Gatsby - Character Flashcards
“If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him.”
Nick admires Gatsby and views him as a brilliant example of human etiquette and decorum.
Word choice of “successful” and “gorgeous” emphasise this.
Quote from the opening pages about Nick’s opinion of Gatsby’s personality
“If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him.”
“it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams…”
Nick introduces the idea of Gatsby’s dreams – central to the real understanding of his character.
The metaphor of “foul dust” or personification of “preyed on” hint that Gatsby’s dreams will not be fulfilled and will eventually hurt him.
No further is said on this subject, adding to the mystery of his character early in the novel.
Quote from the opening pages about the hopeless nature of Gatsby’s dream
“it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams…”
“he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, as far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily, I glanced and distinguished nothing except a single green light minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock…”
Nick’s first view of Gatsby involves one of his great “enchanted objects” – a symbol of his dream shining across the water. The green light, the reader suspects, is on the end of Daisy’s dock and symbolises Gatsby’s great love and desire of her. However, the colour is also significant. Green is the colour of money. Gatsby reaches out towards his dream of Daisy and the prestige of old money, completely consumed with the idea of achieving it and unable to distinguish between his dream and the harsh realities of the world.
Quote about Gatsby reaching towards the green light
“he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, as far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily, I glanced and distinguished nothing except a single green light minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock…”
“but young men didn’t – at least in my provincial experience I believed they didn’t – drift coolly out of nowhere and buy a palace on Long Island Sound”
Nick is unable to disregard the various rumours about Gatsby – that he was a German spy, an Oxford man, that he may have killed someone – because he knows that it is very unlikely to be able to quietly come into significant amounts of money and move to a huge house in a location like West Egg. He suspects there is more to Gatsby and that somewhere within the rumours there is truth.
Quote about the difficulty to rise quietly to wealth in American society
“but young men didn’t – at least in my provincial experience I believed they didn’t – drift coolly out of nowhere and buy a palace on Long Island Sound”
“He looked at me sideways – and I knew why Jordan Baker believed he was lying. He hurried the phrase ‘educated at Oxford’, or swallowed it, or choked on it, as though it had bothered him before. And with this doubt, his whole statement fell to pieces.”
Nick is initially unconvinced by Gatsby’s own account of his past. Gatsby’s behaviour, in Nick’s opinion, is the behaviour of a liar and leads him to suspect that there is more to Gatsby’s story than he would like Nick to know about. This is supported by their luncheon with Meyer Wolfsheim, an organised criminal who waits for Gatsby to introduce him to a “business gonnegtion”, giving us a glimpse into what Gatsby would do in order to achieve his dream of Daisy and the Old Money world she represents to him.
Quote about Nick’s belief Gatsby is lying about his past.
“He looked at me sideways – and I knew why Jordan Baker believed he was lying. He hurried the phrase ‘educated at Oxford’, or swallowed it, or choked on it, as though it had bothered him before. And with this doubt, his whole statement fell to pieces.”
Quotes establishing Gatsby’s dream prior to the key incident
“‘Can’t repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!’”
“He wanted nothing less of Daisy than she should go to Tom and say, ‘I never loved you.’ After she had obliterated four years with that sentence they could decide on more practical measures to be taken.”
Analysis of “‘Can’t repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!’”
Gatsby reveals his undying belief in his dream. ‘Incredulously’ suggests he cannot believe that Nick would tell him he cannot recapture the past. His dream of recapturing the life he believes he should have had with Daisy and erasing all the wrong that have happened since is all-consuming.
Analysis of “He wanted nothing less of Daisy than she should go to Tom and say, ‘I never loved you.’ After she had obliterated four years with that sentence they could decide on more practical measures to be taken.”
Gatsby reveals the extent of his dream. It is not enough for Daisy to love Gatsby now. What he desires is for her to undo the damage of previous year. ‘Obliterated’ exaggerates his wishes - Gatsby wants all trace of her marriage to Tom completely destroyed and he believes Daisy has the power to do that.
Quotations showing that, at the height of conflict, Gatsby still has an undying belief in his dream.
” Just tell him the truth - that you never loved him and it’s all wiped out forever.”
“‘She never loved you, do you hear?’ he cried. ‘She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved anyone except me!’”
Analysis of quotations showing Gatsby’s undying believe in his dream at the height of conflict:
” Just tell him the truth - that you never loved him and it’s all wiped out forever.”
“‘She never loved you, do you hear?’ he cried. ‘She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved anyone except me!’”
As conflict builds to a climax between Tom and Gatsby, Gatsby in unmoving in his belief that this is the moment when his dream will become a reality. He is certain that his words are true and that Daisy will confirm them. However, there are clues in what he says that show his total misunderstanding of Daisy’s fickleness. Her judgement of his wealth and the fact ‘she was tired of waiting for me’ indicate that Daisy might not have been so all-consumingly in love with Gatsby as he was with her.
