Y12 LITB1 ASPECTS OF NARRATIVE - 'THE GREAT GATSBY'

Gatsby's view to East Egg and Daisy is about to change forever.  The mansion that inspired the novel is about to be torn down.  The property seems as doomed as Fitzgerald's party-loving protagonists.  Professor Ruth Prigozy, a specialist on the author, said in an interview that it was probable that Fitzgerald used the physical aspects of Land's End as a template for East Egg: "It was the view. . .That's what set it apart." To read more follow the link:    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/beautiful-but-damned-the-house-that-inspired-gatsby-22

'Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water'  

'Their house was even more elaborate that I expected, a. . .white Georgian colonial mansion, overlooking the bay.  The lawn started at the beach and ran towards the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sundials and brick walks and burning gardens. . .the front was broken by a line of French windows, glowing now with a reflected gold and wide open to the warm windy afternoon' (Chapter 1 p.6).

'. . .he stretched out his arms towards the dark waters in a curious way, and far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling.  Involuntarily I glanced seaward - and distinguished nothing except a single green light. . . that might have been the end of the a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness' (Ch. 1 p.16).

This week we will be focusing on Chapter 4, where, amongst other things, we see how the car is central to the novel and is used 'both as a symbol of the new civilization and, even more daringly, as a dynamic part of the plot'.  When Gatsby and Nick drive past Port Roosevelt glimpsing the liners, 'sped along a cobbled slum,' through the valley of ashes and 'over the great bridge, with the sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker' (one of many oxymorons, including the ''ferocious delicacy'  (p.46) with which Wolfsheim eats his lunch, showing that his wolfish nature is always present, even when his manners are delicate.  There is far more beneath the surface of Wolfsheim than we can yet see) into the delicious confection that is New York 'the city rising up  across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps.'  We see how some commentators feel that Fitzgerald has taken this modernist narrative and allied it with a cinematic and photographic form (coming very much to the fore at this period); its rapid, concise scenes 'echo the urgent rhythm of film', whilst its visual immediacy creates a photographic picture quality a 'catalogue of vignettes' (Introduction by Guy Reynolds).

                                                                                                                                            

Valley of ashes

'Sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker'

Queensboro bridge 'Anything can happen now that we've slid over this bridge,' I thought; 'anything at all . . .'

New York in he '30s

Also in this chapter we need to look again at how Nick narrates and shapes the story of Jay Gatsby; what is he like, and what does he do, as narrator?  Critics are split into 2 main groups: those who see him as the moral consciousness of the novel; the hero who also learns from his experiences; a reliable, honest and trustworthy narrator.  However, others see him as unperceptive, without insight, self-deceiving, snobbish and ultimately unreliable.  What do you think?  Is Nick a reliable narrator, do we trust all that he tells us?  Do we believe and trust his judgements about the other characters and  situations.  Do we really feel that he is a man of good character? Bring your thoughts and opinions to the lesson so we can debate and decide.

Have a look at the University of South Carolina's Scott Fitzgerald centenary webpage; it has a lot of useful information including articles and essays, and  a copy of a short story written by Fitzgerald  entitled Winter Dreams, which has a similar theme to TGG: http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/

The fist part of this documentary is revealing about where Fitzgerald found his inspiration for many of the themes within The Great Gatsby; there are 8 other parts, but this is a useful start:

For a quick 60 second recap of the motifs of the novel then watch the followng video, it's really quite useful for the aspects of narrative; which is actually what we are supposed to be studying - those all important  'authorial methods!'




I admit she is beginning to get annoying now; but stick with her, these next two are good and there are others on YouTube that you may, if you can stand that voice and manner, find useful.