THE GREAT GATSBY Fitzgeralds Roaring 20 s Writing

THE GREAT GATSBY Fitzgerald’s Roaring 20 s Writing Style

THE GREAT GATSBY Today we shall attempt to imitate the inimitable flowing prose of Mr F. Scott Fitzgerald, with sprawling garden-path sentences that dash, rush and twist before unexpectedly crashing to devastating halts like a sparrow into glass.

FITZGERALD’S STYLE In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald almost captures the rampaging spirit of the Roaring 20 s through the style of his writing. Before we attempt to imitate it ourselves, we will need to examine the prose to determine what features we will have to include if we are to write Fitzgeraldian pieces.

THE GREAT GATSBY Re-read the first two pages of The Great Gatsby. Write down in your jotter some features of Fitzgerald’s writing in these pages. Feel free to discuss them in your groups as you do so.

THE GREAT GATSBY Fitzgerald’s sentences often seem rambling but the always display control. He often lets his sentences run on past their initial point into a slightly (or occasionally very) different subject. The vocabulary is not as complex as you might think; it is mostly simple but peppered with ridiculously exotic words and beautiful turns of phrase. Imagery appears frequently in Nick’s narration. Finally, commas, dashes, and semi-colons allow sentences to roll on and on; topics forced together with the glue of punctuation.

THE ROARING TWENTIES, ALSO KNOWN THE JAZZ AGE, WAS A SIGNIFICANT TIME OF CHANGE IN THE UNITED STATES. MODERN INTERESTS, FREE THINKING, AND CULTURAL CHANGES CLASHED WITH TRADITIONAL WAYS, STRICT LAWS, AND MORAL CODES. IT WAS A TIME OF CELEBRATION AND CHANGE. IT WAS AN ERA OF FADS AND INVENTIONS, DANCING AND MUSIC, PROHIBITION AND SOCIAL UPHEAVAL.

Cynical hedonistic dissipation jazz bands bathtub gin orgy of consumption and speculation.

prosperity and riotous living and of bootleggers and gangsters, flappers and hot jazz. Immigration, race, alcohol, evolution, gender politics, and sexual morality--all became major cultural battlefields during the 1920 s. profound social changes

consumeroriented economy - "revolution in morals and manners. " Sexual mores, gender roles, hair styles, and dress all changed profoundly during the 1920 s. morals seemed to be decaying, and the United States seemed to be changing in undesirable ways.

THE UNITED STATES BECAME A CONSUMER SOCIETY. American life was transformed during the 1920 s Newspaper gossip columns, illuminated billboards, and commercial airplane flights were novelties during the 1920 s.

‘The Great Gatsby’ F. Scott. Fitzgerald CHAPTER ONE

IMPORTANCE OF CHAPTER ONE Fitzgerald uses this chapter to set the scene of the novel. Made clear that the events in the novel have already taken place – the characters’ fates are already decided. Most of the main characters are introduced. Nick refers to “Midas and Morgan and Maecenas” – all three renowned for their incredible wealth. Midas is a Greek myth. Fitzgerald hints that MYTH and REALITY will be mixed throughout the novel.

CHAPTER ONE Importance of chapter Characterisation Nick, Daisy, Tom, Gatsby Setting West Egg, East Egg, (Long Island) Theme The Shallowness of the American Dream Upper Classes (Social Class) Structure / Narrative Technique

CHARACTERISATION - NICK Nick is initially portrayed as the perfect narrator – “inclined to reserve all judgements” He appears as tolerant, open minded, quiet and a good listener. Others tell him their secrets – “I was privy to the secret grief”, “Most of the confidences”, “intimate revelation” TASK: Why do these qualities give Nick the potential to be a successful and effective narrator?

CHARACTERISATION - NICK Nick is clearly from a privileged background – “ Just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had” and “My father snobbishly suggested and I snobbishly repeat” Question: - Why does he need to be reminded of this? Is this a failing? Does this hint at a COMPLEX CONTRADICTION WITHIN NICK’S CHARACTER?

CHARACTERISATI ON - NICK Consider the following quotes describing Nick’s reaction to Gatsby – “ Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction” “ there was something gorgeous about him” “ it was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person” TASK: Explain why these quotes might suggest that Nick is not going to be a reliable narrator after all.

CHARACTERISATI ON - NICK Clear hints that he can be intolerant and judgemental – he admits that he “feigned sleep” when people confided in him, he views Gatsby’s life with “unaffected scorn” and he’s “disgusted” by Tom and Daisy’s marriage. These comments make the reader less trusting of his narration because they suggest he is dishonest. Nick sometimes misreads situations which also makes his narration untrustworthy. He thinks Daisy has ‘everything’ she wants so he sees in her eyes the “absence of all desire” – but we later find out that she has had “a very bad time”.

SUMMARY CHARACTERISATION – NICK At the beginning Nick is… Very traditional Highly moral Naïve Open-minded

CHARACTERISATION - DAISY

CHARACTERISATION DAISY Think of the connotations of the name Daisy – a delicate white flower This image is continued later in the chapter with the description of Jordan and Daisy – “ they were both in white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering” White has conventional connotations of purity and innocence, thus, it may easily make people feel that she is pure, flawless, innocent and noble when people meet her the first time. However, it is ironic given her name that Daisy’s life is conducted in an entirely manufactured environment remote from the natural world?

CHARACTERISATION - DAISY Discussion point – By referring to the following quotes explain why Daisy’s portrayal in the opening chapter is not particularly positive:

CHARACTERISATION - DAISY TASK: By referring to the following quotes explain why Daisy’s portrayal in the opening chapter is not particularly positive: ‘Do they miss me? ’ she cried ecstatically (9) “Then she added irrelevantly: ‘You ought to see the baby. ’ (9) “I’m p-paralysed with happiness” (9) ‘All right, ’ said Daisy. ‘What’ll we plan? ’ She turned to me helplessly: ‘What do people plan? ’ (10) This indicates that Daisy and those like her have meaningless, shallow lives. Beneath the surface, everyone is bored because they have no purpose – Daisy seems to realise this when she asks what they should do “this afternoon… and the day after that, and the next thirty years”.

