The Great Gatsby
1. Is not politically correct.
2. Does not reveal how to solve problems
in life.
3. Fiction Made Up
4. Satire-holding up human vices and follies to
ridicule or scorn
5. Social history of a select group:
bootleggers, stock market embezzlers
organized crime, wealthy
6. Reflects disillusionment and hedonism of the
Jazz Age
7. Shows the corruption of the American Dream
“Innocence murdered for wealth” A wasting away
of self as one grows into the world of sex and
money. A wasting away of American people as we
grow from wilderness to civilization
8. Happiness =money
Title: The Great Gatsby
What makes Gatsby “great” is the commitment to
his dream
Adjective “Great” also indicates the tawdry and
exaggerated aspects of his life
Plot
Retold by Nick Carroway-1st person trustworthy
reporter and reluctantly judge
Major Themes
THE CORRUPTION OF THE AMERICAN
DREAM
Recapturing the past
Mutability (change)
Loss
The Great Gatsby
SETTING-WEST AND EAST EGG, NEW YORK
1922 (see map)
CONFLICT- TWO OR MORE OPPOSED FORCES
IN A WORK OF LITERATURE
CONFLICT IN GATSBY
Two males are fighting over one female.
THE DREAMER REMAINS PURE—REALITY
BECOMES STARK CORRUPTION AND
PREDATORY VIOLENCE
JAY GATSBY (JAMES GATZ)
•DRAMATIZATION OF THE FALSE DREAM
•MATERIALISM IS ITSELF AN IDEAL IN ORDER TO
WIN DAISY.
•HE IS COMPLETELY WITHOUT A STANDARD OF
EITHER MORAL CODE OR SOCIAL PERCEPTION
•SELF REALIZATION IS MATERIAL ACQUISITION AT ANY
COST, IT IS AN IDENTITY FOUNDED ON FAÇADE AND A
“SELF” WHICH DEPENDS FOR ITS VERY EXISTANCE
UPON ILLUSION. THE END RESULT MUST BE
DESTRUCTIVE
THIS IS NOT EVIL BUT WASTED GOODNESS,
WASTED AMBITION- HE WANTED TO WIN HER BY
MATERIAL ACQUISITION
PARADOX- SPIRITUAL VALUES REDUCED TO
VULGARITY AND MATERIALISM
IN OTHER WORDS, MISPLACED FAITH IN
MATERIALISM
GATSBY’S DIARY
•SHOWS THE DECAY OF THE AMERICAN DREAM
(SUCCESS) THROUGH SELF IMPROVEMENT AND
HARD WORK COMPARED TO GATSBY’S ACTIONS
AND VALUES AS AN ADULT
GATSBY = CORRUPTED AMERICAN
DREAM,INNOCENCE, AND DREAMER
Nick Carroway = Traditional moral codes which
has made America great before WWI
•Hope for moral and spiritual growth in man
•Only character that has not been corrupted by
seeking or spending money.
•Attracted by beauty but recognizes the emptiness
and gaudy display of nothingness that represents
the wasteland
BUCHANANS – LACK INNER RESOURCES TO
ENJOY WHAT THEIR WEALTH CAN GIVE THEM
TOM BUCHANAN
•WEALTH BRUTALIZED BY SELFISHNESS AND
ARROGANCE
•UNFAITHFUL
•RULER AND REPRESENTATIVE OF THE MORAL
WASTELAND WHICH HAS REPLACED AMERICAN
IDEALISM
•MAN OF ACTION BASED ON SELFPRESERVATION RATHER THAN ANY IDEALISM
DAISY: Typical Fitzgerald Woman
•Lovely
•Delicate
•Romantic
•Essentially parasitic
•Emotionally frigid despite of their sentimentality
•Fitzgerald’s attitude toward women was always
one of distrust because of his experience with
Zelda
DAISY BUCHANAN
•SIMPLY TOO MUCH OF A CHILD TO CONTROL
HER DELIGHT IN ANY NEW PLAYTHING (GATSBY,
TOM, PAMMY)
•VOICE FULL OF MONEY – KEY TO ALL MAGIC OF
DAISY
•PARASITIC
•SPIRIT OF WEALTH AND OFFERS CONTINUAL
PROMISE (VOICE). HOWEVER IT IS A FALSE
PROMISE SINCE AT HEART SHE IS AS SELFCENTERD AS TOM
•GATSBY’S DREAM, AND CAUSE OF WASTED
IDEALISM
JORDAN BAKER
•AN OPPORTUNIST – SEES NICK AS A PERSON
SHE CAN RELY ON IF ANYTHING GOES WRONG
**** NOT LOVE BUT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF
GEORGE WILSON
•DESTROYED BY THE FACT THAT HE HOLDS
IDEALS OF HONOR (HE ACTUALLY LOVES HIS
WIFE)
•IN THE MORAL WASTELAND PEOPLE WHO TRULY
LOVE ARE VULNERABLE (NICK,GATSBY,MR.
WILSON)
DR. T. J. ECKLEBURG EYES
•SYMBOLIC OF THE CHIEF CHARACTERS’
BLINDNESS (GLASSES ARE YELLOW, PURE
SIGHT IS DISTORTED BY MATERIALISM)
EXAMPLES
•GATSBY DOES NOT SEE DAISY’S VICIOUS
EMPTINESS
•DAISY THINKS SHE CAN SEE HER WAY AND
DUMP TOM
•TOM IS BLIND TO HYPOCRISY (HE CAN CHEAT
BUT HIS WIFE CAN’T)
•MYRTLE MISTAKES TOM FOR SALVATION FROM
THE WASTELAND
•GEORGE WILSON SEES GATSBY AS WIFE’S
MURDERER
IN THE WHOLE NOVEL ONLY NICK SEES. HIS
VISION COMES SLOWLY AND FINALLY DECIDES
THAT GATSBY IS THE BEST OF THE WHOLE
CROWD. HE SEES GATSBY AS JUST A
DREAMER/ROMANTIC