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=Gatsby Project=

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Group Members
Torie P.



Marika D.



Emily B.



Janet C.



=**The Great Gatsby Discussion (Chapters 1 and 2)**= (in order of the novel)

FIRST 6 PAGES OF NOVEL (Emily)

-Begins with a father's advice and the shaping of Nick's character. " Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had." (pg 1) -Taught Nick to reserve his judgments and made him more open and accepting towards people. He didn't discard ideas just because they differed from his. -Nick is like George from Winesburg, Ohio. Everyone comes to him with their problems, but he is a bit less willing to listen than George. -"The revelations of young men...usually plagiaristic and marred by obvious suppressions." (pg 2) He did not blindly agree with people's ideas. -It is slightly ironic that Nick left the sinful, boisterous East hating all but Gatsby even though he said on page 2 "Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have unaffected scorn." -Nick valued Gatsby for his "romantic readiness". His rags to riches American Dream all to become worthy for his ultimate goal, Daisy. -Odd that Nick can say Gatsby turned out alright when he was killed and abandoned by his long lost love. -The hopeless love that "preyed" on Gatsby as Nick said on page 2 was certainly enough to "close out his interest in short-winded elations of men." -Nicks background: He is a Midwesterner from a line of Hardware Business owners. He went to New Haven and served in the First World War. He came back in search of something to fill his time, thus he went East to learn bonds. -Nick had a need to be a part of something. He was lonely in West Egg until he became a guide for a stranger in the neighborhood. -He had a lot of hope and promise to become the "well-rounded man" that he was in college. Swiftly became rapped up in other things. _West Egg vs. East Egg: They were "dissimilar in every particular except shape and size" (pg 5) -West Egg is rich, but less cultured and mannered than East Egg. -Gatsby's house is described as "some Hotel de Ville in Normandy." It foreshadows the grandeur and gaudiness which will come from that house. -Nick's house in contrast is an eyesore. He doesn't fit in with the millionaires that surround him, and yet he gets a great view into their lives.

Chapter 1 (Pages 13-23) (Janet)

- Nick is invited to Daisy and Tom's house for dinner because Daisy is Nick's cousin.

-introduced to Tom whose description gives the reader a negative opinion of him //- "two shining, arrogant eyes", "a cruel body" : adjectives are harsh//

-introduced to Daisy whose description gives the reader the opposite reaction, reader instantly likes her //- "sad and lovely face", "bright eyes and a passionate mouth" : adjectives are positive//

- Daisy discusses her child, calling her only "the baby" and discussing her in general terms, gives reader the impression that she doesn't really care about her child, but only sees her as an object to give her pleasure and create the right social impression

- introduced to Jordon Baker who is described as very different than Daisy //- very quiet, yawns a lot, "slender, small breasted girl with an erect carraige"//

- Gatsby is mentioned but remains a mysterious, unkown character, however it is clear that he is well known in the area //- "you must know Gatsby!"//

- Daisy and Jordan are both unhappy, may have everything around them, but still it doesn't truly please them //- "Sometimes she and Miss Baker talked at once, unobtrusively and with a bantering inconsequence that was never quite chatter, that was as cool as their white dresses and their impersonal eyes in the absence of all desire."//

- Tom mentions reading "The Rise of the Coloured Empires" again causing the reader to dislike him due to his haughty and bigotted views //- "It's up to us who are the dominant race to watch out or these other races will have control of things"//

- Phone rings upon which everyone but Jordon and Nick leave, reader discovers that Tom is having a very public affair //- "You mean you don't know...I thought everybody knew...Tom's got some woman in New York"//

- When left alone Daisy tells Nick her cynical views for her daughter revealing a brief glimpse of a serious woman, however the moment is gone when she smirks afterwards //- "And I hope she'll be a fool-that's the best thing a girl can be in his world-a beautiful little fool"//

- Later Daisy expresses interest in setting up Jordan and Nick, foreshadowing the future romance //- "In fact I think I'll arrange a marriage"//

In the 1920s the rich often lived opulent, lavish lives. However, things were often not as perfect as they seemed on the outside. Tom and Daisy had the American Dream - they had a beautiful home, a wonderful daughter, and were financially stable. However, they both remained uncontent and bored. With nothing to do all day, both eventually turned to affairs. Theme of the entire dinner party was showing cracks in a seemingly perfect relationship.

