The Great Gatsby
 What does the novel mean?
The Great Gatsby
Literary Elements
Style
 The way a writer puts words together
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Length and rhythm of sentences
use of figurative language
symbolism
dialogue
description
Style
 A novel of “selected incident” – part
stands for the whole
 Full of images appealing to the senses –
water imagery, color imagery
 Reflective – Nick reflects on the meaning
of the action/events he witnessed
Point of View
 Limited first person / First person
secondary
 Realistic – we learn about characters in
bits and pieces over time
 Gatsby is more sympathetic because of
Nick’s decision to become his friend.
Form / Structure
 Who is to tell the story and in what order
will events be told?
Form / Structure
 First person narrative and gradual
revelation of the past as the narrator
learns more and more
 Extreme selectivity – We have to read
closely and piece together things from
the few scenes Nick tells us about. We
have to draw our own conclusions.
Symbolism
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The valley of ashes
The eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg
The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock
The “owl-eyed” man
Gatsby’s boyhood schedule
Daisy and the color white
Gatsby and his gold tie and silver shirt
Theme
 A theme is an underlying thought or idea
that is contained in a literary work.
Theme
 The American Dream
 Each person can succeed based on their
own skill and effort…the self-made man
 In the 1920s this dream is corrupted by the
vulgar pursuit of wealth, fame, glamour and
excitement – a showy, empty form of
success
Theme
 The Meaning of the Past
 The past holds something that
both Gatsby and Nick seem
to long for: a simpler, nobler,
better time (values).
Theme
 Hope
 The green light
 A reunion with Daisy
 The belief that one can achieve their dream
Theme
 Disillusionment
 Gatsby’s belief that you CAN repeat the past
 Nick comes East to find success, but quickly
becomes disenchanted, disillusioned by the
lack of morals/corruption.
Theme
 Success
 For Gatsby, success = Daisy and the only
way to win Daisy is through $$$$
Theme
 Morals
 The morals of the people with great wealth
seem to be less desirable, but many times
are more socially acceptable than lower
classes.
Setting Timeline
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1890 – Gatsby is born
1892 – Nick is born
1899 – Daisy is born
1907 – Gatsby meets Dan Cody and sails with him for 5 years
1912 – Dan Cody dies
1914 – WWI begins
1915 – Nick graduates from Yale
1917 – Daisy & Gatsby meet in Louisville
1917 – U.S. enters WWI, Gatsby goes overseas
1919 – Gatsby meets Wolfsheim, just out of the Army
1919 – 18th Amendment (Prohibition)
1922 – Reunited with Daisy!
1922 – Gatsby dies at the age of 32
1924 – Nick tells the reader the story of The Great Gatsby
Characterization
Daisy Fay
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Fay – fairy or sprite
Daisy – flower, fresh, fragile
Daisy promises more than she gives
Better to dream about than to possess
Let’s others take care of her
Uses her $ to protect her from reality
Zelda Fitzgerald
Characterization
Tom Buchanan
 Possesses double power - physical size
and bankroll (strong and rich)
 Arrogant, used to having his own way
 Cares only about himself
 What he does is justifiable to him (tells
Wilson where Gatsby is)
 Tom best represents the “foul dust”
Characterization
Jordan Baker
 A link between characters
 Supplies Nick with information
 Can easily go back and forth between East
Egg and West Egg
 DISHONESTY
 Tough, aggressive, will do anything to win
 The smart new woman of the 1920s –
opportunist
 Hard, boyish body, masculine name, cynical
style, cut off from past / no family
Characterization
Myrtle Wilson
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An earthy, vital and voluptuous woman
She appeals to men
Is very jealous of Daisy
Dreams of escaping her current life to
achieve her unfulfilled dreams
Characterization
George Wilson
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He embodies the valley of ashes
He has no energy, no faith
Lifeless, spiritless
Agent of death
Characterization
Nick Carraway
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Narrator
From a solid, mid-western family
Has values/morals
Honest, tolerant, understanding
Both admires Gatsby and disapproves of
him
 He is Gatsby’s friend – he understands
him
Characterization
Jay Gatsby
 He has committed crimes to acquire
wealth to win back the woman he loves
– another man’s wife
 We are asked to love Gatsby because
of his dream
 Others know him only through
rumors because they don’t really
care
 Only Nick genuinely cares and from
Nick we learn the truth
 Is he great?
Fitzgerald’s Use of Color
 Gatsby – gold tie, silver shirt, pink suit,
white suit, green light, yellow car
 Daisy – white, yellow, glowing face
 Tom – Straw-haired, shining eyes,
glistening boots
 Jordan – white, gray, sun-stained
 Myrtle – brown, cream, dark red
 George – light blue eyes, pale hair,
cement color