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The Great Gatsby. Nick Carraway —narrator Jay Gatsby—lives for his dream (Daisy) Daisy Buchanan—empty, careless Tom Buchanan—brutal, careless Jordan Baker—dishonest golf pro Myrtle Wilson—vitality—victim of the rich. Characters. George Wilson—pasty, ineffectual man
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Nick Carraway—narrator Jay Gatsby—lives for his dream (Daisy) Daisy Buchanan—empty, careless Tom Buchanan—brutal, careless Jordan Baker—dishonest golf pro Myrtle Wilson—vitality—victim of the rich Characters
George Wilson—pasty, ineffectual man Dan Cody—start of Gatsby’s false identity Henry Gatz—illusions about his son Klipspringer—the boarder Meyer Wolfsheim—corruption; underworld* figure the owl-eyed man—tone of sympathy
1. Nick is both involved in the story & objective in reporting it. 2. Partly, the book is about Nick’s growing maturity in developing his values. 3. The conclusion he reaches about the other characters’ morality helps develop the theme of the novel. 4. While Gatsby is possessed by the magical fascination of wealth, Nick is able to see into the destructive nature of it. NICK AS NARRATOR
A war fought mainly in Europe from 1914 to 1918, in which an alliance including Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and the United States defeated the alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria. 1. Post-World War I—“the war to end all wars” U-118, a World War One submarine, washed ashore on the beach at Hastings, Sussex, England
Thought of as being a time of exuberance, self-indulgence, and prosperity in contrast to the hardship of World War I 2. The Roaring Twenties
The Jazz Age in the United States was in the 1920s and is defined as when the influence of jazz music was widespread and society was experiencing prosperity and the beginnings of social change 3. The Jazz Age
4.Flappers A young woman, especially one in the 1920s who showed disdain for conventional dress and behavior. They had an independent spirit, wore tight, short and loud color clothing with bobbed or short hair, drove motorbikes, danced, stayed out late and smoked cigarettes.
Prohibition is a law or order forbidding something, or is the condition of forbidding something, or was a time in the U.S. during the 1920s and early 1930s when alcohol was illegal. The temperance movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries was an organized effort to encourage moderation in the consumption of intoxicating liquors or press for complete abstinence. The movement's ranks were mostly filled by women who, with their children, had endured the effects of unbridled drinking by many of their menfolk. In fact, alcohol was blamed for many of society's demerits, among them severe health problems, destitution and crime. 5.Prohibition
During American prohibition many of today's larger beer breweries and alcohol distilleries remained active although illegally, these companies exist today because they were able to act as bootlegger and moonshiners during these terrible times. 6. Bootleggers The grandfather of NASCAR and the Kennedy family fortune.
New York Skyline in 1920 NEW YORK
West Egg (nouveau riche) East Egg (established rich) KEY/LEGEND 1= Gatsby's Mansion (King's Point, NY)2= Tom & Daisy's Mansion (Port Washington, NY) 3= Nick's Bungalow (King's Point, NY) 4= Valley of Ashes (Flushing Meadows [Queens], NY) 5= Eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleberg (Flushing Meadows [Queens], NY) 6= Tom & Myrtle's Apartment (W. 158th St., [Manhattan], NY)
A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many (but not all) of these definitions include being detached, low-rise (single or one-and-a-half stories), and the use of verandahs. • Nick’s Bungalow
Plaza Hotel room in the city Now luxury apartments and condos, The Plaza Hotel in Manhattan was the most luxurious hotel in NYC up until the 1990s.
The American Dream—the hope of becoming successful / corrupted by society’s focus on materialism • Wasteland—represented by the Valley of Ashes / suggests death of the American dream • Immorality of the 1920’s—organized crime / corruption in government / excessive partying / love affairs
Effects of money / carelessness of the very rich—established rich vs. nouveau riche • Illusion vs. reality—note the characters who tend to live in illusory worlds / What does each do to avoid reality? • Isolation / Alienation—lack of real emotional connection between which characters? / evidence of physical isolation
Man’s need for order, focus—Nick’s education and future plans / attempts to arrest time / attempts to give order to a disorderly • society • You can’t repeat the past—Gatsby does not believe it • Contrast between values -of the East and West Egg • Considering all of these thematic ideas, you need to determine what message Fitzgerald conveys about 1920s’ society.
SYMBOLISM A symbol is an object that represents, stands for, or suggests an idea, visual image, belief, action, or material entity. The use of symbols to invest things with a representative meaning or to represent something abstract by something concrete. *Write what is in bold on the following slides*
Silver, Gold (Yellow) = wealth and vulgar display of affluence, crass materialism, party dresses, Gatsby’s car, contamination • White = the unattainable “enchanted princess,” other worldly, fairy queen, dream, innocence, purity, (and superficial purity)lightness • Green = hope and promise of the American Dream and Gatsby’s dream • Blue =the promise, the dream, • Light vs dark = Rich and Clean vs Poor and Grey, • Happy vs Sad, Purity vs Corruption COLOR
Arial photograph of Flushing Meadows, Queens in 1924: the real "Valley of Ashes"
The narrow channel through which the railroad traveler had to pass on his way between New York City and the resort villages of East and West Egg on the North Shore of Long Island. The valley of ashes seems to mark the separation between the older American aristocracy, which once exclusively occupied East and West Egg, and the new urban Americans. That this narrow aperture should grow from a heap of ashes and refuse suggests that in the triumph of the industrialized and commercialized world to come, the American dream of open horizons and limitless possibilities would be reduced to a burned-out, undifferentiated mass.
Nick compares the green bulk of America rising from the ocean to the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock.Just as Americans have given America meaning through their dreams for their own lives, Gatsby instills Daisy with a kind of idealized perfection that she neither deserves nor possesses.
Daisy's voice is the most alluring thing about her; she is conscious of this fact at some level and uses her voice to draw people to her. She speaks so that others (men) lean close. Her voice is something that she is born with--it is not as deliberately constructed as her dress or her remarks, which are at once little girlish and self-mocking. Together it adds up to a kind of charm. She is shallow but attractive, self-mocking and playful. DAISY’S VOICE
