Literature Analysis #3
"The Great Gatsby"
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Book Version: Scribner Trade Paper Back Edition 2004
"He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced--or seemed to face--the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself."
-Chapter 3 (pg 48)
Book Version: Scribner Trade Paper Back Edition 2004
"He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced--or seemed to face--the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself."
-Chapter 3 (pg 48)
1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read according to the elements of plot you've learned in past courses (exposition, inciting incident, etc.). Explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).
"The Great Gatsby" by Francis Scott Fitzgerald is told from the narrative of young Midwest WWI veteran Nick Carraway. Nick Carraway moves to New York with the idea in his head that he is going to become a bond salesman and finds himself (rather mysteriously I may add) renting a modest house in the West Egg district of Long Island, New York, neighbors with the lavish party thrower Jay Gatsby.
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
The Shallowness and Emptiness of the Upper-class in the 1920's. Throughout the entire novel we get subtle glimpses of this idea as Fitzgerald describes event after event of the hypocrisy and shallowness of the upper class. Events such as Gatsby's Lavish parties to attract Daisy, "I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby's house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited-they went there...Once there they were introduced to somebody who knew Gatsby, and after that they conducted themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with an amusement park." (pg 41). Besides the overly extravagant parties and the gluttony by many of the primary and secondary characters just prior to the Great Depression, the affairs and hypocrisy of Gatsby, Daisy, Jordan, and Tom Buchanan, is something that seems to go unnoticed by Nick Carraway until after seeing their reactions to Gatsby's death. "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy [and Jordan]*--they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money of their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made." (* personal insert based on interpretation of the novel) (pg 179)
3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
The novel is written from Nick Carraway's point of view and thus shifts as Carraway's opinion of the people he interacts with changes. At the beginning of the novel (the exposition) Carraway's opinion of his new Long Island life style is one of optimism, admiration and astonishment. "I must have stood for a few moments listening to the whip and snap of the curtains and the rugs and the two young women ballooned slowly to the floor. (pg 8)" As the novel continues, Carraway (through an allusion to the disillusion of 1920's America) becomes more and more wary of the strangeness of Gatsby's lifestyle, along with the lifestyles of Tom, Daisy, and Jordan. "He talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy. His life had been confused and disordered since then, but if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what that thing was." (pg 110) Finally after the climax of the novel, Fitzgerald's tone toward the subjects turns to disgust as the true extent of their lifestyles becomes full circle. But even further than disgust, is the sense in Fitzgerald's tone of what could have been. After Gatsby's death Carraway reflects on his surrounding and his time on Long Island and writes "Most of the big shore places were closed now and there were hardly any lights except the shadowy, moving glow of a ferryboat across the Sound. And as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors' eyes-a fresh, green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby's house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder." (pg 180). Which in my opinion, is a fitting end for a novel that practically reflects on what could have been, not just for the characters, but for early 20th century American society and the dread of realization from Fitzgerald that it has all been lost.
4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)
Symbolism:
"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic 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 one fine morning-- So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." (pg 180)
CHARACTERIZATION
1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.
Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?
In my opinion Nick Carraway is the protagonist of the novel the "Great Gatsby" rather than Jay Gatsby himself. Most of the characterization of Carraway is done indirectly through characterization, reactions and interactions with other primary characters, and his own opinion of other characters that he gives us as the narrator. I didn't feel that in writing the "Great Gatsby" Fitzgerald focused on using direct characterization to describe and categorize Nick, but it is something that is done with the other primary characters such as Tom, Daisy, or Gatsby.
2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character? How? Example(s)?
I personally didn't recognize any change in syntax or diction when F. Scott Fitzgerald started to focus on character. Fitzgerald was known for using a lot of descriptive words in his writing the book the "Great Gatsby" is no exception. The only shifts were in dialogue, which can be attributed to a focus on character. Personally, every time I started to read dialogue from Daisy my inner voice shifted up a few decibels and I started talking in a stereotypical 1920's accent, because of what words Fitzgerald chose for Daisy's dialogues. Similar things happened to me for each character as I read, but this is actually something I do every time I read, regardless of the book or author.
3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic? Flat or round? Explain.
Nick Carraway is definitely a dynamic and round character within the novel. This is proven as Carraway changes his mind about Gatsby and the residents of East and West Egg, multiple times throughout the novel. Without this uncertainty from Carraway he wouldn't be considered a dynamic or round character, instead he would simply be a mary sue.
4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character? Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.
I actually did feel that I had met several of the characters in the "Great Gatsby" after reading the novel. I think it was because of how relatable the characters were and how well Fitzgerald is able to describe them. If I had to pick one character that I felt I knew the best after this book, I would have to say Gatsby. I have already used this quote, but when I read it for the first time, it felt as if I had already known Gatsby for years.
"He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced--or seemed to face--the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself." (pg 48)
"The Great Gatsby" by Francis Scott Fitzgerald is told from the narrative of young Midwest WWI veteran Nick Carraway. Nick Carraway moves to New York with the idea in his head that he is going to become a bond salesman and finds himself (rather mysteriously I may add) renting a modest house in the West Egg district of Long Island, New York, neighbors with the lavish party thrower Jay Gatsby.
