The Great Gatsby Flashcards
Your wife doesn’t…. loves me.
“Your wife doesn’t love you,” said Gatsby. She’s never loved you. She loves me.”
> use of possessive “your wife” demonstrates how Gatsby cares little for the legal, societal bond between Tom and Daisy
> repetition of love exaggerates his certainty that love is some unstoppable force.
He found out… rose is
“He found out what a grotesque thing a rose is”
> dream disappears, revealing his objectification of Daisy as the romantic Holy Grail.
He had one of those… times in life.
“He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life.”
> theatrical charm, reflects back a person’s most optimistic hope back to them
discovered that… smiled.
“discovered that people liked him when he smiled.”
> mechanical method of sustaining a natural persona, echoes his warped understanding of love.
> oddly awkward, stunted manner
“An extraordinary… any other person”
“An extraordinary gift for hope, such as I have never found in any other person.”
> unique, wholesome - “gift” suggests its inherently pure nature, as if some divine force had intended for him to use this
> Gatsby’s devotion is of unwavering, biblical proportions.
“I haven’t got… in my car.”
“I haven’t got a horse’, said Gatsby. ‘I used to ride in the army, but I’ve never bought a horse. I’ll have to follow you in my car.”
> pitiful inability to grasp the social norms as he believes old money can be acquired with new money.
“Can’t repeat… you can!”
“Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!”
> wholehearted belief that Daisy and he were destined to be together
“She only married… waiting for me.”
“She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me.”
> unable to accept Daisy loved time, desperately justifies and explains to mould reality to his own.
“A man… age”
“No French bob… shoulder”
“I’ll bet… a man”
delayed intro until Chapter 3, described only as “a man about my age” “no French bob touched his shoulder” aloof. “I’ll bet he killed a man” - shrouded in mystique that contributes to his romance, and how easily Gatsby becomes a myth or legend, - “The Great Gatsby”.
“sprang from… of himself”
“sprang from his Platonic conception of himself” - Plato insisted that ideas and reality were separate, but James Gatz combines the two to form Jay Gatsby.
“broke up… malice”
“broke up like glass against Tom’s hard malice”. Everything about Gatsby is a considered, measured strategy designed to sustain an attractive illusion
“He and this Wolfsheim… over the counter.”
“He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter.” - American dream of optimism, vitality and individualism become subordinated to the immoral pursuit of wealth – context of 1920 prohibition.
“took her…. her hand”
“took her because he had no real right to touch her hand” - took Daisy’s virginity not because of who she was, but what she had and what she represented.
“Mr…. Nowhere”
“Mr Nobody from Nowhere” - taunted by his unworthiness, Gatsby will never reach the promised land of the upper class.
“In his blue gardens… and the stars.”
“In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whispering and the champagne and the stars.” - short lived, magical, ethereal quality.
“There was a machine… butler’s thumb”
“There was a machine in the kitchen which could extract the juice of two hundred oranges in half an hour if a little button was pressed two hundred times by a butler’s thumb” - humorous description from Fitzgerald downplays the seemingly casual, off-hand nature of Gatsby’s ludicrous wealth, making it seem casual and effortless.
“little ripples… waves”
“Little ripples that were hardly the shadows of waves” - emphasises Gatsby’s futility, that he cannot engineer his own future
“they used to… son-of-a-bitch”
parasitical klipspringer and his tennis shoes “they used to go there by the hundreds…poor son-of-a-bitch” - Owl-eyes impersonal, vague and crude compassion as Nick is the only one who seems to have really known Gatsby at all.
“…shirts”
“They’re such beautiful shirts” - shows more compassion for material wealth than she does for Myrtle’s death.
“What’ll we do.. next thirty years?”
“What’ll we do with ourselves this afternoon?” cried Daisy, “and the day after that, and the next thirty years?” - purposeless drifting, her choice of stability and security is unsurprisingly unexciting.
“fifth guest’s… urgency”
“fifth guest’s shrill metallic urgency” - harsh abrasiveness contrasted with Daisy’s delicacy, ironic wry description of ‘fifth guest’
“I’m p-paralyzed…”
“I’m p-paralyzed with happiness.” affected, playful stutter is an indicator that Daisy is a constant performer in social situations
“Daisy and Tom were sitting… two bottles of ale”
“Daisy and Tom were sitting opposite each other at the kitchen table with a plate of cold fried chicken between them and two bottles of ale.” - traditional American domestic scene amidst Myrtle’s death, sitting opposite each other denotes partnership, conspiration and almost celebration
“They were careless…. into their money”
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and . . . then retreated back into their money”
Daisy is not the unique Holy Grail Gatsby believes she is, but a passive, empty reactionary – the colour white symbolises not purity or innocence, but an absence of character.
“She blossomed… was complete”
“She blossomed like a flower and the incarnation was complete.” - portrayed in Gatsby’s recount as feminine, delicate and helpless, but most importantly aesthetically pleasing – a flower portends love, reflecting Gatsby’s romanticisation of her into something that needs his love to be ‘complete’.
