Compare the Opening Chapters of The Great Gatsby and Black Water, and Show How They Prepare the Reader for the Rest of the Novel

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Compare the Opening Chapters of ‘The Great Gatsby’ and ‘Black Water’, and Show How They Prepare the Reader for the Rest of the Novel

The opening of a novel is essential for the reader as it introduces the plot, characters and themes as well as establishing the setting. A good opening allows the reader to become engaged in the story immediately and thus encourages them to read further.

‘The Great Gatsby’ was written in 1926 by F. Scott Fitzgerald and is set in America during the 1920s, they just had recovered from WWI and people began to thrive in pop culture, resulting in a far less restricted lifestyle. ‘Black Water’ was written by Joyce Carol Oates, retelling the events of the Chappaquiddick incident, with the narrative following Kelly Kelleher as the main protagonist. The narrative in this novel is a close third person, as although no one is actually telling the story from their point of view, the reader is restricted to the thoughts and senses of just one character. The narrative in ‘The Great Gatsby’ is written in first person perspective but from the position of the secondary character Nick Carraway, making it restricted too. This technique allows the reader to look at Jay Gatsby from an outsider’s point of view, it also allows the reader to build up an image of the area and setting before Gatsby is even mentioned. When he is introduced at the very end of the first chapter, it poses questions such as ‘who is this man?’ and ‘why is the novel named after him?’

On the other hand, in ‘Black Water’, the first chapter is only a few lines long. It is only one sentence and describes a car crash, immediately drawing the reader in and ends with the thoughts of someone they are also yet to meet – “Am I going to die? – like this?” 

Though the novels are very different, both of the novels use a similar technique to engage the reader by not introducing the protagonist until later on in the story.

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‘The Great Gatsby’ has a real time chronological narrative with flashbacks but from the beginning of ‘Black Water’, there is a huge element of foreshadowing as the reader knows that it is Kelly who dies. The structures of the novels are important because it builds on what has already happened in the opening.

The narrative of ‘The Great Gatsby’ spans over three months, whereas ‘Black Water’ has a subverted narrative in which cuts between the real time of three hours during the build up to the accident and the events that took place earlier in Kelly’s life including the evening ...

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