Passage Analysis: Great Gatsby

Text

Exam Question

Consider how the writer uses language to present Gatsby How prominent wealth and decadence are in the scene

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. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city, between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants including an extra gardener toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before. Every Friday five crates of oranges and lemons arrived from a fruiterer in New York__every Monday these same oranges and lemons left his back door in a pyramid of pulpless halves. There was a machine in the kitchen which could extract the juice of two hundred oranges in half an hour, if a little button was pressed two hundred times by a butler`s thumb. At least once a fortnight a corps of caterers came down with several hundred feet of canvas and enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby`s enormous garden. 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. By seven o`clock the orchestra has arrived__no thin five-piece affair but a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos and low and high drums. The last swimmers have come in from the beach now and are dressing upstairs the cars from New York are parked five deep in the drive, and already the halls and salons and verandas are gaudy with primary colors and hair shorn in strange new ways and shawls beyond the dreams of Castile. The bar is in full swing and floating rounds of cocktails permeate the garden outside until the air is alive with chatter and laughter and casual innuendo and introductions forgotten on the spot and enthusiastic meetings between women who never knew each other`s names. The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun and now the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music and the opera of voices pitches a key higher. Laughter is easier, minute by minute, spilled with prodigality, tipped out at a cheerful word. The groups change more swiftly, swell with new arrivals, dissolve and form in the same breath__already there are wanderers, confident girls who weave here and there among the stouter and more stable, become for a sharp, joyous moment the center of a group and then excited with triumph glide on through the sea-change of faces and voices and color under the constantly changing light. Suddenly one of these gypsies in trembling opal, seizes a cocktail out of the air, dumps it down for courage and moving her hands like Frisco dances out alone on the canvas platform. A momentary hush the orchestra leader varies his rhythm obligingly for her and there is a burst of chatter as the erroneous news goes around that she is Gilda Gray`s understudy from the "Follies." The party has begun.

Paper 1- Great Gatsby

Structure

1. Introduction/ thesis statement

2. depiction of people

3. depiction of colours/sound

4. depiction of decadence/ romanticism of the language

Introduction/ thesis statement: Nick walks across the lawn to attend one of Gatsby`s infamous parties. For the reader, like for Nick, it is the first close interaction that we have with the eponymous character. Undoubtedly, the key element to this descri ptive passage is an emphasis on wealth, decadence and luxury through the excessive descri ptions.

This iconic scene from The Great Gatsby is a detailed descri ption of the allusive eponymous character s party. It is important to remember that this is from the perspective of Nick Carraway, but Nick takes more of a distant role from the narrative voice. Through descri ptions of the guests, the material aspects of the party, and specific colours and sounds, it is evident that, like Gatsby, nothing feels fixed or concrete. In this way, the reader feels like a guest at the party and we have a real intimate relationship with the setting.

There are moments where Nick permeates the glossy surface and the reader has glimpses into the unsettling reality beneath.

Romantic / ephemeral/ nostalgic/ dreamy/ passionate/ wistful / fleeting / heated / garish / gaudy / extravagant (focus on the tone)

Steps out of the first person narrative- we are in the party, allows the reader to step in (appears more objective so we feel closer to the action)- intimate relationship with the setting (very detailed)

How are people described in this passage

lack of individuality to these people- `men`, `girls`, `guests`, `parties`, `eight servants`, `groups`, `wanderers`, `sea-change of faces`= nothing feels distinct or personal, overwhelming, saturated sense of atmosphere or environment (relationship to Jordan), sense of anonymity in a crowd, foreshadowing Gatsby`s nature or personality, something uncomfortable in relationship between `men` and `girls`- perverted sense of reality, unnatural relationships- inappropriate (`most of his female guests...): shady, uncomfortable, unsettling atmosphere

descri ption of people as moths- `whisperings...like moths`- moths attracted by light (Gatsby`s light), superficial and narrow-minded, comparison to Daisy (light and moth-like)- reminds us of the objective for these parties in capturing Daisy (simile, polysyndeton)- extends the image, highlights the idea of these people fleeting, nothing is concrete or certain

