What does the conflict in this excerpt reveal about Buck and Francois? The man is the antagonist because he is opposing Buck. Based on this excerpt, what inference can be made about Daisy Buchanan? Her beauty is matched by her intellect. She values independence more than anything.
Her beauty and ease mask a darker reality. Why does Gatsby throw huge, expensive parties for people he does not even know? He is hoping that the insane parties will draw her attention and he hopes that she will eventually wind up stumbling into a party.
The valley of ashes is the depressing industrial area of Queens that is in between West Egg and Manhattan. Nick Carraway turning thirty symbolizes him going into the age of lonliness. Its now clear to Nick that he is going to face a lonely life and also lacks having a dream for his future. Nick observes all of Gatsbys dreams with Daisy and his life goals and realizes that he doesnt have any of his own.
Based on her speech , Myrtle appears to be a rather passionate and excitable character. Dreams are useful, to a point, but when they consume the dreamer, they lead to destruction. In true Fitzgerald fashion, and in keeping with the way he has effectively withheld information regarding Gatsby's past throughout the novel, just when the reader thinks he or she knows all, Gatsby's father arrives and gives yet another peek into Gatsby's past.
Henry C. Gatz, an unassuming man who is not nearly as wretched as one may have imagined, arrives for his son's burial. The relationship between father and son is estranged, even in death, as evidenced by Gatz's burying "Jimmy" in the East where "he always liked it better. In one noted example, Nick finds Gatz "walking up and down excitedly in the hall. His pride in his son and in his son's possessions was continually increasing.
Gatz also fills in Gatsby's early days by pointing to a schedule written in , when Gatsby was about fourteen years old. First, it happens to be in Hopalong Cassidy , a famous Western adventure serial from the turn of the century. The book is significant in that it helps explain where Gatsby's dreamer spirit came from. The schedule, too, speaks to a dreamer's spirit.
The itinerary is commendable: Gatsby, from the early days, aspired to greatness. After Gatsby's funeral, wherein Nick and Gatz are the chief and nearly sole mourners, little is left for Nick in the East. In fact, he comes to the realization that in the end, Tom, Daisy, Gatsby, Jordan, and he all come from the West and in the end they all "possessed some deficiency in common which made [them] subtly unadaptable to Eastern life.
Before he leaves, however, Nick has two important experiences. First, he speaks with Jordan on the phone. What he learns is surprising, but strangely in keeping with her character: She chastises him for being the first man who has ever broken up with her, but before ending the conversation she gets in one last strike, hitting his secret vanity and labeling him as deceitful and dishonest. The second important experience occurs when Nick bumps into Tom on the street.
Although he tries to avoid Tom, meeting him can't be helped. Tom, as arrogant as ever, initiates conversation, slightly offended that Nick won't shake hands upon their meeting. During the short conversation, Nick learns that Tom, not surprisingly, had a role in Gatsby's death.
When Wilson came to Tom's house, gun in hand, Tom directed Wilson to Gatsby, not feeling an ounce of remorse. In his mind's eye, what he had done was "entirely justified," leading Nick to the apt conclusion that Tom and Daisy were "careless people," using people like objects, until they no longer serve a purpose, then they discard them and move on.
This realization is more than Nick can stand and forces him to a new level of maturity. In the end, he shakes hands with Tom, finding no reason not to because Tom and the people he represents is really no more than a child. The final chapter of the novel again draws attention to the green light at the end of the dock, and in turn, to the hopes and dreams of society. Readers are left with a final image of Gatsby as a powerful presence who lives on despite the destruction of the dream and the decay of the estate.
Nick again reminds the reader of the thin line separating dreams from reality, causing everyone to stop and wonder about the validity of the dreams people chase. Is everyone, like Gatsby, chasing illusions while neglecting reality? Can anyone ever escape being held hostage by the past, continually working to get back to better times and sometimes missing the joy of the present?
According to Nick, the more Gatsby reached for his dream, the more it retreated into the shadowy past, taking him further and further away from what is real. Gatsby had hope and believed in the bounty of what was ahead, but it brought him face-to-face with his own destruction.
Although one may look at Gatsby and realize the futility of chasing dreams at the expense of the here and now , in the end, is anyone really that different? Perhaps there's a bit of Gatsby in everyone. After all, society is, as Nick says, "boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. His money is old and secure. The first three chapters span what time period? In the final paragraph on page 55, how does the viewpoint change? How is this accomplished?
What is the purpose? Nick steps out of the action of the story and fi lls the reader in on other happenings. The reader sees that Nick has been diligently at work leading quite a normal life and that the three parties spoken of were not the norm for him. Nick adds to his credibility. What is the second ugly character flaw revealed about Jordan? How does this affect the reader? She lies in her private life as well as in her public life as an athlete.
The reader has been warned and should not take anything she says to heart. The relationship Nick has with the reader is strengthened by his honesty. The reader now believes Nick to be a credible narrator. How does the motif of geography in the novel help shape its themes and characters? The four motifs of geography correspond with a particular theme or type of character encountered.
Setting reinforces the themes and characters throughout the entire book. Related documents. The Great Gatsby Ch.
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