wealth and class Flashcards
Ch1 (about gatsby) “as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away”
- nick is searching for metaphors to express his seismic impact
- Since the Richter scale was a new invention this simile could be referencing the new money motif he carries but this is undermined as the earthquake itself is still fatally destructive.
Chapter 4 page 63 “it was a rich cream colour bright with nickel…terraced with a labyrinth of windshields that mirrored a dozen suns…behind many layers of glass in a sort of green leather conservatory”
cream (a dirtied white,not pure), nickel (cheap), labyrinth (prison for a minator), all undermine the delicacy of his wealth. emphasise the fragility of the new money status
ch4 “a strained, unfamiliar look of embarrassment came over gatsbys face”
Love is more powerful undermining his wealth as gatsby is never embarrassed.
tom is proof of daisys relationship and feels intimidated by his ‘old money’ presence
ch5 “page 83 gatsby, pale as death, with his hands plunged like weights in his coat pockets, was standing in a puddle of water glaring tragically into my eyes”
- gatsbys pockets are deep with nothing, daisy exposes his raw emotions and love weighs him down.
‘tragically’ emphasises the genre - indicated how his wealth is so fragile, emerging from crime and nothing.
ch5 page 89 “ive got a man in england who buys me clothes” “shirts… in coral and apple green…lavender…indian blue”
daisy “began to cry stormily”
the exotic european colours represent his materialism and him using his wealth to prove to daisy he should marry him not tom as he is also rich. the colours represent the old money, and how gatsby is trying to achieve this.
(throwing colours out like an expression of love, needs more than language. uses modernist in expression which uses art/literature as a metaphor)
ch6 “i haven’t got a horse…I’ll have to follow you in my car”
- gatsby has been isolated even more, not directly invited to supper then feeling out of place not being apart of the old money lifestyle.
- The horse is an ancient symbol of power. The car is a flamboyant symbol of new money and can foreshadow the fall of gatsby.
Ch7 tom and daisy “they werent happy … and yet they werent unhappy either… anybody would have said they were conspiring together”
They remain together despite the dysfunction, almost plotting a crime one is adulterous, the other a killer.
- displays the corruption of wealth and old money lifestyle/american dream?
Ch8 “she had caught a cold, and it made her voice more huskier and more charming than ever”
(- Reference to in sickness and in health, gatsby longs for a life with daisy.)
- Also could be foreshadowing something as the tone in her voice has changed. Tom described as ‘husky’ at beginning of novel.
- could this parallel be showing daisy is resorting back to the old money, secure lifestyle
ch8 “…and the holocaust was complete” (death of gatsby, myrtle + wilson)
Tom and daisy are unaffected and the poor suffer, represents the wealth disparities of the 1920’s
ch1“a cheerful red and white georgian colonial mansion”
- tom and daisy’s house represents the old money lifestyle with generations of wealth beneath them.
- 1740s english architectural era. Evokes the birth of america but as “cheerful” soon becomes apparent as the wrong word choice, maybe the birth of the american dream will soon crash.
Ch3 “a thrill passed all over us. the three mr mumbles bent forward and listened eagerly”
The upper class are so wealthy and bored with their life, they are obsessed with consumerism and gossip. There is a scandal problem among society.
Like a greek chorus, grotesque in their actions.
They are all shallow minded, almost fitzgerald criticising society.
ch6 “i felt an unpleasantness in the air, a pervading harshness that hadn’t been there before…i was looking at it again, through daisys eyes”
- nick thinks tom invading the east egg creates a depressive spectacle. he feels less valued with gatsby.
- When looking at west egg through daisys eyes he’s saddened to see society’s isolation and superficiality
- Reinforces tom (old money) bringing reality to gatsbys dream land
Ch8 “theyre a rotten crowd’, i shouted across the lawn. ‘Youre worth the whole damn bunch put together’. ive 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 thinks class means nothing compared to gatsbys character, nick usually observes the situation so to say this is significant. sees gatsbys inescapable world and feels sorry for him.
- He only feels this now, his last words to gatsby when he finally sees a new side to him.
Ch9 “after gatsbys death the east was haunted for me … Blue smoke of brittle leaves”
- nick realised the old money portrayal was fake and artificial, it consumed people giving them hope but in the end it destroyed them.
Ch2 : “a small living room, a small dining room” in his apartment in nyc
“tom brought out a bottle of whisky from a locked bureau door”
- Emphasises the contrast between his house in the east egg. It’s a micro version of a fantasy.
In daisy and toms house, it is white outside and yellow + corrupt on the inside. But the apartment is micro but inside a lot goes on.
Tom has the key and controls the situation. his societal position leads him to dominate.