Chapter 1
Genre
How trustworthy / impartial is the narrator? Keen to stress objectivity:
‘I’m inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me.’
Events take place some time before narration. Filter of memory:
‘I came back from the East last autumn.’
Addresses reader directly at times:
‘After boasting this way of my tolerance, I come to the admission that it has a limit.’
Father’s advice – what does it imply?
‘Whenever you feel like criticising anyone,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.’
Of sound moral background, well-educated (Yale), middle-class:
‘My family [are] prominent, well-to-do people.’
Nick’s position (both physically and as a narrator) is on the periphery of events:
‘My house was [...] squeezed between two huge places [...] it was a small eyesore [in] proximity of millionaires.’
Symbols: dust, windows, gold, shadow, sun, dusk / twilight, wind, stars, Gatsby’s house (new and bold – a statement):
‘[It] was a colossal affair [...] with a tower [...] a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn.’
The green light – Gatsby’s sanctified ritual. A gesture of love. Light could symbolise hope and dreams. His reaching out is bringing himself closer to it.
Gatsby introduced gradually leading to a sense of mystery and expectation:
‘When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was once again alone in the unquiet darkness.’
Vision & Viewpoint
West Egg v East Egg (new money v old money, Western USA v Eastern USA):
‘I lived at West Egg, the – well, less fashionable of the two.’
Nick seeks to be a ‘well-rounded man’ – a bond salesman.
Women depicted in a dreamlike setting (rich and bored, white, expansive room, dresses “fluttering”).
Daisy: socialite, fickle, affected, superficial voice (‘a voice with money in it’):
‘She was extended full length [...] completely motionless, and with her chin raised a little, as if she were balancing something on it which was likely to fall.’
Tom: brutish, hulking, powerful, arrogant, bully, prejudice (classist, racist), selfish, keen to maintain his position and keeps others out:
‘Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face.’
Characters live up to societal expectations?
Lifestyle depicted as shallow (people judged by appearances) – materialistic, decadent, luxuriant.
Insincerity and marital infidelity:
‘As for Tom, the fact that he “had some woman in New York” was really less surprising than that he had been depressed by a book.’
Theme
Nick: jaded and embittered by his past:
‘I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart.’
Insiders and outsiders (the “haves” and “have nots”):
‘His [Tom’s] family were enormously wealthy – even in college his freedom with money was a matter for reproach.’
Contrasts between Nick and Tom?
Tom is sporty, owns horses, etc. First words: ‘I’ve got a nice place here.’
Sense of superiority => a foil to Gatsby
Gatsby is alone at end of chapter – isolated and fixated on his goal, single-minded and determined:
‘I didn’t call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone.’
Loss of self-identity; the adopted persona of ‘Jay Gatsby’ (aka Jimmy Gatz) is a show to woo Daisy, his life’s love
Chapter 2
Genre
Contrast between the end of Chapter 1 to opening of Chapter 2: romantic dream (‘green light’) → ugly reality (‘valley of ashes’)
Valley of ashes (greyness) – desolate and forsaken. Boundary of city and suburbs. Spiritless (like George):
‘Ashes grow like wheat into [...] grotesque gardens.’
Doctor T.J. Eckleburg – eyes on the billboard. A spiritual force (eyes of God) observing characters’ reckless and immoral behaviour:
‘His eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days, under the sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground.’
As Myrtle changes her clothes, so she changes her personality – tries to leave behind the lower classes:
‘With the influence of the dress [...] her laughter, her gestures, her assertions became more violently affected.’
Curious use of ellipses at the end of the chapter:
‘Beauty and the beast ... Loneliness ... Old Grocery Horse ...’
Subtle hints of homosexuality – challenging accepted sexual morality of the time (both Catherine and Nick):
‘... I was standing beside his bed, and he was sitting up between the sheets, clad in his underwear.’
Vision & Viewpoint
Valley of ashes overlooked by the sophisticated people. Sense of entrapment and neglect (poverty trap)
Tom’s attitude to infidelity is ambiguous: open in front of Daisy, but discreet on train car – pretence:
‘Mrs Wilson sat discreetly in another car. Tom deferred that much to the sensibilities of those East Eggers.’
Myrtle concerned with appearances – sees Tom as a ticket to seemingly glamorous, materialistic lifestyle. Chooses taxi with great care, and apartment is full of material items:
‘The living-room was crowded to the doors with a set of tapestried furniture entirely too large for it.’
Infidelity is not an issue – money and power is all
Tom hitting Myrtle is an incident that portrays a hidden side to the Jazz Age – behind carefree abandon, there is a callousness towards humanity:
‘“Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!” shouted Mrs Wilson. “I’ll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai –” Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.’
Theme
Tom orders Nick around when showing him his “world”. Nick, like the reader, is an outsider looking in:
‘He jumped to his feet and, taking hold of my elbow, literally forced me from the car.’
Myrtle (a lower class woman) is ambitious and driven, aspiring to refinement. Her true self emerges when drunk at the end:
‘“I told that boy about the ice.” Myrtle raised her eyebrows in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower orders.’
She invites guests to apartment to “show off” – assumes a false sense of superiority in front of McKees (a dull pair):
‘“I like your dress,” remarked Mrs McKee. “I think it’s adorable.” Mrs Wilson rejected the compliment by raising her eyebrows in disdain. “It’s just a crazy old thing,” she said. “I just slip it on when I don’t care what I look like.”’
