'If it wasn't for the mist we could see your home across the bay,' said Gatsby. 'You always have a green light that burns all night at the end your dock'. (Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, page 90)
The significance of the green light at the end of Daisy's dock in this book is because it can eaisly be related to Gatsby's emotions toward Daisy. When the colour green is mentioned, most people usually associate it with jelousy and money. In the book, Gatsby is infatuated with Daisy, and has been for a very long time. Daisy did not stay with him because he did not have money like her family did. This broke Gatsby's heart.
When you read about Gatsby looking out at green light at the end of her dock, you realise that the green light symbolizes Gatsby's jelousy of Tom, because he cannot be with Daisy. You also see that it represents money. Gastby now being rich, hopes that he can get back with Daisy. At the same time, Fitzgerald hints that it is almost unattainable for Gatsby, because of how far he describes the light is away.
'Possibly it had occured to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one'(Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, page 90)
In conclusion, the green light is significant because it symbolizes Gatsby's jealousy towards Tom, and his need for money, in hopes of being with Daisy once again
Thursday, April 15, 2010
“The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that—and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end.”
(F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Pg 104 second paragraph)
Gatsby’s parents were unsuccessful, with that their dreams were ruined. His imagination had never really accepted them as his parents. He possessed a "platonic" conception of himself. He was a son of God. Gatsby plainly imagined himself a Christ, born of earthly parents but actually a son of God. From there Fitzgerald reveals and describes Gatsby’s past. From a Platonic conception of himself, Gatsby conforms to an ideal of himself that transforms reality into possibility (Fitzgerald Pg 104). He wanted Daisy to tell Tom that she never truly loved him. But in reality she couldn’t agree to that. He always kept that possibility open, it was what he lived for. After meeting Dan Cody he became devoted to wealth and luxury. He left his past like a train headed to single destination; that was Daisy. Along the way he would run into troubles, society took its toll on him. People were convinced that he was involved in bootlegging some even believed that he had killed a man. His platonic conception made him seem as though he was living the life, but truly his only happiness would come from getting Daisy back. Once again like a train he had an ultimate crash. Tom was in his tracks he accused Gatsby of killing Myrtle and led him to his death. He would truly keep his conception to the end.
(F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Pg 104 second paragraph)
Gatsby’s parents were unsuccessful, with that their dreams were ruined. His imagination had never really accepted them as his parents. He possessed a "platonic" conception of himself. He was a son of God. Gatsby plainly imagined himself a Christ, born of earthly parents but actually a son of God. From there Fitzgerald reveals and describes Gatsby’s past. From a Platonic conception of himself, Gatsby conforms to an ideal of himself that transforms reality into possibility (Fitzgerald Pg 104). He wanted Daisy to tell Tom that she never truly loved him. But in reality she couldn’t agree to that. He always kept that possibility open, it was what he lived for. After meeting Dan Cody he became devoted to wealth and luxury. He left his past like a train headed to single destination; that was Daisy. Along the way he would run into troubles, society took its toll on him. People were convinced that he was involved in bootlegging some even believed that he had killed a man. His platonic conception made him seem as though he was living the life, but truly his only happiness would come from getting Daisy back. Once again like a train he had an ultimate crash. Tom was in his tracks he accused Gatsby of killing Myrtle and led him to his death. He would truly keep his conception to the end.
Passage Analysis -The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald 6)
“Reserving judgements is a matter of infinite hope… And, after boasting this way of my tolerance, I come to the admission that it has a limit. Conduct may be founded on the hard rock or the wet marshes but after a certain point I don’t care what it’s founded on. When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction ─ Gatsby who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn. 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.” (Fitzgerald 6)
Nick is giving the reader an explanation of his standards and beliefs. He comes from Old Money and stays true to what his family taught him. The avoidance of judging others caused him to go further in life and keep an open mind.
Juxtaposition of imagery is evident when he states that he does not care what conduct is founded on. It is because he does not care that he uses two opposite examples of imagery for describing a foundation; hard rock or wet marshes.
It is interesting that Nick references Gatsby’s name to be one contributing to the story in the book. A connection is created early on between the reader and narrator. Nick is talking to us in a personal way, as if he were speaking to us face-to-face, excluding the normal rules of writing. The first thing we know about Gatsby is in relation to Nick’s values. Nick said, “Gatsby…represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn.” (6) We know the things he represented based on the information Nick has already shared about himself.
