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Narratives - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Chapter 1: 'He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. [...] distinguished nothing except a single green light'
      - Chapter 5: 'You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock'
      - Chapter 9: 'gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors' eyes—a fresh, green breast of the new world. [...] I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out Daisy's light at the end of his dock'
        
        'Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us'
        
        'So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past'
  - - - To Nick they symbolise the haunting waste of the past, which lingers on though it is irretrievably vanished
        
        Fitzgerald uses the word 'vigil' to describe Doctor T.J & Gatsby's eyes
        
        Gatsby's eyes = vigil over Long Island sound & the green light
        
        George Wilson, they are the eyes of God
        
        Chapter 2: 'above the grey land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg.'
        'The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic—their retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles.'
        
        Chapter 7: Nick notices the haunting eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, then spots Myrtle Wilson staring down from the windows above the garage at Jordan Baker, whom she seems to have mistaken for Daisy.
        
        Myrtle seeing Tom with Gatsby's car is another crucial plot point.
        
        Myrtle's despair at seeing Tom with his "wife" is linked to T. J. Eckleburg's dead eyes.
        
        Chapter 8
        
        Wilson revealed to Michaelis that Myrtle had a lover & his suspicion that it was the man driving the car because she ran out to meet it.
        
        He told Michaelis how he had confronted her & told her she was sinning in the eyes of God. Wilson was staring into the eyes of T. J. Eckleburg when he mentioned God.
        
        Wilson says he has a way of finding out who was driving the car and later that morning disappeared from the garage.
        
        Myrtle's death destroys Wilson's dream, leaving him nothing.
        
        The Roaring Twenties conflict between old and new money has destroyed him: he can't even distinguish an advertisement from God.
        
        Wilson's "way" of finding out who killed Myrtle is mysterious. Fitzgerald is building tension.
  - - - Nick describes the novel as a book about Westerners, a 'story of the West' > all characters hail from places other than East
        
        The American idea of going to West to seek & make one's fortune on the frontier turned on its ear in the 1920s stock boom
        
        The split between the eastern & western regions of US mirrored i Gatsby by the divide between East Egg & West Egg
  - - - Symbol
        
        Attempt to stop time & restore his relationship with Daisy to the way it was 5 years ago
  - - - First become aware of Tom's affair when he receives a phone call from Myrtle
        
        By first learning of Tom's unfaithfulness through a phone call, the device suggests a loss of intimacy & desire
- - - - Gatsby climbed up the social & economic ladder & prospered by method of dubious negotiations of bootlegging
        
        Daisy inherited her old money status
        
        Gatsby attempts to act as though he is old money in order to be accepted by Daisy's class
        
        Daisy causes Gatsby's disillusionment when he understands that 'her voice is full of money'
        
        By illustrating social-economic differences through Gatsby & his desire for Daisy, Fitzgerald depicts the mistaken hype of the corrupted American Dream & the gap of economic class that will never close.
      - Clear connections between geographical location & social values, East & West Egg & the Valley of Ashes
        
        Gatsby = West Egg
        
        Daisy & Tom = East Egg
        
        George & Myrtle = the Valley of Ashes
        
        Tom treats Myrtle as an object of desire & there is a clear social gap between them
        
        Myrtle chooses Tom, though she knows the rich think of money all the time & tries to improve her material situation
  - - - Wilson is portrayed as nearly invisible when Myrtle walks 'through her husband as if he were a ghost' when going up to greet Tom
        
        Wilson is invisible to Tom, Nick & Myrtle because of his lack of wealth
        
        Parallel to Gatsby
        
        'Mr Nobody from nowhere'
        
        He is the only character from lower class that isn't actively trying to move up the social ladder
        
        He is often pictured as just having finished work
        
        Always working in order to make a living
  - - - Nick describes her & Jordan as stationary & buoyed up floating objects in the room, mimics her empty & privileged life - She is delicate & decorative. Her white dress 'ripples and flutters as it it had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house' - Daisy can afford to be airborne - wealthy enough to have hr child taken care of
        
        Her only role is to be a trophy for Tom - that Gatsby will attempt to snatch
        
        Daisy's beauty & charm is what makes her the central female character
        
        Nick is captivated by her that her exquisite beauty appears to mask her essential lack of character & her reluctance to take any responsibility for her & her actions
      - 'Her voice is full of money'
        'The last of the sunshine fell upon her glowing face with romantic affection'
        
