The Great Gatsby Flashcards
(36 cards)
The American Dream
Dream of a land which life should be better & richer & fuller for everyone with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.
Failure of American Dream
It’s all about money & status & only available to white case. It came out in the depression so only particular groups have access.
Myrtle & husband
Loss of success. Gatsby says he can have anything but can’t have Daisy. “Fraudulences” = myth of the American dream
Happiness
- Daisy likes attention, herself on the spotlight. She marred Tom for status.
- Gatsby’s happiness is setting his eyes upon Daisy.
- Tom love the attention with his affairs or having a sense of control in situations.
- Jordan finds pride in being an independent woman.
- Myrtle takes advantage of climbing the social ladder.
“Bright young things”
People who are so wealthy teh don’t have to work. Roaring 20s setting.
The class divide
West egg- Nouveau ridge & “the less fashionable or the 2”
East egg- “white palaces of fashionable east egg glittered along the water”
Valley of ashes - “fantastic farm were ashes grew like wheat”- a “wasteland”. Dr T.J. Eckleburg appearance v. reality -conflict
Flapper culture
Dawn of a new era of prosperity, urbanism & consumerism.
Zelda Fitzgerald
Most famous flapper of 1920s
White supremacy
Belief white people are superior to people of other backgrounds
Marxist literary critics
Believe that a work of literature is not a result of divine inspiration it arises out of the economic & ideological circumstances surrounding its creation.
Critic William Rose Bennett
“Young & reckless world”
Critic A.E. Dyson
“In one sense Gatsby is the apotheosis of his rootless society.. he really believes in himself & his allusions”.
Critic Tony Tanner
“The green light offers Gatsby a suitably inaccessible focus for his yearnings”.
Conspicuous consumption & Gatsby
- “can’t repeat the past! Why of course you can?”
- “(Gatsby) brought a huge house on Long Island”
What year was the great Gatsby published?
1925
What perspective is the novel told from?
It’s told in first person point of view, from the perspective of Nick Carraway.
What tense is it told in?
Primarily in the past tense, although Nick Carraway speaks directly to the reader in the present tense.
Context on the great Gatsby
Set in an era marked by tremendous change in the country’s culture and lifestyle. Referred to its nickname “the roaring 20s” also called the “jazz age” calling to mind adjectives such as ‘free spirited’ or ‘fast paced’ fitting with the decade & music genre that became popular at the time.
Stark changes occurred in America at multiple levels: women won the right to vote & played a larger role in the workforce, appliances were becoming common in the home, automobile ownership became widespread, people left rural areas for life in cities, the country’s urban population outnumbering its rural population for the first time.
All of these movements combined to create an American society characterised by more freedom, more free time, and more disposable income than in any previous generation. And while which progress was made, a stark chasm developed between society’s “haves” & “have nots”.
Author biography context
Fitzgerald was born 1896, in St.Paul, Minnesota. His father an unsuccessful businessman, the family lived off Fitzgerald’s mother’s sizeable inheritance. The family wasn’t quite rich enough to be welcomed into the highest class of the social elite. Fitzgerald attended Princeton, while Nick attended Yale. He joined the army & later moved to NYC. Zelda & Fitzgerald fell in love yet she refused to marry him until he became rich. He struggled with alcoholism & depression which lead to impact on his career & health and he died from heart attack on December 21, 1940.
Jay Gatsby
Embodiment of the American Dream at the novel’s opening. The Jay Gatsby of west egg is an invention of the young James Gatz, who wanted a different, sophisticated life for himself. Gatsby keeps his origins to himself & presents to the public only what he wants them to see. Gatsby doesn’t care what others think, his entire focus is building his wealth, power, and prestige, all in an attempt to make himself worthy to Daisy. Gatsby represents both the best & worst of the American dream; the dream is all just a “green light” in the distance (bright, intriguing & unattainable). He’s considered an elusive self-made millionaire.
Nick Carraway
The novels narrator, a bright, insightful young man. Despite being raised in the Midwest, Nick moved to NYC to work as a bonds tradesman. He is portrayed as honest, fair & can make friends easily & often serves as a mediator between friends & acquaintances. He can be considered an ‘unreliable narrator’ as he looks back on the past.
Daisy Buchanan
The superficial, self-absorbed, flighty, foolish woman Gatsby is in love with. Married to the wealthy, but arrogant Tom Buchanan, Daisy has an affair with Gatsby, her former lover. She represents the wealthy woman during this era, referred to as a flapper, and shows no emotion in her lifestyle. Her final act of running from the responsibility of the car accident, suggests that she is a risk taker & she can’t let it cost her status.
Tom Buchanan
Boisterous, unruly, arrogant brute. He is self-centred & controlling, showing a complete lack of respect for women, including his wife & mistress, this is shown through his affair with Myrtle. Throughout the novel, Tom manipulates situations & people to hide his indiscretions. Tom looks down on those without money & those with new money.
George Wilson
Owns & operates a garage & gas station in the valley of ashes. George is resolved to his position in life, a quality that spurs his wife, Myrtle’s contempt for him. In his dealings with the world he is responsible & fair even with those like Tom Buchanan. In the end, his heartbreak over Myrtle’s death leads him to murder & ultimately suicide, representing the tragic impact of greed & deceit.
