Question: Analyse the opening paragraphs of chapter 2. How does this contribute to the atmosphere? Describe the atmosphere of the novel to this point and why it might be significant to the novel.
The opening paragraphs of chapter two describe the valley of ashes. The valley is the complete opposite of other places in the book. In fact, the only colour used to describe it is grey, a colour associated with loss or depression. The diction and other rhetorical devices used in the description make the valley seem like a negative or bad dream. It is described as a “fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens”. At first, the valley is described as fantastic but then it is described as grotesque and grey, which gives the valley a sense of deterioration, comparable to the American dream. The atmosphere in the valley of ashes is vapid, careless, poor and bleak.
The eyes of Dr. T.J Eckleburg are also described in these paragraphs. These eyes are “unblinking” and one yard high which gives the impression of always being watched. The colours used to describe the eyes and the glasses are yellow and blue. These colours can have a negative connotation. Blue can mean sickness and power. Yellow can also mean jealousy, decay and sickness. Also, the oculist who made the eyes is said to be a “wild wag” that once used the eyes to “fatten” his practices. The diction makes the idea seem to fit in with the American dream of the time. However, now the eyes are “solemn” and “dimmed”, which gives a sense of deterioration and carelessness.
The atmosphere up to this point of the novel is glamorous, rich and lively. In the valley, the atmosphere is dead, poor and dirty, the opposite of the first chapter. This could again signify the deterioration of the American dream.
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Question: Time is an important motif in the novel. Describe the use of time and the effect in these closing chapters.
Time passes very slowly throughout the majority of “The Great Gatsby”. The whole affair passes over several months. This is accentuated with the heat of the day of the Luncheon at Daisy’s house. Daisy speaks about how she doesn’t know what she’ll do today or tomorrow or for the next thirty years. This demonstrates clearly just how long time seems to stretch out. They have all the time in the world and all the money they need. The heat creates an atmosphere of almost creeping anxiety. And then, soon after this time seems to move faster and faster until everything is coalescing at once. Soon they’re fighting in New York; Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship falls apart. Myrtle is struck down very quickly, and then Wilson in horror shoots Gatsby and then himself. This all seems to occur very quickly in the span of one day and night. It is only after the deaths of Gatsby and Myrtle that time seems to stretch on again, the lethargy of death. Time feels empty, like a dream sleep. Daisy and Tom are missing, Jordan is almost a passing thought, and Nick is drifting through the motions of funeral arrangements with no idea what to do.
Gatsby’s father shows Nick his time table. This shows that Gatsby’s time’s run out. He spent all his life planning and worrying, organizing everything to his perfect ideal, from his work, to Daisy. He moved across the Bay simply to be closer to Daisy. He planned for five years his meeting with her and fretted over it intensely when the day actually arrived. He plans his parties to rise in social status to know people, to become this mystery. He bides his time. Yet when he stops planning, when he reacts and he feels that is when everything falls apart. And it is once he gives up on the ideal of once was, when he finally relaxes and enjoys his money not for the ideal, not to fit the plan, but for himself he is murdered.
As well, age is used to show the passing of time. The day that the corruption of all the characters really begins to blow up in their faces, (the affairs, the excess of money and liquor) that is the day that Nick turns 30. The connotation behind the age of 20 is very free. It is the careless youth, a lifestyle to party and do as you wish. Yet 30 is the end of that. Suddenly, one is really an adult. The expectation is to raise a family, work a good job and have a solid built future. Not the careless youth that once was. This is entirely parallel with what is happening in the story. When Nick turns 30 he is at the last Party that will ever happen again between these characters. After he realizes this things turn to the worse. Myrtle is hit by Daisy in Gatsby’s car and killed, Gatsby is shot by Wilson, and then Wilson kills himself. Tom and Daisy simply disappear with no trace. Nick is left alone. The reckless vapidity of the youth degraded with the passage of time, and the turning of ages.
Well done! Time is definitely one of the more complicated motifs in this novel.
"And it is once he gives up on the ideal"
I would argue that Gatsby never truly gives up on his dream. He sticks to it until the end. The morning of the day he dies, he was expecting a call from a Daisy, even though its obvious she won't. His optimism and his "infinite hope" never falter. It wasn't the act of giving up on his dream that kills him, but the fact that he never once ceases to indulge in it, that he insists on pursuing it until the very end.
That is true that he was awaiting Daisy's call but Nick points out that he though even Gatsby realized this wouldn't happen. He realized the dream was futile. "he didn't believe it would come and he perhaps no longer cared" (161). He gives up and it describes him pondering in the pool his brand new material world without being real (because what is reality to Gatsby besides his imagination). But then he's shot by the ashen figure, Wilson.
