Gatsby Opening Chapter Essay Plan

[thethoughtpolice]

Opening Chapter

Intro

Then...

1. Fitzgerald introduces us to the narrator of ‘The Great Gatsby’, Nick Carraway, in the opening chapter and as a result we begin to understand the importance of morality in the novel.
We see Nick as a moral character due to advice his father gave him.

‘Whenever you feel like criticizing a person, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages you’ve had’
• He will accept people from all classes and not hold prejudices. Develops morality as a theme.
• Suggests that we will meet unlikely characters due to his acceptance of everyone confirmed by ‘wild unknown men’

2. Fitzgerald develops the class divides in society, those between the nouveau riche and the aristocracy, through his depiction of East and West Egg in the opening chapter.
East egg- ‘white palaces’ that ‘glittered’
- ‘Georgian colonial mansion’
- shows the inherited wealth that the aristocracy have. Palaces suggest grandeur of the aristocracy- glittered, jewels and royalty emphasising old money.
West egg- ‘factual imitation of a hotel de ville in normandy’
- ‘thin beard of ivy’
- west egg, the nouveau riche, are copying the aristocracy, trying to be them yet we see that hey have fallen short, their houses are only pretending to be them, they have not succeeded in actually being them. ‘Thin beard of ivy’ suggests a disguise and that it is only thin shows that it has not really worked and shows the newness of their houses.
The physical difficulties in getting between the islands mirrors the difficulties bridging the gap between the nouveau riche and aristocratic wealth since it is only a thin strand that connects them.

3. Fitzgerald shows us the pointless existence of the upper class and the static if not backward views they hold which shows us that it is the aristocracy that may cause the decline of the American dream and prevent the progression in society.
- ‘woman ballooned’, ‘frosted wedding cake of a ceiling’, ‘bantering inconsequence’.
- Shows that they are detached from reality. They do not need to care about things that really matter in society because they believe they are above all the worries in society. Shows ethereal, superficial qualities of the Daisy.
- regurgitates facts from ‘The Rise of the Coloured Empires’ to appear intellectual about topics they believe are current matters though is very racist. Yet, they are very dated views and so Tom appears pathetic. As their money is inherited these views also appear inherited. Shows their detatchment from society.
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4. Fitzgerald introduces the main character, Gatsby, at the end of opening chapter.
We understand his capacity to dream when Nick writes,
‘heightened sensitivities to the promises of life’
‘regarding the silver pepper of stars’
Also stretches towards the ‘green light’ showing the envy he feels for the life he doesn’t have. His whole body trembles and so we see the dreams not only affect his mind but also his body and that he cannot control himself. Fairly mysterious.

5. Fitzgerald determines that their will be a dark side to ‘The Great Gatsby’ in relation to Gatsby’s dreams. Fitzgerald suggests this when he writes,

‘It is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams’
- dust-death and decay. Can never get rid of it.
- Due to his dreams, badness follows him
- Gatsby has had to live with the consequences of having huge dreams, has suffered in some way due to them.

6. Conclusion

[kellyann]

In part 4, you said
" We understand his capacity to dream when Nick writes,
‘heightened sensitivities to the promises of life’
‘regarding the silver pepper of stars’ "

What do you mean? To me that seems incomplete as you've said; "Nick writes, "
Then you go onto quote? Im slightly confused.

And what would you put in the conclusion?

[thethoughtpolice]

" We understand his capacity to dream when Nick observes that Gatsby has
‘heightened sensitivities to the promises of life’

This suggests that Gatsby is extremely opisitive about life. He seems to be trying to live life to the fullest and get all that he can out of it.
‘regarding the silver pepper of stars’ "
When Gatsby comes out of his mansion, he looks up at '‘regarding the silver pepper of stars’ . The stars of the night's sky suggest the worl of dreams. Gatsby is a dreamer and it is as if his dreams have no limit, just as space has no limit.

...

In conclusion, there can be no doubt that this oopening chapter effectively introduces us to the main themes of the novel. In the chapter, Fitzgerald conveys:

[SASKIA]

what would you write for the into ? and what does 'nibbling at the edges of stale ideas' mean ?

[thethoughtpolice]

Saskia,

I'd try to point out the things that are in the opening chapter that make it effective. I'd also try to get in something about the 1920s Jazz age and the American Dream.

My intro might go along the lines of:


'The Great Gatsby' by F Scott Fitzgerald is a novel which has a particularly effective opening chapter. Fitzgerald uses the opening chapter to introduce his reader to his criticism of the roaring 1920s Jazz Culture. In the chapter, we are shown the novel's narrator, Nick Carraway's view of morality, the social class divide between the aristocracy and the nouveau riche and finally we are introduced to the mysterious dreamer, Jay Gatsby.

Something lik that shows us what you'll be going on to discuss.

Your quotation is about Tom Buchanan being unfulfilled in life because he achieved his potential too young and has no real purpose now. THerefore, he has turned to old fashioned racist ideas to find some kind of meaning. He has become restless.

[kellyann]

For the conclusion, for the very last line can i write:
"Fitzgerald conveys: social classes, morality, mysterious charcters and the American Dream."

?

[MR T]

Sure!

[kellyann]

Bit late... haha

[thethoughtpolice]