Motifs in The Great Gatsby

pg. 38 ‘There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.’

‘In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my head ever since. “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages you’ve had.”’

(1)

pg. 40 ‘On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors d’oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold. In the main hall a bar with a real brass rail was set up, and stocked with gins and liquors and with cordials so long forgotten that most of his female guests were too young to know one from another.’

‘I am still a little afraid of missing something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parceled out unequally at birth.’ (2)

pg. 41-42 ‘Dressed up in white flannels I went over to his lawn a little after seven, and wandered around rather ill at ease among swirls and eddies of people I didn’t know-though here and there was a face I had noticed on the commuting train.’

‘“I almost made a mistake, too,” she declared vigorously. “I almost married a little like who’d been after me for years’ I knew he was below me. Everybody kept saying to me: ‘Lucille, that man’s ‘way below you!’ But if I hadn’t met Chester, he’d of got me for sure.” “Yes, but listen,” said Myrtle Wilson, nodding her head up and down, “at least you didn’t marry him.” “I know I didn’t.” “Well, I married him,” said Myrtle, ambiguously. “And that’s the difference between your case and mine.” (34)

pg. 51 ‘One of the girls in yellow was playing the piano, and beside her stood a tall, red-haired young lady from a famous chorus, engaged in song. She had drunk a quantity of champagne, and during the course of her song she had decided, ineptly, that everything was very, very sad- she was not only singing, she was weeping too.’

Chapters 1 & 2

Chapter 3-4

‘I was rather literary in college- one year i wrote a series of very solemn and obvious editorials for the Yale News- and now i was going to bring back all such things in life and become again that most limited of all specialists, the “well-rounded man.” This isn’t just an epigram- life is much more successfully looked at from a single window, after all.’

(4)

‘“I was down there at a party about a month ago. At a man named Gatsby’s. Do you know him?” “I live next door to him.” “Well, they say he’s a nephew or a cousin of Kaiser. Wilhelm’s. That’s where all his money comes from.”’ (32)

pg. 56 ‘Most of the time I worked. In the early morning the sun threw my shadow westward as I hurried down the white chasms of lower New York to the Probity Trust.’

pg. 41 ‘A chauffeur in a uniform of robin’s egg blue crossed my lawn early that Saturday morning with a surprisingly formal note from his employer: the honor would be entirely Gatsby’s, it said, if I would attend his “little party” that night.’

The presence of the past is significant in the novel. Every character’s past defines them no matter how hard they try to deny it or no matter how much they try to reclaim it. Can the past be repeated? Look for passages that represent this thematic question.

Many of the character's current dispositions are effects of their past choices and experiences. Daisy, for example, is affected by the little power that she possesses in her marriage, while Myrtle plainly married the wrong man altogether. Nick Caraway, while not particularly affected by marriage (except for the fact that it's illegal), is influenced by his past experience as a "well-rounded man".

Colors are a motif in the novel, particularly green, white, silver, and gold. Look for passages with color references. Think about the symbolism of the colors as you analyze the passages.

The colors of gold and amber and green seem to be associated with Gatsby himself and perhaps the wealth he possesses, while the color white seems to be associated with Nick and Daisy, respectably, possibly showing the different kinds of "purity" (or naiveté, in Nick's case especially).

‘They had spent a year in France for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together. This was a permanent move, said Daisy over the telephone, but I didn’t believe it- I had no sight into Daisy’s heart, but I felt that Tom would drift on forever seeking, a little wistfully, for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game.’ (9)

pg. 46 ‘A pair of stage twins, who turned out to be the girls in yellow, did a baby act in costume, and champagne was served in glasses bigger than finger-bowls. The moon had risen higher, an floating in the Sound was a triangle of silver scales, trembling a little to the stiff, tinny drip of the banjoes on the lawn.’

‘He had changed since his New Haven years. Now he was a sturdy straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner.’ (7)

‘With the influence of the dress her personality had also undergone a change. The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage was converted into impressive hauteur. Her laughter, her gestures, her assertions more violently affected moment by moment, and as she expanded the room grew smaller around her, until she seemed to be revolving on a noisy, creaking pivot through the smoky air.’

