2f7333fc-7a3a-4c55-9585-d326401f8085.pptx

# About the author and the novel This section provides an overview of F. Scott Fitzgerald, his literary context, and the foundational elements of his seminal novel, *The Great Gatsby*, including its publication, setting, and initial reception. ## 1. About the author and the novel ### 1.1 F. Scott Fitzgerald: Biography and Themes Francis Scott Fitzgerald was an American novelist and short story writer. His university education was brief, as he left to join the army during the First World War. Fitzgerald's most celebrated work, *The Great Gatsby*, is widely recognized as a critique of wealth, excess, and the corruption of the American Dream. Beyond this major novel, he authored numerous short stories that delved into themes of love, success, disillusionment, and societal shifts. Despite achieving literary success, Fitzgerald faced significant personal and financial struggles, including battles with alcoholism and his wife's mental health issues. ### 1.2 *The Great Gatsby*: Publication, Setting, and Reception *The Great Gatsby* was published in 1925. The novel is set during the vibrant Jazz Age on Long Island, in proximity to New York City. The narrative is delivered through the first-person perspective of Nick Carraway, offering readers an intimate impression of the era. Initially, the novel did not achieve widespread commercial success. However, it has since been critically acclaimed and is now regarded as one of the greatest American novels. Its enduring relevance stems from its timeless exploration of ambition, illusion, and the profound cost associated with the pursuit of dreams. ### 1.3 Core Elements of the Novel * **Plot Overview**: The narrative centers on the narrator, Nick Carraway, and his developing friendship with Jay Gatsby. Nick discovers that his cousin, Daisy, and his neighbor, Gatsby, were once in love. He agrees to facilitate a reunion, which leads to an affair between Gatsby and Daisy. Following a confrontation with her husband, Daisy, while driving Gatsby's car, accidentally kills her husband's mistress. Gatsby assumes responsibility for the accident. Subsequently, Tom, Daisy's husband, reveals Gatsby's culpability to the deceased woman's husband, who then pursues and kills Gatsby in retribution. * **Main Characters**: * **Jay Gatsby**: A dreamer characterized by his "new money" status and idealism. * **Daisy Buchanan**: The object of Gatsby's desire, symbolizing wealth and social standing. * **Tom Buchanan**: Represents the brute force associated with "old money" and privilege. * **Nick Carraway**: The witness and narrator, who is conflicted and serves as an outsider observing the events. ### 1.4 Fitzgerald’s Narrative Technique Fitzgerald employs several key techniques to construct the narrative of *The Great Gatsby*: #### 1.4.1 First-person narration The novel is told from a first-person perspective, with Nick Carraway serving as both a character within the story and its narrator. This dual role positions him as a participant-observer, involved in the events while simultaneously reflecting upon them. This approach fosters intimacy, allowing readers to experience the world through Nick's perceptions, including his awe, confusion, and judgments. However, it also establishes a degree of distance, as Nick is not omniscient and his knowledge is limited to what he personally experiences or chooses to convey. An early example is the introduction of Gatsby, seen through Nick's fascinated gaze rather than direct portrayal. > **Tip:** The first-person narration allows for a subjective interpretation of events, making the reader question the objectivity of the story. #### 1.4.2 Unreliable narrator Nick is often considered an unreliable narrator, meaning readers should not accept his accounts as absolute truth. Despite claiming neutrality with the statement, "I’m inclined to reserve all judgments," he frequently expresses judgments about other characters. His personal biases inevitably shape the reader's perception of Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom. As the novel progresses, he criticizes Tom's arrogance, Daisy's superficiality, and even Gatsby's naivete. This prompts readers to consider whether they are witnessing objective truth or merely Nick's personal interpretation. For instance, his admiration for Gatsby contributes to a biased narrative that portrays Gatsby as noble, even with his involvement in illicit activities. This forces readers to question whether Gatsby is genuinely "great" or if this perception is solely a product of Nick's viewpoint. This characteristic is typical of Modernist literature, which emphasizes subjectivity and ambiguity over certainty. #### 1.4.3 Fragmented and layered storytelling The novel's events are not presented