Tom’s violent outburst is shocking and disturbing, and reminds Myrtle of her place in his life through brute force. He reminds her that she is not his social equal.
Her identity is in conflict with reality, as she tries to “fit in”
Chapter 3
Genre
Comparisons and contrasts can be drawn between Tom and Gatsby’s party (Ch.2 → Ch.3)
Reader delayed from meeting Gatsby => building mystery and suspense. Reader becomes intrigued like Nick:
‘“You look at him sometimes when he thinks nobody’s looking at him. I’ll bet he killed a man.”’
Jordan withholds the purpose of her private conversation with Gatsby: “the most amazing thing,” she says only to Nick.
The haze of alcohol is a repeated motif => a harsh commentary on the escapist ‘Jazz Age’
Although Nick’s judgment is not clouded by Jordan’s fame, he easily dismisses her dishonesty:
‘She was incurably dishonest [...] dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply – I was casually sorry, and then I forgot’
[...]
‘I am one of the few honest people I have ever known’
Is he contradicting his good judgment? Is he revealing a double standard? Does this raise questions about his own moral strength, and trustworthiness as a narrator?
Vision & Viewpoint
By attending Gatsby’s party, Nick moves from spectator to active participant, leading to a more informed vision and viewpoint.
Party guests are not appealing: gatecrashers who care little about their host and are hungry for gossip and scandal:
‘Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all’
Partying brings meaning to otherwise meaningless lives:
‘I felt a haunting loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others’
Reality versus rumour: guests “construct” Gatsby in a similar way to how he “constructs” his own image:
‘It was a testimony to the romantic speculation he inspired that there were whispers about him from those who had found little that it was necessary to whisper about in this world’
‘Owl Eyes’ is impressed by Gatsby’s real books (unlike other nouveaux riches). Reality is a rare thing to find:
‘“Absolutely real – have pages and everything. I thought they’d be a nice durable cardboard [...] what thoroughness! What realism!”’
Theme
Gatsby’s generosity and hospitality (orchestra and catering) is taken advantage of by his guests:
‘They conducted themselves according to the rules of behaviour associated with an amusement park’
Gatsby stands apart from his guests – marginalised. No one seeks him out or seems to care:
‘No one swooned backward on Gatsby, and no French bob touched Gatsby’s shoulder, and no singing quartets were formed with Gatsby’s head for one link’
Nick’s personal invitation sets him apart too:
‘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’
He doesn’t blend in easily with the East Coast crowd:
‘I slunk off in the direction of the cocktail table – the only place in the garden where a single man could linger without looking purposeless and alone’
Chapter 4
Genre
Begins with a list of partygoers’ names: socialites, famous and infamous – a who’s who of 1922. East Egg – aristocratic-sounding names (established social order); West Egg – ethnic sounding names (newcomers).
Symbolic date of Nick’s notes (5 July – day after Independence Day) => benefitting without having to fight for this way of life – parasites.
Gatsby’s car is like his house – excessively big, verging on gaudy. Ironic that his car (a symbol of the American dream) will ultimately lead to his undoing.
Gatsby tells Nick his elaborate lie (so that Nick doesn’t get a “wrong idea” of him) – irony. Highly unbelievable story which we’re invited to doubt (as Nick doubts)
Meyer Wolfsheim’s name suggest his animalistic nature. He boasts of his human molar cufflinks.
Daisy Fay (Fay is a synonym for the word “fairy”) –appropriate to her ethereal nature
Nick’s increasing involvement with Jordan clouds his judgment – helps to deceive Tom and bring Gatsby’s fantasy to life at her request.
Vision & Viewpoint
Gatsby’s fiction: wealthy Midwest family, educated at Oxford, toured Europe, and a major in the military –an invention of an ideal self, a romance in which the hero is an adventurer (highly unbelievable).
The world of 1922 Jazz Age is perceived as corrupt: his favour to police commissioner, Gatsby’s link to Wolfsheim and the underworld of “dirty money”
Gatsby wants to meet Daisy at Nick’s house so she can witness his ostentatious show of wealth, the very lack of which caused her to initially reject him in favour of Tom.
Tom and Gatsby are both linked by their pursuit of their different dreams. Nick, who has no such dream, feels empty, and kisses Jordan at the end in some apparent vain attempt to escape this realisation.
Theme
Gatsby’s adopted persona / invented image is revealed, a story Nick clearly doubts. Gatsby claims he is from San Francisco, which is not the Midwest as he had previously stated.
Gatsby is an outsider, having been rejected by Daisy’s family – his lack of money was his primary character deficit
Daisy does not openly challenge Tom’s libertine behaviour, perhaps because by doing so she would jeopardize her status and security, the things her life has revolved around; the very things that give her a sense of identity. She married for money, not for love.
Chapter 5
Genre
Gatsby and Daisy’s meeting is a key moment in the book – Gatsby’s dream of Daisy is fulfilled. The book’s high point.
The dream is fulfilled early in the book, suggesting that this is not a typical rags-to-riches (happy-ever-after) story.
Gatsby’s knocking down Nick’s broken clock in his awkwardness is perhaps symbolic of his own life, trapped in the past by his dreams of ideal love with Daisy. He has been frozen in time, but now that he is face-to-face with his “vision”, the clock is knocked off the mantelpiece.
