Quotes Flashcards
“a sense of fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth”
Nick
Chapter 1
Class
Poems: Belle, Whoso, Maid
“extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness”
Nick - about Gatsby
Chapter 1
Idealistic
Poem: sonnet 116
“their dissimilarity in every particular except shape and class”
About East and West Egg
Chapter 1
Class
Poem: Bell, Whoso, Maid
“Tom Buchanan in riding clothes was standing with his legs apart on the front porch”
Nick - Tom’s characterisation
Masculinity, arrogance
Possessive
“His speaking voice, a gruff husky tenor”, “her low, thrilling voice”, “her voice glowing and singing”, “an excitement in her voice that men… found difficult to forget”
Tom and Daisy’s voices
Chapter 1
Common use of voices for characterisation
Female power
Male dominance
“Tom’s got some woman in New York” “She might have the decency not to telephone him at dinner time”
Jordan on affair
Chapter 1
Infidelity
Myrtle constantly being between them or there
Class
Sexuality
“I hope she’ll be a fool…a beautiful little fool”
Daisy - on daughter
Chapter 1
Quote from Fitzgerald’s wife Zelda
Female power and oppression
“he stretched out his arms towards the dark water…I distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away”
Nick - first sight of Gatsby
Chapter 1
Unattainable love
Idealised
Supernatural depiction of Gatsby
“valley of ashes”
TS Elliot poem
Chapter 2
Consequences of industrial movement
Class
First meet Myrtle - locations reflect characters
“the eyes of Doctor TJ Eckleburg”
Religious figure
Chapter 2
“He was a blond, spiritless man”
George Wilson
Chapter 2
La Belle men
Class
“the thickish figure of a woman blocked out the light”, “walking through her husband as if he were a ghost”
Myrtle’s introduction
Chapter 2
Female power
Sexuality
Class
“Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!”
A three person relationship
Chapter 2
Physical
Loud
Passion
“Somebody told me they thought he killed a man once”, “he was a German spy during the war”
Building anticipation over Gatsby
Chapter 3
Illusion
Duality
“old sport”
Gatsby’s attempt at higher class status
Chapter 3
Class
Illusion
“rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance”
Gatsby
Chapter 3
Godlike presentation
“It takes two to make an accident”
Jordan - Foreshadowing
Chapter 3
Tragic love
“It is an old timetable now, disintegrating at its fold”
Chapter 4
The age of this tale
Old tragic end
“The officer looked at Daisy while she was speaking, in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at”
Jordan retelling Gatsby and Daisy’s past
Chapter 4
“She wouldn’t let go of the letter…only let me leave it in the soap-dish when she saw that it was coming to pieces like snow”
Jordon on Daisy and Gatsby’s past
Chapter 4
Tragic love
“Tom ran into a wagon… she was one of the chambermaids”
Jordan on Tom and Daisy’s past
Chapter 4
Foreshadowing crash
Class
His preference- feels powerful
Sexuality
“The day agreed upon was pouring rain”, “it stopped raining”
Chapter 5
Pathetic fallacy
Impending tragedy
Short lived happiness
“Gatsby, pale as death, with his hands plunged like weights in his coat pockets, was standing in a puddle of water glaring tragically into my eyes”, “You’re acting like a little boy”
Chapter 5
Gatsby reduced by Daisy
Vulnerability
Stuck in past
“Pale as death” - mirrors end
“He literally glowed”, “My house looks well doesn’t it”
Gatsby
Chapter 5
Daisy’s affect
His attempt to impress
