Great Gatsby Flashcards
To what extent do you feel the writer is trying to persuade you to think about an issue or idea in a particular way?
- Think about the American Dream.
- Immediately introduced by Gatsby’s descriptor that ‘foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams’
- Gatsby’s whole story is about his American dream, to get Daisy, which ultimately fails and live with her in Louisville.
- But the book itself is giving a message about the wider American Dream, and its failures.
- The ashes that follow Gatsby represent the bad things he has done in order to try and get to his american dream, and the dust then becomes a motif in the novel, permeating the majority of scenes as an indicator of the sins of the rich.
- The valley of ashes, a metaphor for the thoughtlessness of the few, follows them.
How well do you think the writer handles the transition between one time and another?
- There are several flashbacks, all very sudden and extremely explanatory.
- They are important because of Gatsby’s obsession with the past.
- Describes them in vivid detail.
Which character do you feel the writer relates to most closely? What makes you think that?
- talk about ‘write what you know’.
- FSF has parallels to all three major male characters.
- Nick from Minnesota, Ivy League.
- Like Gatsby joined the army fell in love with girl at his training camp.
- Tried to better himself for said girl by writing novels.
- However, FSF does get his girl, and he drinks unlike Gatsby, whose own Hamartia is his objectification of Daisy, not drinking.
- Largest connection in the novel with Tom, even though this might not really by reflective of his true personality.
- At the time of the novel’s publication, Zelda was rumoured to be having an affair with a French Pilot.
- The quote that accompanies the novel is also about a ‘gold hatted, high bouncing lover’ who seduces with material possessions, and is a quote from FSF’s previous semi-autobiographical work ‘This side of paradise’, so this is clearly an issue on his mind.
- As well as this, Fitzgerald is an alcoholic whose wife suffers from nervous breakdowns, and he eventually dies of a heart attack. Dismal ends, but surrounded by wealth.
What sort of techniques does the writer use to get you interested in the story and the characters? Do you think they are successful?
- Fitzgerald has a beautiful writing style.
- Likes long and intricate sentences:
‘If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away.’ - allows him to make good connections and metaphors.
- Uses lots of punctuation to split up these sentences so its not just ramblings.
- Everything has a point, and everything has a deeper meaning.
- V succesful.
Choose one part of the novel that you found particularly challenging, exciting or moving. What do you think prompted that response?
- Gatsby’s party and the owl eyed man.
- Meets him in the library, which is a metaphor for Gatsby himself.
- calls him a ‘real Belasco’, as in his house is a perfect stage set, with real books, but he ‘didn’t cut the pages’.
- He is presenting the facade of intellect, but in reality he knows no one is likely to check the books because they’re all as shallow as him!
- The owl-eyed man’s appearance here is also symbolic-owls are a sign of wisdom, but also of death. Foreshadowing.
How does the author explore the attitudes and emotions of the central character(s)?
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What stylistic choices does the author make to reveal underlying tensions?
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What is the significance of the setting of the work?
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What are the central ideas of the work?
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In what ways does the author use foreshadowing?
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What do you consider to be pivotal to the structure of the plot?
The trip to town in the ‘oppressive heat’
- Being watched by TJ Eckleberg.
- Tom realised that Daisy is having an affair after she’s told Gatsby that he’s ‘so cool’.
- Also being watched by Myrtle, whose eyes are ‘wide with jealous terror’ and are fixed on Jordan, thinking she’s Daisy. Shows her desperation.
- Tom is feeling the ‘hot whips of panic’
- Then music starts playing and the ‘compressed heat exploded into sound’, much like the tension in the room does.
- Tom starts picking fights with Gatsby, over old sport, oxford, and finally his affair with Daisy.
- Asks if he’s supposed to ‘let Mr Nobody from Nowhere make love to his wife’
This is such an important part of the novel because it reveals the flaws in each of them.
- Daisy cannot make decisions for herself.
- Gatsby is desperately clutching at the past.
- Tom is stupid and has continual affairs.
- The heat is also important, because it builds tension and seems suffocating.
- Causes Myrtle’s death, which causes Gatsby’s death- end of novel.
Who do you think is the most significant character?
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Who do you think is the most significant minor character?
The Owl-Eyed Man
- Although not relevant to the plot, he is seriously important in regards to conveying Fitzgerald’s underlying message.
- Owls- wisdom and death.
- First meet him in the library, where he uncovers Gatsby’s facade.
- Then he drives away in a car with only three wheels, which is symbolic because it represents the reckless disregard of the Roaring Twenties and the inevitable plunge Fitzgerald sensed would end the boom.
- It also foreshadows a car accident later in the novel.
- THEN, the owl-eyed man is the only one to turn up to Gatsby’s funeral. Why? Because he is the only one that knows Gatsby/ saw through him. OR because HE IS T J ECKLEBURG and witnessed the events of the novel and has come to pay his respects for a man he knows is innocent!!!!!!
What do you think is the most significant theme?
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What do you think is the most significant symbol?
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