Gatsby’s revelation to Daisy of the green light across the bay (representing hope, forward momentum, money, etc.) is lost on her, but not on Nick. The light will no longer hold the same significance for Gatsby. His dream must change.
Gatsby’s clothing (“white flannel suit, silver shirt, a gold-coloured tie”) are an overt reminder of his newly earned wealth.
Vision & Viewpoint
Gatsby’s perception of Daisy is perfection and so wants their meeting to be perfect: the mowed lawn, the greenhouse of flowers, the silver tea set.
He shows his vulnerability and uncertainty, with his self-conscious behaviour at first.
Gatsby and Daisy are a good match: his dreamlike (fairytale) nature compliments Daisy’ ethereal qualities, claiming she’d “like to just get one of those pink clouds and put [him] in it and push [him] around.”
Reality and fantasy are confused, as Gatsby listens to her “enchanting voice” and falls deeply in love with his vision
Nick’s voice of reason emerges at the end of the chapter as he recognises dissatisfaction in Gatsby’s face. Through Nick, Fitzgerald suggests that Gatsby’s dream is at last realised but simultaneously gone.
How can a fantasy be brought to life? Was Gatsby in love with Daisy all this time, or was it rather an image or perception of Daisy that he built up over time in her absence?
Theme
Everything Gatsby has done has been tied to the pursuit of Daisy, so much that he has lost his sense of self-identity
Gatsby’s offer to Nick “to pick up a nice piece of money” is at odds with traditional forms of generosity, showing how much of an outsider he is with the “old money” world
Gatsby’s shirts are a glaringly obvious display of wealth – a materialistic gesture which, through her reaction, illustrates Daisy’s true nature. She is not crying for lost love, but for the overt display of wealth before her.
Gatsby’s plan of entrapment proves successful, but at what cost?
Chapter 6
Genre
The chapter opens with increasing mystery of Gatsby as a reporter calls to Nick’s door. His reputation is growing and suspicion regarding his wealth is rising.
Reader is filled in on the real James Gatz – a sharp contrast to the lies Gatsby told Nick in Chapter 4. Much of the mystery surrounding Gatsby is cleared away.
Dan Cody’s name (Daniel Boone and “Buffalo Bill” Cody – two romanticized frontier figures in American folklore)
Daisy offering Tom her golden pencil to write down the names of women at the party he likes shows clearly that her marriage is a sham, based on social convenience and greed
Vision and Viewpoint
We’re both impressed by Gatsby’s determination and resolve but also somewhat disturbed by how he manages to pull off the charade with such ease.
But there is little growth on Gatsby’s part. Living in his fictive world has been detrimental to his self. Dreams and goals are good but not when they consume the dreamer.
Although his wealth allows him to mix in certain social strata, having money is not enough. Where the money comes from and how long it’s been around matters just as much. (Daisy and Tom are remarkably unimpressed with the “raw vigour” of the guests at Gatsby’s house).
Gatsby shows again how removed he is from reality in his response to Nick’s statement about not being able to recreate the past. “Why, of course you can!” he replies. This shows that he can not fully function in the present as he is trapped his ideal memories.
Theme
When Tom and his friends call into Gatsby’s house, it is for purely mercenary reasons. Gatsby stands alone from them as they sneak out without him. He is rudely rejected. He will never be accepted by anyone but the nouveaux riches.
Gatsby’s misreading of their rhetorical invitation illustrates how little he understands of their social norms, and shows how shallow and mean-spirited “old money” is.
Gatsby gets involved in his own party for the first time by dancing with Daisy – an outsider in his own home.
Gatsby’s story is the rags-to-riches American Dream – a young man from nowhere making it big through his ingenuity and resourcefulness.
His obsession with the past and his dream marginalizes him, forcing him to the fringes of society.
Chapter 7
Genre
All paths (plot and sub-plots) converge in this chapter
As the weather gets hotter and more oppressive, we get to the heart of the matter
The change of location to the city allows for a change in action in the novel – a neutral venue for Gatsby and Tom to have their head-to-head
Nick mentions his thirtieth birthday in passing – a time of transition from youthful idealism to reality
Myrtle’s death is symbolic. The “death car” (the biggest and fanciest of all) is an obvious manifestation of the American Dream.
It is materialism that brings about Myrtle’s end; she is killed by her own desires. Fitzgerald is warning of the danger of dwelling too much on material items.
Wilson stands opposite Tom in how both respond to their wives’ infidelities and in their reaction to Myrtle’s death. The poorer man comes off as more passionate and heartfelt in his grief.
Nick, as narrator, grows and develops in this chapter unlike the other characters. He takes a moral stand and is disgusted by what he sees: ‘I’d be damned if I’d go in; I’d had enough of all of them for one day.’
Vision & Viewpoint
In Tom’s elitist mind, Gatsby is common and therefore his existence is meaningless
Gatsby is unprepared for their confrontation. In his mind, he did not expect anything to get in his way. Gatsby’s dream is the only thing that is real to him, and without it he can no longer define himself
The true nature of Daisy emerges – she does not love Gatsby as he loves her. It appears that she was having her affair with Gatsby all along to get back at Tom.