CHARACTERISATION - DAISY However, it is ironic given her name that Daisy’s life is conducted in an entirely manufactured environment remote from the natural world

White occurs many times in the novel, and it is closely associated with Daisy. White represents the immaculate and pure beauty. It symbolizes nobleness and purity. It is Daisy’s color in the novel. She wears white dress when she meets Gatsby for the first time as well as when Nick visits her in the East Egg. At the age of eighteen, she dressed in white and had a white car, which made her charming in the eyes of young officers. Her house is full of the color of white, for example, “The windows were ajar and gleaming white against the fresh grass outside” (Ibid. , p. 158) and “A breeze blew through the room, blew curtains in at one end and out the other like pale flags. ” (Ibid. , p. 246) Even her name Daisy is also a kind of white flower. Thus it may easily make people feel that she is pure, flawless, innocent and noble when people meet her the first time. That is why Gatsby is infatuated with her throughout his life and regards her as a pure beauty and as his American Dream. However, white actually symbolizes empty, vacuity, superficiality, ruthlessness and selfish to a great extent in the novel. Describing Daisy with the color of white, it indicates that under the pure and beautiful appearance, Daisy owns a superficial, hollow, cold and selfish heart inside. Her life is full of nothing except luxury and she wastes everyday in boringness and loneliness, for example, Daisy once cried, “what’ll we do with ourselves this afternoon, and the day after that, and the next thirty years? ” (Ibid. , p. 168) Thus she represents the hollow and superficial upper class in the Jazz Age. What is more, although Gatsby has run out of all his youth and passion for her, even sacrifice his life, Daisy shows no grief for his death but just goes out for traveling with her husband, which reveals her selfish and indifferent personality. Thus she represents the spirit and mood of the Jazz Age and the hypocritical values and moral standards of the bourgeois. White implies that although the upper class is rich in their material life, they are quite poor and decadent in their morality, and are irresponsible and insensitive to the society, to their life and to other people. White symbolizes Daisy’s emptiness, superficial, hypocrisy and ignorance. Whereas Gatsby regards Daisy as his dream, so it indicates that his dream is illusive and worthless, and it also implies that his American Dream is doomed to be corrupted.

CHARACTERISATION DAISY There is also a clear suggestion that all is not well with her marriage - “I know you didn’t mean to, but you did do it” “That’s what I get for marrying a brute of a man, a great big hulking physical specimen’ And this is confirmed later in the chapter – “Tom’s got some woman in New York…. She might have the decency not to telephone him at dinner time. Don’t you think? ’ Daisy is clearly not a happy woman “Well, I’ve had a very bad time, Nick, and I’m pretty cynical about everything” TASK: Based on your reading of Chapter One list the problems Daisy faces in her life

CHARACTERISATION - DAISY This is confirmed later in the chapter – “Tom’s got some woman in New York…. She might have the decency not to telephone him at dinner time. Don’t you think? ’ Daisy is clearly not a happy woman “Well, I’ve had a very bad time, Nick, and I’m pretty cynical about everything” TASK: Based on your reading of Chapter One list the problems Daisy faces in her life

CHARACTERISATION – NICK However, there are clear contradictions apparent in Nick’s character even from the very beginning of the novel “ And, after boasting this way of my tolerance, I came to the conclusion that it has a limit”

CHARACTERISATION DAISY Her defeatism is also strikingly apparent when she tells Nick, “ All right, ” I said, “I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool. ” Daisy therefore clearly believes that society doesn’t value intelligence in women. Comment hints that although she ignores Tom’s affair she is upset by it – she believes she would be happier if she were a fool and didn’t realise he was cheating.

CHARACTERISATION - DAISY Discussion point – Based on your reading of Chapter One list the problems Daisy faces in her life

CHARACTERISATION - DAISY Given these problems and difficulties, Daisy’s subsequent reluctance or inability to leave Tom is striking. This once again emphasises her passivity

CHARACTERISATION - TOM

CHARACTERISATION - TOM Our initial impression of Tom is not positive. Task Read the following extract and list the negative aspects of Tom’s character which emerge

CHARACTERISATION - TOM “Now he was a sturdy straw-haired man of thirty, with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner. Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward…. . It was a body capable of enormous leverage – a cruel body”

CHARACTERISATION - TOM This negative impression is continued in the very next paragraph – “…. added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed. There was a touch of paternal contempt in it, even towards people he liked – and there were men at New Haven who hated his guts” Task: Explain why the incident with Daisy’s finger further contributes to our negative impression of Tom

CHARACTERISATION - TOM Discussion point – Explain why the incident with Daisy’s finger further contributes to our negative impression of Tom

DAISY’S FINGER "You did it, Tom, " she said accusingly. "I know you didn't mean to, but you did do it. That's what I get for marrying a brute of a man, a great, big, hulking physical specimen of a– “ That poor bruised little finger is like a symbol of Tom and Daisy's marriage: he hurts it unintentionally, and Daisy just cannot stop talking about it. You get the feeling that Fitzgerald kind of wants her to stop whining already.

CHARACTERISATION - TOM What does the following quote suggest about the character of Tom? “Civilisation’s going to pieces, ’ broke out Tom violently, …… Have you read The Rise of the Coloured Empires…. If we don’t look out the white race will be - will be utterly submerged. It’s all scientific stuff; it’s been proved” Descriptions of Tom focus on his physicality. His clothes can’t hide his “cruel body”, just as his sophistication and money can’t hide his brutal nature. He silences any interruption by talking over people. In Chapter 1, he interrupts both Jordan and Daisy so he can make his point. Even though he is upper class and knows how to behave, he doesn’t care.

CHARACTERISATION - TOM Descriptions of Tom focus on his physicality. His clothes can’t hide his “cruel body”, just as his sophistication and money can’t hide his brutal nature. He silences any interruption by talking over people. In Chapter 1, he interrupts both Jordan and Daisy so he can make his point. Even though he is upper class and knows how to behave, he doesn’t care.

SETTING - EAST EGG

SETTING - EAST EGG Discussion point – Analyse the following extract. What impression are we given of East Egg? How does Fitzgerald achieve this? “ Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water”

SETTING - EAST EGG Why is the following a particularly successful example of descriptive writing in portraying the excesses of East Egg? “Their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red and white Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay. The lawn started at the beach and ran towards the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sundials and brick walls and burning gardens - finally when it reached the house drifting up the side in bright vines as though from the momentum of its run. The front was broken by a line of french windows, glowing now with reflected gold”

SETTING - EAST EGG What is suggested by the negative description of Tom that follows this elaborate description?