“I’ve been everywhere… sophisticated!”
“I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything. Sophisticated – God, I’m so sophisticated!” - expressing scorn and cynical wit for her own ‘boring life’, intentionally being melodramatic.
“her voice… money”
“Her voice is full of money’ - mirrors the Sirens of Greek myth, luring sailors to their deaths – much as she does Gatsby’s.
“Do you ever wait… miss it!”
“Do you ever wait for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always wait for the longest day of the year and then miss it!” - extending the length of the sentence without adding anything of meaning – shallow and pointless striving shows how Daisy is placed on a pedestal.
“I knew… way below you!”
“I knew he was below me. Everybody kept saying to me: ‘Lucille, that man’s way below you!” - echoes the lower classes desire to mirror the upper classes
“I hope she’ll… little fool.”
“I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” - distant and brief with her daughter, Daisy retreats from responsibility that her own twisted values will take on her child, mirroring Daisy’s own self-centeredness towards other’s lives.
“I am one… ever known.”
“I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.” - Contempt for Daisy, Tom and Gatsby yet spends all his time with them, accept their hospitality and even help Gatsby have an affair, a truly dishonest venture.
“You’re… driver”
“You’re a rotten driver” - foreshadows Myrtle’s death
“they were careless… Daisy”
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy” - Jordan represents upper-class’ carelessness as they rarely have to deal with the consequence of their own actions.
“I was standing… in his underwear”
“no one would… disapprove”
“I was standing beside his bed, and he was sitting up between the sheets, clad in his underwear” - ellipsis denotes Nick’s reluctance to admit that his professed devotion to his father’s moral discipline hides a secret desire to violate his father’s expectations by pursuing a wild life - “no one would ever know or disapprove”.
“You’re worth… together!”
“I’ve always been glad… to end.”
“You’re worth the whole damn bunch of them put together!’ I’ve always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave him, because I disapproved of him from beginning to end.” - Nick is taken in by Gatsby’s charm, and subsequently feels a need to defend him, yet oddly cover it with denial too.
“it is what preyed… of his dreams”
“it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams” - preyed suggests Gatsby is a victim, and Tom and Daisy are the ‘foul dust’ - in the wake portrays Gatsby as a force of nature, and Nick is in awe of his earnest devotion.
“we’re getting… my girl.”
appears grossly immoral at times, “We’re getting off!’ he insisted. ‘I want you to meet my girl.” - imperative, unashamed possessive
“the god damn… his car”
demonstrates more humanity than Daisy on “The God Damn coward!’ he whimpered. ‘He didn’t even stop his car” - cries, capable ironically of more remorse than the perpetrator.
“making a short… open hand”
“Making a short, deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.” - formal, matter of fact tone with full name address expresses Nick’s shock at first-hand violence which seems to come so casually and naturally to Tom.
“if we don’t look…. submerged”
“if we don’t look out the white race will be- will be utterly submerged” - racist views seem foolish and laughable, small stammer indicates inarticulation
“you can buy… these days”
“seemingly… remark”
“you can buy anything at a drug store these days” is a subtle dig at Gatsby’s illegal bootlegging background, which passes over Nick as a “seemingly pointless remark.”
“is it a boy… decisively.”
“Is it a boy or a girl?’ she asked delicately… ‘It’s a bitch,’ said Tom decisively.’” bluntness in contrast with Myrtle’s femininity and playing at airs and graces.
“was tempted to… his mouth”
Nick states how he often “was tempted to laugh whenever he opened his mouth.” - often the unspoken butt of jokes, but he wins in the end.
“Myrtle Wilson, her life… with the dust.”
“Myrtle Wilson, her life violently extinguished, knelt in the road and mingled her thick, dark blood with the dust.” - ‘extinguished’ suggests a previous flame and brightness, ‘thick, dark blood” is a graphic description of her brutal death, increasing the shocking nature of Daisy’s remorselessness.
“carried her… women can”
“carried her surplus flesh sensuously as some women can” - full of energy, but the slightly impersonal word ‘surplus’ suggests Nick’s disapproval for Myrtle.
“she’s a catholic… divorce”
“she’s a catholic and they don’t believe in divorce” - pitiful naivety, merely another possession to Tom.
“these people!… all the time”
careless buying of the dog – mongrel cheap imitation – mirror to Gatsby’s imitation home. Clumsily cultivated affectation of “These people! You have to keep after them all the time.”
“I got to… I got to do”
distancing herself from where she belongs, as she remains uneducated on “I got to write down a list, so I won’t forget all the things I got to do”.
“persistent…”
a wooden sign whose “persistent gaze” overlooks the poverty of the Valley of the Ashes, represents the all-seeing, all-knowing eyes of God, and that all the immoral activity, deception and dishonest “goings on” of the world are being watched and judged by Him.
“God sees… Wilson.”
“God sees everything’, repeated Wilson.” - the audience perhaps feel not pity for the suffering of the protagonist, but instead recognize that it is necessary to complete the tragic cycle
