Chapter Three
Characterisation
Gatsby, Jordan,
Nick
Setting
Style
Theme
Perception
versus Reality
Structure
Symbolism
Cars, Owl Eyes
Why Chapter important?
• Reader introduced to lavish, extravagant world
of Gatsby – conveyed by description of his
party
• Chapter Three helps to illustrate main themes
of lavish excess of the 1920s, the corruption of
the American Dream, the isolation of Gatsby
and the shallowness of the American Upper
Classes.
Structure - Delayed Introduction of
Gatsby
• In the first two chapters of the novel the reader has :
i) seen Gatsby from a distance
ii) heard other characters talk
about him
iii) heard Nick’s thoughts on him
•
Yet, we have not met him
• Discussion – why has Fitzgerald structured the opening
chapters in this way?
Structure – Delayed Introduction of Gatsby
• Chapter Three is devoted to an introduction of
Gatsby and the lavish showy world he inhabits
• Yet, Gatsby’s introduction is further delayed
“Sometimes they came and went without
having met Gatsby at all”
Structure/Style – Repetition of Conjecture
about Gatsby
• “Somebody told me…….”
• “Somebody told me they thought he killed a
man once”
• “It’s more that he was a German spy during
the war”
• The repetition of the conjecture about Gatsby
further adds to his mystery
Style - Mystery created around the character of
Gatsby
• When we do eventually meet him:“I’m Gatsby”, he said suddenly.
“What!” I exclaimed. “Oh, I beg your pardon.”
• Yet our first proper meeting with him further adds to the
mystery. The low profile he maintains is out of place with his
lavish expenditure
Style – Mysterious like atmosphere created
around Gatsby
• Repetition of “Old sport” further adds to the
mystery of Gatsby as it makes him sound more
English
• Jordan’s words create further mystery – “I’ve
just heard the most amazing thing,” she
whispered….”it was simply amazing”, she
repeated abstractedly”
Style - title “The Great Gatsby”
Style – The Great Gatsby - title
• The title is reminiscent of a vaudeville billing
or the name of a magician like “The Great
Houdini”
• Is this to emphasise the theatrical and
perhaps illusion like qualities of Gatsby’s life?
• This is further conveyed by:-
Style - Dreamlike quality of proceedings
• the fact that throughout this chapter
description is used to create a dreamlike
atmosphere:“In his garden men and girls came and
went like moths”
“A tray of cocktails floated at us through the
twilight”
• Again an air of illusion is successfully created
Characterisation - Gatsby
• Does this perhaps suggest that there is
something illusionary about Gatsby himself?
Characterisation - Gatsby
Characterisation – Gatsby
• Not only is an air of mystery created around
Gatsby – “believe” / “impression”/ “convey”
• He is also portrayed as being almost like
royalty – “signed Jay Gatsby in a majestic
hand”
• He is portrayed as doing everything to excess
Characterisation - Gatsby
• Discussion
Explain the way in which the following quotes
suggest excess:“the orchestra had arrived, no thin five piece
affair but a whole pitful of oboes and
trombones and saxophones and viols and …”
Characterisation - Gatsby
• “the cars from New York are parked five deep
in the drive”
• “At least once a fortnight a corp of caterers”
• “Enough coloured lights to make a Christmas
tree of Gatsby’s enormous garden”
Characterisation / Theme - Gatsby / Isolation
• Yet, Fitzgerald clearly creates an air of
isolation around Gatsby –
“standing alone on the marble steps and
looking from one group to another”
“Sometimes they came and went without
having met Gatsby at all”
Characterisation / Theme - Gatsby / Isolation
• Gatsby stands ‘alone’ at the edge of his party.
The wilder the party gets, the more Gatsby
seems like an outsider – he doesn’t drink, he
doesn’t flirt and he grows ‘more correct as the
fraternal hilarity increased’.
Characterisation / Theme - Gatsby / Isolation
• At the end of the party, when the ‘laughter
and sound’ has died away, Gatsby is shown in
‘complete isolation’ with his “hand up in a
formal gesture of farewell.
• This echoes the end of Chapter One where
Gatsby “stretched out his arms towards the
dark water”, reaching out for Daisy.
Characterisation / Theme Isolation - Gatsby
• Think back to previous chapters
• Discussion
In what other ways has Gatsby’s isolation
been conveyed?
Characterisation - Gatsby
• The repetition of the business calls early in the
morning perhaps suggests underworld
business connections
• Discussion
Why is this idea reinforced by the calls coming
from Chicago?
Characterisation - Gatsby
• Nick comments on Gatsby’s affected “formality of speech” –
this gives an early hint that Gatsby’s smile and speech are part
of a DELIBERATELY CRAFTED PERSONA.
• Gatsby’s library is “panelled with carved English Oak” to make
his house appear more like the older mansions of established
aristocratic families. This is an early hint that there is
something unreal about both Gatsby’s house and his life.
