- Write about the ways Fitzgerald tells the story in this Chapter
The chapter starts in a somewhat chronological way at first, with Nick revealing advice his Father gave him. Form the way the advice is phrased it can be assumed that Nick was still young when he was given it. The use of Nick as a first person observant/participant narrator gives the story reality. Additionally, the way Nick acts as both an observant and participant narrator is effective as it appears at points, to be telling the story from the view of the reader as if they were watching the events themselves. Nick is also classified as an outsider (from the Midwest) in this chapter and this perspective provides the reader with details that people use to the lifestyle wouldn’t necessarily notice.
The prominence of Gatsby is shown within the precedence he is given. Fitzgerald and Nick make reference to him very early on but do not reveal too much about him, in order to cause anticipation within the readers mind. The effect he had on Nick must have been very great to name a book after him and change his moral opinions. The novel starts logically with the most important information and character first i.e. Nick, followed by Gatsby (he has prominence due to his eponymous status within the novel) and later the Buchannan’s and Jordan Baker. This way of structuring the chapter s points by their importance is concise and effective. Hindsight is a prominent feature in this Chapter, and the reader is very aware of this (it is fairly obvious due to the use of past tense at the beginning of the chapter). The chapter shifts from past to present tense when Nick meets the Buchannan’s, causing the event to stick out from the previous text as a significant event.
Fitzgerald deliberately takes advantage of the society of the time and cleverly uses Nick to recall the Dinner Party, giving the perfect opportunity to introduce both the social atmosphere and additional characters; “I drove over there to have dinner with the Tom Buchannan’s. Daisy was my second cousin once removed and’ known Tom since college”. One of the main themes evident throughout this chapter and indeed the book is Fitzgerald’s clever technique of combining the fantastic with the realistic. In the same chapter he uses sentences such as “an intimate revelation was quivering on the horizon” and “a weather-beaten cardboard bungalow at eighty a month”. This effectively reminds the reader that although the time this book was set in was famous for being a time of rebellion against traditional values, problems still existed and not everything about the era was positive. Adverbial and adjectival phrases feature heavily in the descriptions of new characters to give each one prominent and memorable feature to distinguish them from each other. This is seen particularly in the early description of Tom Buchannan: “Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward”. These descriptions are very precise at developing the picture of the character in question within the mind and highlights Nick’s shallowness at recalling such detailed accounts with hindsight. Additionally, dialogue is used to fit in with the party atmosphere and blend in extra information.
Another classic literary technique used by the author is with holding of information, and example of which is shown with Nicks reaction to a rumour he was engaged, when put forward by Daisy. “The fact that had published the banns was one of the reasons I had come east”. The tantalising piece of information gains curiosity and pushes the reader’s instinct to read on to try to find out the whole story behind Nick’s migration. This “craving for knowledge” is also used at the end of the chapter, where Gatsby is seen for the first time, reaching out towards the green light over the water. This symbolises a longing, and the use of this technique at the end of the chapter makes the reader want to read on. This image of looking at a light is also a large foreshadow of Gatsby’s fate. A light in the darkness is commonly perceived as the transition between life and death or earth and heaven. This is indicating to the deep reader that Gatsby will move into the light later in the book and effectively die.
- The characters that Nick introduces us to in this chapter are “unrelentingly unpleasant”. Argue this statement.
It is important to remember when reading this chapter that Fitzgerald chose to write as Nick after all the events had happened, so everything has been written with hindsight. Therefore, all presentations of characters could be influenced by opinions after the major occurrences and not present Nick’s first opinions when it happened. Due to this, Nick’s reliability as a narrator must be questioned. Also, Fitzgerald’s inclusion of the social influences must be taken into account. It is definite that on of his aims in writing The Great Gatsby was to show the ill of high class society during the 1920s, and may have illustrated the characters negative points in order to show the negative affects of the society on these people. They may be products of their own surroundings in other words.
The first character we are introduced to, after Nick, is Tom. There is heavy imagery surrounding his character, with most of it focused on his physical appearance. There are examples of negative connotations within this imagery with examples such as: “It was a body capable of enormous leverage – a cruel body”. The additional comment is Nick’s own opinion and he draws to his mind the worst use. Again, because Nick has moved away and all events are past, Fitzgerald may have deliberately chosen to cloud together Nick’s first and lasting impressions to give an even representation of Tom from Nick’s point of view.
