General
1. Gatsby is a rich man who is a war
veteran who has come to Long Island to find his lost love. Daisy Buchanan is
Gatsby’s lost love but she is already married to a man named Tom Buchanan. Nick
first met Gatsby at one of his regular, crazy Saturday night parties. The
narrator of the story is Nick Carraway and he helps introduce Gatsby to Daisy,
however, he doesn’t realize that they had previously known each other from when
they were younger. Tom is constantly cheating on Daisy with his mistress,
Myrtle. Tom and Daisy have an affair up until; Tom meets Gatsby and goes
digging into his past. He finds out that Gatsby came from a poor family but, he
still didn’t figure out how he became so wealthy. Daisy ends up running over Myrtle;
however, he tells Nick that it wasn’t her driving. Tom tells Myrtle’s husband
who ran her over and he ends up killing Gatsby and himself while, Tom and Daisy
run away.
2. The theme of the novel is to let your
past be your past. Gatsby should have never reconciled with Daisy because if it
wasn’t for her he would have still been left alive. Because if we try and
replicate our past then it forces us constantly back into it.
3. The tone is cynical and ironic at
times. Nick is a very cynical person so he makes the reader interpret the story
in a cynical way which changes your perspective on some of the characters.
4. Setting: The setting takes place in
Long Island, NY.
Tone: The tone of the book is cynical and ironic. "I love to see you at my table, Nick. You remind me of a – of a
rose, an absolute rose. Doesn’t he?" She turned to Miss Baker for
confirmation: "An absolute rose?"
Symbolism: The green light that is in the lighthouse far off from
Gatsby’s house symbolizes the unattainable dream. "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by
year recedes before us. It eluded us then.”
Mood: The
mood is the same as the tone because the tone affects the reader’s feelings
about the book as a whole and the reader.
Imagery: "Please
don’t." Her voice was cold, but the rancor was gone from it. She looked at
Gatsby. "There, Jay," she said – but her hand as she tried to light a
cigarette was trembling. Suddenly she threw the cigarette and the burning match
on the carpet.”
Diction: The author’s diction is very complex because I feel like Fitzgerald
does a good job of writing in the way people talked during the time the novel
was written.
Syntax: The sentence structure of the novel varies which makes the novel
a better read. Fitzgerald constantly switches between lengthy sentences to
simple and brief sentences.
Metaphor: “I decided to call to him. Miss Baker had mentioned
him at dinner, and that would do for an introduction. But I didn’t call to him,
for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone—he stretched
out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from
him, I could have sworn he was trembling.”
Characterization
1. Direct
Characterization: “I hope she’ll be a
fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little
fool.”
Direct
Characterization: “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.”
Indirect
Characterization: “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. It
faced, or seemed to face, the whole external world for an instant and then
concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor.”
Indirect
Characterization: “That’s my Middle West, the street lamps and sleigh bells in the
frosty dark. I see now that this has
been a story of the West, after all—Tom and Gatsby, Daisy and Jordan and I,
were all Westerners, and perhaps we possessed some deficiency in common which
made us subtly unadaptable to Eastern life.”
2. The author doesn’t
change his syntax and diction when he is describing a character because he uses
informal diction and syntax throughout the book and not just when describing
characters.
3. Nick is a
static and flat character because during most of the novel he tries to help
Gatsby out as a friend. Tom is constantly trying to find out Gatsby’s dirty
little secret but, Nick is always watching out for Gatsby so he doesn’t do
something he regrets.
4. When I
finished the novel I didn’t really felt like I met someone in real life because
I didn’t really connect with any of the characters. I have never been in a
situation like the one presented to the characters in this novel but, I still
recommend the book because it was a good read.