Gatsby meets Daisy's child. Explain the scene and its significance in the novel and consider this using several critical lenses.
Answer:
In chapter 7, Gatsby finally has the opportunity to meet Daisy's child, Pammy, as they (Tom, Daisy, Nick, Jordan, and himself) join each other for a luncheon on a hot summer day. It is described that Gastby “kept looking at the child with surprise” (Page 117). It is also mentioned that Nick doesn't think Gatsby “had ever really believed in [the child’s] existence before” (Page 117). Throughout the scene, Gatsby actually doesn't say anything at all...he was shocked silent.
This is scene is significant because Gatsby’s surprised reaction indicates how he is unhappy with the introduction of yet another obstacle in his way of acquiring Daisy for himself. He is unhappy because the bond of a child between Tom and Daisy doesn't fit in with his version of “The American Dream”. Gatsby, in fact, everybody, wants an easy way to achieve their dreams and goals and nobody likes it when obstacles (such as a child) or people (Tom, in Gatsby’s case) slow you down.
That’s the more obvious reason as to why Gatsby was so shocked and surprised. Although, if we were to look at it from a Psychoanalytic Lens, there is more depth to Gatsby’s dazed expression. It can be observed that he may actually be jealous of Daisy’s child because she is where he wants to be (this is his ID kicking in). He doesn't say much at all, revealing his repressed want of Daisy. The ID is the part of the mind that holds all these repressed feelings and it is also responsible for making people believe that something they WANT, is something they NEED.
At the same time, if we looked at this scene through a Marxist Lens, we would notice and realize that Daisy’s child represents the rich childhood he never had, and tried his best to get away from. Gatsby grew up quite poor and he wanted to make something of himself that would somehow rid him of his past, and make others overlook it. Daisy had Pammy all dressed up because she wanted to “show [her] off” to Nick and Gatsby. Gatsby never had anything to show off as a child in the lower class. This could also be a reason that he continuously holds extravagant parties at his success of a mansion; it brings him to a higher class.
Question: Analyse the opening paragraphs of chapter 2. How does this contribute to the atmosphere? Describe the atmosphere of the novel to this point and why it might be significant to the novel.
ReplyDeleteThe opening paragraphs of chapter two describe the valley of ashes. The valley is the complete opposite of other places in the book. In fact, the only colour used to describe it is grey, a colour associated with loss or depression. The diction and other rhetorical devices used in the description make the valley seem like a negative or bad dream. It is described as a “fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens”. At first, the valley is described as fantastic but then it is described as grotesque and grey, which gives the valley a sense of deterioration, comparable to the American dream. The atmosphere in the valley of ashes is vapid, careless, poor and bleak.
The eyes of Dr. T.J Eckleburg are also described in these paragraphs. These eyes are “unblinking” and one yard high which gives the impression of always being watched. The colours used to describe the eyes and the glasses are yellow and blue. These colours can have a negative connotation. Blue can mean sickness and power. Yellow can also mean jealousy, decay and sickness. Also, the oculist who made the eyes is said to be a “wild wag” that once used the eyes to “fatten” his practices. The diction makes the idea seem to fit in with the American dream of the time. However, now the eyes are “solemn” and “dimmed”, which gives a sense of deterioration and carelessness.
The atmosphere up to this point of the novel is glamorous, rich and lively. In the valley, the atmosphere is dead, poor and dirty, the opposite of the first chapter. This could again signify the deterioration of the American dream.
Ryan Bell
Labels:
Grey
Valley of Ashes
Yellow
Blue
Thankyou for posting! this is fomatting incorrectly. What is the number of the question? Also, the lables do not match the proper format. I will fix it not but next time watch that.
DeleteIt's question 2
DeleteGroup 1 – Question 6
ReplyDeleteQuestion: Time is an important motif in the novel. Describe the use of time and the effect in these closing chapters.
Time passes very slowly throughout the majority of “The Great Gatsby”. The whole affair passes over several months. This is accentuated with the heat of the day of the Luncheon at Daisy’s house. Daisy speaks about how she doesn’t know what she’ll do today or tomorrow or for the next thirty years. This demonstrates clearly just how long time seems to stretch out. They have all the time in the world and all the money they need. The heat creates an atmosphere of almost creeping anxiety. And then, soon after this time seems to move faster and faster until everything is coalescing at once. Soon they’re fighting in New York; Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship falls apart. Myrtle is struck down very quickly, and then Wilson in horror shoots Gatsby and then himself. This all seems to occur very quickly in the span of one day and night. It is only after the deaths of Gatsby and Myrtle that time seems to stretch on again, the lethargy of death. Time feels empty, like a dream sleep. Daisy and Tom are missing, Jordan is almost a passing thought, and Nick is drifting through the motions of funeral arrangements with no idea what to do.
