The GREAT GATSBY Chapter 1 Analysis o COLORS

The GREAT GATSBY

Chapter 1 Analysis o COLORS inverted archetypes n White – impurity or loss of innocence o Daisy, Jordan in white billowing dresses o Tom in a “cheerful red and white house” o Whiteness is ironic n Tom disregards traditional marriage vows n Daisy “beautiful white girlhood”

COLORS inverted archetypes “rosy-colored space” n Represents a fairy-tale, ephemeral quality, unreal, illusion PASTELS

COLORS o Grey images n Associated with decadence, decay, desolation and waste o Wasted vitality, wasted morals, wasted dreams o Jordan Baker has “gray sunstrained eyes” And she looks out of a “wan” or pale “discontented face”

Yellow o Archetypal symbol of death or dying o Jordan has “autumnal-leaf yellow” hair n Autumn images connects her with decadence – death of morality

Green – ambivalent interpretations o introduced first as the light at the end of a dock o Typically associated with growth, spring, and new life o Signals “go!, go!” o Color of money o All of these apply to The Great Gatsby

Green o Primarily connected with Daisy n She turns out to be an unworthy dream n What or who is the green light? n What does it mean? n Why does Gatsby have his arms stretched out to it?

Gold & Silver o Gatsby appears under the “silver pepper of the stars” looking longingly at “a single green light” o Appearing almost like a glittering god o Gatsby often wears silver and gold n At one point he wears a flannel suit, silver shirt and gold-colored tie n The point of the descriptions is to reinforce the idea that he is God-like (a demi-god)

Nick Carraway as the narrator o Quotes his father in beginning “…you feel like criticizing…” o Advantages he alludes to is not monetary o But “a sense of fundamental decencies is parceled out unequally at birth. ” o What are fundamental decencies here?

Reliable narrator o Immediately gains confidence of reader o “privy to the secret griefs of wild, unknown men. ” o “riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. ” o Nick is trustworthy

He represents traditional values from America’s past o He acknowledges that Gatsby “represented everything” for which he had “an unaffected scorn”, but he finds “something gorgeous” in him too o A dream-like quality

o. It’s not Gatsby that Nick rejects when he returns to the Midwest o. Rather it’s “what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams”

Fitzgerald allusions o “Midas and Morgan and Maecenas” n From myth, Greek civilization and recent past n Nick buys books for bond business with promise in his job n They are on shelf “in red and gold like new money from the mint, promising to unfold the shining secrets”

Alludes to country’s founders o “guide, a pathfinder, an original settler” when a newcomer asks him for directions o By juxtaposing money tycoons to original “pathfinders” Fitzgerald sets up the conflict between the untainted American Dream and the subsequent obsession with materialism and $

Further contrast w/ Midwest o Middle West as “the ragged edge of the universe” o A rugged pioneer image contrasted with the sophistication of the East, specifically New York City

Original settlers-who came west o. Represents the quintessential work ethic while the moneyed people and their subsequent generations represent the consumption ethic

EAST EGG & WEST EGG o Bird’s eye view is identically contoured land formations shaped like enormous eggs and separated by water o They are dissimilar in every way except size and shape

WEST EGG where Gatsby & Nick live o “the less fashionable of the two” o Nouveau riche “new $” n Implies lack of refinement or class o Houses are random n Bungalows in between mansions n No apparent housing codes

WEST EGG o. And “eclectic melting pot” neighborhood o. Takes on symbolism and character of the Old West, n The land discovered in the pure fulfillment of dreams

EAST EGG o Elite o Comes across as superficial and smug o To get from E. Egg to W. Egg the road must pass through the Valley of Ashes (ch. 2)

EAST EGG where Daisy & Tom live o “glittered” with “white palaces” o Old money o Well-groomed houses and lawns n Implies well-groomed and wellbred occupants who, at least superficially, are gentile and classy

AMERICAN DREAM o Distorted n Leads to worship at unworthy shrines n Beauty, youth, and pleasure become icons n Restless and unfulfilled lives o Ennui [an’-wee] n Pursuit of “ideals” o “idealization” and “idealizing”

TAGS- odescriptive or recurring words/phrases associated with a principal characters o. Helps to visualize the characters

Tom-physical tag o Glory days of football career at Yale n Forever living in afterglow n “string of ponies” n Adulthood is extension of collegiate activities –good time Tomn “great pack of muscle” and “aggressive”

Daisy-voice tag o Low, thrilling voice o Luring people to “lean toward her” n Mythological allusion – Sirens lured sailors with their enchanting voices o “exhilarating ripple of her voice was a wild tonic in the rain” o Charming power for her

Jordan- chin tag o Chin is lifted a little as if she is balancing something on it o Has a “wan, charming discontented face” o Jauntiness is a word used often in association with her (lively; springy)

Houses-Buchanan’s & Gatsby’s o Gatsby’s estate - his house has “halls and salons and verandas” o High Gothic library, paneled with carved English oak” o A “feudal silhouette against the sky” o Somewhat of a period piece reminiscent of the past

Buchanan’s “cheerful red and white Georgian Colonial mansion. ” o Gleams with brightness o The lawn starting at the beach and running toward the front door “for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sundials and brick walks and burning gardens. ” o Fitzgerald's poetic language is used throughout novel

Image at chapter’s end o Gatsby, trembling, standing with outstretched arms, looking at the blinking green light at the end of a dock n Mystique and mystery surround him n Reinforces dreamlike quality of this hero on a quest to attain his dream