Da+Moonshiners

Laura B, James C, Brian L
 * Avni P,



Gatsby Discussion Notes Chapters 3 and 4**

Notes and quotes are interspersed as this allows for better understanding Thanks Avni
 * Characterization:** (quotes taken from new book)

Page 41 - insight into Nick's character, was actually invited, gives him depth, QUOTES "...ill at ease...", "...amusement parks" - superficiality of other characters, absurd Page 42 - aura of mystery around gatsby, nobody knows or is expected to no his whereabouts, intrigues reader Page 42 - Second impression of Jordan, "impersonally", yet still a sense of attachment to Nick Page 43 -Gatsby's personality QUOTE "He doesn't want...", does he suspect trouble? oooh. Page 43 - QUOTE "I never care what I do, so I always have a good time." People are just loosing themselves, fun is folly, superficiality again Page 44 - Continues with aura of mystery, conversation of others' views of him, killed a man?, German spy, not only characters, but readers are also unaware Page 46 - QUOTE "This is much too polite for me", Jordan cares for intimacy in relations Page 47 - Gatsby - not arrogant, not formal, insinuates a closer relationship between Nick and Gatsby Page 48 - SMILE :), very important QUOTE "He smiled understandingly - much more than understandingly. It was...", "picking his words with care" - hiding something? Page 49 - more on Gatsby's dubious background Page 50 - Gatsby physical description, QUOTE "his tanned skin was drawn tightly..." Page 50 - neither Gatsby nor Daisy drink, unlike everybody else - sets them apart, isolation, want control and are controlling (Gatsby wants to orchestrate every event perfectly), maybe because of pasts (wedding for Daisy and Don Cody for Gatsby) Page 50 - Jordan - jauntiness Page 52 - eagerness of Gatsby --> formality QUOTE "but the eagerness in his manner tightened abruptly into formality...", different personas in different environments Page 52 - Jordan cares about Nick (tells him to find her number) Page 56 - insight into Nick's life outside of Gatsby's parties, reserved, lonely, QUOTE he likes "racy, adventurous feel" of NYC but also "haunting loneliness" Page 57 - Jordan lies, but Nick doesn't mind Page 58 - insight into Nick's character as a cautious individual (as Jordan likes him for not being careless), QUOTE "I am slow-thinking and full of interior rules that act as brakes on my desires..." Page 59 - QUOTE "Every one suspects himself...cardinal virtues...honest...", reader gets comfort in terms of the accuracy of the narration, others are covnersely portrayed as dishonest Pages 62-63 - names of all those who attended Gatsby's party, the fact that Nick took the time to write this all down speaks to his newfound (although mild) concern with societal perceptions and status Page 64 - QUOTE "I had talked...little to say", Gatsby can't think/talk about much else besides Daisy, relates to theme of consequences of obsessing over one goal Page 64 - Gatsby's informal self, QUOTE, "leaving his elegant sentences unfinished and slappign himsled indecisevely on the knee...", ?s of background again Page 67 - Gatsby is blunt in his request yet modest, Nick is now very interested in Gatsby's past Page 68 - QUOTE "correctness grew on him", city creates a proper man Page 69 - Wolsheim, sketchy, darkness Page 70 - 71 more on background Page 71 - :) again Page 72 - Wolfsheim and Gatsby are not really friends, superficial relationships like in the rest of the novel Page 73 - QUOTE "gambler", World Series 1919, QUOTE "play with faith, smart (ideal?), characterizes Wolfsheim Page 80 - QUOTE "Unlike Gatsby...", style, Nick not emotional, level headed

Page 40-41: Guests go to the party but do not know Gatsby, revealing that relationships are all very shallow if existant at all. Gatsby is being "used" for his parties as a place for the guests to uwind and act crazy. Gatsby does not communicate with them. The people in the book do not have any truly personal relationships with the main character.
 * Theme - Brian**

Page 42: Gatsby is not communicating or taking advantage of his wealth. He is so caught up in Daisy that he forgets the other necessities in life, particularly friendly companionships. Fitzgerald warns against the danger of obsessing over one thing and how it can make one lose sight of the other important things. This is especially relatable to Gatsby and the pursuit of Daisy and the American Dream.

Page 51: The couples are leaving and debating whether to go, and continue bickering. This shows that the people are not really happy with their relationships. They are more concerned with what other people think of them than actually being happy. This is related back to the Gatsby-Daisy situation because Gatsby is more concerned with what Daisy thinks than actually being happy.

Page 58: "It takes two to make an accident." This is foreshadowing the entrance of Daisy into Gatsby's life. Gatsby seems somewhat content in chasing Daisy. When Daisy does enter Gatsby's life, the relationship goes to hell. It takes both of the parties to make the "accident" of the relationship. It is a definite foreshadow of the collapse of Gatsby after Daisy comes into the situation.

Page 79: "There are only the pursuing, the pursued, the busy, and the tired." Not necessarily a theme, but Fitzgerald serves to categorize the characters so that the reader can analyze the characters and see the consequences of each of the categories. For example, by analyzing Gatsby, one can see that the pursuing sometimes get so caught up in their pursuit that they stop funcioning in other areas of their lives. This can also be applied to the other characters (Pusuing - Gatsby, Pursued - Daisy, Busy - Nick, Tired - Tom)


 * Symbolism - Laura**

The guests at Gatsby's party are compared to moths - this is an effective metaphor. Moths are considered unintelligent pests who are drawn to bright lights, but ultimately get zapped.
 * QUOTE: p 39, "In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars."

