Concetti Chiave
- The Great Gatsby is set during the Roaring Twenties, with contrasting locations: wealthy Manhattan and the nouveau riche Long Island, separated by a desolate wasteland called the vale of ashes.
- Main characters include Nick, who lives near Gatsby; Jordan, depicted as dishonest; Daisy, who is portrayed as beautiful yet superficial; and Tom, who is aggressive and prejudiced.
- Gatsby is depicted as a Byronic hero with a mysterious origin, embodying both a hard exterior and tender interior, revealed gradually through party gossip.
- Gatsby's character encompasses elements of a tragic hero due to his flaw, Daisy, and a romantic hero for his idealistic sacrifices.
- The narrative is retrospective, with Nick as the first-person observer, and the language is poetic, utilizing repetitions, anaphors, and oxymorons.
The Great Gatsby was written in 1925 by Francis Fitzgerald.
It is divided in nine chapters.
Setting and Main Characters
Time setting: The Roaring Twenties
Place setting:
- Manhattan: (east part, where lived rich people who have inherited their money);
- Long Island (west part, where new rich lived: people who has earned their money.
To arrive to the other part they had to cross the vale of ashes, a waste, desolate land.
- Nick: he lives near Gatsby.
- Jordan: dishonest and careless.
- Daisy: beautiful but empty.
- Tom: aggressive and full of prejudices.
Characteristics of Gatsby
Gatsby is a sort of Byronic hero: he has mysterious origin, is a lonely person, he’s very attractive, he seems hard but tender inside.He’s presented bit by bit: by parties’ gossips. He is introduced only in the third chapter: he is youth and good-looking. Gatsby’s dream is to delete the past and have Daisy back.
He’s a tragic hero: he has a flow, Daisy.
He is a romantic hero: he sacrifices himself for an ideal.
He is ‘great’ because he is the only one who lives for something, the others are aimless, drifters and restless.
Narrative Style and Language
The story is retrospective: Nick writes it when he is came back from the Middenwest.
There is the first person narrator as an observer.
The language is poetic, full of repetitions and anaphors and oxymoron.
Domande da interrogazione
- What is the significance of the setting in "The Great Gatsby"?
- What narrative style does Fitzgerald employ in "The Great Gatsby"?
The setting of "The Great Gatsby" is crucial as it reflects the social divide of the Roaring Twenties. Manhattan represents the old money elite, while Long Island is home to the new rich. The vale of ashes symbolizes the moral and social decay between these worlds.
Fitzgerald uses a retrospective narrative style with Nick as the first-person observer. The language is poetic, featuring repetitions, anaphors, and oxymorons, enhancing the novel's reflective and lyrical quality.
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