Chapter 4

Exploring the Narrative of The Great Gatsby

Learning Objective:How does Fitzgerald tell the story in Chapter 4 of the Great Gatsby?

Learning Outcome:To explore Fitzgerald’s use of:

• Time and Sequence• Characters and Characterisation• Points of View• Voices in texts• Scenes and Places• Destination

The structure of this chapter is in three parts

1. Nick lists Gatsby’s party guests. Nick drops names as if the reader should recognise them as celebrities. He also lists their misbehaviour – What are the misbehaviours he describes? What do these misbehaviours show about the world of the Eggs?

2. Gatsby takes Nick to lunch with Wolfshiem. It is the first time the reader catches a glimpse of the real Gatsby. His stories are so outrageous that they prompt the reader to wonder what he’s hiding. What are the outrageous tales he tells? What does his connection to Wolfstien raise suspicions of?

3. Jordan’s description of Gatsby’s past romance with Daisy gives the different impression of Gatsby – What impression of Gatsby is portrayed here? This adds another layer of mystery to Gatsby’s character.

Gatsby symbolises both the luxury and the corruption of the Jazz Age.

Discuss

The end of this chapter shifts to Jordan’s first-person narrative. Nick tells the story in her

voice.

What is the effect Fitzgerald achieves with this change in voice?

Gatsby’s Dream is a Corruption of the American Dream

• Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy can be seen to symbolise the American Dream. The image of him as a lone figure, reaching out for the green light (end of chapter 1) shows him striving for the object of his desires.

• The fact Gatsby strives to win Daisy, who’s shallow, snobbish and fickle, reflects the corruption of the American Dream – it has become focused on the shallow pursuit of wealth.

• Gatsby doesn’t care that breaking up Daisy’s marriage is immoral – he claims it’s “nothing underhand”. The American Dream has become about individual satisfaction, not reaping the rewards of hard work.

• Nick juxtaposes the physical reality of Jordan, “the girl beside me” with the dream image of Daisy’s “disembodied face” to show that the woman Gatsby loves is just a dream. He also associated with the “blinding signs” of New York shops, which symbolises the way Gatsby’s dream of Daisy is tied up with his dream of financial success.

Exploring the Character of Gatsby

We have already thought a bit about the importance of characters’ names. The naming of Gatsby is particularly important. In the book he is called:• Jay Gatsby• Gatsby• The Great Gatsby• James Gatz• My neighbour• Jimmy

Where are these names used in the novel, by whom and what do they signify about the character?

Exploring the Character of Gatsby

In the extract Tony Tanner quotes Fitzgerald himself talking of the ‘vagueness’ of Gatsby as a character.• Pick three or four moments in the novel that

reveal something of the ‘now you see him, now you don’t’ quality of Gatsby. For each analyse closely what it is about the telling that creates Gatsby’s enigmatic appeal.

Exploring the Character of Gatsby

Look at the 10 statements about Fitzgerald’s representation of Gatsby.• Place the statements in a diamond shape, with

the one you agree with the most at the top and least at the bottom.

• Evidence the one at the top and the one at the bottom with the text.

Chapter 4

• Write a one sentence summary• Choose a single quotation to sum up the chapter• What can you say about chapter four and each of

the aspects of narrative?– Time and Sequence– Characters and Characterisation– Points of View– Voices in texts– Scenes and Places– Destination

Chapter 5

Themes

• The subject matter of a text is the literal thing the book is about.

• The themes of a text are the underlying issues and ideas being dealt with. Try writing no more than 25 words describing the subject matter of The Great Gatsby. Then try to list what you believe to be some of the key themes.

Themes To say that a novel is about love or death or friendship doesn’t take you very far. As a student of literature, you should be just as interested in HOW the writer develops the themes of the text as what those themes are. To do this you need to consider:

• What the key themes are• What aspects of those themes the writer is most interested in

exploring• What ideas emerge from the narrative and the way it is told• What is unique and special about the way that particular text

develops those themes (here you’ll be thinking about all aspects of style, structure, voice and language)As we watch the clip ‘Themes’, note down the themes Nicolas

Tredell identifies as particularly important. •Are there any other themes which you would argue are more

interesting or significant?

Exploring the themes - WealthLook at these moments in the novel:• The moment when Gatsby shows Daisy around his house and pulls out all his

shirts• The description of Gatsby’s parties at the beginning of Chapter 3• The valley of ashes• Nick’s mid-west background, with it’s old established but not ostentatious

wealth

Look at the extracts for: patterns of symbolism the use of contrast how the theme of wealth emerges through description or dialogue how Fitzgerald directs the reader’s sympathies towards certain characters

and their values

Write a theme flow diagram (like the Love model you’ve been given) for Wealth.

Chapter 5

• Working as a group, annotate Chapter 5 using the information you’ve been given as a starting point

• Answer these 3 questions:– Fitzgerald creates an almost unbearably tense atmosphere at

the beginning of chapter 5. Find and label a couple of examples of where the narration establishes this tone.

– Once Gatsby takes Daisy up to the house the tone changes to one of surreal wonder. Find examples of where this tone is established.

– This meeting has significance beyond the reuniting of the two lovers. Looking at the last three paragraphs of the chapter, evaluate what Daisy has come to represent for Gatsby.

Independent Study

• Identify at least 5 linking or contrasting extracts that seem to be important in the development of your given theme, list theses and summarise the patterns, points of similarity and difference that reveal to you Fitzgerald’s approach (patterns of symbolism, the use of contrast, how the theme of wealth emerges through description or dialogue, how Fitzgerald directs the reader’s sympathies towards certain characters and their values).

• Create a flow diagram (like the one from last lesson) on your given theme:– Aspirations and the American Dream RHYS– Class and status LAURA– Appearance and reality OLIVIA– Artificiality HANNAH– Idealism v. Realism LOWENA– Identity EMILY– Perception (sight and insight) FLO AND NANCY– Desire JOSIE– Heroism JAKE– Masculinity and femininity AMELIA– Honesty and deceit JAMIE– Corruption v. Purity OWEN

Next week it’s Chapters 6, 7 and 8 so reread please.

• Write a one sentence summary for Chapters 4 and 5.• Choose a single quotation to sum up each chapter.• What can you say about chapters 4 and 5 and each of the aspects of narrative?

Time and Sequence Characters and Characterisation Points of View Voices in texts Scenes and Places Destination