The authenticity of the books in Gatsby's library show that there is more to him than most people realize. The fact that Owl Eye's automatically assumed they were made of cardboard shows that dishonesty was prevalent among the wealthy and suspicion was automatic in the 20s. Owl Eyes still assumes that the books are just for show.
 * QUOTE: p 46, "See!" he cried triumphantly. "It's a bona fide piece of printed matter. It fooled me. This fellow's a regular Bellasco. It's a triumph. What thoroughness!"

Alcohol in this novel is a symbol of depression. It acts as a truth serum, breaking through the happy veneers of the socialites and revealing their true emotions. The red-haired lady's mascara serves to represent the masquerade she puts on, and the black shows her melancholy. The guests are also described as wearing primary colors. The flashy, ostentatious dresses show that they all want to be the center of attention. The guest in 'trembling opal' foreshadows bad luck.
 * QUOTE: p 51, "The tears coursed down her cheeks - not freely, however, for when they came into contact with her heavily beaded eyelashes they assumed an inky color, and pursued the rest of their way in slow black rivulets."

When Owl Eyes' car gets stuck in the ditch at the end of the party, he has no idea how it happened, showing that these rich people lacked responsibility and control over their own lives. The dismembered wheel literally makes him unable to drive, but he continually asserts that he has 'no idea' how it happened, and it's his chauffeur's problem.
 * QUOTE: p 55, "Blinded by the glare of the headlights and confused by the incessant groaning of the horns, the apparition stood swaying for a moment before he perceived the man in the duster."

Page 68: Gatsby, reprimanded for speeding, show his white card to the pollice officer and is let alone. He literally has a 'carte blanche' - he feels entitled to break the rules.

As Gatsby and Nick travel through the Valley of Ashes, they pass a funeral procession. Gatsby's white car is expected to somehow brighten their funeral. Nick seems to think it is so far superior to their way of life that it will spur them to aspire to something greater. In Gatsby's world, there is no time for mourning. The Valley of Ashes also represents a 'leveled playing field', where anything can happen, and the lower classes can take what's their's, as we see through the rivalry with the 'Negroes' they pass in the car.
 * QUOTE p 69: "The friends looked out at us with tragic eyes and short upper lips of Eastern Europe, and I was glad that the sight of Gatsby's splendid car was included in their somber holiday."

Fitzgerald's repugnant description of Wolfsheim reveals his anti-semitism and builds him up as a symbol of depravity and corruption. The 'small eyes' represent his lowliness, and his cuff buttons of human molars show his sadism and lack of respect for humanity.
 * QUOTE p 69: "A small, flat-nosed Jew raised his large head and regarded me with two fine growths of hair which luxuriated in either nostril."

Jordan describes Daisy's first meeting with Gatsby, during which she is wearing a white dress. The white shows that her love for Gatsby was the purest thing in her life. Before her wedding to Tom Buchanan, she gets drunk with a bottle of Sauterne. This is the first time in her life she has ever gotten drunk, and probably the last. This is also the moment when she surrenders control over the course of her life. Sobriety allows her to maintain control.
 * QUOTE p 78: "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 they don't see or care."

After we hear Daisy's story, little girls in Central Park sing the Sheik of Araby. a 1920s jazz standard. It is based off of a popular movie //The Sheik//, about a lady who loathes the idea of marriage because she believes it means the end of independence for women. Matrimony is also the end of Daisy's independence.
 * QUOTE p 79: "I'm the Sheik of Araby. Your love belongs to me. At night when you're asleep, into your tent I'll creep."

Nick's description of Jordan as 'limited' appears insulting at first, but he is glad he's not in love with her. He sees himself and Jordan as the pillars of sanity amidst a sea of deranged freaks. The 'disembodied face' symbolizes an elusive unreality, suggesting that the fantasies of Gatsby and Tome will never be achieved.
 * QUOTE p 81: "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."

James
 * Style**- It's what I got

Page 40- Beginning descriptions of the vast wealth portrayed in Gatsby's parties. Entertainers, Catering, Esteemed Guests. Nick has an outsiders view to make the wealth seem that much more unbelievable.

Page 41- "One of these gypsies in trembling opal...she is Gilda Gray's understudy." Displays of high class socialites and culture.

Page 49- Deeper view into character of Nick Carroway as he and Jordan get to know each other better. They spend the party together as a couple until Gatsby intervenes to talk to Jordan (about Daisy).

Page 51- Fitzgerald maintains an air of mystery about Gatsby, the reader is not even aware of who he is until Nick is talking to him. Gatsby's private conversation with Jordan in the library adds to this mystery.

Page 53- Gatsby is constantly called away from his guests to take care of business by phone. A call from Philadelphia at 2 in the morning foreshadows his shady connections to bootlegging.

Page 61- No one understands Gatsby's past and many people make up ridiculous rumors about him. "One time he killed a man who found out he was nephew to von Hindenburg and second cousin to the devil."

Page 64- The description of Gatsby's car and the lavish wealth that it represents.

Page 74- Reader finally discovers the nature of Gatsby and his obsession with Daisy. Fitzgerald reveals this particular part of the mystery of Gatsby without showing any more than he needs to.

F Scott Fitzgerald Powerpoint ****