The+Freewhillies

Save the Whales!

Ben T. Ben L. Keira G. Alissa I.

Contrasting literary criticism of //The Great Gatsby// in the 1920s, presented in poster/ad form for conflicting East and West Egg parties:




 * **CHAPTER: 3 + 4** ||
 * **NOTES** ||
 * **QUOTES** ||
 * CHARACTERIZATION ||
 * __Gatsby__
 * These chapters serve to introduce Gatsby, and most of the characterization revolves around him
 * Chapter 3 begins with 2 1/2 pages simply devoted to establishing the background for one of Gatsby's parties. An emphasis is put on Gatsby's hired work and the preparation that goes into each and every party. By doing so Fitzgerald establishes Gatsby's opulence in an extravagant manner and makes him almost appear "over-the top".
 * The extravagance of Gatsby’s parties and the build up previous to actually meeting him establish the grandeur of his public figure.
 * Even Gatsby's signature demonstrates his stately aura
 * "Signed Jay Gatsby, in a majestic hand" (41).
 * In this chapter, Gatsby is established as a character who thinks a little differently than the norm. He has trouble grasping many of society's ideas and values.
 * When Gatsby invites Nick to his party he refers to his lavish event as a "little party" (41). Through his inability to understand the enormity of extravagance of his parties he foreshadows many future misconceptions and misunderstandings (i.e. that he can relive his past with Daisy)
 * When a girl rips her dress at one of Gatsby's parties he sends her a brand new dress. Gatsby's desire to avoid any conflict with anyone certainly deviates from the norm of society.
 * "When I was here last I tore my gown on a chair and he asked me my name and address-inside of a week I got a package from Croirier's with a new evening gown in it" (43). "There's something funny about a fellow that'll do a thing like that" (43).
 * Gatsby fixing the girl's dress that ripped at a previous party as well his hosting of such incredible parties but neither introducing himself or socializing build an air of mystery around him.
 * "The two or three people of whom I asked his whereabouts stared at me in such an amazed way, and denied so vehemently any knowledge of his movements" (42).
 * The rumors that circulate about Gatsby also develop his mysterious and uncertain nature
 * "He's a bootlegger," said the young ladies, moving somewhere between his cocktails and his flowers. "One time he killed a man who had found out that he was nephew to Bon Hindenburg and second cousin to the devil" (61).
 * When Gatsby and Nick are driving to lunch Gatsby makes it clear that he wants to clear up any rumors that are being spread about him. However, Nick has a hard time believing what Gatsby says
 * "He looked at me sideways and I knew why Jordan Baker had believed he was lying. He hurried the phrase "educated at Oxford," or swallowed it, choked on it, as thought it has bothered him before. And with this doubt, his whole statement fell to pieces, and I wondered if there wasn't something a little sinister about him, after all" (65).
 * Finally, when Gatsby is introduced, it is both a surprise to the reader and to Nick. He is young and disarmingly charming. His insistence in inviting Nick over seems very friendly and his speaking manner also seems odd, although some might have talked this way in the 20s.
 * A second side of Gatsby is introduced with the reader's meeting of Wolfshiem. As Gatsby's wealth is still a mystery at this point, the introduction of a man such as Wolfsheim hints that the way it was acquired isn't honest, and that Gatsby could be a criminal.__Jordan Baker__
 * Jordan is reintroduced in a more robust manner, as a friend, and eventually more to Nick. We find out she is dishonest from a story Nick heard about her golfing, and avoids “clever and shrewd men” so as not to face it.
 * We also learn that like Nick, Jordan does not feel completely comfortable at Gatsby's parties. She is not identical to the other partygoers.
 * "Let's get out, this is much too polite for me" (45).
 * Just like Nick, Jordan feels the need to meet her host, something many of the other guests do not give a second thought.__Nick__
 * In this chapter Nick is portrayed as having little in common with the East and West Eggers who make up the party
 * Nick is uncomfortable attending the party and does not feel in his element
 * "I went over to his lawn a little after seven, and wandered around rather ill at ease among swirls and eddies of people I didn't know" (42).