Characterisation - Nick
• Again Nick’s reliability as a narrator is
questioned
Discussion
Explain why the following quotes make us
question Nick’s reliability:-
Nick’s reliability as a narrator
• “I had taken two finger bowls of champagne,
and the scene had changed before my eyes
into something significant, elemental and
profound”
• “It was one of those rare smiles with a quality
of eternal reassurance in it, that you may
come across four or five times in life”
Nick’s reliability as a narrator
• Read the following:“ Reading over what I have written so far, I see I
have given the impression that the events of
three nights several weeks apart were all that
absorbed me”
• Here he reminds us that he is the writer as
well as the narrator. Events have therefore
been filtered and recollected by him. Is he
reliable?
Nick’s reliability as a narrator
• Read the following:“ I even had a short affair with a girl who lived
in Jersey City…but her brother began throwing
mean looks in my direction”
• Why?
• Nick is supposed to be honest and reliable. Is
this a warning? Does he only tell us what he
wants us to know?
Nick’s reliability as a narrator
• Consider the final sentence of the chapter :“ Every one suspects himself of at least one of
the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one
of the few honest people that I have ever
known”
Discussion
In what ways is this sentence given
significance?
Nick’s reliability as a narrator
• Yet, if he is so honest, why is he attracted to
Jordan - “ I felt a sort of tender curiosity…for
a moment I thought I loved her”
• He acknowledges that she is dishonest “a
suggestion that she moved her ball from a bad
lie”
• Yet, “It made no difference to me. Dishonesty
in a woman is a thing you never blame
deeply”
Nick characterisation
• Nick is undoubtedly lonely:Consider his description of New York – “ forms
leaned together in the taxis as they waited,
and voices sang, and there was laughter from
unheard jokes and… imagining that I too, was
hurrying towards gaiety and sharing their
intimate excitement, I wished them well”
Nick characterisation
• This extract clearly conveys Nick’s loneliness.
He is merely reporting the situation, he is not
part of it
• “Most of the time I worked” - Nick’s
loneliness is further emphasised by the fact
that his life is far different from those of
Gatsby and the other characters
Nick characterisation / Theme Loneliness
• Nick is dressed in white at the party. This
makes him different to the crowd who are
dressed in colourful outfits – “spectroscopic”
• He seems uncomfortable at the party –
“purposeless and alone”
Characterisation - Jordan
Discussion
Consider the following quotes. For each
explain why they again suggest a negative
impression of Jordan:“she responded absently as I came up”
“ she was incurably dishonest”
Symbolism
- Cars
• “His Rolls Royce became an omnibus”
• Cars represent the wealth of America, but
Gatsby is not happy with a Ford motor car –
most Americans who could afford a car had
one. Remember the connotations of a Rolls
Royce – great wealth and social privilege
Symbolism
- Cars
• “Gatsby’s car completes his image as a
successful self-made man.
• It is a “rich cream colour, bright with nickel” –
the combination of rich colours links his car to
precious metals.
Symbolism – Owl Eyes
• “Absolutely real – have pages and everything….they are absolutely real…It
fooled me”
• Does Owl Eyes surprised reaction that Gatsby’s books are real suggest that
he might think that Gatsby himself is also a fake?
• Owl Eyes is surprised to discover that the books are real and not just
empty covers and cases. Does this suggest that the people of West Egg
and East Egg are ornate covers too? Does their outward show of opulence
cover up their inner corruption and moral decay?
Symbolism - Owl Eyes
• Does this tie in with the theme of Perception versus Reality?
• The party is an elaborate theatrical production. People do not
even really like each other – “East Egg condescending to West
Egg”. Does Owl Eyes perhaps suggest that Gatsby’s whole life
is merely a show?
Discussion
Any thoughts on the name Owl Eyes?
Foreshadowing – Example One
• Owl Eyes mutters to himself that if “one brick
was removed the whole library was liable to
collapse” - makes the point that if one part of
Gatsby’s outward image were to falter, the
entire illusion would shatter. THIS
FORESHADOWS HOW GATSBY’S LIFE WILL
FALL APART.
Foreshadowing – Example Two
• Owl Eyes is involved in a car crash as he leaves
the party.
• He is mistakenly thought to be the driver –
“You don’t understand… I wasn’t driving”.
This foreshadows Gatsby’s involvement in
Myrtle’s death.
Theme – Perception versus Reality
• The behaviour of the American Upper classes
suggests that their wealth covers up their
vulgar behaviour:“ They conducted themselves according to the
rules of behaviour associated with an
amusement park”
Theme – Perception versus Reality
• “Most of the remaining women were now
having fights with men said to be their
husbands”
• Lavish appearances cover less positive realities
• This ties in with the idea of DISTORTED VISION
Theme - Perception versus Reality
Discussion
Briefly list the examples of DISTORTED VISION
or examples within the novel so far when
Perception differs drastically from Reality
• What could this suggest about Gatsby
himself?