Gatsby’s carefully constructed dream unravels by Daisy’s refusal to say that she never loved Tom
Tom, although saddened by Myrtle’s death, perceives her as he does all those not of his social class - an expendable object)
Theme
Daisy betrays Gatsby in this chapter by abandoning him, leaving him vulnerable and tragically alone. She does this by refusing to be part of his dream.
Gatsby’s identity reaches crisis point as his hopes and plans disintegrate
As Gatsby waits outside Daisy’s house, he makes a strikingly odd figure in his pink suit glowing luminously in the moonlight. He is clearly isolated at this point (even more of an outsider now).
He waits in vain like a knight-errant, willing to sacrifice his own life to protect Daisy.
Chapter 8
Genre
Gatsby’s death can be seen as the symbolic death of idealism in the harsh modern world
Nick moves further away from the background to emerge as an important moral presence in the book, made clear by his sympathy for Gatsby and his cutting Jordan off on the phone at the end
The narrative shifts in time and place: i) Jay Gatz fills Nick in on his past with Daisy, ii) Gatsby and Nick are at Gatsby’s house in the present, iii) the evening prior in the valley of ashes is discussed and Gatsby’s murder (which reads like a witness’s account in a courtroom)
Wilson explains the purpose of Dr T.J. Eckleburg’s eyes to Michaelis as the eyes of God, and ‘God sees everything.’
As the book begins to come to a close, we are told it is autumn, a season that brings a natural end to life. Although Gatsby dies prematurely, we feel it is a fitting end to one whose whole raison d’être has imploded
Vision & Viewpoint
Fitzgerald’s viewpoint is that pure idealism has no place in a shallow, materialistic world (such as that of the Jazz Age)
Gatsby becomes visibly weaker and despondent in this chapter, now that his illusion has vanished, leaving him feeling hollow and empty
Gatsby’s mistake is revealed: he defined Daisy not merely by who she is but by what she had and what she represented for him
Nick makes it clear that Daisy did not deserve him:
‘They’re a rotten crowd […] You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.’
Gatsby’s death can be perceived as chivalric in that he dies to protect Daisy’s innocence – a romantic to the end
Nick’s revelation is that finally he has recognised the shallowness of “polite society” for all its amoral and self-serving ways
Therefore Fitzgerald’s viewpoint on the world that he creates in The Great Gatsby can be seen as pessimistic
Theme
Gatsby’s isolated vigil outside Daisy’s house, and his genuine surprise at not being needed, illustrates how little he really knows Daisy, and how out of touch he is with the reality of his situation.
His openness to Nick about his past is the first time he sets aside his romantic notions to confront the past he has been trying all his life to run away from. His identity is in a state of crisis.
Nick’s rejection of Jordan sets him apart as courageous and possessing the integrity that she and others of her social class lack
Gatsby dies alone in his pool, a fitting end. Nick says that he ‘must have felt that he had lost the old warm world’ when his dream died, and found no reason to go on.
His identity ‘had broken up like glass against Tom’s hard malice.’
Chapter 9
Genre
Fitzgerald withholds information about Gatsby right up to the last chapter when Henry C. Gatz (Gatsby’s father) arrives and gives us another glimpse into his son’s past
He confirms Gatsby’s dreamer spirit by pointing out his ‘schedule’ on a copy of a 1906 version of Hopalong Cassidy, a famous (mythologized) Western adventure
As Nick’s train moves further and further West, he becomes more comfortable, reminding us once again of the merits of the Midwest versus the vices of the East
Nick’s refusal to shake Tom’s hand at first on their chance meeting on the street and then his subsequent shaking of his hand because he ‘felt suddenly as though [he] were talking to a child’ demonstrates Nick’s maturity at the end
The symbol of the green light is mentioned again at the end – the light remains shining despite the destruction of Gatsby’s dream
The final image is symbolic too when Nick sums up society as ‘boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past’ just like Gatsby, and perhaps just like us all in some ways.
Vision & Viewpoint
Gatsby has been seen as the paragon of the American dream throughout the book with his money, possessions, independence and flash parties, but is abandoned by all at the end,demonstrating the shallowness of society
Even after his death, Gatsby is mythologized by reporters filling their rags with half-truths and full-blown lies
Gatsby’s father is not unlike the partygoers who seems to take great pride in his son’s possessions:
‘He had shown [the photograph of Gatsby’s house] so often that I think it was more real to him now than the house itself.’
Jordan’s hypocrisy is shown for the last time as she, piqued by Nick’s rejection, accuses him of deceit and dishonesty over the phone
Fitzgerald’s final moral is that reaching for a dream can be a dangerous thing if in doing so we move away from what is real – the more Gatsby reached for his, the more it dragged him into his shadowy past like the ‘boats against the current’
Theme
Gatsby is alone at the end, as he always really was. Nick finds himself ‘on Gatsby’s side, and alone.’
Nick tries in vain to ‘get somebody’ to attend Gatsby’s funeral: Daisy and Tom have left, Wolfsheim is concerned about his reputation, the partygoers disappear, and Klipspringer rings up only to retrieve his tennis shoes
Nick can no longer stay on the East Coast and so heads West, back to a place where morality and kindness still exist (and Nick can feel again part of something real)
The final fate of the outsiders: Nick grows in character but departs in disgust, Gatsby’s identity crumbles and he dies, and Myrtle is killed by her own vanity and material desires
Genre
How trustworthy / impartial is the narrator? Keen to stress objectivity:
‘I’m inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me.’