SETTING - EAST EGG What is suggested by the following remark of Jordan’s – “You live in West Egg, ” she remarked contemptuously. ”

SETTING – EAST EGG IS… Conservative and aristocratic but not as refined as it appears e. g. Tom is “aggressive” and “hulking”, where typically we might expect the upper classes to be polite and well-mannered. Fashionable, but fake. Its appealing surface hides unattractive realities – the Buchanan marriage and Daisy’s looks and wealth mask a bored, cynical and empty interior.

SETTING - WEST EGG

SETTING - WEST EGG Discussion point What do the following quotes suggest about West Egg? “the less fashionable of the two” “the on my right was a colossal affair” “it was a factual imitation” “spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy”

SETTING – WEST EGG IS…. Home to the nouveau riche who have made their own fortunes rather than inheriting money. Most of the residents don’t have aristocratic breeding or wealthy family connections – Nick is an exception. Characterised by extravagant displays of wealth that are perceived to be in poor taste – e. g. Gatsby’s mansion.

SETTING - EAST EGG & WEST EGG East Egg and West Egg are both homes to great wealth They are, however, opposites in terms of values: East Egg – sees itself as a place of breeding, taste, aristocracy and leisure West Egg - viewed by East Egg as ostentatious, garish and home to the flashy manners of the new rich

SETTING - AMERICA It is clear from the divisions between East Egg and West Egg as well as Tom’s racist remarks that Gatsby’s 1920 s America is in reality a society divided by race, class and gender

THEME - APPEARANCE VERSUS REALITY Briefly list examples from the opening chapter.

THEME – THE SHALLOWNESS OF THE AMERICAN UPPER CLASSES “Do they miss me? ’ she cried ecstatically. “The whole town is desolate. All the cars have the left rear wheel painted black as a mourning wreath, and there’s a persistent wail all night along the north shore. ’ “She…. Her”

THEME - THE SHALLOWNESS OF THE AMERICAN UPPER CLASSES “We ought to plan something”, yawned Miss Baker, sitting down at the table as if she were getting into bed. ” “All right, ’ said Daisy. ‘What’ll we plan? ’ She turned to me helplessly: ‘What do people plan? ’ Both examples suggest that the lives of rich Americans are lacking in purpose and direction Task - Circle the • Beneath phrases which reflect this. the surface, everyone is bored because they have no purpose – Daisy seems to realise this when she asks what they should do “this afternoon… and the day after that, and the next thirty years”.

THEME - THE SHALLOWNESS OF THE AMERICAN UPPER CLASSES “their impersonal eyes” - does this suggest that their eyes are deadened by wealth? “the absence of all desire” - there is a clear suggestion that they have all they need and everything that they could possibly want

THEME - THE SHALLOWNESS OF THE AMERICAN UPPER CLASSES Beneath the surface, everyone is bored because they have no purpose – Daisy seems to realise this when she asks what they should do “this afternoon… and the day after that, and the next thirty years”.

THEME - THE SHALLOWNESS OF THE AMERICAN UPPER CLASSES Discussion Think about the characters we have met in this chapter. Why is it clear from characterisation alone that Fitzgerald disapproves of the Upper classes?

THEME - THE SHALLOWNESS OF THE AMERICAN UPPER CLASSES In what way does the following description of Jordan contribute to this impression? “ Its pleasing contemptuous expression had looked out at me …. I had heard some story of her too, a critical unpleasant story, but what it was I had forgotten long ago. ”

STRUCTURE Discussion In what way does the opening chapter create an air of mystery around the character of Gatsby?

STRUCTURE / MAJOR INCIDENT OF CHAPTER Task Carefully reread the final paragraph of Chapter One. How does Fitzgerald again create an aura of mystery around Gatsby?

STRUCTURE / MAJOR INCIDENT OF CHAPTER Chapter One ends with Nick’s first sighting of Gatsby – a lonely figure reaching out towards a “single green light”. Nick doesn’t know what the light represents to Gatsby which creates mystery. Gatsby’s obsessive focus is striking. He is so desperate with longing that he is “trembling”.

STRUCTURE / MAJOR INCIDENT OF CHAPTER Why important? The first thing we learn about Gatsby is his powerful desire for a mysterious aim. This suggests this is the most important aspect of his character. In contrast, the residents of East egg have an obvious lack of motivation or drive.

SYMBOLISM - GREEN LIGHT Symbol of hope. Green light is a sign of Daisy’s presence. Actual – it is a visible object bear where Daisy lives. Significance – Gatsby hasn’t seen Daisy in a number of years and this is the closest he can get to her. He doesn’t think she is like a green light, but he lets the green light represent Daisy. GREEN LIGHT THEREFORE BECOMES A SYMBOL FOR DAISY.

SYMBOLISM – COLOUR WHITE White traditionally associated with purity and virginity. Within the novel, the meaning of the colour white changes throughout the novel, eventually suggesting that white is used to cover up characters’ darker traits.

SYMBOLISM – COLOUR WHITE Nick’s first arrival at the Buchanans’ house is characterised by the whiteness of the surroundings. Ceiling – “frosted wedding cake” Daisy and Jordan are dressed in white. Nick imagines that they’ve just taken a “short flight round the room” which makes them sound like angels. White seems to be used as a whitewash to hide things people don’t want society to see (LINK IN WITH APPEARANCE VERSUS REALITY).

Chapter Two: Infidelity, arrogance, alcohol, and violence THE GREAT GATSBY

THE GREAT GATSBY In chapter two of The Great Gatsby we begin to see the effects of decadent boredom among the upper classes. Today you will briefly summarise the events of chapter two. For each main event – for example, Tom and Nick picking up Myrtle Wilson – choose one quote that you feel is important or has some emotional impact on the reader.

THE GREAT GATSBY At the beginning of chapter two, Nick describes the “Valley of Ashes” which is a “solemn dumping ground”, a symbol of the upper classes destruction and the way that they abuse the “ash-grey men” of this “desolate area of land”. People like the Buchanans expect others to “Clean up their mess” and as result of their materialism, decadence and moral ambiguity, they are creating a sterile, soulless society. The “Valley of Ashes” is an even more disturbing symbol of moral degeneration, as it is described in terms of “farms” and “grotesque gardens”. These twisted metaphors help us to appreciate that the problem is “growing” – “civilisation’s going to pieces” and the sterile society is expanding. The view is bleak.