in strict chronological order. Fitzgerald gradually reveals Gatsby's past through various sources, including: * Rumors circulating at Gatsby's parties (e.g., "He killed a man once…"). * Jordan Baker's account of Gatsby and Daisy's earlier romantic relationship. * Gatsby's personal recollections shared with Nick. * Information gathered through Nick's investigations and accounts from Gatsby's father. This layered narrative structure reflects the fragmented and elusive nature of truth, suggesting it is constructed rather than absolute. This technique also serves to maintain Gatsby's mysterious persona until later in the novel, thus enhancing his enigmatic aura. #### 1.4.4 Limited perspective Readers are denied direct access to the inner thoughts and feelings of Gatsby and other characters. Information is exclusively filtered through what Nick observes or hears. Gatsby's dreams, motivations, and emotions are always interpreted through Nick's understanding. Daisy's inner world is particularly inaccessible, as she is primarily seen through the eyes of Nick and Gatsby. This limitation contributes to ambiguity and a sense of distance, rendering characters partially unknowable, much like individuals in real life. Gatsby remains a figure of mystery, which strengthens his symbolic role as the embodiment of the dream—an ideal rather than simply a man. #### 1.4.5 Lyrical, poetic prose Although the novel is narrated by Nick in a style intended to be realistic and in the first person, his language frequently becomes lyrical and symbolic. Examples include: * The descriptions of Gatsby's parties, which use sensory richness to convey both glamour and underlying emptiness. * The poetic reverence with which the green light is described: "a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock." * The concluding lines, which offer a meditation on boats struggling against the current, transforming Gatsby's personal narrative into a universal reflection on human endeavor. --- # The plot and main characters of The Great Gatsby This section details the tragic events involving Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, and Tom Buchanan, and introduces the key characters and their roles. ### 2.1 The plot of The Great Gatsby The novel follows the narrator Nick Carraway's developing friendship with his wealthy and mysterious neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Nick soon discovers that Gatsby was once deeply in love with his married cousin, Daisy Buchanan. Driven by a longing to rekindle their past romance, Gatsby has amassed his fortune and acquired his opulent mansion across the bay from Daisy, all in the hope of winning her back. Nick, initially a reluctant participant, agrees to facilitate a reunion between Gatsby and Daisy. Their clandestine meetings soon lead to an affair. The tension escalates when Daisy's brutish husband, Tom Buchanan, confronts Gatsby about the affair. During a heated confrontation, Daisy, while driving Gatsby's car, accidentally strikes and kills Tom's mistress, Myrtle Wilson. To protect Daisy, Gatsby takes full responsibility for the accident. Tragically, Tom, seeking revenge and identifying Gatsby to Myrtle's distraught husband, George Wilson, sets in motion the events that lead to Gatsby's death. Wilson, believing Gatsby to be the driver responsible for his wife's death, hunts Gatsby down and kills him. Gatsby's isolated death underscores the ultimate failure of his grand illusion and the corruption of his dream. ### 2.2 Main characters The Great Gatsby features a cast of characters whose lives intertwine and ultimately lead to tragedy, embodying different facets of wealth, class, and the American Dream. #### 2.2.1 Jay Gatsby Jay Gatsby is the enigmatic and immensely wealthy protagonist. He is characterized as a dreamer and an idealist, driven by a singular, obsessive ambition: to win back the love of Daisy Buchanan from his past. Gatsby represents "new money," having accumulated his fortune through questionable means, which sets him apart from the established aristocracy. His lavish parties and opulent lifestyle are all a meticulously constructed facade to attract Daisy's attention and reclaim what he believes is rightfully his. > **Tip:** Gatsby's character highlights the allure and potential corruption of the American Dream, suggesting that wealth alone cannot buy happiness or erase the past. #### 2.2.2 Daisy Buchanan Daisy Buchanan is the object of Gatsby's intense desire and the symbol of his aspirations. She represents wealth, status, and the allure of a privileged life. Married to the wealthy and arrogant Tom Buchanan, Daisy is portrayed as charming and captivating, but also shallow and indecisive. Her voice is famously described as being "full of money," underscoring her connection to