Events take place some time before narration. Filter of memory:
‘I came back from the East last autumn.’
Addresses reader directly at times:
‘After boasting this way of my tolerance, I come to the admission that it has a limit.’
Father’s advice – what does it imply?
‘Whenever you feel like criticising anyone,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.’
Of sound moral background, well-educated (Yale), middle-class:
‘My family [are] prominent, well-to-do people.’
Nick’s position (both physically and as a narrator) is on the periphery of events:
‘My house was [...] squeezed between two huge places [...] it was a small eyesore [in] proximity of millionaires.’
Symbols: dust, windows, gold, shadow, sun, dusk / twilight, wind, stars, Gatsby’s house (new and bold – a statement):
‘[It] was a colossal affair [...] with a tower [...] a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn.’
The green light – Gatsby’s sanctified ritual. A gesture of love. Light could symbolise hope and dreams. His reaching out is bringing himself closer to it.
Gatsby introduced gradually leading to a sense of mystery and expectation:
‘When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was once again alone in the unquiet darkness.’
Vision & Viewpoint
West Egg v East Egg (new money v old money, Western USA v Eastern USA):
‘I lived at West Egg, the – well, less fashionable of the two.’
Nick seeks to be a ‘well-rounded man’ – a bond salesman.
Women depicted in a dreamlike setting (rich and bored, white, expansive room, dresses “fluttering”).
Daisy: socialite, fickle, affected, superficial voice (‘a voice with money in it’):
‘She was extended full length [...] completely motionless, and with her chin raised a little, as if she were balancing something on it which was likely to fall.’
Tom: brutish, hulking, powerful, arrogant, bully, prejudice (classist, racist), selfish, keen to maintain his position and keeps others out:
‘Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face.’
Characters live up to societal expectations?
Lifestyle depicted as shallow (people judged by appearances) – materialistic, decadent, luxuriant.
Insincerity and marital infidelity:
‘As for Tom, the fact that he “had some woman in New York” was really less surprising than that he had been depressed by a book.’
Theme
Nick: jaded and embittered by his past:
‘I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart.’
Insiders and outsiders (the “haves” and “have nots”):
‘His [Tom’s] family were enormously wealthy – even in college his freedom with money was a matter for reproach.’
Contrasts between Nick and Tom?
Tom is sporty, owns horses, etc. First words: ‘I’ve got a nice place here.’
Sense of superiority => a foil to Gatsby
Gatsby is alone at end of chapter – isolated and fixated on his goal, single-minded and determined:
‘I didn’t call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone.’
Loss of self-identity; the adopted persona of ‘Jay Gatsby’ (aka Jimmy Gatz) is a show to woo Daisy, his life’s love
Chapter 2
Genre
Contrast between the end of Chapter 1 to opening of Chapter 2: romantic dream (‘green light’) → ugly reality (‘valley of ashes’)
Valley of ashes (greyness) – desolate and forsaken. Boundary of city and suburbs. Spiritless (like George):
‘Ashes grow like wheat into [...] grotesque gardens.’
Doctor T.J. Eckleburg – eyes on the billboard. A spiritual force (eyes of God) observing characters’ reckless and immoral behaviour:
‘His eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days, under the sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground.’
As Myrtle changes her clothes, so she changes her personality – tries to leave behind the lower classes:
‘With the influence of the dress [...] her laughter, her gestures, her assertions became more violently affected.’
Curious use of ellipses at the end of the chapter:
‘Beauty and the beast ... Loneliness ... Old Grocery Horse ...’
Subtle hints of homosexuality – challenging accepted sexual morality of the time (both Catherine and Nick):
‘... I was standing beside his bed, and he was sitting up between the sheets, clad in his underwear.’
Vision & Viewpoint
Valley of ashes overlooked by the sophisticated people. Sense of entrapment and neglect (poverty trap)
Tom’s attitude to infidelity is ambiguous: open in front of Daisy, but discreet on train car – pretence:
‘Mrs Wilson sat discreetly in another car. Tom deferred that much to the sensibilities of those East Eggers.’
Myrtle concerned with appearances – sees Tom as a ticket to seemingly glamorous, materialistic lifestyle. Chooses taxi with great care, and apartment is full of material items:
‘The living-room was crowded to the doors with a set of tapestried furniture entirely too large for it.’
Infidelity is not an issue – money and power is all
Tom hitting Myrtle is an incident that portrays a hidden side to the Jazz Age – behind carefree abandon, there is a callousness towards humanity:
‘“Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!” shouted Mrs Wilson. “I’ll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai –” Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.’
Theme
Tom orders Nick around when showing him his “world”. Nick, like the reader, is an outsider looking in:
‘He jumped to his feet and, taking hold of my elbow, literally forced me from the car.’
Myrtle (a lower class woman) is ambitious and driven, aspiring to refinement. Her true self emerges when drunk at the end:
‘“I told that boy about the ice.” Myrtle raised her eyebrows in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower orders.’
She invites guests to apartment to “show off” – assumes a false sense of superiority in front of McKees (a dull pair):
‘“I like your dress,” remarked Mrs McKee. “I think it’s adorable.” Mrs Wilson rejected the compliment by raising her eyebrows in disdain. “It’s just a crazy old thing,” she said. “I just slip it on when I don’t care what I look like.”’
