Illusions v. reality/facades Flashcards
(32 cards)
non-chronological structure
- Nick creates the idea of the ‘great Gatsby’ and presents it to the reader, placing him on a pedestal and presenting a romanticised version.
- with the revealing of aspects of Gatsby’s past and flashbacks of their relationship periodically throughout the novel, our illusion of Gatsby is slowly dismantled
- in the same way, we see that the American dream which at the beginning of the novel Gatsby seems to embody, is also too an illusion
WW1 impact
- it shattered illusions and there was a disillusionment with the American system - a distinguishing characteristic of post-war American writing
- this sense of exhaustion of romantic possibility is inseparable from the post-war weariness that dominates the novel
Trimalchio
- Fitzgerald perhaps viewed Gatsby almost as an ‘American trimalchio’
- trimalchio, a free slave, had a clock in his living room to tell him how much of his life is lost and gone - Gatsby’s concern with the passing of time is equally obsessive
- this obsession is partially the trimalchian fear of transience, there is always too little time left - a deep refusal to accept the linear irreversibility of time.
- trimalchio is obsessed with a. green ball in the same way Gatsby obsesses over a green light - for both, it provides an inaccessible focus for yearning
Romantic possibility gives way to corrupt reality
- the greenness of the New World the settlers discovered gives way to the Valley of Ashes and the atmosphere of corruption
- in the same way, the green light gives way to horrible realisation for gatbsy
- the dream of an idealised love gives way to adultery and death, and in the same way the idea of a just god gives way merely to the eyes of dr eckleberg - merely an advertisement - who overlooks a physical wasteland and characters who constantly missee things
the valley of ashes as th reality of American consumerism
- it serves as the dumping ground of expected romantic possibility or America
- George and Myrtle incorporate the dereliction and waste that the capitalist system casts off
- it is the liminal space between the source of wealth (NY) and the ideal of east egg
- it is important that we see the vOA before the big debaucherous party structruallly, as it emphasises what Myrtle is desperate to get out of.
- It can also be seen to reflect Eliot’s ‘the waste land’, published in the year that the novel is set in - the idea that spiritual values had ben lost in an increasingly materialistic modern world.
- Fitzgerald’s valley of ashes is literally a wasteland, but also an image of a spiritually bleak world
Myrtle and Tom’s affair
- Illusion: that she might be able to escape the poverty of the VoA
- her desperation to detach herself from George and attach herself to tom reflects a sense of aspiration - however, she is punched in the face, reflecting the impossibility of social mobility
- she is obsessed with a man who doesn’t respect her - just how Gatsby is obsessed with a social class that will never accept him
Structural parallels to show illusion v. reality
- glamour is consistently underscored by tragedy and danger
- structural parallel between the valley of ashes and Gatsby’s mansion in the next chapter, commenting that wealth is always in the view of the lower class, but it is inaccessible/unattainable. Hedonism of the wealthy with no concern for the lower class.
- structural deconstruction of the American Dream - these people are hollow and morally impure, this is evident in the contrast between the beautiful surroundings of agtsby;s minion and the behaviour of the guests
Artificiality of marriage
‘candles were lit again, pointlessly’
Shift from the natural light of sunshine to the artificial light of the candles - linking to the Garden of Love - Nick’s romantic views of Fairy and Tom’s life are shattered and the myth of marriage dispelled as we realise their relationship is unhappy.
it therefore emphasises the artificiality of their relationship
Myrtle’s attempt to emulate old money
‘the living room was crowded to the doors with a set of tapestried furniture entirely too large for it so that to move about was to stumble continually over scenes of ladies swinging in the gardens of versailles’
This European image links to the fascination with trying to emulate old money - the tapestry isn;’t functional, and it makes them trip over - thus the dream of old money isn’t possible for them to achieve, and it causes frustration
“Mrs Wilson had changed her costume some time before and was now attired in an elaborate afternoon dress of cream coloured chiffon, which gave a continual rustle as she swept about the room’ - attempts to put on a facade of wealth which is superficial - it is not functional
- she changes from a blue to a chiffon dress, attempting to escape her working class identity. However, it is off-white - she will never be like Jordan and daisy.
irony
- consistently used to highlight the disparity between illusion and reality
- illusion of moral superiority amongst East Eggers, in reality they are just as debaucherous
‘ East Egg condescending to West Egg and carefully on guard against its spectroscopic gaiety’
Colour symbolism - yellow v. gold
- Gatsby’s car is yellow, as is ‘yellow cocktail music’
- however it isn’t the same as Jordan baker’s golden arm’
Superficial connection at parties
‘people were not invited - they went there’
- they go to his parties but not his funeral - and this is tragic
- fake superficial connection, no search for meaning - hedonistic pursuit of pleasure
- it is therefore impossible for love to survive in this superficial world, love is either purely sexual, or a marriage of convenience - promiscuity
Owl Eyes, dismantling Gatsby’s illusion
'’they’re real… I thought they’d be a nice durable cardboard’
- owl eyes sees through his fake persona - the fact that he is so surprised about the books being real suggests he is one of the only people who realises that Gatsby isn’t a European aristocrat
- owl eyes = the name places emphasis on wiseness and seeing the truth
‘this fellow’s a regular Belasco’
- belasco was a broadway producer known for the realism of his sets - suggesting the extent of gatbsy’s facade.