THE GREAT GATSBY Chapter Two

THE EYES OF T J ECKLEBURG In the Valley of Ashes there is a billboard for T J Eckleburg. This refers to a closed down optician’s shop. There is a sense that he is watching over the characters that pass through The Valley of Ashes. In Nick’s narration, it is not immediately clear that he is referring to an advert, and George Wilson mistakes his gaze for the eyes of God. Religion does not feature heavily in the characters’ lives, and this relates to the context, as people began to question organised religion. People were now more interested in consumerism and advertising was a part of this. So, the advert of T J Eckleburg symbolises consumerism

TODAY WE WILL… Discuss and answer some questions on the first part of Chapter Two Read the remainder of Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO On the following pages are some questions designed to get you to think in more detail about the events of chapter two so far. Each question is about your interpretation: For what reason did Fitzgerald include these things?

CHAPTER TWO 1. Describe in your own words “The Valley of Ashes” (page 23). 2. What do you think “The Valley of Ashes” represents? 3. What do you think the point of “The Eyes of Dr T. J. Eckleburg” is? 4. Why do you think Tom wants Nick to meet “his girl”? 5. What does Tom’s treatment of George Wilson suggest about both men? 6. In what ways is Myrtle Wilson different from Daisy Buchanan? Is she attractive? 7. How does Myrtle Wilson’s behaviour in New York make you feel about her?

CHAPTER TWO CONTINUED… We will now continue reading chapter two There will be several key quotes to copy into your jotter over the next few pages.

MYRTLE’S APARTMENT The apartment was on the top floor – a small living room, a small dining room, a small bedroom, and a bath.

MYRTLE’S DRESS With the influence of the dress her personality had also undergone a change. The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage was converted into impressive hauteur. Hauteur = arrogance, superiority, etc.

NICK’S ATTITUDE TO THE PARTY I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.

TOM’S VIOLENCE Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.

Characterisation Gatsby, Jordan, Nick Setting Style Theme Perception versus Reality Structure Symbolism CHAPTER THREE Cars, Owl Eyes

WHY CHAPTER IMPORTANT? Reader introduced to lavish, extravagant world of Gatsby – conveyed by description of his party Chapter Three helps to illustrate main themes of lavish excess of the 1920 s, the corruption of the American Dream, the isolation of Gatsby and the shallowness of the American Upper Classes.

STRUCTURE - DELAYED INTRODUCTION OF GATSBY In the first two chapters of the novel the reader has : i) seen Gatsby from a distance ii) heard other characters talk about him iii) heard Nick’s thoughts on him Yet, we have not met him Discussion – why has Fitzgerald structured the opening chapters in this way?

STRUCTURE – DELAYED INTRODUCTION OF GATSBY Chapter Three is devoted to an introduction of Gatsby and the lavish showy world he inhabits Yet, Gatsby’s introduction is further delayed “Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all”

STRUCTURE/STYLE – REPETITION OF CONJECTURE ABOUT GATSBY “Somebody told me……. ” “Somebody told me they thought he killed a man once” “It’s more that he was a German spy during the war” The repetition of the conjecture about Gatsby further adds to his mystery

STYLE - MYSTERY CREATED AROUND THE CHARACTER OF GATSBY When we do eventually meet him: “I’m Gatsby”, he said suddenly. “What!” I exclaimed. “Oh, I beg your pardon. ” Yet our first proper meeting with him further adds to the mystery. The low profile he maintains is out of place with his lavish expenditure

STYLE – MYSTERIOUS LIKE ATMOSPHERE CREATED AROUND GATSBY Repetition of “Old sport” further adds to the mystery of Gatsby as it makes him sound more English Jordan’s words create further mystery – “I’ve just heard the most amazing thing, ” she whispered…. ”it was simply amazing”, she repeated abstractedly”

STYLE - TITLE “THE GREAT GATSBY”

STYLE – THE GREAT GATSBY - TITLE The title is reminiscent of a vaudeville billing or the name of a magician like “The Great Houdini” Is this to emphasise theatrical and perhaps illusion like qualities of Gatsby’s life? This is further conveyed by: -

STYLE - DREAMLIKE QUALITY OF PROCEEDINGS the fact that throughout this chapter description is used to create a dreamlike atmosphere: “In his garden men and girls came and went like moths” “A tray of cocktails floated at us through the twilight” Again an air of illusion is successfully created

CHARACTERISATION GATSBY Does this perhaps suggest that there is something illusionary about Gatsby himself?

CHARACTERISATION GATSBY

CHARACTERISATION – GATSBY Not only is an air of mystery created around Gatsby – “believe” / “impression”/ “convey” He is also portrayed as being almost like royalty – “signed Jay Gatsby in a majestic hand” He is portrayed as doing everything to excess

CHARACTERISATION GATSBY Discussion Explain the way in which the following quotes suggest excess: “the orchestra had arrived, no thin five piece affair but a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and …”

CHARACTERISATION GATSBY “the cars from New York are parked five deep in the drive” “At least once a fortnight a corp of caterers” “Enough coloured lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby’s enormous garden”

CHARACTERISATION / THEME - GATSBY / ISOLATION Yet, Fitzgerald clearly creates an air of isolation around Gatsby – “standing alone on the marble steps and looking from one group to another” “Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all”

CHARACTERISATION / THEME - GATSBY / ISOLATION Gatsby stands ‘alone’ at the edge of his party. The wilder the party gets, the more Gatsby seems like an outsider – he doesn’t drink, he doesn’t flirt and he grows ‘more correct as the fraternal hilarity increased’.

CHARACTERISATION / THEME - GATSBY / ISOLATION At the end of the party, when the ‘laughter and sound’ has died away, Gatsby is shown in ‘complete isolation’ with his “hand up in a formal gesture of farewell. This echoes the end of Chapter One where Gatsby “stretched out his arms towards the dark water”, reaching out for Daisy.

CHARACTERISATION / THEME ISOLATION GATSBY Think back to previous chapters Discussion In what other ways has Gatsby’s isolation been conveyed?

CHARACTERISATION GATSBY The repetition of the business calls early in the morning perhaps suggests underworld business connections Discussion Why is this idea reinforced by the calls coming from Chicago?

CHARACTERISATION GATSBY Nick comments on Gatsby’s affected “formality of speech” – this gives an early hint that Gatsby’s smile and speech are part of a DELIBERATELY CRAFTED PERSONA. Gatsby’s library is “panelled with carved English Oak” to make his house appear more like the older mansions of established aristocratic families. This is an early hint that there is something unreal about both Gatsby’s house and his life.