Tom’s violent outburst is shocking and disturbing, and reminds Myrtle of her place in his life through brute force. He reminds her that she is not his social equal.
Her identity is in conflict with reality, as she tries to “fit in”
Chapter 3
Genre
Comparisons and contrasts can be drawn between Tom and Gatsby’s party (Ch.2 → Ch.3)
Reader delayed from meeting Gatsby => building mystery and suspense. Reader becomes intrigued like Nick:
‘“You look at him sometimes when he thinks nobody’s looking at him. I’ll bet he killed a man.”’
Jordan withholds the purpose of her private conversation with Gatsby: “the most amazing thing,” she says only to Nick.
The haze of alcohol is a repeated motif => a harsh commentary on the escapist ‘Jazz Age’
Although Nick’s judgment is not clouded by Jordan’s fame, he easily dismisses her dishonesty:
‘She was incurably dishonest [...] dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply – I was casually sorry, and then I forgot’
[...]
‘I am one of the few honest people I have ever known’
Is he contradicting his good judgment? Is he revealing a double standard? Does this raise questions about his own moral strength, and trustworthiness as a narrator?
Vision & Viewpoint
By attending Gatsby’s party, Nick moves from spectator to active participant, leading to a more informed vision and viewpoint.
Party guests are not appealing: gatecrashers who care little about their host and are hungry for gossip and scandal:
‘Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all’
Partying brings meaning to otherwise meaningless lives:
‘I felt a haunting loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others’
Reality versus rumour: guests “construct” Gatsby in a similar way to how he “constructs” his own image:
‘It was a testimony to the romantic speculation he inspired that there were whispers about him from those who had found little that it was necessary to whisper about in this world’
‘Owl Eyes’ is impressed by Gatsby’s real books (unlike other nouveaux riches). Reality is a rare thing to find:
‘“Absolutely real – have pages and everything. I thought they’d be a nice durable cardboard [...] what thoroughness! What realism!”’
Theme
Gatsby’s generosity and hospitality (orchestra and catering) is taken advantage of by his guests:
‘They conducted themselves according to the rules of behaviour associated with an amusement park’
Gatsby stands apart from his guests – marginalised. No one seeks him out or seems to care:
‘No one swooned backward on Gatsby, and no French bob touched Gatsby’s shoulder, and no singing quartets were formed with Gatsby’s head for one link’
Nick’s personal invitation sets him apart too:
‘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’
He doesn’t blend in easily with the East Coast crowd:
‘I slunk off in the direction of the cocktail table – the only place in the garden where a single man could linger without looking purposeless and alone’
Chapter 4
Genre
Begins with a list of partygoers’ names: socialites, famous and infamous – a who’s who of 1922. East Egg – aristocratic-sounding names (established social order); West Egg – ethnic sounding names (newcomers).
Symbolic date of Nick’s notes (5 July – day after Independence Day) => benefitting without having to fight for this way of life – parasites.
Gatsby’s car is like his house – excessively big, verging on gaudy. Ironic that his car (a symbol of the American dream) will ultimately lead to his undoing.
Gatsby tells Nick his elaborate lie (so that Nick doesn’t get a “wrong idea” of him) – irony. Highly unbelievable story which we’re invited to doubt (as Nick doubts)
Meyer Wolfsheim’s name suggest his animalistic nature. He boasts of his human molar cufflinks.
Daisy Fay (Fay is a synonym for the word “fairy”) –appropriate to her ethereal nature
Nick’s increasing involvement with Jordan clouds his judgment – helps to deceive Tom and bring Gatsby’s fantasy to life at her request.
Vision & Viewpoint
Gatsby’s fiction: wealthy Midwest family, educated at Oxford, toured Europe, and a major in the military –an invention of an ideal self, a romance in which the hero is an adventurer (highly unbelievable).
The world of 1922 Jazz Age is perceived as corrupt: his favour to police commissioner, Gatsby’s link to Wolfsheim and the underworld of “dirty money”
Gatsby wants to meet Daisy at Nick’s house so she can witness his ostentatious show of wealth, the very lack of which caused her to initially reject him in favour of Tom.
Tom and Gatsby are both linked by their pursuit of their different dreams. Nick, who has no such dream, feels empty, and kisses Jordan at the end in some apparent vain attempt to escape this realisation.
Theme
Gatsby’s adopted persona / invented image is revealed, a story Nick clearly doubts. Gatsby claims he is from San Francisco, which is not the Midwest as he had previously stated.
Gatsby is an outsider, having been rejected by Daisy’s family – his lack of money was his primary character deficit
Daisy does not openly challenge Tom’s libertine behaviour, perhaps because by doing so she would jeopardize her status and security, the things her life has revolved around; the very things that give her a sense of identity. She married for money, not for love.
Chapter 5
Genre
Gatsby and Daisy’s meeting is a key moment in the book – Gatsby’s dream of Daisy is fulfilled. The book’s high point.
The dream is fulfilled early in the book, suggesting that this is not a typical rags-to-riches (happy-ever-after) story.
Gatsby’s knocking down Nick’s broken clock in his awkwardness is perhaps symbolic of his own life, trapped in the past by his dreams of ideal love with Daisy. He has been frozen in time, but now that he is face-to-face with his “vision”, the clock is knocked off the mantelpiece.
