Chapter 8 Flashcards
“he was clutching at some last hope”
his dream isn’t fake to him - it’s slipping away
desperate, anxiety
“ ‘Jay Gatsby’ “
inverted commas: fabrication of James Gatz
“ ‘Jay Gatsby’ had broken up like glass…”
G’s identity compared to glass
- see through to Nick who can see his delicate identity
- fragile, easily broken
“…against Tom’s hard malice”
shows the success of Tom destructing G’s identity
how does G win over D before “now”
he claims to be wealthy and of the same social status
“he took Daisy”
- their whole original emotional and physical relationship was based on lies and deceit
“now he found that he had committed himself to the following of a grail”
“grail” :
- he sees her as an achievement
- grail entails setting your whole life towards it (G’s identity)
- American dream
“bought luxury”
“wealth imprisons”
- G was attracted to her wealth
- saw her as financial security
- his love is shallow and morally empty
“gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor”
he needs to keep her for the wealth as he knows the struggle of being poor
“their month of love”
he bases his whole life and identity on one month of love
- shows his deluded nature
“something within her was crying for a decision”
D is in love with G but also loves the idea of love
- needs a set future which G can’t give her yet
“That force took shape in the middle of spring with the arrival of Tom Buchanan”
Gatsby had more of a devotion to her than she did him
“she hardly knew what she was saying”
G holding onto a dead dream
“autumn flavour in the air”
Autumn = year coming to an end : D + G coming to an end
“You know old sport, i’ve never used that pool”
he goes for his last swim - his last attempt of being with daisy
his dream kills him
“they’re a rotten crowd”
“you’re worth the whole damn bunch put together”
- last thing he says to G
- he’s above the shallow, morally empty people he associates with
“It was just noon”
sets up the time of the events to come
“perhaps he no longer cared”
“paid a high price of living too long with a single dream”
Nick thinks Gatsby finally gave up hope of his dream coming true - sees his delusion
“a grotesque thing a rose is”
Daisy is always seen as a rose
appearance vs reality
- morally vacuous
- materialistic
- shallow
“the four of us, the chauffeur, butler, gardener and I hurried down to the pool”
shows the shallow friendship of G social circle