Fitzgerald’s depiction of Tom’s arrogance and condescending behaviour towards the other characters is prevalent in Nick’s description. Even Tom’s physical features are portrayed as gaining this trait; “Two shining arrogant eyes”. His lack of respect towards Daisy is shown at the dinner party as he takes a phone call from his mistress. However, the concept of men having mistresses would not have been uncommon in society at this point in history. The fact Tom interrupts a dinner party with his wife, is more important in showing the extent of his self-absorption. It is also revealed that Tom physically hurt Daisy’s finger; “You did it Tom’ she said “I know you didn’t mean to, but you did do it”. His lack or remorse for this is shown when he focuses on what Daisy’s description of him as “hulking” rather than apologising or justifying his actions. Instead of become humble here, he gets angry, establishing his dominance over women in general; “I hate that word hulking’, objected Tom crossly”. Any decent person would show some humility at this point, and this violent trait in Tom cements it as an unpleasant part of his personality that would not be considered a social consequence or acceptable, even in the 1920’s. I have to agree here that the revelation of Tom as a violent husband depicts him as unpleasant, especially when combined with the large amount evidence and imagery to highlight his arrogance.
Also, it is revealed he has been reading a book on white supremacy and thinks himself to be superior due to his race; “It’s up to us, who are the dominant race to watch out or these other races will have control of things”. Again this reinforces the representation of his arrogance. He does not empathise with other races, which at this time would have been extremely down trodden. Though it can be argued that this was a widely held view once more, and Tom is only a product of the society he is in, so this may be a social trait rather than a personal one.
The ladies at the party; Jordan and Daisy are portrayed in a softer negative light, with the first descriptions of them lazily lying on a divan and mention of trips to New York – imagery of time wasting. This can hardly be interpreted as unpleasantness. Frivolity amongst young women is hardly unpleasant. The portrayal of Nick’s disapproval of this lifestyle may simply be just expressing an opinion or be a criticism and dislike of women in general. This can also be backed up with the low key conversation that goes on between Nick and Daisy. Issues such as the Baby and the Butler are raised – futile domestic issues that are typically stereotyped as female interests.
Daisy is presented as a somewhat infantile and silly character in the party scene, especially in comparison to her husband. “He reads deep books with long words in them” is an apparent description of Tom’s intelligence which is dismissed very quickly and is quite an immature statement on Daisy’s part. Her ignorance in matters such as racism, and reflects the extent of her selfishness and lack of care for others. Her memory and attention span also seem to be very self-focused. She doesn’t remember conversations that don’t interest her; “I can’t seem to remember but I think we talked about the Nordic Race”. The baby is also only mentioned once, on the spur of the moment and apparently forgotten as she is not mentioned in conversation again in this chapter. In addition, she is represented as not having any direction and wastes her time by going to New York or lying around at home. Indeed she has to ask “What do people plan”, illustrating she doesn’t plan her daily actions and “goes with the flow”. In my opinion, this is again a reflection of the social era.
In contrast to Daisy, Jordan is introduced as very lazy and quite unaware of her manners, “yawned Miss Baker, sitting down at the table as if she were getting into bed”, shows this. It also shows the changes in the importance of manners and morals in the 1920s. No one objects to how Jordan acts. Jordan does not participate much in the early dialogue in the chapter, and only intercedes once with “Absolutely!” indicating that this is the only issues raised that interests her. She seems quite ignorant throughout the chapter due to the lack of interaction. She doesn’t move off the divan to greet Nick or even acknowledge his presence.
It is my opinion, that Tom is the most unpleasant of the three characters introduced after Nick. The traits that Daisy and Jordan both display in this chapter can be at least partially accredited to the social atmosphere they live in and are residing in. Tom’s violence and negligent treatment can only paint him out as a bad person. It is possible to claim that all the negative connotations surrounding the characters can be due to Fitzgerald writing as Nick with the use of hindsight and the influence of current opinions after the events. All of the characters come across as unpleasant in some features of their descriptions, but equally these faults can be interpreted as vulnerabilities or elements of self preservation. I do not think that Daisy and Jordan come across as unpleasant here; merely vain and self absorbed. Fitzgerald’s portrayal of Tom however, does make him come across as a genuinely unpleasant man.