wealth and her inability to transcend her social standing for love. > **Example:** Daisy's inability to leave Tom for Gatsby, despite their shared past and Gatsby's devotion, demonstrates the powerful hold of social class and material security over genuine emotion. #### 2.2.3 Tom Buchanan Tom Buchanan embodies the brute force and entitlement of "old money" and privilege. He is arrogant, physically imposing, and deeply possessive. Tom is a former Yale football star who feels threatened by Gatsby's "new money" and his pursuit of Daisy. He is unfaithful to Daisy, engaging in an affair with Myrtle Wilson, yet he is quick to condemn and destroy Gatsby when he perceives him as a threat to his own social standing and control over Daisy. > **Tip:** Tom's character serves as a foil to Gatsby, highlighting the inherent unfairness and hypocrisy of the established upper class. #### 2.2.4 Nick Carraway Nick Carraway is the novel's narrator and a crucial witness to the unfolding events. He is presented as an outsider looking in, attempting to remain neutral and objective, though his own biases and evolving perceptions significantly shape the narrative. Nick is both a participant in the events and a reflective observer, providing a first-person account that allows readers to experience the story through his eyes, with his inherent sense of wonder, confusion, and growing disillusionment. He is Gatsby's neighbor and Daisy's cousin, placing him at the center of the novel's social and emotional conflicts. > **Tip:** Nick's role as a conflicted narrator is central to the novel's themes of perception, truth, and the subjectivity of experience. Readers must question whether they are seeing objective reality or Nick's interpretation of it. --- # Fitzgerald's narrative techniques in The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald masterfully employs a suite of narrative techniques in *The Great Gatsby* to shape the reader's perception of characters, events, and the elusive American Dream. ## 3. Fitzgerald's narrative techniques in The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald utilizes a sophisticated combination of first-person narration, an unreliable narrator, fragmented storytelling, limited perspective, and lyrical prose to construct the intricate world of *The Great Gatsby*, profoundly influencing how readers understand the novel's characters and themes. ### 3.1 First-person narration The novel is told from the perspective of Nick Carraway, who serves as both a character within the story and its narrator. This first-person approach positions Nick as a participant-observer, intimately involved in the unfolding events while simultaneously reflecting upon them. * **Intimacy and Distance:** This narrative choice fosters a sense of intimacy, allowing readers to experience the world through Nick's subjective feelings of awe, confusion, or judgment. However, it also creates a narrative distance, as Nick is not omniscient and the reader is limited to what he knows or chooses to disclose. * **Example:** Nick's initial introduction to Gatsby is not a direct encounter but rather a filtered observation, highlighting Nick's fascination: "He smiled understandingly…" ### 3.2 Unreliable narrator Nick Carraway is often considered an unreliable narrator, meaning his account should not be taken as absolute truth. His personal biases and judgments significantly color the reader's perception of other characters, such as Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom. * **Claim of Neutrality vs. Actual Judgment:** Despite Nick's opening assertion that he is "inclined to reserve all judgments," he consistently offers criticisms and evaluations of the people around him. He denounces Tom's arrogance, Daisy's shallowness, and even Gatsby's naivete. * **Reader's Task:** This unreliability compels readers to question whether they are witnessing objective truth or merely Nick's subjective interpretation. For instance, Nick's admiration for Gatsby leads him to portray Gatsby as noble, even while acknowledging Gatsby's involvement in illicit activities. This prompts the critical question: is Gatsby genuinely "great," or is this merely Nick's idealized perception? * **Modernist Context:** This narrative device aligns with Modernist literary principles, which emphasize subjectivity and ambiguity over certainty and objectivity. ### 3.3 Fragmented and layered storytelling Fitzgerald deliberately disrupts a strict chronological flow, revealing Gatsby's past in a piecemeal fashion through various sources. This fragmented and layered approach mirrors the elusive and constructed nature of truth itself. * **Sources of Information:** * Rumors circulating at Gatsby's extravagant parties, often sensationalized and contradictory. * Jordan Baker's