Post by thethoughtpolice on Aug 29, 2011 13:55:31 GMT
Tom and Daisy Buchanan
Tom - Tom is a very strong man who looks down on others and thinks he is the best. We get the impression he is agitated when not in control, and leads Nick around the house. He is married to Daisy and they live together in a red-and-white colonial Mansion with a massive garden from their beach to the front door the lawn ran. He played American football in his younger days and Nick thought of him as “one of those men who reach such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one that everything afterward savors of anti-climax.”
We learn that Tom is perhaps not content with the life he is leaving and it is implied to that he is having an affair with a woman in New York and that, perhaps after his successful youth, he his looking for something else to engage his mind. “Something was making him nibble at the edge of stale ideas as if his sturdy physical egotism no longer nourished his peremptory heart.”
He speaks in “A gruff husky tenor”.
He is very full of himself and is reading white supremacy books which suggest he is racist and believes what he reads is the absolute truth. It seems as though he wants to be accepted by Nick to prove that he is not just a hulking brute and is intellectual. He takes offence at Daisy when she refers to him as ‘hulking’.
They live a very rich lifestyle with many luxuries and they are not afraid to flash their cash and show people what they have. “Brought down a string of ponies from Lake Forest.”
Daisy – Daisy is an elegant woman who we get the impression is very attractive. She has a “low, thrilling voice” and she speaks quietly so people have to make an effort to hear her so they have to lean in close. “It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down, as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again”.
She is an influential woman and people think because of her brightness and zestfulness that something exciting is going to happen and she gets very enthusiastic about very little. She is not intelligent at all and is very spoiled by her rich husband. She has power over Tom when saying the word “hulking” which he takes great offence to.
Daisy regularly adds in flippant empty comments into conversation for no apparent reason. She enjoys being a cynic because she talks in a very convincing way when saying everything is terrible. She wants to be a cynic because she see’s it as the fashionable way to be.
She has a daughter but does not have a loving attitude towards it and acts as if it is another accessory of hers.
American Dream:
-A national Ethos of the USA
-Promise of prosperity and success
-Achieve better, richer, happier lives
-Equality
-Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness
Tragic Hero:
-Often the Protagonist
-Noble
-Makes a mistake which leads to death
-Hamartia - the tragic flaw that eventually leads to his downfall
-His actions result in an increase of self- awareness and self-knowledge
1920's Jazz Era:
-After WW1 before the Great Depression
-Clarinet, Drums and Bass
-New Orleans, Chicago and New York
-Flappers - Young women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair and listened to Jazz Music.
Imagery
• “it was a factual imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy”
- The ivy climbing up the side of Gatsby’s mansion is being compared to facial hair. The use of the word ‘thin’ gives the impression that the ivy is half-heartedly strung along the wall, trying to hide it. Just as Gatsby’s mansion is an imitation of something grand, so too is the ivy as it pretends to fulfil its role completely.
• “the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water”
- Just as stars and magical objects are said to glitter, so too do the houses on East Egg. This creates the impression that these are places Nick can only dream of living in and are far out of his reach. Just as royalty live in palaces, so too, Nick believes, do the wealthy people of East Egg. Palaces are built to exhibit power and wealth, and the people of East Egg are trying to do the same.
• “white dresses rippling and fluttering”
- Just as a butterfly flutters as it moves, so to do the women’s dresses. The word ‘flutter’ has connotations of calmness and serenity. The colour white also continues the idea of tranquillity and innocence.
• “the frosted wedding cake of the ceiling2
- Just as a wedding cake is elaborately finished to perfection, so too is the ceiling of the Buchanan’s mansion. It continues the idea of wealth and shows just how much money they are able to spend. It also that appearance is important to the couple as even the ceiling has to be extravagant.
• Tom’s “cruel body”
- This creates the impression that Tom’s body makes him appear to be capable of violent and heartless acts due to the intimidating size and strength of him.
• “Two shining, arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face”
- This creates the impression that Tom’s eyes are cold and dark as they seem to overpower his face. Eyes are said to show a lot about someone’s character so Tom’s ‘dominating’ eyes imply he can be forceful and controlling.
Settings
East Egg is the home of the extremely rich who have been rich for generations and have found out that money can be turned into items of style. They have moved away from the out of place French architecture and have built homes that look like they belong. This is shown by the Georgian mansion that Tom and Daisy live in and the descriptions of the other “white palaces” which line the coast. These contrast the spontaneity of West Eggs new old fashioned buildings which have had almost no plan as to how they would look in the setting of both the “eggs” in the eagerness of the inhabitants urge to splash their new found cash.
