The Great Gatsby Flashcards
“He came…
alive to me, delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendour”
“Can’t repeat…
the past?’ he cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!”
“With every…
word, she was drawing further and further into herself”
“He spoke as…
if Daisy’s reaction was the only thing that happened”
“It ripped…
her open’ - ‘don’t tell me old sport.’ He winced. ‘Anyhow, Daisy stepped on it.’”
“Luckily,…
the clock took this moment to tilt dangerously at the pressure of his head, whereupon he turned and caught it with trembling fingers”
“He must have looked…
up at the unfamiliar sky…and shivered as he found what a grotesque thing a rose is”
“Stretching…
out his arms toward the dark water” and how he “could have sworn he was trembling”
“Spanking…
new under a thin beard of raw ivy”
“Nothing except…
a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been at the end of a dock”
“Down the…
marble steps into the rain, leaving them there together”
“Hot…
and stifling”
“The next…
day was broiling”
“Call up…
and order some ice for the mint julep”
“Thick, dark…
blood mingling with the dust of the valley”
“After that I felt…
a certain shame for Gatsby - one gentlemen to whom I telephoned implied that he had got what he deserved”
“They were careless…
people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures…and let other people clean up the mess they had made…”
Knocked over clock - A
Anxious attitude towards Daisy is highlighted, symbolises the clumsiness of his attempt to stop time and retrieve the past.
Rose symbolism - A
- Symbolic of dying love for Daisy
- A rose is typically a symbol of romance, seen as ugly, no longer hidden by fantasy, it has thorns and can hurt
- Nick suggests people only view roses as beautiful because they choose to do so
“There was an autumn…
flavour in the air”
Autumn - A
- Many pieces of lit, autumn symbolises loneliness and decay, not just plants dying, relationships too
- Can also reflect maturity in sense that plants can no longer grow and instead begin to wither away
- Seen in death of Gatsby
Heat and intensive atmosphere of previous chapters die away - Sense of loneliness and isolation
Final pool swim - A
- May symbolise Gatsby finally letting go of hopes and dreams
- Reminiscent of his attempt to hold on to Daisy
- Seen as a form of baptism from his sins