The diction throughout The Great Gatsby often stands out as being from the 1920’s. Nick says, “there was something gorgeous about him.” (6) A few times in the novel, the men are described with what our society would decipher as more feminine terms. Another example of this is when we are introduced to a couple later on. The husband is described as feminine and the wife referred to as handsome. Years ago this was more common and less out-of-place.
Nick is giving the reader an explanation of his standards and beliefs. He comes from Old Money and stays true to what his family taught him. The avoidance of judging others caused him to go further in life and keep an open mind.
Juxtaposition of imagery is evident when he states that he does not care what conduct is founded on. It is because he does not care that he uses two opposite examples of imagery for describing a foundation; hard rock or wet marshes.
It is interesting that Nick references Gatsby’s name to be one contributing to the story in the book. A connection is created early on between the reader and narrator. Nick is talking to us in a personal way, as if he were speaking to us face-to-face, excluding the normal rules of writing. The first thing we know about Gatsby is in relation to Nick’s values. Nick said, “Gatsby…represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn.” (6) We know the things he represented based on the information Nick has already shared about himself.
The diction throughout The Great Gatsby often stands out as being from the 1920’s. Nick says, “there was something gorgeous about him.” (6) A few times in the novel, the men are described with what our society would decipher as more feminine terms. Another example of this is when we are introduced to a couple later on. The husband is described as feminine and the wife referred to as handsome. Years ago this was more common and less out-of-place.
Passage Analysis - Ana
“It amazed him – he had never been in such a beautiful house before. But what gave it an air of breathless intensity was that Daisy lived there – it was a casual thing to her as his tent out at camp was to him. There was a ripe mystery about it, a hint of bedrooms upstairs more beautiful and cool than other bedrooms, of gay and radiant activities taking place through its corridors and of romances that were not musty and laid away already in lavender but fresh and breathing and redolent of this year’s shining motor cars and of dances whose flowers were scarcely withered.” (Fitzgerald 155).
This is when Nick is referring to Gatsby’s first visit to Daisy’s house.
Fitzgerald uses imagery effectively so that the reader can picture the house through Gatsby’s eyes. By Gatsby’s tone and impressionistic description, it is evident that he is very amazed with Daisy’s house. He uses words such as “beautiful,” “breathless,” “radiant” and flowers that were “scarcely withered,” to describe Daisy’s house. Gatsby’s intense detail and amazement to her house could perhaps be the underlying inspiration for his extravagant house. His house is also described by Nick as being “colossal,” (Fitzgerald 8), and references many luxuries in his house such as a citrus fruit extracting machine.
This passage also contrasts Gatsby’s and Daisy’s status at that time. Gatsby mentions that Daisy’s house to Daisy was as casual as Gatsby’s tent to him. Daisy lives in a large beautiful house yet she is used to it and does not find it amazing, whereas Gatsby, who is used to poor and simple houses, is bewildered by her house.
It seems as though Gatsby is more amazed and infatuated with Daisy’s wealth and status, than Daisy herself. Throughout the novel, there has not been much reference to Gatsby’s love for Daisy’s personality or looks. Most of the time Gatsby relates Daisy to her status or wealth, for example, he states that “her voice is full of money,” (Fitzgerald 127) or when he says that he was overwhelming aware of “Daisy, gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor,” (Fitzgerald 157).
This is when Nick is referring to Gatsby’s first visit to Daisy’s house.
Fitzgerald uses imagery effectively so that the reader can picture the house through Gatsby’s eyes. By Gatsby’s tone and impressionistic description, it is evident that he is very amazed with Daisy’s house. He uses words such as “beautiful,” “breathless,” “radiant” and flowers that were “scarcely withered,” to describe Daisy’s house. Gatsby’s intense detail and amazement to her house could perhaps be the underlying inspiration for his extravagant house. His house is also described by Nick as being “colossal,” (Fitzgerald 8), and references many luxuries in his house such as a citrus fruit extracting machine.
This passage also contrasts Gatsby’s and Daisy’s status at that time. Gatsby mentions that Daisy’s house to Daisy was as casual as Gatsby’s tent to him. Daisy lives in a large beautiful house yet she is used to it and does not find it amazing, whereas Gatsby, who is used to poor and simple houses, is bewildered by her house.