account, offering insights into Gatsby and Daisy's past romance. * Gatsby's own recollections shared with Nick. * Details about Gatsby's origins pieced together through Nick's investigation and information from Gatsby's father. * **Effect on Mystery:** This narrative technique enhances Gatsby's enigmatic aura by withholding crucial information until later in the novel, thus preserving his mysterious allure. ### 3.4 Limited perspective Readers are denied direct access to the inner thoughts and motivations of Gatsby and other characters. All information is filtered through Nick's perceptions and observations. * **Filtered Understanding:** Gatsby's dreams, desires, and feelings are always mediated by Nick's interpretation. * **Inaccessible Inner Lives:** Daisy's inner world is particularly elusive; she is primarily perceived through the lenses of Nick and Gatsby. * **Ambiguity and Idealization:** This limitation creates narrative distance and ambiguity, leaving characters partially unknowable, much like real individuals. Gatsby, in particular, remains a figure of mystery, which amplifies his symbolic representation of the dream and an ideal rather than just a singular person. ### 3.5 Lyrical, poetic prose Despite being narrated in a seemingly realistic first-person style, Nick's language often transcends straightforward narration to become lyrical and symbolic. * **Vivid Descriptions:** Fitzgerald uses sensory details to depict Gatsby's parties, capturing a blend of superficial glamour and underlying emptiness. * **Symbolic Imagery:** The iconic green light is described with poetic reverence: "a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock." * **Universal Reflections:** The novel's concluding lines, a meditation on "boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past," elevate Gatsby's personal narrative into a universal reflection on the persistent human struggle and the unattainable nature of certain aspirations. > **Tip:** Understanding Nick's unreliability is crucial. Always consider his potential biases and motivations when evaluating his descriptions of other characters and events. > > **Tip:** Fitzgerald's use of fragmented narration mirrors the novel's exploration of the elusive and often constructed nature of truth and identity. --- ## Common mistakes to avoid - Review all topics thoroughly before exams - Pay attention to formulas and key definitions - Practice with examples provided in each section - Don't memorize without understanding the underlying concepts

| Term | Definition | |------|------------| | American Dream | The belief that anyone in the US can become successful and happy if they work hard enough, often associated with wealth and upward social mobility. | | Jazz Age | A period in American history from the 1920s, characterized by a spirit of rebellion against convention, the rise of jazz music, and significant social and cultural changes. | | First-person narration | A narrative mode where the story is told by a character who uses the pronoun "I" and is involved in the events of the story. | | Participant-observer | A researcher or narrator who takes part in the activities they are observing, providing an insider's perspective while also maintaining a degree of detachment for analysis. | | Intimacy (in narration) | A feeling of closeness or personal connection experienced by the reader with the narrator or characters, achieved through direct access to thoughts, feelings, and sensory experiences. | | Distance (in narration) | A sense of separation or detachment between the reader and the narrative or characters, often created by the narrator's limitations, lack of omniscience, or subjective viewpoint. | | Unreliable narrator | A narrator whose credibility is compromised, leading the reader to question the accuracy or truthfulness of the information they provide due to bias, deceit, mental instability, or limited understanding. | | Modernism (literary) | An artistic and literary movement in the early 20th century that rejected traditional forms and themes, emphasizing experimentation, subjectivity, and a questioning of established norms and realities. | | Ambiguity | The quality of being open to more than one interpretation; uncertainty or inexactness of meaning in language. | | Lyrical prose | Writing that expresses personal emotions and feelings in a beautiful or artistic way, often employing poetic devices like imagery, metaphor, and rhythm. | | Green light | A significant symbol in The Great Gatsby, often representing Gatsby's dreams, aspirations, and unattainable desires, particularly his longing for Daisy. | | Current | In the context of the novel's ending, it refers to the continuous flow of time and the persistent human struggle against the past and the forces that hold one back. |