The Great Gatsby
By F. Scott Fitzgerald
Intro Notes
Structure
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1st person narrative
Flashback
Episodic
Dual hero
Mystery story
Characters
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Nick Carraway
Daisy Buchanan
Tom Buchanan
Pammy Buchanan
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Jordan Baker
Jay Gatsby
Myrtle Wilson
George Wilson
Myer Wolfsheim
Setting
Reflects and determines the values of the
people who live and work there.
• Setting reveals character
– East Egg = Daisy’s house. Home of the Ivy League; old money; secure w/
their money = no need to show it off.
– West Egg = Nick’s house, Gatsby’s house. Nick lives here b/c he’s too poor
to afford a house in E. Egg. Gatsby lives here b/c he lacks the social
credentials to be accepted in E. Egg.
– Valley of the Ashes = Wilson’s garage, Michaelis’s restaurant, the billboard
of Dr. Eckleburg. Contrast to both Eggs. Characterized by dust. Its
inhabitants are symbolically “dumped on” by the rest of the world. Stands
as a symbol of the spiritual dryness, the emptiness of the world of the
novel.
– New York City = offices where people work, Tom and Myrtle’s “love nest”,
the Plaza Hotel. NYC is a symbol of what America has become in the
1920s = a place where anything goes, where money is made, and
bootleggers flourish.
Lift the picture: here’s what’s there