(30-31)

pg. 58 ‘Her gray, sun-strained eyes stared straight ahead, but she had deliberately shifted our relations, and for a moment I thought I loved her.’

pg. 64 ‘I’d seen it. Everybody had seen it. It was a rich cream color, bright with nickel, swollen here and there in its monstrous length with triumphant hat-boxes and supper-boxes and tool-boxes, and terraced with a labyrinth of wind-shields that mirrored a dozen suns. Sitting down behind many layers of glass in a sort of green leather conservatory, we started to town.’

‘“It’s up to us, the dominate race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things…This idea is that we’re Nordics. I am, and you are, and you are, and-“ After an infinitesimal hesitation he included Daisy with a slight nod, and she winked at me again. “-And we’ve produced all the things that go to make civilization- oh, science and art, and all that.”’

(13)

pg. 74 ‘The largest of the banners and the largest of the lawns belonged to Daisy Fay’s house. She was just eighteen, two years older than me, and by far the most popular of all the young girls in Louisville. She dressed in white, and had a little white roadster, and all day long the telephone rang in her house and excited young officers from Camp Taylor demanded the privilege of monopolizing her that night. “Anyways, for an hour!’

‘“Well I’ve had a very bad time, Nick, and I’m pretty cynical about everything.” Evidently she has reason to be… “It’ll show you how I’ve gotten to feel about- things. Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling, and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. ‘All right,’ I said, ‘I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool- that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.’’ (16-17)

pg. 91 ‘And inside, as we wandered through Marie Antoinette music-rooms and Restoration salons, I felt that there were guests concealed behind every couch and table, under orders to be breathlessly silent until we had passed through.’

pg. 85 ‘“His name is Ferdie.” “Does the gasoline affect his nose?” “I don’t think so,” she said innocently. “Why?”

Main Theme

pg. 83 ‘“Don’t bring Tom,” I warned her. “What?” “Don’t bring Tom.” “Who is ‘Tom’?” she asked innocently.’

pg. 91 ‘He hadn’t once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes. Sometimes, too, he stared around at his possessions in a died way, as though in her actual and astounding presence none of it was any longer real. Once he nearly toppled down a flight of stairs.’

Chapters 5 &6

pg. 81 ‘Two o’clock and the whole corner of the peninsula was blazing with light, which felt unreal on the shrubbery and made him elongating glints upon the roadside wires, Turning a corner, I saw that it was Gatsby’s house, lit from tower to cellar… “Your place looks like the World’s Fair,” I said.’

The affects of characters struggling with illusion and reality are profound in this novel. Look for passages that indicate these effects on individuals and those who surround them.

Gatsby is seen frequently seg more meaning in little symbols like the green light on Daisy's porch which helps to create the "perfect" image that he has of her in his head, and Daisy's actions don't really dissuade this behavior. Nick isn't affected that much by this, at this point at least, as he can see the meaning behind objects but is not seemingly blinded by them.

pg. 93 ‘Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.’

pg. 110 ‘He knew when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited, listening fora moment longer to the tuning-fork that had been struck upon a star. Then he kissed her. At his lips’ touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete.’

pg. 95 ‘There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams- not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way.’

pg. 107 ‘“Who is this Gatsby anyhow?” demanded Tom suddenly. “Some big bootlegger?” “Where’d you hear that?” I inquired. “I didn’t hear it. I imagined it. A lot of these newly rich people are just big bootleggers, you know.”

pg. 98 ‘He was a son of God- a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that- and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end.’

“We were silent. The voice in the hall rose high with annoyance: “Very well, then, I won’t sell you the car at all…. I’m under no obligations at all… and as for your bothering me about it at lunch time, I won’t stand that at all!”” (116).

