Studied by 16 peopleThemes: Social status, American Dream, Gender (masculinity/ women),Land (East & West))
‘…what preyed…’
Nick on Gatsby Ch.1
American Dream
it is what preyed on Gatsby
‘wild promise… mystery and beauty…’
contrast to ‘dead man’
Nick describing New York Ch.1
American Dream/ the Land
‘first wild promise of all the mystery and beauty in the world’
‘a dead man passed us in a hearse’
'‘only… pursued… busy…’
Gatsby Ch.4
American Dream (polarity)
there are only the pursued and pursuing, the busy and the tired
‘colossal significance… vanished’
Nick about Gatsby Ch.5
American Dream (green light)
the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever
‘…tumbled short… colossal…’
Nick about Gatsby’s view of Daisy Ch.5
Daisy tumbled short… of the colossal vitality of his illusion'
‘…over nothing’
Nick about Gatsby Ch.7
American Dream
watching over nothing
‘clutching… hope’
Nick about Gatsby to Daisy Ch.7
American Dream
‘clutching at some last hope’
‘paid… price… too long… single’
Nick about George Ch.8
American Dream
paid the high price of living too long with a single dream
‘…ghosts… breathing…’
Nick about lower echelons Ch.8
American Dream
poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air
‘…believed in…’
Nick about Gatsby Ch.9
Gatsby believed in the green light
‘his dream… so close… hardly fail […] already behind…’
Nick about Gatsby Ch.9
American Dream
his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it … he didn’t know it was already behind him
‘…beat on, boats… borne’
Nick Ch.9
American Dream (the past)
so we beat on, boats against the current, borne ceaselessly into the past
‘drifted… unrestfully…polo… together’
Tom & Daisy
Social Status (wealth)
drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together
‘…careless people… smashed… retreated… money… vast…’
Nick about Tom & Daisy Ch.9
Social Status (wealth)
They were careless people Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and retreated back into their money or vast carelessness
‘appalled by…’
Nick about Daisy Ch.6
Social Status
She was appalled by West Egg
‘such… shirts’
Daisy to Gatsby Ch.5
Social Status (materialism, wealth)
‘They are such beautiful shirts’ she sobbed
‘…voice… full…’
Gatsby to Nick about Dasiy Ch.7
Social Status (materialism, wealth)
Her voice is full of money
‘…vanished… rich…full.. nothing’
Nick about Daisy Ch.8
Social Status (wealth)
She vanished into her rich house, her rich full life, leaving Gatsby- nothing
‘golden’
Daisy Ch.7
Social Status/ American Dream
golden girl
‘…gleaming…silver… safe… struggles’
Daisy Ch.8
Social Status (wealth)
Daisy gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor
‘…bug’
Gatsby’s car Ch.3
Social Status
yellow bug
‘cream…’ / ‘dull…’ ‘/ swollen…monstrous’
Gatsby’s car & possessions
Social Status (wealth, colour imagery)
rich cream colour
dull gold
swollen… in its monstrous length
‘factual… Normandy’
Nick about Gatsby’s mansion Ch.1
Social Status (Old money/ Old world)
factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy
‘…enormous… identical… separated’
West and East Egg Ch.1
Social Status/ Land (Old vs New money)
a pair of enormous eggs, identical in contour and separated only by a courtesy bay
‘West… fashionable’
Nick about West Egg Ch.1
Social Status/ Land (Old vs New money)
West Egg- the less fashionable of the two
‘sudden emptiness’
Nick on Gatsby after the party Ch.3
Social Status (isolation)
a sudden emptiness seemed to flow
‘…like moths’
Nick on party guests Ch.3
Social Status (wealth)
came and went like moths
‘…never… still’
‘running…overwound…’
Nick on Gatsby
American Dream (effects of past, time)
he was never quite still
running down like an overwound clock
‘Can’t repeat…?…’
recover
Gatsby/ Nick on Gatsby Ch.6
American Dream (time/ the past)
Can’t repeat the past?… Of course you can
wanted to recover something
‘…shiftless and.. farm people’
Nick on Gatsby’s parents Ch.6
Social Status (poor)
his parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people
‘purposeless…’
Nick on Gatsby Ch.4
Social Status (wealth)
purposeless wealth
‘…yacht…beauty and glamour’
Gatsby Ch.6
Social Status (materialism)
that yacht represented all the beauty and glamour in the world
‘Nobody…’ :(
Nick about Gatsby’s funeral
Social Status (isolation)
Nobody came
‘eyes of… T.J … yellow spec…’
T.J Eckleburg Ch.2
Social Status (materialism, social decay)
the eyes of Doctor T.J Eckleburg… enormous yellow spectacles
‘ash-grey… impenetrable’
Valley of Ashes Ch.2
Social Status (poor)
the ash-grey men… stir up an impenetrable cloud
‘spiritless… / as if he…’
George Wilson Ch.2
Social Status (poor)
spiritless man, anaemic
as if he were a ghost
Valley…
Ch.2
Social Status (poor)
lol just ‘Valley of Ashes’ as a quote
‘…like a doll’
Tom to George Ch.7
Social Status (power of wealthy)
Picking up Wilson like a doll
spotted dress… perceptible…
Myrtle's first introduction Ch.2
Social Status (social mobility, imitation of wealth)
spotted dress of dark blue… perceptible vitality
‘…entirely too…’/ ‘small…small…small…’
Myrtle and Tom’s apartment Ch.2
Social Status
furniture entirely too large for it
small living room small dining room small bedroom
‘…changed… costume’
Myrtle Ch.2
Social Status (social mobility, imitation of wealth)
Mrs Wilson had changed her costume
‘…peering… car’
Myrtle Ch.7
Social Status (social mobility)
Myrtle Wilson was peering down at the car
‘mingled… blood… dust’
Myrtle’s death Ch.7
Social Status (inescapability of social strata)
mingled her thick, dark blood with the dust
‘it occurred… no difference’
Nick on Tom and George Ch.7
Social Status
it occurred to me there was no difference between men
‘… get married… church? … long time’
Tom to George
Wealth/materialism replacing religion
Didn’t you get married in a church?
That was a long time ago
‘while church bells… world… returned…’
Nick Ch.4
Materialism replacing religion
while church bells rang … the world and its mistress returned to Gatsby’s house
‘….acute limited… savours… anti-climax’
Tom Ch.1
Gender (masculinity)
reached such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one that everything afterward savours of anti-climax
‘…physical accomplishments’
Tom Ch.2
Gender (masculinity)
her husband among various physical accomplishments
‘Tom remained… polo player… rest’
Tom Ch.6
Gender (masculinity)
Tom remained the ‘polo player’ for the rest of the evening
‘the best thing… little fool’
Daisy to her daughter Ch.1
the best thing a girl can be in this world is a beautiful little fool
‘…moustache… perspiration/ slender…/ jaunty’
Jordan
Gender (women)
faint moustache of perspiration
slender golf arms
hard jaunty body
‘silver idols… white dresses’
Daisy and Jordan Ch.7
Gender (women)
silver idols weighing down their own white dresses
‘…breast swinging…’
Myrtle’s death Ch.7
Gender/ Land
her left breast swinging loose like a flap
‘Dutch sailor’s…- green breast’
Ch.9
Land
Dutch sailor’s eyes- a fresh, green breast of the new world
‘East excited… quality of…’
Nick on New York Ch.9
Land
East excited me most (but always has) quality of distortion
‘always liked… East’
Mr Gatz on Gatsby Ch.9
Land
Jimmy always liked it better down East
‘haunted… East’
Nick on Gatsby Ch.9
Land
Gatsby’s death haunted the East
Note
Flashcard