CHARACTERISATION - NICK Again Nick’s reliability as a narrator is questioned Discussion Explain why the following quotes make us question Nick’s reliability: -

NICK’S RELIABILITY AS A NARRATOR “I had taken two finger bowls of champagne, and the scene had changed before my eyes into something significant, elemental and profound” “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”

NICK’S RELIABILITY AS A NARRATOR Read the following: “ Reading over what I have written so far, I see I have given the impression that the events of three nights several weeks apart were all that absorbed me” Here he reminds us that he is the writer as well as the narrator. Events have therefore been filtered and recollected by him. Is he reliable?

NICK’S RELIABILITY AS A NARRATOR Read the following: “ I even had a short affair with a girl who lived in Jersey City…but her brother began throwing mean looks in my direction” Why? Nick is supposed to be honest and reliable. Is this a warning? Does he only tell us what he wants us to know?

NICK’S RELIABILITY AS A NARRATOR Consider the final sentence of the chapter : “ Every one suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known” Discussion In what ways is this sentence given significance?

NICK’S RELIABILITY AS A NARRATOR Yet, if he is so honest, why is he attracted to Jordan - “ I felt a sort of tender curiosity…for a moment I thought I loved her” He acknowledges that she is dishonest “a suggestion that she moved her ball from a bad lie” Yet, “It made no difference to me. Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply”

NICK CHARACTERISATION Nick is undoubtedly lonely: Consider his description of New York – “ forms leaned together in the taxis as they waited, and voices sang, and there was laughter from unheard jokes and… imagining that I too, was hurrying towards gaiety and sharing their intimate excitement, I wished them well”

NICK CHARACTERISATION This extract clearly conveys Nick’s loneliness. He is merely reporting the situation, he is not part of it “Most of the time I worked” - Nick’s loneliness is further emphasised by the fact that his life is far different from those of Gatsby and the other characters

NICK CHARACTERISATION / THEME LONELINESS Nick is dressed in white at the party. This makes him different to the crowd who are dressed in colourful outfits – “spectroscopic” He seems uncomfortable at the party – “purposeless and alone”

CHARACTERISATION JORDAN Discussion Consider the following quotes. For each explain why they again suggest a negative impression of Jordan: “she responded absently as I came up” “ she was incurably dishonest”

SYMBOLISM - CARS “His Rolls Royce became an omnibus” Cars represent the wealth of America, but Gatsby is not happy with a Ford motor car – most Americans who could afford a car had one. Remember the connotations of a Rolls Royce – great wealth and social privilege

SYMBOLISM - CARS “Gatsby’s car completes his image as a successful self-made man. It is a “rich cream colour, bright with nickel” – the combination of rich colours links his car to precious metals.

SYMBOLISM – OWL EYES “Absolutely real – have pages and everything…. they are absolutely real…It fooled me” Does Owl Eyes surprised reaction that Gatsby’s books are real suggest that he might think that Gatsby himself is also a fake? Owl Eyes is surprised to discover that the books are real and not just empty covers and cases. Does this suggest that the people of West Egg and East Egg are ornate covers too? Does their outward show of opulence cover up their inner corruption and moral decay?

SYMBOLISM - OWL EYES Does this tie in with theme of Perception versus Reality? The party is an elaborate theatrical production. People do not even really like each other – “East Egg condescending to West Egg”. Does Owl Eyes perhaps suggest that Gatsby’s whole life is merely a show? Discussion Any thoughts on the name Owl Eyes?

FORESHADOWING – EXAMPLE ONE Owl Eyes mutters to himself that if “one brick was removed the whole library was liable to collapse” - makes the point that if one part of Gatsby’s outward image were to falter, the entire illusion would shatter. THIS FORESHADOWS HOW GATSBY’S LIFE WILL FALL APART.

FORESHADOWING – EXAMPLE TWO Owl Eyes is involved in a car crash as he leaves the party. He is mistakenly thought to be the driver – “You don’t understand… I wasn’t driving”. This foreshadows Gatsby’s involvement in Myrtle’s death.

THEME – PERCEPTION VERSUS REALITY The behaviour of the American Upper classes suggests that their wealth covers up their vulgar behaviour: “ They conducted themselves according to the rules of behaviour associated with an amusement park”

THEME – PERCEPTION VERSUS REALITY “Most of the remaining women were now having fights with men said to be their husbands” Lavish appearances cover less positive realities This ties in with the idea of DISTORTED VISION

THEME - PERCEPTION VERSUS REALITY Discussion Briefly list the examples of DISTORTED VISION or examples within the novel so far when Perception differs drastically from Reality What could this suggest about Gatsby himself?

THE GREAT GATSBY Chapter Four

LEARNING INTENTIONS Develop the symbolic aspects of Gatsby’s car and why it is important Increase your understanding of Gatsby’s mysterious character and why we can’t trust him Focus on Meyer Wolfsheim and understand how he adds another dimension to Gatsby’s character

CHAPTER 4 SUMMARY Gatsby visits Nick’s house for the first time, and talks of his wartime experience. They travel into the city, where Gatsby introduces Nick to Meyer Wolfsheim. They meet Tom Buchanan by chance but Gatsby leaves suddenly without a word to Nick. Later that day, Jordan Baker tells Nick about Daisy’s past, her brief love affair with Gatsby (the lieutenant Jordan had never seen before), and her subsequent marriage to Tom.

THE ANIMAL KINGDOM Nick refers to an ‘old timetable’ containing a list he made in the summer of 1922 of the visitors to Gatsby’s back yard, those who ‘paid him subtle tribute of knowing nothing whatever about him’. He lists characters whose names bear allusions to animals of various descriptions. Each of these animal’s carry negative associations, and are shown to belong to the power-hungry, parasitical jungle Nick had already outlined in chapter 3.

THE ANIMAL KINGDOM Some of the animals are horned and masculine in nature – the Hornbeams, Blackbucks (note reference to ‘dirty money’), Hammerheads and Cecil Roebuck. Some are animals characterised by their wily, industrious natures – the Leeches, ‘Rot-gut’ Ferret and Edgar Beaver. Another distinct group are characterised by their association to fish and pungent smells – the Fishguards, Ripley Snells, Mrs Ulysses Swett, S. B. Whitebait. Faustina O’Brien also reminds us of the legend of Faust, the character who sold himself to the devil. All of these characters, with their weirdly negative world associations are shown, by their lack of interest in Gatsby, who ‘sold out’ to the world of glamour and wealth.