Focus on sound rather than physicality or verbalisation- `laughter...spillled...tipped`, swell, dissolve, a lot of water imagery (relationship to alcohol, constantly moving, loosening up, freeing of former social constrictions/ expectations/formalities, focus on verbs and adverbs, more adjectival, one very long sentence, focus more on the sensory rather than something rational or concrete, blurry/ hazy- reflects the alcohol, visual images and the colour- `the sea-change of faces and voices and color under the constantly changing light.`- nothing is distinct, featureless faces- morphing into different people/elements

very melodramatic image/ excessive/ over-the-top: dramatic action `seizes`, `dumps`, `dances out alone`- feels very theatrical, `one of these gypsies`- Nick`s condescension of these people, reminds us that perspective of Nick only (bias here)- reflects the water movement of the action reacting off each other (momentary hush...burst of chatter)- different rhythms, our first introduction to a concrete person- the way that they are validated as by their status or reputation as a celebrity, idea of being seen rather than having their own agency

Immediately after this, there is a real pithy statement- the party has begun. Ironic that it only begins when someone of status is known to be there, the tone of that line is in contrast to the romantic descri ptions of above, sense of Nick`s sarcasm here

`women who never knew each other`s names`- not based on identity but face value/ presence/status

Overall- people are anonymised with labels, described through their hazy actions rather than through dialogue or conversation (focus on similes, long sentences, verbs and adverbs rather than direct speech), no individuality- focus on the material and the superficial, morphing and merging of actions, nothing appears concrete or definite, Nick`s perspective (reminder of that), focus on water imagery and light, the senses (reminded that no one is invited- sense of coming and going with no responsibility or obligation like moths)

Follies- musical with lots of feathers

How are sound (sensory experience) and colour described in this passage

so many aspects to think about (synthesia): quantity of instruments here (very loud instruments)- polysyndeton (emphasises the volume of the instruments), internal rhyme (saxophone and trombone)- emphasis on vowel sounds (reflects the sounds of the instruments themselves)- euphonic language

whole pitful (the professional world of musicals/theatre/opera- bringing the stage to the party)= sense that they are playing for performers which is effectively what these people are

panoramic experience (all-encompassing experience- overwhelming for the senses)

old money (in direct juxtaposition here)- mention of Castile (dream of...)= emphasises Gatsby`s dream (focus on the illusion), fabrication of old world with new money (it is simply just a dream, unattainable just like Daisy)

blue (calm/serene) garden (permeate)- breaking the illusion (aggressive tones to this verb)- shattered by his guests and alcohol

next section- definite polysyndeton- pattern for using it to emphasise the decadence and extravagance of the party (the nouns and adjectives are infinite/never-ending)

simile: mythology (the horses that drag the sun across the sky), idea of reality leaving (idea of higher stakes and focus on a dream world/illusion rather than the reality that the sun brings)

idea of natural world being contorted and controlled by a higher power (here implied as Gatsby god-like creature)- we never actually see him but all this action is happening

the lights and the music coming together and mixing (synthesia)- pattern of yellow (Daisy is always associated with the colour yellow- money)- why she married Tom

(historically, south associated with old money- slave trade and north- red/white/blue- historically more modern)- white as associated with virginity, idea fo Daisy as a faded/degraded white= yellow (essay on colours in GG)

high space, helps in building the suspense before we actually meet Gatsby

How is material decadence described in this passage

Focus on colours, light, modern technology, complex pastoralism, synasthesia (merging of colours, senses and sounds)

Objects mentioned: blue gardens, champagne, motorboats, aquaplanes, Rolls-Royces, station wagon (yellow), oranges and lemons, specific machine, canvas and coloured lights, glistening hors-d`oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold, gins and liquors and with cordials, yellow cocktail music

Explanation: focus on primary colours (blue, yellow)- sense of vibrancy and life, perversion of nature (blue garden), sense of illusion/superficiality/ surface level, garden is blue because of the lights (sense of surfaces rather than substance), focus on modern technology (Rolls-Royce- English brand, shows high status and wealth, hints to nobility/ aristocracy), station wagon) and new money, frivolous item of machine just to de-pulp oranges, really luxurious and rich foods, descri ption of food- focus on the oral (alliteration, like a tongue twister, focus on vowels- euphonic language- reflects the food itself- rich and mouthful, polysyndeton- draws the images out, emphasises the quality and the quantity), definite focus on alcohol and drunkenness (gins and liquors and with cordials), buffet tables- sense that the food is limitless, people can just help themselves rather than it being a set meal

station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug- simile, from 9 until midnight, constancy of Gatsby`s generosity (extravagance- emphasis on the quantity of people coming)