Gatsby’s revelation to Daisy of the green light across the bay (representing hope, forward momentum, money, etc.) is lost on her, but not on Nick. The light will no longer hold the same significance for Gatsby. His dream must change.
Gatsby’s clothing (“white flannel suit, silver shirt, a gold-coloured tie”) are an overt reminder of his newly earned wealth.
Vision & Viewpoint
Gatsby’s perception of Daisy is perfection and so wants their meeting to be perfect: the mowed lawn, the greenhouse of flowers, the silver tea set.
He shows his vulnerability and uncertainty, with his self-conscious behaviour at first.
Gatsby and Daisy are a good match: his dreamlike (fairytale) nature compliments Daisy’ ethereal qualities, claiming she’d “like to just get one of those pink clouds and put [him] in it and push [him] around.”
Reality and fantasy are confused, as Gatsby listens to her “enchanting voice” and falls deeply in love with his vision
Nick’s voice of reason emerges at the end of the chapter as he recognises dissatisfaction in Gatsby’s face. Through Nick, Fitzgerald suggests that Gatsby’s dream is at last realised but simultaneously gone.
How can a fantasy be brought to life? Was Gatsby in love with Daisy all this time, or was it rather an image or perception of Daisy that he built up over time in her absence?
Theme
Everything Gatsby has done has been tied to the pursuit of Daisy, so much that he has lost his sense of self-identity
Gatsby’s offer to Nick “to pick up a nice piece of money” is at odds with traditional forms of generosity, showing how much of an outsider he is with the “old money” world
Gatsby’s shirts are a glaringly obvious display of wealth – a materialistic gesture which, through her reaction, illustrates Daisy’s true nature. She is not crying for lost love, but for the overt display of wealth before her.
Gatsby’s plan of entrapment proves successful, but at what cost?
Chapter 6
Genre
The chapter opens with increasing mystery of Gatsby as a reporter calls to Nick’s door. His reputation is growing and suspicion regarding his wealth is rising.
Reader is filled in on the real James Gatz – a sharp contrast to the lies Gatsby told Nick in Chapter 4. Much of the mystery surrounding Gatsby is cleared away.
Dan Cody’s name (Daniel Boone and “Buffalo Bill” Cody – two romanticized frontier figures in American folklore)
Daisy offering Tom her golden pencil to write down the names of women at the party he likes shows clearly that her marriage is a sham, based on social convenience and greed
Vision and Viewpoint
We’re both impressed by Gatsby’s determination and resolve but also somewhat disturbed by how he manages to pull off the charade with such ease.
But there is little growth on Gatsby’s part. Living in his fictive world has been detrimental to his self. Dreams and goals are good but not when they consume the dreamer.
Although his wealth allows him to mix in certain social strata, having money is not enough. Where the money comes from and how long it’s been around matters just as much. (Daisy and Tom are remarkably unimpressed with the “raw vigour” of the guests at Gatsby’s house).
Gatsby shows again how removed he is from reality in his response to Nick’s statement about not being able to recreate the past. “Why, of course you can!” he replies. This shows that he can not fully function in the present as he is trapped his ideal memories.
Theme
When Tom and his friends call into Gatsby’s house, it is for purely mercenary reasons. Gatsby stands alone from them as they sneak out without him. He is rudely rejected. He will never be accepted by anyone but the nouveaux riches.
Gatsby’s misreading of their rhetorical invitation illustrates how little he understands of their social norms, and shows how shallow and mean-spirited “old money” is.
Gatsby gets involved in his own party for the first time by dancing with Daisy – an outsider in his own home.
Gatsby’s story is the rags-to-riches American Dream – a young man from nowhere making it big through his ingenuity and resourcefulness.
His obsession with the past and his dream marginalizes him, forcing him to the fringes of society.
Chapter 7
Genre
All paths (plot and sub-plots) converge in this chapter
As the weather gets hotter and more oppressive, we get to the heart of the matter
The change of location to the city allows for a change in action in the novel – a neutral venue for Gatsby and Tom to have their head-to-head
Nick mentions his thirtieth birthday in passing – a time of transition from youthful idealism to reality
Myrtle’s death is symbolic. The “death car” (the biggest and fanciest of all) is an obvious manifestation of the American Dream.
It is materialism that brings about Myrtle’s end; she is killed by her own desires. Fitzgerald is warning of the danger of dwelling too much on material items.
Wilson stands opposite Tom in how both respond to their wives’ infidelities and in their reaction to Myrtle’s death. The poorer man comes off as more passionate and heartfelt in his grief.
Nick, as narrator, grows and develops in this chapter unlike the other characters. He takes a moral stand and is disgusted by what he sees: ‘I’d be damned if I’d go in; I’d had enough of all of them for one day.’
Vision & Viewpoint
In Tom’s elitist mind, Gatsby is common and therefore his existence is meaningless
Gatsby is unprepared for their confrontation. In his mind, he did not expect anything to get in his way. Gatsby’s dream is the only thing that is real to him, and without it he can no longer define himself
The true nature of Daisy emerges – she does not love Gatsby as he loves her. It appears that she was having her affair with Gatsby all along to get back at Tom.