 * Additionally, Fitzgerald makes a note of Nick's single status
 * "I slunk off in the direction of the cocktail table-the only place in the garden where a single man could linger without looking purposeless and alone" (42).
 * Nick takes the last few pages of chapter 3 to flesh himself out some more, so as not to be just a cautious observer. Most significantly we find out he believes himself to be honest, likes the east coast (at this point), and while sometimes lonely is still working hard nightly.
 * Nick purposefully separates himself from the other main male characters in the fourth chapter, showing that there is no intangible dream he is chasing
 * "Unlike Gatsby and Tom Buchanan, I had no girl whose disembodied face floated along the dark cornices and blinding signs, and so I drew up the girl beside me, tightening my arms." (80).
 * Chapter 4 suggests that while Nick does manage to reserve judgment and be an honest man it is not something that comes completely naturally to him.
 * "With an effort I managed to restrain my incredulous laughter" (66).
 * Despite the fact that Nick has significantly less money than many of the other characters he remains dignified and is not ashamed of his possessions.
 * "I insisted on paying the check" (73).
 * By paying the check, Nick suggests that he is not the type of person that will just let his rich acquaintances provide for him. He shows a sense of self-sufficiency and stability. || * “There was a machine in the kitchen which could extract the juice of two hundred oranges in half an hour if a little button was pressed two hundred times by a butler’s thumb.” (39).
 * “He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you many 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 and irresistible prejudice in your favor” (48).
 * “She was incurably dishonest. She wasn’t able to endure being at a disadvantage and, given this unwillingness, I suppose she had began dealing in subterfuges when she was very young in order to keep that cool, insolent smile turned to the world and yet satisfy the demands of her hard, jaunty body” (58).
 * “Every one suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and mine is this: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known” (56). ||
 * PLOT ||
 * * Gatsby is finally introduced and meets Nick
 * Owl Eyes, although never given a real name, is introduced in this chapter and reappears at Gatsby’s funeral at the end of the book
 * Gatsby calls Jordan into his house to speak to her privately. When she emerges she remarks that she has heard something amazing but can’t share it
 * Jordan and Nick begin a romantic relationship
 * Gatsby describes his past to Nick. He explains that he was a war hero, educated at Oxford, etc.
 * Wolfshiem is introduced as Gatsby's friend, and is a somewhat unsavory character
 * Jordan tells Nick that Gatsby had been in love with Daisy for a long time. Gatsby wants Nick to set up a meeting between the two at his house || * “It was…simply amazing,’ she repeated abstractedly. ‘But I swore I wouldn’t tell it and here I am tantalizing you.’” (52). ||
 * SYMBOLISM ||
 * * The meeting of Owl Eyes within the library and the library itself are very symbolic. Owl Eyes is surprised the books are real because to him and the rest of the guests it seems everything else that has been put on for him by Gatsby is a show. The books are more than just empty covers however, there is substance to them, just as Gatsby is much more than the parties he puts on and the character he presents at them.
 * The environment of the party itself serves as a microcosm and symbol for the American dream and way of life. Young British men interacting with Americans, West and East Egg, champagne, jazz, all serve their purpose.
 * Colors
 * Effective use of color, particularly, the color yellow
 * "yellow bug" "yellow cocktail music" "yellow dresses" "girls in yellow"
 * Yellow is representative of corrupted desire for wealth
 * The color white represents supremacy
 * "Taking a __white__ card from his wallet, he waved it before the man's eyes. Right you are, agreed the policeman, tipping his cap, Know you next time, Mr. Gatsby. Excuse me!" (68).
 * "She was jsut eighteen, two years older than me, and by far the most popular of all the young girls in Louisville. She dressed in white, and had a little white roadster" (74).
 * Alcohol
 * Alcohol consumption at these parties is a form of denial and escape, as the guests are drinking away their troubles and escaping from their mundane lifestyles
 * As alcohol fades, Fitzgerald emphasizes the tempers returning, in lines such as "Most of the remaining women were having fights with men said to be their husbands."