End of Chapter 1, Beginning of Chapter 2 (pages 19-27) (Torie)

"You can't stop going with an old friend on account of rumors, and on the other hand I had no intention of being rumored into marriage." (19) -Delves into the lives of Tom and Daisy -Have nothing better to talk about other than simply gossiping

"It seemed to me that the thing for Daisy to do was to rush out of the house, child in arms-but apparently there were no such intentions in her head." (20) -Referring to Tom's open, public love affair with Myrtle Wilson (Tom's woman in New York) -Nick believes Daisy should get out

"...he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I would have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward-and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock." (20) -The "single green light", we learn later in the story, is, in fact, at the end of Daisy's dock -His trembling mannor and his posture represents Gatsby's inner yearning for Daisy

Page 23 -Doctor T.J. Eckleburg (billboard located in the valley of ashes where Wilson's garage is) -Blue, gigantic eyes -Yellow spectacles -Evokes mystery -Watches over all of the wrong things happening on the society ("along the road under Doctor Eckleburg's persistent stare." (24) -Love affairs

"She was in the middle thirties, and faintly stout, but she carried her surplus flesh sensuously as some women can. Her face, above a spotted dress of dark blue crepe-de-chine, contained no facet or gleam of beauty, but there was an immediately perceptible vitality about her as if the nerves of her body were continually smouldering." (25) -Myrtle Wilson (George Wilson's wife, Tom's woman in New York)

"Wilson? He thinks she goes to see her sister in New York. He's so dumb he doesn't know he's alive." (26) -Tom puts himself on a pedestal above all others; of course Wilson wouldn't know Myrtle was having an affair -Alludes to Tom's subordinate view of women

Pages 32-42 Marika Living the ‘American Dream’

Top of page 35 “Mrs. Wilson has changed her costume some time before and was now arritred in an elaborate afternoon dress of cream colored chiffon which gave out a continual rustle as she swept about the room. With the influence of the dress her personality had also undergone a change. The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage was converted into impressive hauteur. Her laughter, her gestures, her assertions became more violently affected moment by moment and as she expanded the room grew smaller around her until she seemed to be revolving on a noisy, creaking pivot through the smoky air.”

This quotation serves to show the goal of many of the characters in the book to reach the upper social class. Mrs. Wilson’s extravagant dress and change in mannerisms from humble and human to haughty and arrogant reflect her quest for what she feels is ‘the American dream’ and to live the rich and famous lifestyle. As her head and ego grows, Fitzgerald describes her as a ‘revolving pivot’, like something everyone should watch and pay attention to all the time. Mrs. Wilson is trying to become the sole source and center of entertainment for her guests, so demanding of attention she leaves no room for anyone else. She further reinforces her attitude and desire to move up in the social class when Mrs. McKee compliments her on her dress. Mrs. Wilson refers to her dress as, “a crazy old thing…I just slip it on sometimes when I don’t care what I look like.

Tom’s view of Women

Tom is described as very large, strong, and malevolent, it only seems right that he views woman as subordinate to him, a view expressed often throughout the novel. He orders them around, talks down to them, and even physically hurts them as though they were just objects. On page 36 Tom says, “You McKee’s have something to drink. Get some mor eice and mineral water, Myrtle, before everybody goes to sleep.” He treats her like a servant, like she is just there to serve people and for no other purpose. He continually talks about how women should not be running here and there and traveling throughout the world and how their life and habits should be restricted as well. Pg 41 Tom’s violent behaviour and temper results in him breaking Myrtle’s nose during a quarrel they are having. “Making a short deft movement Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand”

Dishonesty and the dying ‘American Dream’

Almost everybody in the novel is dishonest and has something to hide; Tom is having an affair with Myrtle/Mrs. Wilson, Daisy secretly loves Gatsby, Gatsby comes from a middle-class background and goes to great lengths to hide his past and strives to create one that seems much more lavish and rich, and Myrtle is hiding her affair as well. The dying ‘American Dream’ is also a theme in the novel, many people try to live it but behind closed doors nothing is as it seems and their ‘perfect’ life is really not perfect at all. For example there is Daisy and Tom’s broken marriage. In theory and on the surface their marriage and life is perfect, filled with love, money, and joy, neither have to work to support themselves. However, underneath it all they really are both unhappy. Just like Myrtle and Mr. Wilson. They represent the working class ‘American Dream’, making a living from their drug store and gas station and earning a place slowly but surely in the upper class. However their marriage is clearly not working, just like Tom and Daisy’s, representing the dying American dream. “Neither of them can stand the person they’re married to” (pg 37 and further down)

- Dishonesty again with Tom’s lie about Daisy being Catholic

Cute email idea! we like it : ) Nikita, Sarah, Ben, Frank