Question

Read the passage below and answer the question that follows. ‘You make me feel uncivilized, Daisy,’ I confessed on my second glass of corky but rather impressive claret. ‘Can’t you talk about crops or something?’ I meant nothing in particular by this remark but it was taken up in an unexpected way. ‘Civilization’s going to pieces,’ broke out Tom violently. ‘I’ve gotten to be a terrible pessimist about things. Have you read ‘The Rise of the Coloured Empires’ by this man Goddard?’ ‘Why, no,’ I answered, rather surprised by his tone. ‘Well, it’s a fine book, and everybody ought to read it. The idea is if we don’t look out the white race will be—will be utterly submerged. It’s all scientific stuff; it’s been proved.’ In this passage, Tom’s ideas about race relations come off as uncivilized. What literary device is Fitzgerald using here?

Answer 1

Fitzgerald uses irony.Tom speaks of the uncivilized, those who are not white.He uses an air of superiority when he is the one who is not being civilizad at all.If he was born with all the advantages he had, why should he feel threatened by inferior races' At the same time , the whole idea of judging people by the colour of their skin is uncivilized.He uses violence to have the control of things.Again he is being almost primitive in not accepting different people, specially because  he presents himself as a superior being.