And on Mondays eight servants including an extra gardener toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before: COMPARISON to descri ption fo the servant`s objects- we have a sense of the reality of these parties (mops, scrubbing-brushes, hammers, garden-shears)- sense of the effort and toil behind these parties, awareness of class (Marxist point of view- focus on social and class structures)- reminder of how close these hierarchies are (jarring juxtaposition between the wealth and decadence of these images and the real people that have to deal with the consequences)- `ravages` (animalistic connotations)- that these people have no care/morals for others- selfishness

awareness of Gatsby`s attempts to rise away from his social background and the impossibilities of escaping your roots, paradox of this society: sense that you can move forward but still engrained- as shown by Tom`s attitudes

Conclusion

Overall- people are anonymised with labels, described through their hazy actions rather than through dialogue or conversation (focus on similes, long sentences, verbs and adverbs rather than direct speech), no individuality- focus on the material and the superficial, morphing and merging of actions, nothing appears concrete or definite, Nick`s perspective (reminder of that), focus on water imagery and light, the senses (reminded that no one is invited- sense of coming and going with no responsibility or obligation like moths)

Follies- musical with lots of feathers

Primarily/ Furthermore/ Moreover

Essay

This iconic scene from The Great Gatsby is a detailed descri ption of the allusive eponymous character s party. It is important to remember that this is from the perspective of Nick Carraway, but Nick takes more of a distant role from the narrative voice. Through descri ptions of the guests, the material aspects of the party, and specific colours and sounds, it is evident that, like Gatsby, nothing feels fixed or concrete. In this way, the reader feels like a guest at the party and we have a real intimate relationship with the setting. Undoubtedly, the key element to this descri ptive passage, highlighted through various linguistic choices, is an emphasis on wealth, decadence and luxury through the excessive, drawn-out descri ptions. However, what is clear is that there are moments where Nick permeates the glossy surface and the reader has glimpses into the unsettling reality beneath, which foreshadows the ultimate apotheosis.

Primarily, this extract depicts the wide array of extravagant, perhaps superficial guests that attend Gatsby`s parties. What is most clear in this passage is the lack of individuality of Gatsby`s guests. They are described in general, collective terms as `men`, `girls`, `guests`, `wanderers` rather than by their names or their specific identities. Nothing feels distinct or personal and there is an overwhelming and saturated sense of atmosphere, produced by these people. Undoubtedly, there is a sense of anonymity, which foreshadows Gatsby`s illusive personality. Fitzgerald through Nick likens the guests to `moths`. This simile is significant as moths are attracted to light, which highlights Gatsby`s reason for hosting these parties: his ultimate capture of the moth-like Daisy. The polysyndeton employed here highlights the romanticism and extends the image of the fleeting nature of the guests as nothing is concrete or certain. In addition, there is a real focus on sound rather than physicality or verbalisation to describe the guests. Fitzgerald writes, `Laughter is easier, minute by minute, spilled with prodigality, tipped out at a cheerful word. The groups change more swiftly, swell with new arrivals, dissolve and form in the same breath`. There is an emphasis on water imagery, which underlines the presence of alcohol in this constantly moving atmosphere, which is devoid of social formalities and constrictions. It is clear that alcohol removes societal barriers and illusions are forced to fade away. Fitzgerald hones in on verbs and adverbs in this very long sentence so that there is a real sense of movement and surfaces rather than reality, harking back to the initial image of the moth. The rhythm of the syntax reflects the swaying of the drunk guests. As well as this, Nick depicts a very melodramatic image: . `Suddenly [she] seizes a cocktail out of the air, dumps it down for courage and moving her hands like Frisco dances out alone on the canvas platform.` There is a focus on dramatic action, shown through verbs such as `seizes`, `dumps` and `dances out`. This implies a theatricality and like the wandering guests, a fragmented rhythm shown through a `momentary hush` and then a `burst of chatter`. It is interesting that the reader`s first introduction to a concrete person at this party is through their status or reputation as a celebrity rather than through a character study. it is important to remember that Nick`s subjective stance is not entirely removed from this scene, but it is subtly threaded in specific language choices. He purposefully removes himself to allow the reader to experience the party for the first time, just like he did. Nick refers to this particular woman as `one of these gypsies`, which reveals his condescension of these people. As well as this, he refers to the guests as only being `men` and `girl` which reveals an unsettling atmosphere, hinting at unnatural relationships. It is clear that this party represents a perverted reality. The last sentence of this extract reads, `the party has begun`. This pithy statement is in direct contrast to the romantic, incensed descri ptions above and the reader really sense Nick`s sarcasm here.