        Daisy's mythology is one of money, purity & ease
        
        Her childhood is white & golden
        
        People are attracted to her associations rather than her actual characteristics
      - Her frequent stutters appear playful but also suggests her to be a constant performer as she acts out her responses
        
        'I'm p-paralysed with happiness'
        
        She appears to be in performance mode al the time when around people
        
        'Daisy was young & her artificial world was redolent of orchids'
        
        Daisy's prioritisation of beauty mens she buries her head in the sand to the grim reality of life
    - - Gatsby has created an idol of her & an illusion so vast she can't help but buckle under it; Gatsby alone sets himself up for failure
        
        Daisy is fickle & shallow > promises to wait for Gatsby but 'she wanted her life shaped now, immediately... by some force - of love, of money'
        
        Chooses money, status & reputation over Gatsby
    - - Daisy's marriage = symbolic of her commitment to material pleasure
        
        Lack of love is reflected in their lack of guilt when engaged in extramarital affairs
        
        Their relationship is of convenience
        'They had spent a year in France, for no particular reason, & then drifted here & there unrestfully wherever people played polo & were rich together' - relationship lacks purpose; not satisfied with each other alone
        
        To escape the problems in their marriage they engage in extramarital affairs
        
        The Buchanan's attempts to preserve their union makes their marriage a symbol of their exclusive membership to the world of old money
        
        Their toxic relationship defeats Gatsby's relentless affection & commitment shows the dominance & longevity of the old money class
  - - - Initially learn about him through other people's conceptions & perceptions of him & widespread gossip & rumours
        
        He is separate from the leisurely 7 luxurious life he provides for his guests
        
        As the novel progresses the mystery of Gatsby unfolds
        
        Unveilings of his character & history
    - - Will to climb up the social ladder & attain the acceptance of Daisy
        
        Economic pursuits are propelled by a romantic idea, he doesn't lose sight of his end goal
        
        Engagement in organised crime is questionable, it is testament of the drastic lengths he is willing to go in order to realise his ultimate ambition 'an extraordinary gift for hope'
    - - Gatsby's preference of isolation is in line with his devotion to Daisy, his 'single green light', his sole focus on her is myopic
        
        The many people who attend Gatsby's parties 'come & go without meeting Gatsby at all' and at the end of the novel when he dies Nick finds himself at his funeral, accompanied only by Gatsby's father, the servants, the minister & Owl Eyes
    - - Daisy is Gatsby's focus in the present when he 'stretched his arms towards' a 'single green light' - 'trembling' could be an indicator of the instability of his dream, foreshadows his tragic loss of her
        
        They meet in chapter 5, Gatsby is glowing & Daisy in tears
        
        Daisy is overwhelmed by Gatsby's physical display of wealth more than she is charmed by Gatsby's consistent devotion to her
        
        Gatsby doesn't find materialism pleasurable, his lavish parties were only a means to reach Daisy
        
        Despite the revelation that Daisy will not terminate her relationship with Tom, Gatsby takes responsibility for Daisy's reckless driving that killed Myrtle
        
        Gatsby is still committed to his own devotion to her
        
        His devotion pays his way to his fall
        
        He is so occupied with his dream he loses sight of the fact that Daisy is married & almost demands the same devotion from her
        
        The fact Gatsby's dream doesn't die when Daisy doesn't reciprocate his love, but at his funeral shows that Gatsby was committed to something more than his love for Daisy
  - - - 1920s legal restrictions, it was very challenging to end a marriage especially if the desire to end the relationship was the woman's choice
        
        Myrtle finds George weak & cowardly - 'Beat me!... Throw me down & beat me, you dirty little coward!' - parallel to where Tom breaks her nose after she says something he doesn't approve of
        
        Appears Myrtle equates violence with masculinity & bravery
        
        Myrtle thinks that George is worthless because he doesn't aim to advance in society
        
        He simply just tries to survive
      - Both die by the end of novel
        
        Fitzgerald's main theme that old money equates privilege, & eve. though the possibility of social mobility exists, the rich who historically held the power will maintain it
  - - - Nick describes him as a 'cruel body' with 'enormous power', His muscular strength compliments his cruel & violent nature
        