It seems as though Gatsby is more amazed and infatuated with Daisy’s wealth and status, than Daisy herself. Throughout the novel, there has not been much reference to Gatsby’s love for Daisy’s personality or looks. Most of the time Gatsby relates Daisy to her status or wealth, for example, he states that “her voice is full of money,” (Fitzgerald 127) or when he says that he was overwhelming aware of “Daisy, gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor,” (Fitzgerald 157).
Passage Analysis
“I suppose he’d had the name ready for a long time, even then. His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people- his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all. The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God- a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that- and he must be about His Father’s Business, the service of a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end.”
(Fitzgerald 104)
This passage is when Gatsby’s past is revealed and who he was when he was younger is shown. This passage shows why Gatsby is so obsessed of showing his money around by having extravagant parties, and by having a car that everybody will notice, and by continually trying to show Daisy his wealth. Gatsby’s parents were poor but Gatsby’s personality, ambitious, would never let him be poor, so to get away from that lack of wealth Gatsby created a new persona of himself. That new persona was a fresh start for Gatsby; he had no past now so now he could be anything he wanted. This new persona reflected Gatsby’s personality and who he wanted to be not who his parents were. This new persona was what helped Gatsby get started towards his wealth because this new persona got Gatsby to go work for Dan Cody and in return Gatsby had inherited some money from Cody which got him started towards his fortune. This new persona didn’t mean that Gatsby didn’t love his parents because Gatsby had actually bought his Father his new house. It only means that he didn’t love that they were poor and that if he kept their name he would also be poor. Also this new name that Gatsby created could also arouse lots of suspicions from other characters because Gatsby is already thought to be a bootlegger and criminal and now that we find out that he had changed his name this could mean that he all those rumours are true and he is trying to keep his true identity safe.
(Fitzgerald 104)
This passage is when Gatsby’s past is revealed and who he was when he was younger is shown. This passage shows why Gatsby is so obsessed of showing his money around by having extravagant parties, and by having a car that everybody will notice, and by continually trying to show Daisy his wealth. Gatsby’s parents were poor but Gatsby’s personality, ambitious, would never let him be poor, so to get away from that lack of wealth Gatsby created a new persona of himself. That new persona was a fresh start for Gatsby; he had no past now so now he could be anything he wanted. This new persona reflected Gatsby’s personality and who he wanted to be not who his parents were. This new persona was what helped Gatsby get started towards his wealth because this new persona got Gatsby to go work for Dan Cody and in return Gatsby had inherited some money from Cody which got him started towards his fortune. This new persona didn’t mean that Gatsby didn’t love his parents because Gatsby had actually bought his Father his new house. It only means that he didn’t love that they were poor and that if he kept their name he would also be poor. Also this new name that Gatsby created could also arouse lots of suspicions from other characters because Gatsby is already thought to be a bootlegger and criminal and now that we find out that he had changed his name this could mean that he all those rumours are true and he is trying to keep his true identity safe.
The Brute
“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. Not even then effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body-he seemed to fill those glistening boots until he strained the top lacing, and you could see a great pack of muscles shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat. It was a body capable of enormous leverage- a cruel body.” (F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, pg. 12)
This passage allows the read to have an insight on to Tom Buchanan’s character. You can see that Tom is not the kindest person as soon as a description is given. His arrogant eyes are proof that he leans more to dare a person to judge him then to allow them to make any attempts to make an assumption of who he is. This allows the reader to understand certain things that he does right as they happen, but it also allows some shock when he does thing that are not considered ‘aggressive’ or ‘cruel’.
You also get the image that he is a very manly man, as the “effeminate swank” of his clothing does nothing to hide the power of his body. The image of power that is used through contrast gives the sense that he is also a completely selfish man, or possible one that uses all he has at his disposal to get his way. You are even given the line “a cruel body” to give emphasis to the fact that Tom Buchanan is not a good person; he is a cruel, aggressive and arrogant man.
This contrast lets the reader relate more to Tom. He is a human with human emotions, and is not a simplistic, cruel, and aggressive automaton. You also see that Tom could be called a bully by his physical appearance alone, then add his “gruff husky tenor” (pg.12) and a “touch of paternal contempt” (pg.12) you see an even more bully like person. His actions also show this as he strikes Myrtle and breaks her nose simple for saying Daisy’s name.
