
Borne: to be brought back, to be carried, implies a
helplessness – despite one’s best efforts one is still carried back or away
from one’s intended goal.
Powerful Diction (diction means word choice):
Beat, Ceaselessly, Current
What is the tone of Fitzgerald’s quotation: “So we beat on,
boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
Philosophical; contemplative regarding the futility of life,
of effort; serious, elevated language
Elevated Language: refers to language that is heightened,
serious, eloquent, grand, expressing in a deeply eloquent, perhaps even poetical
way thoughts of profound, philosophical meaning.
