Narrative Perspective:
- Nick is the main narrator, but this allows him to cloud his views about Gatsby which leads to him becoming a flawed narrator.
- “I am one of the few honest people I know” already clouds his judgement.
- How much time went before Gatsby’s death and Nick writing about the events.
- Nick actually thinks Gatsby is great but he has had time to think about events so he must be flawed.
- Jordan briefly takes over as narrator accrediting to her sensibility and trustworthiness that she does not lie. She is a true narrator where Nick fails.
- It is Nick’s invisible character trait of reserving judgement that makes me an invisible narrator. One that almost like a third-person character
Setting:
- The elite East Egg which is full of money. The rich snobbery of Americans who believe they are the elite and no-body else is above them.
- The fact that Tom is here signifies that he feels threatened when somebody from outside this circle threatens his marriage.
- The fact that Tom is from East Egg serves to demonstrate how he can use his status to commit adultery and get away with it.
- West Egg which represents hope and freedom in that anybody can make money and maintain a good status.
- The only bad they see is the bad perception they have among East Egg.
- America which represents hope and freedom. Everyman is equal in America. This is what makes Gatsby thrive, without the setting of America, there would be no Gatsby and he would certainly not be great.
- Valley of Ashes represents the worse of the American Dream in that the two Eggs dump everything there. It is the land where dreams go to die. The rich disregard it as a dumping ground and are unable to see it as anything but. Even the government agree as there is no train station.
Language:
- Dramatic Irony: All the characters are aware of Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship. All the characters but Tom. This puts him on the backfoot. Where Tom was once ahead of the playing field, in this one, he is behind it. But it shows his character that he still ends up with Daisy mere moments after this scene.
- Symbolism: Green light which represents Daisy. Green represents hope and growth which Gatsby hopes he can achieve under Daisy but when he finally has her, the green light goes away, as does his relationship with Daisy
- Flashback: Provide exposition and background information. Often used to elevate suspense by revealing key elements of the plot e.g Jordan who tells us the backstory of Daisy and Gatsby.
- Metaphor: Comparing Daisy to a rose. A rose represents purity, joy and light. When Nick and Gatsby learn more about Daisy, they come to realise just what a gross thing a rose is. The white rose has been contaminated with the “valley of Ashes” of the American dream which corrupts Daisy.
Dialogue
and Voices:
- The voice of “Owl eyes” who cannot believe that Gatsby has pure materialism about him but actually has books in his library. Owl eyes represents the reader who may believe that Gatsby is not real but turns out he is.
- Tom’s voice in bursting out against Daisy in the first chapter trying to show his arrogance and how threatens he feels.
- Tom has got to make his point. He can’t have Jordan or Daisy speak better than him. He has to assert his dominance over the characters and the readers themselves. He essentially forces his hand into the story than be “introduced”.
Structure:
- Nick’s narrative starts in the present and from chapter 4, he integrates stories from Gatsby’s past.
- Non-chronological order in order to build the mystery surrounding the character of Gatsby.
- Repeating of patterns which thread their way throughout the story and adds richness to the novel as the whole.
- We should include the way Nick interrupts the dialogue during this with this own information about characters and past events.
- The introduction of Gatsby shows Nick’s moral need for improving his life.
- Gatsby is to Nick what Dan Cody was to Gatsby