Tom has the opportunity to own one of the few colored cars in the world which were extremely expensive anyway, and it deliberately dangling the car over Myrtle’s husband in order to have excuses to see her, and then almost always gets mad when he brings up actually buying the car…

“He wouldn’t consider it. He couldn’t possibly leave Daisy until he knew what she was going to do. He was clutching at some last hope and I couldn’t bear to shake him free” (148).

Oh my. It’s almost as if Jay Gatsby’s incessant insistence that everything will be ok might possibly be a parallel to the economy of the Roaring 20’s. Where everyone ignored the smart stock brokers people (!!) that a panic/ depression might be coming. Also, that’s pretty clear foreshadowing.

“My Finn informed me that Gatsby had dismissed every servant in his house a week ago and replaced them with half a dozen others, who never went into West Egg Village to be bribed by tradesmen, but ordered moderate supplies over the telephone” (114).

Jay Gatsby has the freedom of wealth to, at his leisure, just fire a whole bunch of people and replace them. He probably gives no thought to the people who most likely really needed those jobs and instead is once again really only in it for himself and for his benefit.

““I can’t describe to you how surprised I was to find out I loved her, old sport. I even hoped for a while that she’s throw me over, but she didn’t, because she was in love with me too”” (150).

They’ve known each other for what con only be maybe a couple weeks and he already thinks he’s in love?? Not just infatuation or anything but to have the feeling that he’s married to a girl who's actually married to someone else who he never sees for five years. If it wasn’t clear before that Fitzgerald is taking the path of cynicism and sarcasm in order to provide insight into the time period’s culture this sure cements it.

“Crossing his lawn, I saw that his front door was still open and he was leaning against a table in the hall, heavy with dejection or sleep. “Nothing happened,” he said wanly. “I waited, and about four o’ clock she came to the window and stood there for a minute and then she turned out the light”” (147).

After five years and en entire novel of hoping and pining for Daisy, Gatsby is starting to feel real despair that this “relationship” between himself and Daisy isn’t working out. Which it never was. really, but at least he’s kind of starting to realize it. (Not really…)

“Gatsby started to speak, changed his mind, but not before Tom wheeled and faced him expectantly. “Have you got your stables here?” asked Gatsby with an effort. “About a quarter of a mile down the road.” “Oh.” A pause.” (120).

While this short exchange may be extremely awkward for the parties involved, it is still astounding that Tom is able to say that they have their own stable, and at the same time showing that he owns lots of estate for there to be enough room for one not to mention one that is that far away from his house, and say it easily, like its no big deal at all that they own a stable.

Chapters 7&8

Chapters 9 & 10

“Gatsby sprang to his feet, vivid with excitement. “She never loved you, do you hear?” he cried. “She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved any one except me!”” (130).

Jay Gatsby’s relatively new wealth has once again given him a chance to be with this beloved Daisy, even though she is married to another man. Or, at least, this is something that Gatsby would like to believe and would love for to happen. The truth that he will soon encounter is that simply having money will not fix all your problems or get you anything you want.

““I’ll call you up,” I said finally. “Do, old sport.” “I’ll call you about noon.” We walked slowly down the steps. “I suppose Daisy’ll call too.” He looked at me anxiously, as if he hoped I’d corroborate this. “I suppose so”” (154).

Still, after seeing Daisy purposefully not use their sign the night before and even asking her husband to take her away from him, Gatsby is apparently once again refusing to acknowledge that he and Daisy will not be together. The glimpse of sanity that could be seen at the beginning of the chapter is gone.

What is Fitzgerald saying about human hopes and dreams? What makes this a particularly American novel? Find significant passages dealing with this idea.

Fitzgerald explores the repercussions of wealth in the novel. Look for the quotations that demonstrate ideas about riches, people, and the American dream. These passages should be both positive and negative as the opportunities afforded to the wealthy as well as the carelessness of the wealthy.

“On the last fly-leaf was printed the word SCHEDULE and the date September 12, 1906. And underneath: (etc…) “I come across this book by accident,” said the old man. “It just shows you, don’t it?” “It just shows you.” “Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always had some resolves like this or something. Do you notice what he’s got about improving his mind? He was always great for that”” (173).