- Gatsby is an entertainer and an illusory.
- He has created a world for daisy to show that he is the right fit - his grandiose gestures are reminiscent of the courtly lover
Gatsby’s calculated, maintained facade
’ it was one of those smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance… I’d got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care’
- calculated, maintaining the facade and attempting to mirror the world around him
- Gatsby is a self-made man, generated from a platonic conception of himself
- he appears charming, charismatic and maghnetic
- the word eternal reflects his expectations of his love for days
god and truth
‘I’ll tell you god’s truth’
- he claims hi story is god’s truth, but it actually turns out to be a lie - highlighting the absence of religion in the creation of an immoral facade. It is clear that he values other people’s opinions deeply, as he willingly truest dispel rumours which paint him as a nobody - emphasis on deceit
reality of corruption and criminal uhdertones
- connection to Wolfshiem: ‘he’s the man who fixed the World Series back in 1919’ - this underlines the criminal connections and adds a sense of complexity to his background, thus questioning Gatsby’s morality, establishing a sinister undertone of dirty money
- woldhsief ties gatbsy’s wealth to a darker lifestyle of corruption.
- complete depletion of moral values in pursuit of love
- wolfshiem embodies new money deceit - reflecting the romantic hero, and the dark past
obsession with appearances
‘my house looks well, doesn’t it’ he demanded’
preoccupied with proving himself to daisy, an obsession with appearances and how people view him
artificial facade
‘your place looks like the world’s fair’
artificial imagery of a facade - almost a sense of purposelessness. Underneath the glossy appearance there is a sinister undertone
the green light
‘possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever…now it was again a green light on a dock’
- before this day the green light symbolised his unattainable dream of daisy. he sees the pursuit of money a s a substitute for love - therefore his American dream pursuit is for pursuing love and daisy
- he buys everything/earns money for the purpose of winning daisy back, and now that he has her he is almost disenchanted
- reality hits, and he realises that this isn’t necessarily the life he has romanticised - he is instead left with a sense of emptiness
- the dream loses its enchanting quality and leaves him unsatisfied.
- he is in love with an unattainable ideal rather than reality
- his love for days is symbolic of the american dream for Fitzgerald 0 something he dispels
the illusion of daisy
‘there must have been moments eve that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams… because of the colossal vitality of his illusion’
- an obsession with an ideal, romanticised version - they have spent so many years apart than he has failed in love with the idea of her memory rather than reality
- nick recognises the idealised version of daisy for Gatsby.
- gatsby embellishes his life with material objects in the pursuit of love and money - nick points out that this has no impact on the version of love that exists in man’s heart - the reality of love therefore falls short of his dreams.
- daisy and Gatsby;s meeting is a pivotal chapter in the novel and it feels climactic
- it highlights the relationship between past and present - repeated time references show how gassy is trying to control and orchestrate time in the same way he controls every other aspect of his life
- when they meet up it is an anti-climax as she can. need live up to the intensity of his dream
- the idea of love is therefore more powerful than reality
- Fitzgerald therefore dispels the myth of the American dream - that you can ever truly achieve happiness
consequence of overconsumerism in the attempts to craft a facade
- ‘he broke off and began to walk up and down a desolate path of fruit rinds and discarded favours and crushed flowers;
- everything he has done in the past was to get to daisy - parties, overconsumption, fails to recognise recklessness of conspicuous consumption
- symbol of crushed romantic gesture
in love with the platonic ideal of daisy
’ he knew that when he kissed this girl and forever wed his unutterable vision to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of god’
He is in love with the platonic ideal of daisy - ‘wed’ = images of marriage, sacramental. His obsession with daisy replaces all his other dreams
flower imagery
‘at his lips’ touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete’
- reborn in a life of unfulfilled love - image of incarnation blurs his perception of the world and becomes more important than anything else. his love for her sustains him and becomes part of his identity
- image of delicate femininity contrasts with ‘crushed flowers’ - structural juxtaposition of dream-like chapter 5 and harsh reality of chapter 6
dream-like delusion
‘a promise that the rock of the world was founded securely on a fairy’s wing’
adds a dreamlike quality of the story and emohasises the delusion, mythical imagery of the birth of Gatsby’s American dream