Furthermore, although Nick`s descri ptions of people are important, there is more of a focus on colour, vivid imagery, and the sensory in this passage. Undoubtedly, there is an emphasis on the use of synaesthesia. Nick emphasises the quantity of instruments present at the party in the line, `no thin five-piece affair but a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos and low and high drums.` There is a real focus on linguistic choice in this line. The use of polysyndeton emphasises the volume of the instruments and this point is supported by the internal rhyme between the nouns `saxophone` and `trombone`, which is highlighted further through the euphonic language in this extract. This choice serves to reflect the sounds of the instruments themselves, draws the reader into a panoramic experience of the setting so that we feel like we are Nick at the party, experiencing it for the first time. As soon as the music starts, there is a sense that the initial illusion of serenity is broken as Nick interestingly employs the verb `permeates` which implies an aggressive intrusion by the drunken guests. It is significant to note that there is a transition from a palette of blue to that of yellow. Nick writes of `yellow cocktail music`, turkeys that are `dark gold`, as well as the garish `lights` as they `grow brighter`. In this scene, there is a definite employment of synaesthesia as the lights and music bleed into each other. Yellow is a emblematic colour in the text as it signifies wealth and historically, it is connected to the old money of the south. In addition, Nick states that `the lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun`. This simile has mythological resonance in the legend of Phaethon who`s horses dragged the sun across the sky to create night. This point links to the mythology surrounding Gatsby and his allusive, God-like character in that he has some ambiguous control, even over the natural world. In addition, there is a resonance here with the idea of sunlight as eliciting truth and with nightfall, the idea of reality leaving. This is especially evident with the extravagance and dreamlike quality of the party, which feels far away from the grounded reality and social convention of daily normality. What is clear is that there is a real focus on the sensory experience of the party through the use of sounds and colour.

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Moreover, although there is a focus on colours, visuals, and people, Nick also uses material objects to reveal the decadence and sheer wealth of Gatsby`s party. Throughout the extract, there is a variety of objects revealed to the reader. Undoubtedly, owing to the nature of this party, the quantity and quality of the food and drink provided is really underlined. Nick writes of `glistening hors-d`oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold`. It is clear that in the descri ption of the food, there is a focus on the oral experience through alliteration and a focus on both cacophonous and euphonic language which in itself, reflects the rich, viscous, muscular nature of the food. The use of polysyndeton here only acts to draw out the images further. Nick also writes of the extent of alcohol available: `gins and liquors and with cordials`. There is a definite focus on alcohol and drunkenness, which is revealed through the syntax of the language in that like the swaying guests, stops and starts, unpredictably. What is clear is that the refreshments provided are in excess and limitless through the buffet-style service. In addition, Nick reveals Gatsby`s wealth through a focus on modern technology. This is shown through `motoboats`, `aquaplanes`, `Rolls-Royces`, the `station wagon` as well as a specific machine to press oranges. This reveals a complex pastoralism as there is a tension between old, ancestral money and values and a progression towards modern technology. This conflict is epitomised in the direct juxtaposition of Tom`s obsession with polo and Gatsby`s endless motorcars, particularly the `rich cream` car that kills Myrtle. However, although there is a focus on the decadent, Nick also reminds the reader of the other side of such excess: `And on Mondays eight servants including an extra gardener toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before`. Through these domestic objects in such direct comparison to the luxurious food and state-of-the-art technology, the reader has a sense of the reality and toil behind these parties. In this one line, the illusion is shattered and the reader is forced to recognise the social hierarchies still ever-present in this society.