THE GREAT GATSBY The Great Gatsby Themes l

THE GREAT GATSBY

The Great Gatsby

Themes l Culture Clash – Midwest vs. East – East Egg vs. West Egg – Gatsby vs. Tom

Themes l Culture Clash – Midwest (Nick) — moral, slow paced, unsophisticated – East—(Tom & Daisy) corrupt, and materialistic

Themes l The American Dream – Gatsby represents the American dream l Self-made wealth and happiness – Came from a poor family in N. Dakota l The spirit of youth and resourcefulness l Ability to make something of one's self despite where you came from l Primary flaw was naïve idealism

Themes l Appearance and Reality – – – Daisy and Tom’s marriage appeared real The love between Gatsby and Daisy appeared real Gatsby appeared to have many people who liked him

Themes l Moral Corruption – The wealthy l Buchanan’s l East Egg

Point of View l l Nick Carraway 1 st -person ("I") narrative – – How he feels about the characters Romantic and moralist l l Flashbacks within a flashback that fill us in on the life of Gatsby then flash forward to foreshadow his tragedy

Setting l New York – 1920’s – East Egg l l – Old $ – corrupt, materialistic West Egg l l New $ idealistic

Satire l Attempts to make fun of something that is wrong with some aspect of human behavior or society l A satirist will often exaggerate faults in order to show absurd they are

Satire l l l l The sense of vulgarity of the people (amusement park) Owl Eyes in the library – “The books are real” The “car accident” outside of Gatsby’s The parties intended to get Daisy’s attention The famous “shirt” scene Klipspringer calling for his “tennis shoes” Quality of the name "Great" Gatsby in the title

Imagery l Points out idealism and illusion – Color Imagery – The green light

Symbols l The Green Light – – – Hope Go Prosperity/money Jealousy New beginning

Symbols l The Eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg – – God All knowing l l – – Tom’s affair with Myrtle Daisy running over Myrtle Moral judge Watches over the Valley of Ashes

Symbols l The Valley of Ashes – – – Poor/low class society Dumping ground Moral decay of the 1920’s

Symbols l Weather – Rain (gray) l l – Extreme heat l – The unknown Mystery Tension between characters Cool weather (autumn) l Cooling off of relationships

Foreshadowing l Gatsby never used his pool all summer – – l Tells Nick Tells his gardener not to drain it The day he decides to use it, which is just about the last day of summer – it’s also the last day of his life.

Quotes l “If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, …[Gatsby had] …an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again. ”

Quotes l “This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of ash-gray men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air…. [And the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg] …brood on over the solemn dumping ground. ”

Quotes l “When the Jazz History of the World was over, girls where putting their heads on men’s shoulders, … swooning backward playfully into men’s arms, … but 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. ”

Quotes l l “… he began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel …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, [Daisy] began to cry stormily. “They’re such beautiful shirts, ” she sobbed … “It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such –such beautiful shirts before. ”

Quotes l “Her voice is full of money, ” [Gatsby] said suddenly. l That was it. … that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbal’s song of it…”

Quotes l “…Gatsby was overwhelmingly aware of the youth and mystery that wealthy imprisons and preserves, of the freshness of many clothes, and of Daisy, gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor. ”

Quotes l l “You can’t repeat the past. ” “Can’t repeat the past? ” he cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!”

Quotes l l Wilson: “God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing. You may fool me, but you can’t fool God!” Standing behind him, Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, which had just emerged, pale and enormous, from the dissolving night. “God sees everything, ” repeated Wilson. “That’s an advertisement, ” Michaelis assured him.

Quotes l “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us…tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…And one fine morning—“

Quotes l “…gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors’ eyes—a fresh, green breast of the new world. … for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder. ”

Quotes l “And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past…. ”