Mr. Gatz finally gives some concrete evidence of Gatsby’s past endeavors for self-improvement. The entry in the book shows us that Jimmy Gatz was hoping and actively working towards a better life even before he made the decision to become Jay Gatsby.

""She's got an indiscreet voice," I remarked. "It's full of-" I hesitated. "Her voice is full of money." He said suddenly. That was it. I'd never understood before. It was full of money- that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals' song of it..." (120)

Daisy's special kind of charm, which Nick has commented on since we were first introduced to her at the beginning at the book, really comes from the influence of the money she has. Most importantly, it is Gatsby that helps Nick to understand this.

““Self-control!” repeated Tom incredulously. “I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife”” (130).

While the “Nobody from Nowhere” comment may be in reference to how Gatsby doesn’t really have any kind of truly solid past, at least that Tom is aware of, but it is most likely a jab at his not-as-respectable “New Money” and previous pennilessness.

“‘I know,” he said definitely, “I’m one of these trusting fellas and I don’t think any harm to nobody, but when I get to know a thing I know it. It was the man in that car. She ran out to speak to him and he wouldn’t stop”” (158-159).

While what George is saying may be true, his grief for his not only dead but cheating wife is clouding his judgement into believing that there is a specific person that he can blame and even punish for his wife’s death. While technically there is a specific person he can blame, it is not the same man that his wife is cheating on him with, as we know. His hope for there being a coherent reason behind the mindless accidental death of his wife is what leads him to these thoughts.

“Next morning I sent the butler to New York with a letter to Wolfsheim, which asked for information and urged him to come out on the next train. That request seemed superfluous when I wrote it. I was sure he'd start when he saw the newspapers, just as I was sure there’d be a wire nor Mr. Wolfsheim arrived; no one arrived except more police and photographers and newspaper men” (165).

Nick Carraway sees Gatsby as a very important person, so much so that his entire book written by him about a summer that was supposed to be huge for Nick, is mostly about Gatsby. In fact, a majority of the opinions that we get from him throughout the book are progressively more and more centered around his perceptions of Gatsby. It is this near-obsession that clouds Nick’s vision in a similar manner to George Wilson’s grief over Myrtle’s death. This leads him to believe that Gatsby is as important to others as he is to Nick, making him hold the hope in Gatsby’s stead that anybody, Daisy, Wolfsheim, anybody but the reporters, will care about his death.

““I read somewhere that the sun’s getting hotter every year,” said Tom genially. “ It seems that pretty soon the earth’s going to fall into the sun-or wait a minute- it’s just the opposite- the sun’s getting colder every year”” (118) // ““You think I’m pretty dumb, don’t you?” he suggested. “Perhaps I am, but I have a- almost second sight, sometimes, that tells me what to do. Maybe you don’t believe that, but science-” He paused. The immediate contingency overtook him, pulled him back from the edge of the theoretical abyss” (121).

Tom Buchanan has the option to pursue as much or as little education as he could ever possibly want, no matter the cost, and he often resorts to hearsay, pseudoscience, or inaccurate and/or manipulated information on which to base his opinions of the world and the people in it.

‘“I just wised up to something funny the last two days,” remarked Wilson. “That’s why I want to get away. That’s why I been bothering you about the car.” “What do I owe you?” “Dollar twenty.” … “I’ll let you have that car,” said Tom. “I’ll send it over tomorrow afternoon” (124).

While Tom really does kind of owe Wilson in a way, and he is acknowledging that in his gift of the car, it still isn’t the morally best choice, and it also shows just how little Tom appreciates both money and other people. He might feel some level of guilt, but that never stopped him before.

“I have an idea that Gatsby himself didn’t believe it would come, and perhaps he no longer cared. If that was true he must have felt that he had lost the whole damn world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream” (161).

While this is only really speculation on Nick Carraway’s part as a narrator, it is still a hope of his that Jay was able to recognize that his own hopes were fruitless.

Motifs in The Great Gatsby

by F. Scott Fitzgerald