Gatsby’s carefully constructed dream unravels by Daisy’s refusal to say that she never loved Tom
Tom, although saddened by Myrtle’s death, perceives her as he does all those not of his social class - an expendable object)
Theme
Daisy betrays Gatsby in this chapter by abandoning him, leaving him vulnerable and tragically alone. She does this by refusing to be part of his dream.
Gatsby’s identity reaches crisis point as his hopes and plans disintegrate
As Gatsby waits outside Daisy’s house, he makes a strikingly odd figure in his pink suit glowing luminously in the moonlight. He is clearly isolated at this point (even more of an outsider now).
He waits in vain like a knight-errant, willing to sacrifice his own life to protect Daisy.
Chapter 8
Genre
Gatsby’s death can be seen as the symbolic death of idealism in the harsh modern world
Nick moves further away from the background to emerge as an important moral presence in the book, made clear by his sympathy for Gatsby and his cutting Jordan off on the phone at the end
The narrative shifts in time and place: i) Jay Gatz fills Nick in on his past with Daisy, ii) Gatsby and Nick are at Gatsby’s house in the present, iii) the evening prior in the valley of ashes is discussed and Gatsby’s murder (which reads like a witness’s account in a courtroom)
Wilson explains the purpose of Dr T.J. Eckleburg’s eyes to Michaelis as the eyes of God, and ‘God sees everything.’
As the book begins to come to a close, we are told it is autumn, a season that brings a natural end to life. Although Gatsby dies prematurely, we feel it is a fitting end to one whose whole raison d’être has imploded
Vision & Viewpoint
Fitzgerald’s viewpoint is that pure idealism has no place in a shallow, materialistic world (such as that of the Jazz Age)
Gatsby becomes visibly weaker and despondent in this chapter, now that his illusion has vanished, leaving him feeling hollow and empty
Gatsby’s mistake is revealed: he defined Daisy not merely by who she is but by what she had and what she represented for him
Nick makes it clear that Daisy did not deserve him:
‘They’re a rotten crowd […] You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.’
Gatsby’s death can be perceived as chivalric in that he dies to protect Daisy’s innocence – a romantic to the end
Nick’s revelation is that finally he has recognised the shallowness of “polite society” for all its amoral and self-serving ways
Therefore Fitzgerald’s viewpoint on the world that he creates in The Great Gatsby can be seen as pessimistic
Theme
Gatsby’s isolated vigil outside Daisy’s house, and his genuine surprise at not being needed, illustrates how little he really knows Daisy, and how out of touch he is with the reality of his situation.
His openness to Nick about his past is the first time he sets aside his romantic notions to confront the past he has been trying all his life to run away from. His identity is in a state of crisis.
Nick’s rejection of Jordan sets him apart as courageous and possessing the integrity that she and others of her social class lack
Gatsby dies alone in his pool, a fitting end. Nick says that he ‘must have felt that he had lost the old warm world’ when his dream died, and found no reason to go on.
His identity ‘had broken up like glass against Tom’s hard malice.’
Chapter 9
Genre
Fitzgerald withholds information about Gatsby right up to the last chapter when Henry C. Gatz (Gatsby’s father) arrives and gives us another glimpse into his son’s past
He confirms Gatsby’s dreamer spirit by pointing out his ‘schedule’ on a copy of a 1906 version of Hopalong Cassidy, a famous (mythologized) Western adventure
As Nick’s train moves further and further West, he becomes more comfortable, reminding us once again of the merits of the Midwest versus the vices of the East
Nick’s refusal to shake Tom’s hand at first on their chance meeting on the street and then his subsequent shaking of his hand because he ‘felt suddenly as though [he] were talking to a child’ demonstrates Nick’s maturity at the end
The symbol of the green light is mentioned again at the end – the light remains shining despite the destruction of Gatsby’s dream
The final image is symbolic too when Nick sums up society as ‘boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past’ just like Gatsby, and perhaps just like us all in some ways.
Vision & Viewpoint
Gatsby has been seen as the paragon of the American dream throughout the book with his money, possessions, independence and flash parties, but is abandoned by all at the end,demonstrating the shallowness of society
Even after his death, Gatsby is mythologized by reporters filling their rags with half-truths and full-blown lies
Gatsby’s father is not unlike the partygoers who seems to take great pride in his son’s possessions:
‘He had shown [the photograph of Gatsby’s house] so often that I think it was more real to him now than the house itself.’
Jordan’s hypocrisy is shown for the last time as she, piqued by Nick’s rejection, accuses him of deceit and dishonesty over the phone
Fitzgerald’s final moral is that reaching for a dream can be a dangerous thing if in doing so we move away from what is real – the more Gatsby reached for his, the more it dragged him into his shadowy past like the ‘boats against the current’
Theme
Gatsby is alone at the end, as he always really was. Nick finds himself ‘on Gatsby’s side, and alone.’
Nick tries in vain to ‘get somebody’ to attend Gatsby’s funeral: Daisy and Tom have left, Wolfsheim is concerned about his reputation, the partygoers disappear, and Klipspringer rings up only to retrieve his tennis shoes
Nick can no longer stay on the East Coast and so heads West, back to a place where morality and kindness still exist (and Nick can feel again part of something real)
The final fate of the outsiders: Nick grows in character but departs in disgust, Gatsby’s identity crumbles and he dies, and Myrtle is killed by her own vanity and material desires