 * Gatsby is the only character that does not drink at his parties, as he has seen in his past alcohol's unflattering effects
 * All of Gatsby's actions are direct reflections of his desire to constantly impress Daisy, who also does not drink
 * The purity that Gatsby exhibits in regard to alcohol is also a representation of Gatsby living the American dream purely (he is the only character who does this)
 * There are also rumors of Gatsby's fortune coming from bootlegging, another odd and contradictory part of his nature since he doesn't drink
 * By not drinking alcohol it is said that great advantages come about.
 * "Daisy was popular in Chicago, as you know. They moved with a fast crowd, all of them young and rich ad wild, but she came out with an absolutely perfect reputation. Perhaps because she doesn't drink. It's a great advantage not to drink among hard-drinking people. You can hold your tongue, and moreover, you can time any little irregularity of your own so that everybody else is so blind that they don't see or care" (77).
 * The Wealth Behind the Parties
 * The 1920's were a true portrayal of the phrase "getting rich quick." People jumped at the opportunities that the stock market offered, as it allowed them to buy stocks with very little money and earn money that in actuality did not exist.
 * The glitzy parties demonstrate this "phony" way of living, this lack of confrontation with the problems that would soon arise with the Great Depression.
 * Just as the investors' fates were determined the moment they bought stocks and began thier vulgar pursuit of wealth, Gatsby's fate was doomed the moment he finally (literally and figurateively) grasped Daisy.
 * The issuance of stocks and the consequent temporary wealth can be easily paralled with Gatsby's success in his persuit of Daisy, both foreshadowing the inevitable tragedy that undoubtedly lie ahead.
 * Reintroduction of the Green Light
 * It is shown what Gatsby is doing the night Nick first saw him reaching out towards the green light. The light comes from Daisy's dock and represents the love Gatsby has for Daisy and his quest to reclaim her. || * “See!’ he cried triumphantly. ‘It’s a bona-fide piece of printed material. It fooled me. This fella’s a regular Belasco. It’s a triumph. What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop, too-didn’t cut the pages. But what do you want? What do you expect?” (45).
 * “She had drunk a quantity of champagne, and during the course of her song she had decided, ineptly, that everything was very, very sad-she was not only singing, she was weeping too. Whenever there was a pause in the song she filled it with gasping, broken sobs, and then took up the lyric again in a quavering soprano” (51).
 * "Then the valley of ashes opened out on both sides of us, and I had a glimpse of Mrs. Wilson straining at the garage pump with panting vitality as we went by." (68).
 * "Then it had not been merely the stars to which he had aspired on that June night. He came alive to me, delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendor." (78). ||
 * THEMES ||
 * * The East vs. West Eggers is very explored. While both are in the upper tiers of society, the new and old rich do not get along which affects the environment of the party and shows Fitzgerald’s contempt for both. Despite being rich, the party members seem to be projecting false characters that are happy and full, while in reality live a meaningless and hollow life. This becomes especially apparent when the two side’s views clash, as it seems the only purpose each has is contempt of the other.
 * "From East Egg, then came the Chester Beckers and the Leeches, and a man named Bunsen, whom I knew at Yale, and Doctor Webster Civet, who was drowned last summer up in Maine...." (62). The passage continues to list the names of famous people who come from East Egg establishing it as a famed and wealthy place to live.
 * "From West Egg came the Poles and the Mulreadys and Cecil Roebuck...." (62).
 * Human's natural tendency to hide the unfortunate and embarrassing past, which inevitably fails because he gives himself up in the end. This mostly applies to Jay Gatsby whose past is somewhat suspicious from the start because of the over the top accounts that Gatsby tells to Nick in the car ride to the cafe in chapter 4 along with the horribly lavish parties that Gatsby throws commonly at his house. Also, Fitzgerald hints at this theme too when Owl Eyes finds out that Gatsby's books are real and that it's not just the bookcover. All of this points to the emphasis that Fitzgeral lays on viewpoint and reality.
 * "Absolutely real-have pages and everything. I thought they'd be a nice durable cardboard. Matter of fact they're aboslutely real" (50).