GATSBY’S CAR We have already discussed the symbolism related to cars in previous chapters but today we will focus on Gatsby’s. A potent symbol throughout the entire novel, the car is shown to be both an indicator of status and a harbinger of doom. As a group, find three quotes which describe his car from the opening pages of chapter 4 and explain what you think it symbolises.

GATSBY’S CAR Gatsby’s car is described as being ‘swollen here and there in its monstrous length’ and like a ‘green leather conservatory’. Gatsby’s car, then, is more like a home in its proportions, being ‘terraced with a labyrinth of windshields that mirrored a dozen suns. ’ The ‘green’ of the leather symbolises wealth in its connection to the ‘green’ dollar, but it also subtly associated with the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. We are reminded throughout the entire novel that the entire show – the car, the house, the parties and the possessions – all exist in order to recapture her.

GATSBY AND NICK Look over the conversation Nick and Gatsby have in the car on the way to New York. As a group, discuss what we learn about Gatsby’s character and how Nick feels about him. Think about: Gatsby's restlessness His attitude towards all his objects The information (lies? ) he tells Nick about his life Quotes which describe the way he says those ‘facts’ Whether Nick believes him or not You must refer closely to the text and provide quotations and analysis.

GATSBY AND NICK Gatsby’s possessions do not make him happy. He seems to get no intrinsic pleasure from the collected artefacts around him and seems self-consciously aware of the pretence upon which he has built his public persona. As such he ‘chokes’ on his lie to Nick that he was educated at Oxford and seems burdened by an intense energy: ‘he was never quite still; there was always a tapping foot somewhere or the impatient opening and closing of a hand’. He seems to be aware that he could be exposed at any time – unlike the complacent Tom, who revels luxuriously in the splendour of his castle, Gatsby seems never to be at rest with himself.

GATSBY AND NICK He props up history with handy objects of authenticity such as war medal and photographs of his time at Oxford, almost like a man on the run from the law. His stores are overblown, unrealistic and tinged with equal measure of fantasy and self-pity (note the way he keeps referring cryptically to the ‘sad thing that happened to me’ and, how, when the war came, he ‘tried very hard to die in order to forget it!) These unwittingly comical reflections stretch his credibility to the limit and Nick is left feeling ‘more annoyed than interested’ in the favour that Gatsby has asked him.

GATSBY AND NICK Gatsby seems to have several different opinions of himself: on the one hand he is proud of his achievements and his past; on the other, he seems a little ashamed of himself.

MYSTERY OF GATSBY’S BACKGROUND Source of his wealth becomes clearer. Though Nick is taken in by Gatsby’s purity, generosity and optimism, Gatsby remains enigmatic and not entirely trustworthy. Reminded again of one of themes of the novel – illusion vs reality.

MEYER WOLFSHEIM Critics have poured scorn on Fitzgerald’s open caricature of Wolfsheim, who seems to embody a very stereotypical Jewish man. In reality, though, it is worth remembering that Fitzgerald portrays white Anglo-Saxon Protestants with equal distaste and that he doesn't single out the Jewish community for any specific invective.

MEYER WOLFSHEIM Gatsby reveals he is the person who fixed the World Series in 1919, therefore connecting him to characters like Jordan baker who openly cheat in order to gain privilege. His preoccupation with Gatsby’s ‘Oggsford’ education is another indicator of the premium given to Anglican values among the wealthy classes. Wolfsheim is shown to represent the cut-throat impersonal world of big business, where the players eat each other alive. Nick is understandably disconcerted by him and his connection to Gatsby makes us question his ethics.

MEYER WOLFSHEIM Nick’s perceptions of Meyer Wolfsheim is markedly different from the view held by Gatsby. In the narrative, Wolfsheim’s reconstruction of the death of Rosy Rosenthal follows Gatsby’s account of his own history and precedes Jordan's recollection of her encounter with Daisy and the handsome young lieutenant. The placing of Nick’s narrative of Wolfsheim’s tale of violence among gangsters inevitably causes sinister overtones to reverberate into the framing glimpses of Gatsby's past. Gatsby is dually presented as a heroic soldier and innocent lover as well as hinting at his corruption. Meyer Wolfsheim has been instrumental in Gatsby’s accumulation of wealth.

NARRATIVE DEVIATION At this point, Nick re-tells the story of Gatsby and Daisy’s love affair from Jordan’s point of view. He relates her words as if they were exactly as he remembers them of the October in 1917. Does this effect the reliability of Nick’s narrative style? Can Jordan be trusted to tell the truth? She has already been shown as a liar – do we feel comfortable hearing the story from her perspective?

DAISY’S MEN Jordan tells how Daisy had been the ‘most popular girl’ in their Louisville hometown when they were growing up. The colour white is mentioned in connection to her three times, thus establishing her as the archetypal fairyvirgin whose parents don’t approve of the relationship she has formed with a young soldier (Gatsby) and force her to finish with him. She is shown to get over this disappointment quickly by becoming engaged to Tom Buchanan the next February, Jordan, her bridesmaid, tells of how she discovered Daisy drunk on her bed on the day of her wedding breakfast, clutching a letter in her hand (from Gatsby) and crying uncontrollably. Significantly, she attempts to toss away the £ 350, 000 pearl necklace Tom had given her as an engagement present and says she has ‘changed her mind’. This fickle tendency to change her mind will become even more significant at the end of the novel.

DAISY’S MEN The letter and the pearl necklace are important symbols of stability and status at this crisis point in Daisy’s life. As Gatsby’s letter come apart in hands ‘like snow’, her decision seems to have been made for her. Gatsby’s love is perceived as transient and unstable, whereas Tom’s version of ‘love’ represents rock solid permanence, by virtue of its immutable wealth. She didn’t say another word. We gave her spirits of ammonia and put ice on her forehead and hooked her back into her dress, and half an hour later, when we walked out of the room, the pearls were around her neck and the incident was over.

DAISY’S MEN Daisy, through choice, has become an emblem of Tom’s old money. She abandons her romantic urges, casts off her emotional coat and embarks on a marriage which will offer stability of status. Note the effort of the others to ‘ice’ her into submission, cooling her truer passion for the man she loved, and they way they ‘hook’ her into her dress. For she has, indeed, become a piece of meat in this transaction. This is borne out in Jordan’s recollection of how Tom began cheating on her almost immediately after the wedding was over, as well as his love of alcohol. Jordan then informs Nick that Gatsby's ‘favour’ is to ask him to invite Daisy round to his house for tea, in an attempt to rekindle an affair that had been extinguished by ice and snow years earlier.