Tom - Tom is a very strong man who looks down on others and thinks he is the best. We get the impression he is agitated when not in control, and leads Nick around the house. He is married to Daisy and they live together in a red-and-white colonial Mansion with a massive garden from their beach to the front door the lawn ran. He played American football in his younger days and Nick thought of him as “one of those men who reach such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one that everything afterward savors of anti-climax.”
We learn that Tom is perhaps not content with the life he is leaving and it is implied to that he is having an affair with a woman in New York and that, perhaps after his successful youth, he his looking for something else to engage his mind. “Something was making him nibble at the edge of stale ideas as if his sturdy physical egotism no longer nourished his peremptory heart.”
He speaks in “A gruff husky tenor”.
He is very full of himself and is reading white supremacy books which suggest he is racist and believes what he reads is the absolute truth. It seems as though he wants to be accepted by Nick to prove that he is not just a hulking brute and is intellectual. He takes offence at Daisy when she refers to him as ‘hulking’.
They live a very rich lifestyle with many luxuries and they are not afraid to flash their cash and show people what they have. “Brought down a string of ponies from Lake Forest.”
Daisy – Daisy is an elegant woman who we get the impression is very attractive. She has a “low, thrilling voice” and she speaks quietly so people have to make an effort to hear her so they have to lean in close. “It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down, as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again”.
She is an influential woman and people think because of her brightness and zestfulness that something exciting is going to happen and she gets very enthusiastic about very little. She is not intelligent at all and is very spoiled by her rich husband. She has power over Tom when saying the word “hulking” which he takes great offence to.
Daisy regularly adds in flippant empty comments into conversation for no apparent reason. She enjoys being a cynic because she talks in a very convincing way when saying everything is terrible. She wants to be a cynic because she see’s it as the fashionable way to be.
She has a daughter but does not have a loving attitude towards it and acts as if it is another accessory of hers.
American Dream:
-A national Ethos of the USA
-Promise of prosperity and success
-Achieve better, richer, happier lives
-Equality
-Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness
Tragic Hero:
-Often the Protagonist
-Noble
-Makes a mistake which leads to death
-Hamartia - the tragic flaw that eventually leads to his downfall
-His actions result in an increase of self- awareness and self-knowledge
1920's Jazz Era:
-After WW1 before the Great Depression
-Clarinet, Drums and Bass
-New Orleans, Chicago and New York
-Flappers - Young women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair and listened to Jazz Music.
Imagery
• “it was a factual imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy”
- The ivy climbing up the side of Gatsby’s mansion is being compared to facial hair. The use of the word ‘thin’ gives the impression that the ivy is half-heartedly strung along the wall, trying to hide it. Just as Gatsby’s mansion is an imitation of something grand, so too is the ivy as it pretends to fulfil its role completely.
• “the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water”
- Just as stars and magical objects are said to glitter, so too do the houses on East Egg. This creates the impression that these are places Nick can only dream of living in and are far out of his reach. Just as royalty live in palaces, so too, Nick believes, do the wealthy people of East Egg. Palaces are built to exhibit power and wealth, and the people of East Egg are trying to do the same.
• “white dresses rippling and fluttering”
- Just as a butterfly flutters as it moves, so to do the women’s dresses. The word ‘flutter’ has connotations of calmness and serenity. The colour white also continues the idea of tranquillity and innocence.
• “the frosted wedding cake of the ceiling2
- Just as a wedding cake is elaborately finished to perfection, so too is the ceiling of the Buchanan’s mansion. It continues the idea of wealth and shows just how much money they are able to spend. It also that appearance is important to the couple as even the ceiling has to be extravagant.
• Tom’s “cruel body”
- This creates the impression that Tom’s body makes him appear to be capable of violent and heartless acts due to the intimidating size and strength of him.
• “Two shining, arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face”
- This creates the impression that Tom’s eyes are cold and dark as they seem to overpower his face. Eyes are said to show a lot about someone’s character so Tom’s ‘dominating’ eyes imply he can be forceful and controlling.
Settings
East Egg is the home of the extremely rich who have been rich for generations and have found out that money can be turned into items of style. They have moved away from the out of place French architecture and have built homes that look like they belong. This is shown by the Georgian mansion that Tom and Daisy live in and the descriptions of the other “white palaces” which line the coast. These contrast the spontaneity of West Eggs new old fashioned buildings which have had almost no plan as to how they would look in the setting of both the “eggs” in the eagerness of the inhabitants urge to splash their new found cash.