        Tom's dominance & arrogance extends to the point that he holds no respect for his wife
        
        Tom always wants to be in control he 'demands suddenly'
    - - Part of a traditional upper class who survive on their inherited wealth, enabling them to lead lives of leisure
        
        Tom's class privilege is threatened by the ideology of the American Dream, which encouraged Americans of all backgrounds to pursue prosperity & success
        
        Tom disparages Gatsby on the basis of his lower-class roots & New Money tastes 'An Oxford man!' 'Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit'
        
        Gatsby's relationship with Daisy offends him 'Mr nobody from nowhere'
    - - George & Myrtle's marriage serves as a foil to Tom & Daisy's
        
        Tom & Myrtle's affair is a foil for Daisy & Gatsby
        
        Through the affair is a ticket out of poverty for Myrtle
        
        'He had on a dress suit & patent leather shoes and I couldn't keep my eyes off him' - Her fixation on the way he was dressed is representative of the continued material value their affairs holds
        
        Myrtle's romantic escape from her unhappy marriage of 12 years as well as a chance to fulfil her consumer desires
        
        For Tom it is an assertion of both his physical & financial dominance
        
        Tom values his control over Myrtle & panics when George finds out of his affair; diminishes his control, both mistress & wife slip out of his control
      - The idea that class boundaries are impermeable is revealed by this relationship
        
        Myrtle attempts to gain class mobility & ends up dead, Tom's union with Daisy is renewed
- - - - Whole story of Gatsby is based on Nicks memories
        
        Nick is a tie which joins many contradictions and conflicts between characters
        
        Using 'I' as witness to narrative the story, Fitzgerald allows readers to feel things directly
  - - - Vidicon narration
        “He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God”
        
        becoming an omniscient narrator
        
        if there are not these transgressions, readers could only observe Gatsby as a looker-on
        
        They are not able to appreciate the content of Daisy’s symbolic meanings for Gatsby and Gatsby’s contradictive feelings in the process of getting Daisy
  - - - New York is centre of modern civilisation
        
        Between centre & West Egg, there locates the Valley of Ashes
        
        Tragedy of Gatsby & Myrtle express the darkness of the modern civilisation
- - - - Throughout Nick is back in the Mid-West & reflects on his past experience
        
        There's a network of correspondences & sharp contrast between the prologue & the epilogue
  - - - Gatsby's encounter with Dan Cody recounted in chapter 6
        
        Love affair between Gatsby & Daisy which took place 5 years ago in Chapter 4 & 6 & 8, from various points of view & with various degrees of fullness
        
        Gatsby's war experiences & his trip back to Louisville after his discharge in Chapter 8
        
        Gatsby's entry into his mysterious occupation in the underworld through Wolfshiem's agency
  - - - Scene from first part paired with a corresponding on from last part
        
        Scene at the Buchanans in Chapter 1 > Chapter 7. Both followed by a trip to New York
        
        Tom is no longer called by his mistress but by his mistress's husband
        
        Chapter 1 Nick stares as Gatsby holding out his arms towards green light > chapter 7 is the house in West Egg which Gatsby points out to Tom
  - - - Tension between moving on, progressing & regressing being propelled into the future & thrown back into the past which informs the narrative
        
        Allusions to wrecked cars, lives & broken noses that ironically comment on the broken central dream
  - - - Daisy's unattainability
        
        The first time we (and Nick) see Gatsby, he is standing with his arms outstretched, “trembling” reaching for the green light, which Fitzgerald describes as insubstantial – it is “minute and far away,” & “might have been the end of a dock.”
        
        In this way, he suggests that Gatsby’s quest is toward something ephemeral.
        
        When Nick looks again, Gatsby has disappeared into the “unquiet darkness” – foreshadowing his disappearance into death at the end of the book.
        
        The inaccessibility of the green light tells us to expect a narrative in which the object of desire will never be obtained.
        
        Despite being reunited with Daisy, Gatsby is unable to fully attain her, just as the green light will never come closer to his grasp.
      - Tom's relationship with Myrtle
        
        Tom takes Nick to Myrtle’s apartment & the reader comes to understand Tom’s attachment to Daisy.
        
