Literature Analysis #6

Jose Sagrero

Period 3

 

The Great Gatsby

 

1. This story takes place in the summer of 1922, the beginnings of the roaring twenties. The main character, Nick Carraway, has taken a job as a bond salesman and buys a house next to the very wealthy Jay Gatsby. Nick gets invited by his cousin Daisy to have dinner with herself and Tom Buchanan. They introduce him to Jordan Baker , and they begin an intimate relationship. Jordan tells Nick about Tom's affair with a woman named Myrtle Wilson and soon after the two go along with Tom as he meets up with Myrtle at an apartment that they own together. This is a very strange party when Tom ends up breaking Myrtle's nose. One day Nick gets an invitation form Gatsby himself to attend one of his parties. With Jordan at the party, they meet Gatsby and then make arrangements to have lunch with Gatsby. Nick then finds out that Gatsby and Daisy had a relationship and his parties are just to impress her.  Gatsby turns to Nick and persuades him to have Daisy visit Nick's house in order for them to once again rekindle their flame. The two begin an affair shortly after and as Tom becomes more and more suspicious, he finally figures out that Daisy is in love with Gatsby. So in turn, Tom decides to confront Gatsby about this affair. Tom tells Daisy about how Gatsby has all this illegal money, which makes her realize that she is more loyal to Tom. As Tom, Nick, and Jordan go back home, they find out that Myrtle was ran over by a car, which turned out to be Daisy with Gatsby as the passenger. Myrtle's husband George the kills Gatsby, believing him to be her lover and the one who ran her over, then he kills himself. After witnessing all this, Nick breaks up with Jordan and moves back to the Midwest after all he had witnessed that summer.

 

2. The theme of this novel is to not hold on to the past because things may never be how they used to be. Moving on is what is best in some of these situations or you will see a negative that occurs.

 

3. The tone of this novel is very judgmental because Nick always questions the motives of his company. This is seen most in the end when he decides to leave because he did not want to be apart of the Eastern lifestyle that he witnessed over the summer.

 

 

 Characterization

 

1. Direct characterization- The author directly describes Tom Buchanan by stating how wealthy he is and how physically gifted he was, especially at football. Fitzgerald was able to describe Myrtle as not being physically appealing but had something about her that attracted Tom. 

    Indirect Characterization- The way they describe Gatsby's parties shows ho extravagant of a person he is. Nick was not really talked much about physically, but the way other people perceived him showed his characterization.

 

2. Fitzgerald's diction does not change because the characters are familiar with each other and are able to communicate with their natural accents with one another.

 

3. Nick Carraway would be a static character because he always was questioning his peers' motives and actions, it was just further emphasized when he decided to move back to the Midwest.

 

4. I feel like I identified with Nick because he was never really comfortable with the New York lifestyle and this relates to me because I cannot see myself in the same lifestyle because I never placed any importance on material items.