THE GREAT GATSBY Chapter Five

GATSBY’S BLAZING HOUSE Perhaps he wishes his house to be a beacon of light to Daisy, in the same way that her green dock light is a source of spiritual satisfaction to him. He seems like a man who is afraid of the dark – or of the ghostliness that comes from an empty house. For Gatsby, the ‘show’ of his home must go on to face off the darkness troubling him. His life is essentially empty – notice how he talks about ‘glancing into some of the rooms’ in his house, as if checking to see that everything is ‘perfect’. His home is a showpiece, an emblem of spiritual death.

PATHETIC FALLACY In literature, the use of weather to mirror the moods of characters is known as pathetic fallacy. Pathetic fallacy is used throughout chapter five.

RAIN AND GATSBY'S RELATIONSHIP WITH DAISY We are first told “the day agreed upon was pouring rain” At 4 pm, when Daisy arrives, the rain has ‘cooled to a damp mist’. The connections of ‘cool’ and ‘damp’ to Daisy’s character are clear from the previous chapter, where we learned that her feelings for Gatsby faded as his letter became a damp pulp. At the height of Gatsby’s discomfort – when Nick finds the tensions too unbearable to remain indoors – it is again ‘pouring’. When Nick returns, Daisy and Gatsby have happily reacquainted. Significantly, ‘the sun shone again’, there are ‘twinkle bells of sunshine in the room’ and Gatsby is again ‘an ecstatic patron of recurring light’.

THE CHANGING FACE OF JAY GATSBY In the first half of this chapter, we watch Jay Gatsby transform before our eyes. Use the worksheet provided to analyse the key quotes provided and chart the change in Gatsby’s characterisation.

RAIN AND GATSBY'S RELATIONSHIP WITH DAISY As Gatsby falls into an anti-climax, Daisy begins to cry. The introduction of the symbol of Gatsby’s shirts is very important here. Daisy breaks down at the sight of Gatsby throwing – almost obsessively – his shirts onto his bed.

RAIN AND GATSBY'S RELATIONSHIP WITH DAISY He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel, which lost their folds as they fell and covered the table in a many-coloured disarray. While we admired he brought more and the soft rich heap mounted higher – shirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids in coral and apple-green and lavender and faint orange, with monograms of Indian blue. Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily.

RAIN AND GATSBY'S RELATIONSHIP WITH DAISY Daisy’s moment of release – when the ‘soft rich heap’ dumbfounds her – occurs at a moment of simultaneous wonder and disappointment. Gatsby is, by now, ‘running down like an over wound clock’, a result of having spent so many years obsessing over Daisy ‘at an inconceivable pitch of intensity’. His rather bewildered sense of sadness and anti-climax combines with Daisy’s sense of wonder and awe at the spectacle of social status laid out before her. Like the time she was dog-chained by Tom's status symbol (the pearls) she reacts to Gatsby's shirts with tears. The curious mixture of happiness and tears (sunshine and rain) provides a rainbow – depicted by the multicoloured array of shirts on the bed.

GATSBY'S RELATIONSHIP WITH DAISY The episode in which Gatsby and Daisy are reunited in his mansion is clearly a highly significant one. It is an encounter that carries an enormous amount of weight in the novel and, discloses to us that Daisy falls terribly short of the ideal version lodged in Gatsby's heart and imagination. It might seem obvious that Gatsby and Daisy have a lot of catching up to do, and would feel the need to talk at length, yet dialogue is kept to a minimum. Their feelings for one and other are communicated through their actions and through what remains unsaid.

GATSBY’S ANTI-CLIMAX We get the feeling in this chapter that, despite Gatsby’s sense of wonder and awe at Daisy's presence, he nonetheless experiences an unusual sense of emptiness and disappointment. Nick makes particular reference to the light at the end of Daisy's dock, the ‘colossal significance’, of which, ‘has now vanished forever’. For Gatsby, that light had been a tantalising, spiritual beacon to light his way to Daisy, now that he is within his grasp, it has reverted back to the ordinary.

GATSBY’S ANTI-CLIMAX Gatsby seems to revel in the electric intensity of reaching for an object more than grasping it: I saw that the faint expression of bewilderment had come back into Gatsby's face, as though a faint doubt had occurred to him as to the quality of his present happiness. Five years! There just have been moments even on that afternoon when Daisy stumbled short of his dreams – not through her fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. …No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man can store up in his ghostly heart. The trajectory of Gatsby's dream is such that the object of that dream – Daisy – falls short. This is part of Gatsby's tragedy – pursuing a dream that he, himself, has made unattainable.

GREEN LIGHT Waterfront – raining heavily. Gatsby has the opportunity to make a telling statement. Daisy has no idea that Gatsby has been watching her from across the water. He says: “ You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock…” Nick notices that he tells her this.

MEANING OF THE “GREEN Daisy is oblivious to what Gatsby means. He is sharing one of his LIGHT. ” most important and cherished rituals. Prior to this the green light represented many things: hope, money, moving forward. It represented Gatsby trying to obtain a dream and bring him closer to his love, Daisy. The green light no longer holds the same significance. His dream and goal have been realised. Will Gatsby’s dreams change? What will become of him?

GATSBY AND DAISY – A MATCH? Are generally a good match Gatsby is dream-like Daisy is ethereal. Personalities complement each other. Gatsby collects “enchanted objects” Daisy is rather emotional Daisy does get caught up in Gatsby’s dream: “I’d like to get on one of those pink clouds and put you in it and push you around. ”

NICK’S ROLE As chapter ends – Nick offers an astute observation about the whole situation. Both Nick and Gatsby realise that once a dream is achieved, life must continue. How does someone go about continuing their life after bringing a fabrication or fantasy to life? Was Gatsby in love with the idea of Daisy or Daisy herself? His relentless pursuit of his dream meant that he had scenarios in his head and imagined her not as she is but as he perceives her to be. Gatsby is enchanted with her “enchanting voice. ” Nick ceases to exist for them, quietly retreats, leaving them alone together.

THE CLOCK Gatsby himself is referred to as an ‘over wound clock’ in this chapter, which ties him perceptibly to the idea of the passing of time. When he enters Nick’s house, he behaves very like a wooden stiff actor, full of unrealistic gesture and poses ‘in a strained counterfeit of perfect ease… his head leaned back so far that it rested against the face of a defunct mantelpiece clock, and from this position his distraught eyes stared down. . ’ The deliberate use of negative adjectives to describe these clocks – ‘defunct’ and ‘over wound’ – reinforce the idea that Gatsby has a skewed and unrealistic idea of time itself. For him, time must have stopped and rewound to the point where he lost Daisy to Tom Buchanan.