        After Myrtle enrages Tom by repeating Daisy’s name, Tom hits her & breaks her nose.
        
        This attack reveals Tom’s brutal nature & pinpoints the relationship between Myrtle & Tom as a stressor for the story.
        
        When Myrtle’s sister tells Nick that Daisy won’t divorce Tom because she’s Catholic, Nick is “shocked at the elaborateness of the lie” suggesting Daisy & Tom are more enmeshed than Myrtle knows.
        
        This revelation foreshadows Daisy’s later refusal to say she never loved Tom.
        
        The passage also sets up the scene after Myrtle is killed, when Nick sees Daisy & Tom together & remarks on the “unmistakable air of natural intimacy about the couple.”
        
        Daisy’s manslaughter of Myrtle is the resolution of the foreshadowing of both violence & the strength of the bond between Tom and Daisy in the party scene.
        
        The surprising element is that Daisy, not Tom, kills Myrtle, which reverses our expectations. In this way, Fitzgerald manipulates foreshadowing in order to surprise the reader.
      - Gatsby's fate
        
        In a more misleading instance of foreshadowing, Nick implies that Gatsby will have a happy ending; only after the reader has finished the book does the true meaning of Nick’s words become clear.
        
        In the opening pages Nick says that “Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows & short-winded elations of men.”
        
        The reader may take the first proclamation as proof that Gatsby survives the story or ends up with Daisy, but in fact Gatsby dies at the end of the novel.
        
        The red herring increases the reader’s surprise when this occurs. Upon re-reading the passage, we understand another meaning of the phrase, which is that Gatsby turns out to be a hero rather than a villain of the story.
        
        In the second part of the quotation Nick tells us that the story will end sorrowfully & will have a lasting negative impact on him; this also turns out to be true.
      - Myrtle killed by a car
        
        Myrtle’s death in a hit-and-run car accident is both directly & indirectly foreshadowed.
        
        Automobiles are a preoccupation of the novel, with many references to cars & driving.
        
        Early in the book, Nick leaves Gatsby’s party & sees a car in a ditch, “violently shorn of one wheel,” an image echoed later by the sight of Myrtle's “left breast swinging loose like a flap” after she is hit by the car.
        
        Next, Jordan nearly runs over a workman with her car, then tells Nick she’s not concerned about being a careless driver because “it takes two to make an accident.” These scenes foreshadow the scene when Daisy hits Myrtle, who has run out into the road – an accident caused by both Daisy & Myrtle’s carelessness.
        
        Direct foreshadowing appears near the end of the book, when Nick and Tom & Jordan leave New York.
        
        Nick has just realized it’s his birthday; he is thirty, & the years ahead of him promise only “a thinning briefcase of enthusiasm, thinning hair.”
        
        Nick is suddenly aware of his own mortality, so when he says, “we drove on toward death through the cooling twilight,” the sentence can be read as a general reference to mortality. But in fact the line is a specific foreshadowing of Myrtle’s death, which will happen soon down the road.
- - - - Gatsby is mysterious
        
        Particularly with personal life & his history
        
        Comes across as an observer to everyone else
        
        He prefers to watch his parties take place rather than join them
    - - Symbols such as the green light create mystery around Gatsby's American Dream, for example, when he is a mysterious figure reaching out towards it, we are unaware why
        
        At first readers may interpret that Gatsby's American Dream is wealth, soon to find out that his proclaimed wealth & life is to obtain Daisy
        
        Towards the end of the novel, the mystery becomes whether he really will fully obtain/win Daisy over
- - - - Dialogue
        
        Chapter 1:
        
        Nick presents scene, set in Buchanans house that involves dramatic dialogue between characters. Effective way to vary tone
        
        Fitzgerald prevents Nick's voice from seeming monotonous or self-absorbed
        
        Words & actions foreshadow others in the novel
        
        After Tom hurts Daisy's finger
        
        Nick interrupts dialogue with comment on the distinction between social manners in the American East & West
        
        Dinners in East = predictable & drift to an inevitable conclusion
        
        West = plenty of nervous energy, may result in uncomfortable situations, but at least they have life
        
        Each phase of Western dinner party is surge into uncertain future
        
        Nick building distinction that runs throughout novel between hopeful, forward looking west & bored, trapped East.