Quotes Flashcards
chap 1 - unequal opportunities, metaphor
a sense of the fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth
chap 1 - first description of gatsby, direct characterisation, attuned to the tone of a room
if personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heigtened sensitivity to the promises of life
chap 1 - start of a new story, renewal
life was beginning over again with the summer
chap 1 - description of tom, lexical field of superiority and arrogance
now he was a sturdy straw-haired man of thirty, with a rather hard mouth and supercilious manner. Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward… it was a body capable of enormous leverage - a cruel body.
chap 1 - daisy connection to sirens, indirect characterisation
I’ve heard it said that Daisy’s murmur was only to make people lean toward her; an irrelevant criticism that made it no less charming
A promise that she had done gay, exciting things just a while since and that there were gay, exciting things hovering in the next hour
chap 1 - tom and daisy united, simile
as if she had asserted her membership in a rather distinguished secret society to which she and Tom belonged.
chap 2 - valley of ashes, metaphor, vivid visual imagery
where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of ash-grey men, who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.
chap 2 - wilson’s lack of importance, indirect characterisation
mingling immediately with the cement colour of the walls
chap 2 - myrtle’s materialism
with the influence of the dress her personality had also undergone a change… converted into impressive hauteur
chap 3 - speculation about gatsby, still willing to attend his parties despite the rumours
you look at him sometimes when he thinks nobody’s looking at him. I’ll bet he killed a man
chap 4 - better that people turned a blind eye to Gatsby’s past, irony that a tribute is celebrating someone
paid him the subtle tribute of knowing nothing whatever about him
chap 4 - in new york, gatsby’s life is expected, juxtaposition of death to the optimism of the American dream
A dead man passed us in a hearse heaped with blooms, followed by two carriages with drawn blinds, and by more cheerful carriages for friends… Even Gatsby could happen, without any particular wonder
chap 4 - people’s ease at being blind sided, hyperbole - people knew it was fixed
It never occurred to me that one man could start to play with the faith of fifty million people
chap 4 - Daisy is dependent on Tom, weak and shallow, direct characterisation
If he left the room for a minute she’d look around uneasily… and wear the most abstracted expression until she saw him coming in the door
chap 5 - clock interrupts their meeting, showing how they wish to stop time
luckily the clock took this moment to tilt dangerously at the pressure of his head