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
The Shallowness and Emptiness of the Upper-class in the 1920's. Throughout the entire novel we get subtle glimpses of this idea as Fitzgerald describes event after event of the hypocrisy and shallowness of the upper class. Events such as Gatsby's Lavish parties to attract Daisy, "I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby's house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited-they went there...Once there they were introduced to somebody who knew Gatsby, and after that they conducted themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with an amusement park." (pg 41). Besides the overly extravagant parties and the gluttony by many of the primary and secondary characters just prior to the Great Depression, the affairs and hypocrisy of Gatsby, Daisy, Jordan, and Tom Buchanan, is something that seems to go unnoticed by Nick Carraway until after seeing their reactions to Gatsby's death. "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy [and Jordan]*--they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money of their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made." (* personal insert based on interpretation of the novel) (pg 179)
3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
The novel is written from Nick Carraway's point of view and thus shifts as Carraway's opinion of the people he interacts with changes. At the beginning of the novel (the exposition) Carraway's opinion of his new Long Island life style is one of optimism, admiration and astonishment. "I must have stood for a few moments listening to the whip and snap of the curtains and the rugs and the two young women ballooned slowly to the floor. (pg 8)" As the novel continues, Carraway (through an allusion to the disillusion of 1920's America) becomes more and more wary of the strangeness of Gatsby's lifestyle, along with the lifestyles of Tom, Daisy, and Jordan. "He talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy. His life had been confused and disordered since then, but if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what that thing was." (pg 110) Finally after the climax of the novel, Fitzgerald's tone toward the subjects turns to disgust as the true extent of their lifestyles becomes full circle. But even further than disgust, is the sense in Fitzgerald's tone of what could have been. After Gatsby's death Carraway reflects on his surrounding and his time on Long Island and writes "Most of the big shore places were closed now and there were hardly any lights except the shadowy, moving glow of a ferryboat across the Sound. And as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors' eyes-a fresh, green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby's house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder." (pg 180). Which in my opinion, is a fitting end for a novel that practically reflects on what could have been, not just for the characters, but for early 20th century American society and the dread of realization from Fitzgerald that it has all been lost.
4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)
Symbolism:
"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic 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 one fine morning-- So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." (pg 180)
Tone:
"I must have stood for a few moments listening to the whip and snap of the curtains and the rugs and the two young women ballooned slowly to the floor. (pg 8)"
"I must have stood for a few moments listening to the whip and snap of the curtains and the rugs and the two young women ballooned slowly to the floor. (pg 8)"
Setting:
"It was a matter of chance that I should have rented a house in one of the strangest communities in North America. It was on that slender riotous island which extends itself due east of New York..." (pg4)
Allusion:
"But above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic-their irises are one yard high. They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose. Evidently some wild wag of an oculist set them there to fatten his practice in the borough of Queens, and then sank down himself into eternal blindness, or forgot them and moved away. But his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days, under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground." (pg 23)
"But above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic-their irises are one yard high. They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose. Evidently some wild wag of an oculist set them there to fatten his practice in the borough of Queens, and then sank down himself into eternal blindness, or forgot them and moved away. But his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days, under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground." (pg 23)
Flashback:
"His voice was solemn, as if the memory of a sudden extinction of a clan still haunted him...Then came the war, old sport. It was a great relief, and I tried very hard to die." (pg 65-66)
"His voice was solemn, as if the memory of a sudden extinction of a clan still haunted him...Then came the war, old sport. It was a great relief, and I tried very hard to die." (pg 65-66)
Colloquialism:
The continued use of the phrase "Old Sport" by Gatsby to make him seem so distant and far away from everybody, but at the same time make him feel like a close friend you have grown old with. It is an entertaining phrase used again and again in the novel and it serves as a tool for Gatsby to put up a persona or façade with, which is completely different from his humble beginnings.
The continued use of the phrase "Old Sport" by Gatsby to make him seem so distant and far away from everybody, but at the same time make him feel like a close friend you have grown old with. It is an entertaining phrase used again and again in the novel and it serves as a tool for Gatsby to put up a persona or façade with, which is completely different from his humble beginnings.
Foreshadowing:
"In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. " 'Whenever you feel like criticizing any one...just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.'
"In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. " 'Whenever you feel like criticizing any one...just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.'
Imagery:
"When I came home to West Egg that night I was afraid for a moment that my house was on fire. Two o'clock and the whole corner of the peninsula was blazing with light, which fell unreal on the shrubbery and made thin elongating glints on the roadside wires" (pg 81)
CHARACTERIZATION
1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.
Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?
In my opinion Nick Carraway is the protagonist of the novel the "Great Gatsby" rather than Jay Gatsby himself. Most of the characterization of Carraway is done indirectly through characterization, reactions and interactions with other primary characters, and his own opinion of other characters that he gives us as the narrator. I didn't feel that in writing the "Great Gatsby" Fitzgerald focused on using direct characterization to describe and categorize Nick, but it is something that is done with the other primary characters such as Tom, Daisy, or Gatsby.
2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character? How? Example(s)?
I personally didn't recognize any change in syntax or diction when F. Scott Fitzgerald started to focus on character. Fitzgerald was known for using a lot of descriptive words in his writing the book the "Great Gatsby" is no exception. The only shifts were in dialogue, which can be attributed to a focus on character. Personally, every time I started to read dialogue from Daisy my inner voice shifted up a few decibels and I started talking in a stereotypical 1920's accent, because of what words Fitzgerald chose for Daisy's dialogues. Similar things happened to me for each character as I read, but this is actually something I do every time I read, regardless of the book or author.
3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic? Flat or round? Explain.
Nick Carraway is definitely a dynamic and round character within the novel. This is proven as Carraway changes his mind about Gatsby and the residents of East and West Egg, multiple times throughout the novel. Without this uncertainty from Carraway he wouldn't be considered a dynamic or round character, instead he would simply be a mary sue.
4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character? Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.
I actually did feel that I had met several of the characters in the "Great Gatsby" after reading the novel. I think it was because of how relatable the characters were and how well Fitzgerald is able to describe them. If I had to pick one character that I felt I knew the best after this book, I would have to say Gatsby. I have already used this quote, but when I read it for the first time, it felt as if I had already known Gatsby for years.
"He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced--or seemed to face--the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself." (pg 48)
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