The GREAT GATSBY

Chapter 1 Analysis COLORS inverted archetypes

White – impurity or loss of innocence Daisy, Jordan in white billowing

dresses Tom in a “cheerful red and white

house” Whiteness is ironic

Tom disregards traditional marriage vows

Daisy “beautiful white girlhood”

COLORS inverted archetypes

“rosy-colored space” Represents a

fairy-tale, ephemeral quality, unreal, illusion

PASTELS

COLORS

Grey images Associated with decadence,

decay, desolation and waste Wasted vitality, wasted

morals, wasted dreams Jordan Baker has “gray sun-

strained eyes”And she looks out of a “wan”

or pale “discontented face”

Yellow

Archetypal symbol of death or dying

Jordan has “autumnal-leaf yellow” hair Autumn images connects her

with decadence – death of morality

Green – ambivalent interpretations

introduced first as the light at the end of a dock

Typically associated with growth, spring, and new life

Signals “go!, go! go!” Color of money

All of these apply to The Great Gatsby

Green Primarily connected with Daisy

She turns out to be an unworthy dream

What or who is the green light?

What does it mean? Why does Gatsby have his

arms stretched out to it?

Gold & Silver Gatsby appears under the “silver pepper of

the stars” looking longingly at “a single green light”

Appearing almost like a glittering god Gatsby often wears silver and gold

At one point he wears a flannel suit, silver shirt and gold-colored tie

The point of the descriptions is to reinforce the idea that he is God-like (a demi-god)

Nick Carraway as the narrator

Quotes his father in beginning “…you feel like criticizing…”

Advantages he alludes to is not monetary

But “a sense of fundamental decencies is parceled out unequally at birth.”

What are fundamental decencies here?

Reliable narrator

Immediately gains confidence of reader

“privy to the secret griefs of wild, unknown men.”

“riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart.”

Nick is trustworthy

He represents traditional values from America’s past

He acknowledges that Gatsby “represented everything” for which he had “an unaffected scorn”, but he finds “something gorgeous” in him too

A dream-like quality

It’s not Gatsby that Nick rejects when he returns to the Midwest

Rather it’s “what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams”

Fitzgerald allusions

“Midas and Morgan and Maecenas” From myth, Greek civilization and

recent past Nick buys books for bond business

with promise in his job 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

“guide, a pathfinder, an original settler” when a newcomer asks him for directions

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

Middle West as “the ragged edge of the universe”

A rugged pioneer image contrasted with the sophistication of the East, specifically New York City

Original settlers-who came west

Represents the quintessential work ethic while the moneyed people and their subsequent generations represent the consumption ethic

EAST EGG & WEST EGG

Bird’s eye view is identically contoured land formations shaped like enormous eggs and separated by water

They are dissimilar in every way except size and shape

WEST EGG where Gatsby & Nick live

“the less fashionable of the two” Nouveau riche “new $”

Implies lack of refinement or class Houses are random

Bungalows in between mansions No apparent housing codes

WEST EGG

And “eclectic melting pot” neighborhood

Takes on symbolism and character of the Old West, The land discovered in the

pure fulfillment of dreams

EAST EGG

Elite Comes across as superficial

and smug

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

“glittered” with “white palaces” Old money Well-groomed houses and lawns

Implies well-groomed and well-bred occupants who, at least superficially, are gentile and classy

AMERICAN DREAM Distorted

Leads to worship at unworthy shrines

Beauty, youth, and pleasure become icons

Restless and unfulfilled lives Ennui [an’-wee]

Pursuit of “ideals” “idealization” and “idealizing”

C:\Documents and Settings\pbooth\Desktop\gatsby social groups.asf

TAGS- descriptive or recurring

words/phrases associated with a principal characters

Helps to visualize the characters

Tom-physical tag

Glory days of football career at Yale Forever living in afterglow “string of ponies” Adulthood is extension of collegiate

activities –good time Tom- “great pack of muscle” and

“aggressive”

Daisy-voice tag

Low, thrilling voice Luring people to “lean toward her”

Mythological allusion – Sirens lured sailors with their enchanting voices

“exhilarating ripple of her voice was a wild tonic in the rain”

Charming power for her

Jordan- chin tag

Chin is lifted a little as if she is balancing something on it

Has a “wan, charming discontented face”

Jauntiness is a word used often in association with her (lively; springy)

Houses-Buchanan’s & Gatsby’s

Gatsby’s estate - his house has “halls and salons and verandas”

High Gothic library, paneled with carved English oak”

A “feudal silhouette against the sky”

Somewhat of a period piece reminiscent of the past

Buchanan’s “cheerful red and white Georgian Colonial mansion.”

Gleams with brightness The lawn starting at the beach and

running toward the front door “for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sun-dials and brick walks and burning gardens.”

Fitzgerald's poetic language is used throughout novel

Image at chapter’s end

Gatsby, trembling, standing with outstretched arms, looking at the blinking green light at the end of a dock Mystique and mystery surround him Reinforces dreamlike quality of this

hero on a quest to attain his dream