Gatsby’s father shows Nick his time table. This shows that Gatsby’s time’s run out. He spent all his life planning and worrying, organizing everything to his perfect ideal, from his work, to Daisy. He moved across the Bay simply to be closer to Daisy. He planned for five years his meeting with her and fretted over it intensely when the day actually arrived. He plans his parties to rise in social status to know people, to become this mystery. He bides his time. Yet when he stops planning, when he reacts and he feels that is when everything falls apart. And it is once he gives up on the ideal of once was, when he finally relaxes and enjoys his money not for the ideal, not to fit the plan, but for himself he is murdered.
As well, age is used to show the passing of time. The day that the corruption of all the characters really begins to blow up in their faces, (the affairs, the excess of money and liquor) that is the day that Nick turns 30. The connotation behind the age of 20 is very free. It is the careless youth, a lifestyle to party and do as you wish. Yet 30 is the end of that. Suddenly, one is really an adult. The expectation is to raise a family, work a good job and have a solid built future. Not the careless youth that once was. This is entirely parallel with what is happening in the story. When Nick turns 30 he is at the last Party that will ever happen again between these characters. After he realizes this things turn to the worse. Myrtle is hit by Daisy in Gatsby’s car and killed, Gatsby is shot by Wilson, and then Wilson kills himself. Tom and Daisy simply disappear with no trace. Nick is left alone. The reckless vapidity of the youth degraded with the passage of time, and the turning of ages.
Jennifer
Labels:
Gatsby, Myrtle, Daisy, Tom, Nick
Well done! Time is definitely one of the more complicated motifs in this novel.
Delete"And it is once he gives up on the ideal"
I would argue that Gatsby never truly gives up on his dream. He sticks to it until the end. The morning of the day he dies, he was expecting a call from a Daisy, even though its obvious she won't. His optimism and his "infinite hope" never falter. It wasn't the act of giving up on his dream that kills him, but the fact that he never once ceases to indulge in it, that he insists on pursuing it until the very end.
Chris's point : parallels change from 1920s and the roaring twenties and then 1930 and the Great Depression.
DeleteMrs whites's point: time table represents something concrete. He works to create false realities , a front no matter the cost.
That is true that he was awaiting Daisy's call but Nick points out that he though even Gatsby realized this wouldn't happen. He realized the dream was futile. "he didn't believe it would come and he perhaps no longer cared" (161). He gives up and it describes him pondering in the pool his brand new material world without being real (because what is reality to Gatsby besides his imagination). But then he's shot by the ashen figure, Wilson.
DeleteQuestion 5:
ReplyDeleteGatsby meets Daisy's child. Explain the scene and its significance in the novel and consider this using several critical lenses.
Answer:
In chapter 7, Gatsby finally has the opportunity to meet Daisy's child, Pammy, as they (Tom, Daisy, Nick, Jordan, and himself) join each other for a luncheon on a hot summer day. It is described that Gastby “kept looking at the child with surprise” (Page 117). It is also mentioned that Nick doesn't think Gatsby “had ever really believed in [the child’s] existence before” (Page 117). Throughout the scene, Gatsby actually doesn't say anything at all...he was shocked silent.
This is scene is significant because Gatsby’s surprised reaction indicates how he is unhappy with the introduction of yet another obstacle in his way of acquiring Daisy for himself. He is unhappy because the bond of a child between Tom and Daisy doesn't fit in with his version of “The American Dream”. Gatsby, in fact, everybody, wants an easy way to achieve their dreams and goals and nobody likes it when obstacles (such as a child) or people (Tom, in Gatsby’s case) slow you down.
That’s the more obvious reason as to why Gatsby was so shocked and surprised. Although, if we were to look at it from a Psychoanalytic Lens, there is more depth to Gatsby’s dazed expression. It can be observed that he may actually be jealous of Daisy’s child because she is where he wants to be (this is his ID kicking in). He doesn't say much at all, revealing his repressed want of Daisy. The ID is the part of the mind that holds all these repressed feelings and it is also responsible for making people believe that something they WANT, is something they NEED.
At the same time, if we looked at this scene through a Marxist Lens, we would notice and realize that Daisy’s child represents the rich childhood he never had, and tried his best to get away from. Gatsby grew up quite poor and he wanted to make something of himself that would somehow rid him of his past, and make others overlook it. Daisy had Pammy all dressed up because she wanted to “show [her] off” to Nick and Gatsby. Gatsby never had anything to show off as a child in the lower class. This could also be a reason that he continuously holds extravagant parties at his success of a mansion; it brings him to a higher class.
Vandana
Labels: Gatsby, Daisy