Great Gatsby Character Chart Page 3
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3Great Gatsby: Themes, Ideas & Context
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WW just finished = sudden increase in
Nick & G fought in WW1
1920s America
stock market & wealth of a lot of people;
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‘I decided to go East and learn the bond
new cynicism & immorality as old
business. Everybody I knew was in the bond
(Victorian) values now seemed meaningless
business, so I supposed it could support one
and old-fashioned
more single man.’
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Original American Dream to Nick =
AD now involves the pursuit of wealth &
(failure of) The
st
discovering America for 1
time, freedom /
pleasure (as symbolised by Gatsby’s
American
individualism, ability to pursue & attain
parties); N sees this as a corruption of AD
Dream
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happiness
G’s love for D is symbolic of people’s desire
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AD is corrupted by 1920s affluent society
for AD; both involve an infatuation with a
goal that is ultimately rather hollow
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‘New’ millionaires = West Egg
G’s wealth is without subtlety & he doesn’t
Class
pick up on certain social cues (Sloane’s
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invitation)
Old, aristocratic millionaires = East Egg
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D & T’s house is graceful, elegant, tasteful
yet they are ultimately ‘careless’ and
‘destructive’ due to their lack of feeling
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Place between West Egg & NYC where
‘desolate area of land’
Valley of Ashes
ashes from industrial waste are dumped
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Represents the moral decay of the affluent
society & the negative, soul-destroying
impact they have on others, especially
those less fortunate than themselves
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G & D’s reunion – pouring rain
‘The day agreed upon was pouring rain.’
Pathetic
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T & G argue on hottest day of summer
‘relentless beating heat’
Fallacy
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May represent God looking down on society
‘look out of no face’
Doctor
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Also ambiguous; may represent the lack of
Eckleburg’s
any such omnipotent moral being
Eyes
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