 * "I'll tell you God's truth...I am the son of some wealthy people in the middle-west-all dead now. I was brought up in America but educated at Oxford because all my ancestors have been educated there for many years. It is family tradition...My family all died and I came into a good deal of money" (69-70).
 * Nick Carraway's evolution from a mid-westener do gooder to a more open minded and exposed individual shows another theme, which is man's inner desire to want to indulge in the lavish lifestyles of the rich socialites no matter how corrupt or shallow they may be. In these chapters we only begin to see Nick's change in mind as he tries to silence his midwestern values and concerns and embrace this chance to indulge in the lifestyles of the rich. His pursuing the relationship with Jordan Baker, who is dishonest and worldly, is just one example of this change.
 * "Jordan Baker instrinctively avoided clever shrewd men and now I saw that this was because she felt safer on a plane where any divergence froma code would be thought impossible. She was incurably dishonest" (63). || * “Instead of rambling, this party had preserved a dignified homogeneity, and assumed to itself the function of representing the staid nobility of the countryside-East Egg condescending to West Egg, and carefully on guard against its spectroscopic gayety. ‘Let’s get out,’ whispered Jordan, after a somehow wasteful and inappropriate half hour” (45).
 * "A phrase began to beat in my ears with a sort of heady excitement: “There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired.”" (79) ||
 * WRITING STYLE ||
 * “Laughter is easier minute by minute, spilled with prodigality, tipped out at a cheerful word. The groups change more swiftly, swell with new arrivals, dissolve and form in the same breath; already there are wanderers, confident girls who weave here and there among the stouter and more stable, become for a sharp joyour moment the center of the group, and then, excited with triumph, glide on through the sea-change of faces and voices and color under the constantly changing light."
 * Fitzgerald's writing is descriptive and poetic, unparalleled word choice
 * In the beginning of chapter three particulary, Fitzgerald's writing is extremely illustrative
 * Greatly utilizes similes and metaphors
 * For example, the first paragraph of Chapter 3 alone features phrases such as "men and girls came and went like moths," "his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus," and "his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug."
 * Beginning of Chapter 4 also has a similar descriptive approach
 * Nick plays the "name game," where he lists all of the different names and descriptions of those who attend Gatsby's parties
 * Uses language to categorize the socialies and party-goers
 * Through this list-like analysis, reader gains insight as to how judgemental and bias our narrator Nick actually is
 * Superficial categorization of each person is so simply put, that one can believe the perceived shallowness of rich man's era
 * Each name is long and elegant, yet its description is frank, honest, and usually unappealing
 * Descriptions are weaved together through familial and aristocratic connections, causing the reader to realize that the structure of society is based on conceptions by others
 * Through writing style, Fitzgerald throws in subtle thematic references such as these
 * Perspective
 * By putting the novel in the perspective that it's in, if the reader doesn't agree with the narrator, it completely throws the reader out of the story
 * The stories are being told by Nick with almost no hints of doubt, thus easily persuading readers to think what Nick is thinking
 * At first, the tone of these chapters comes off as being light and casual
 * However, the true personalities and flaws of each character are rather apparent when one looks under the surface
 * For example, on pg. 62, Nick casually states that the partygoers "flipped their noses like goats."
 * Nick finds the issues of the snobbish trivial, or at least considers the problems part of the norm
 * We later find, as Nick develops, that the flaws make the characters more real, and the drama creates a humanist feel to the story
 * A unique aspect of the writing style is that Fitzgerald pays much attention to the details of characterization as opposed to setting (Disclaimer: I do realize that Fitzgerald does throw in some references to the time period, but what I'm saying is that he does not focus on this as much as other novels do)
 * Keeps the novel timeless, still feels contemporary today
 * Has just as much of a significance in our time as it did in the 20's>>>
 * CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU SURVIVED OUR 248290483 PAGE OUTLINE. In fact, I even think it gives The Great Gatsby itself a run for its money, length wise. ||
 * Has just as much of a significance in our time as it did in the 20's>>>
 * CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU SURVIVED OUR 248290483 PAGE OUTLINE. In fact, I even think it gives The Great Gatsby itself a run for its money, length wise. ||