This passage allows the read to have an insight on to Tom Buchanan’s character. You can see that Tom is not the kindest person as soon as a description is given. His arrogant eyes are proof that he leans more to dare a person to judge him then to allow them to make any attempts to make an assumption of who he is. This allows the reader to understand certain things that he does right as they happen, but it also allows some shock when he does thing that are not considered ‘aggressive’ or ‘cruel’.
You also get the image that he is a very manly man, as the “effeminate swank” of his clothing does nothing to hide the power of his body. The image of power that is used through contrast gives the sense that he is also a completely selfish man, or possible one that uses all he has at his disposal to get his way. You are even given the line “a cruel body” to give emphasis to the fact that Tom Buchanan is not a good person; he is a cruel, aggressive and arrogant man.
This contrast lets the reader relate more to Tom. He is a human with human emotions, and is not a simplistic, cruel, and aggressive automaton. You also see that Tom could be called a bully by his physical appearance alone, then add his “gruff husky tenor” (pg.12) and a “touch of paternal contempt” (pg.12) you see an even more bully like person. His actions also show this as he strikes Myrtle and breaks her nose simple for saying Daisy’s name.
Passage Analysis
‘Either you ought to be more careful, or you oughtn’t to drive at all.’
‘I am careful.’
‘No, you’re not.’
‘Well, other people are,’ she said lightly.
‘What’s that got to do with it?’
‘They’ll keep out of my way,’ she insisted. ‘It takes two to make an accident.’
(Fitzgerald 59)
This is a short dialogue between Nick and Jordan Baker, after Jordan drove “so close to some workmen that [her] fender flicked a button on one man’s coat” (59). It gives insight into the personalities of both Jordan and Nick, and also serves to foreshadow Gatsby’s fate in two different ways.
Despite Nick’s statements that he is ‘inclined to reserve all judgements’ (7), he is quick to condemn Jordan as careless in this passage. It is very true that she behaved carelessly once, but that may not reflect her personality. Even careful people make mistakes.
Jordan, however, admits that Nick is right. Not state is that her driving is a metaphor for her attitude towards life: again, careless. This reflects all of the East Eggers, such as Tom and Daisy, who are repeatedly states as being careless. However, Jordan’s statement that others will keep out of her way seems to be a joke. The importance of this is that her joke is an admission of her carelessness: “I know I am careless, but I also know that, because I am rich, I have a metaphorical safety net to protect me from the consequences of my own actions. Therefore, I can and will continue to be careless.” In other words, Jordan is shallow and careless as a result of a conscious choice.
Daisy, of course, is the metaphorical and the actual careless driver who causes an accident. Metaphorically because she is far worse than Jordan, and Gatsby is blinded by his infatuation, enough to make him careless; an accident results. The fact that Gatsby’s death was indirectly caused by Daisy’s actual bad driving is both ironic and funny in a pathetic way.
‘I am careful.’
‘No, you’re not.’
‘Well, other people are,’ she said lightly.
‘What’s that got to do with it?’
‘They’ll keep out of my way,’ she insisted. ‘It takes two to make an accident.’
(Fitzgerald 59)
This is a short dialogue between Nick and Jordan Baker, after Jordan drove “so close to some workmen that [her] fender flicked a button on one man’s coat” (59). It gives insight into the personalities of both Jordan and Nick, and also serves to foreshadow Gatsby’s fate in two different ways.
Despite Nick’s statements that he is ‘inclined to reserve all judgements’ (7), he is quick to condemn Jordan as careless in this passage. It is very true that she behaved carelessly once, but that may not reflect her personality. Even careful people make mistakes.
Jordan, however, admits that Nick is right. Not state is that her driving is a metaphor for her attitude towards life: again, careless. This reflects all of the East Eggers, such as Tom and Daisy, who are repeatedly states as being careless. However, Jordan’s statement that others will keep out of her way seems to be a joke. The importance of this is that her joke is an admission of her carelessness: “I know I am careless, but I also know that, because I am rich, I have a metaphorical safety net to protect me from the consequences of my own actions. Therefore, I can and will continue to be careless.” In other words, Jordan is shallow and careless as a result of a conscious choice.
Daisy, of course, is the metaphorical and the actual careless driver who causes an accident. Metaphorically because she is far worse than Jordan, and Gatsby is blinded by his infatuation, enough to make him careless; an accident results. The fact that Gatsby’s death was indirectly caused by Daisy’s actual bad driving is both ironic and funny in a pathetic way.
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