CHAPTER SUMMARY Nick organises a meeting at his house between Gatsby and Daisy Alone with Nick, Gatsby discloses that the money which bought his mansion was made in just three years Gatsby gives them a guided tour of his house, displaying his possessions, especially his expensive, imported clothes Nick muses on the nature of Gatsby's desire for this woman, and remarks on the intensity of their relationship, eventually he leaves them alone

CHAPTER SIX Characterisation Gatsby, Daisy, Tom Theme American Upper Classes American Dream Structure Symbolism

WHY IS THE CHAPTER IMPORTANT? Chapter begins with an inquisitive reporter turning up on Gatsby’s doorstep on the basis of rumours. This suggests that there is more to Gatsby than we think. Gatsby’s past is revealed. Chapter raises the issue of why Gatsby really wants Daisy – his poor upbringing spurred him on to achieve the American Dream and Daisy represents the class and wealth that he aspires to.

CHARACTERISATION GATSBY

CHARACTERISATION GATSBY Chapter 6 is important in revealing detail about Gatsby’s character.

CHARACTERISATION GATSBY Gatsby has created his own identity: Jay Gatsby is a creation of James Gatz, a seventeen year old farm boy from North Dakota. James Gatz invented a persona that a seventeen year old boy would dream of being, but it is an illusion.

CHARACTERISATION GATSBY Dan Cody is a father figure to Gatsby virtually disowned his mother and father because “his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all”. Until the age of seventeen, Gatsby was just James Gatz- Cody taught him how to be Jay Gatsby. Gatz always dreamed of something bigger and Cody proved it was possible.

CHARACTERISATION GATSBY Gatsby also learned from Cody: Cody had a drink problem, but Gatsby ‘formed the habit of letting liquor alone’. Cody’s behaviour was debauched – ‘savage violence of the frontier brothel and saloon’. Gatsby throws debauched parties, but isolates himself from his guests.

CHARACTERISATION GATSBY “It was James Gatz who had been loafing along the beach that afternoon …but it was already Jay Gatsby who borrowed a row boat…” It is as if Gatsby is rechristening himself Symbolises his desire to forget his lower class identity and recast himself as the wealthy man he envisions.

Discussion: Is this why he finds Daisy so attractive? For her, wealth and luxury comes effortlessly She is the reason he invented Jay Gatsby. Links to STRUCTURE and SYMBOLISM “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people” Stark contrast to his later extravagant lifestyle.

CHARACTERISATION GATSBY DISCUSSION – What does Gatsby’s transformation tell us about the type of person he is? What do we admire about him?

CHARACTERISATION GATSBY We discover that Gatsby never received the money from Cody. It is Gatsby’s power to make his dreams real that makes him ‘great’.

“Can’t repeat the past? ” he cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!” This illustrates his capacity to delude himself Also illustrates his boundless capacity for hope DISCUSSION: Does the quote influence our feelings towards Gatsby?

CHARACTERISATION - DAISY

CHARACTERISATION - DAISY “But the rest offended her. . . was appalled by West Egg, ” She is appalled by the vulgar behaviour of the drunken guests. Does her reaction come as a surprise to the reader?

CHARACTERISATION GATSBY The main problem with Gatsby’s conception of Daisy is that it is a dream. He still thinks she is the girl who loved him in Louisville But she would never desert her own class and background to be with Gatsby.

CHARACTERISATION - TOM “I may be old-fashioned in my ideas but women run around too much these days to suit me. ” The reader sees how hypocritical Tom is being here considering his own behaviour DISCUSSION: In your opinion would Tom ever believe that Daisy would have an affair?

STRUCTURE “Tom was evidently perturbed at Daisy’s running around alone” Tom’s concern is used to move the narrative along This exposes the suspicions of Tom that will eventually lead to confrontation

SYMBOLISM The name ‘The Great Gatsby’ makes his almost seem like a magician. His reinvention is almost magical.

SYMBOLISM “Lake Superior” This is a realistic geographical detail but symbolic in a sense. Gatz must recreate himself as Gatsby in order to become superior and it is at this location that he does that.

THEME – SHALLOWNESS OF THE AMERICAN UPPER CLASSES “Mr Sloane didn’t enter into the conversation, but lounged back haughtily in his chair. . . ” They treat Gatsby with contempt He has the money but lacks their superior social qualities (in their minds) Even among the very rich there are class distinctions

THEME – SHALLOWNESS OF THE AMERICAN UPPER CLASSES Gatsby’s behaviour is contrasted with those of the East Egg residents. Gatsby is courteous and offers the riders refreshments. They accept without gratitude and leave without him. Gatsby thinks ‘they cared’, he doesn’t realise that he wasn’t supposed to accept their invitation.

THEME – SHALLOWNESS OF THE UPPER CLASSES DISCUSSION: Think about Gatsby’s treatment and actions towards his guests (the Sloanes). What do they reveal about his character?

THEME – SHALLOWNESS OF THE UPPER CLASSES Gatsby’s naivety of class prejudice is also seen in his vain belief that Daisy will abandon her status and position to be with him. For all his wealth, he will remain working class and will never be good enough for Daisy.

THEME – AMERICAN DREAM “Can’t repeat the past? ” he cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!” Gatsby’s future is an attempt at restoring a golden moment from his past rather than something new. Historically, early American settlers felt that the New World offered them the opportunity to return to the Garden of Eden

THEME – AMERICAN DREAM Gatsby’s pursuit of the American Dream became a pursuit of wealth- his dreams of being a great man were corrupted. When he met Daisy his dream of wealth and status was replaced by a dream of being with her. For the older Gatsby, she represents the American Dream and everything that he hopes to achieve.

THEME: FAILURE OF AMERICAN DREAM The concept of an ideal future is often a form of nostalgia for a Golden Age. An age that supposedly existed in the distant past. DISCUSSION: Can Gatsby’s dream ever come true?

THEME: FAILURE OF AMERICAN DREAM Daisy can’t live up to Gatsby’s dream. Gatsby has idealised Daisy and does not realise she is unworthy of his dreams. Daisy wants and is used to a life of privilege. She seems more interested in Gatsby’s possessions, than in Gatsby himself, ‘It makes me sad because I’ve never seen… such beautiful shirts before’.