- Chapter summary for the Great Gatsby
- detailed analysis for the chapter
- used by myself for the OCR: English literature and language specification (H074, H474)
- however, it can be used for other specifications
- achieved A* with these notes (combined with others I have uploaded)
- Nick receives an invitation to one of Gatsby’s famous parties and visits his neighbours famous mansion for the first
time
- Nick spends the evening with Jordan Baker trying to find the host of the party, but they just hear a lot of gossip and
wild rumours. When Nick finally meets Gatsby, he is nothing like he expected.
- Gatsby speaks to Jordan about a private matter but Jordan refuses to tell Nick what Gatsby said.
- After the party Nick gives a brief description of his life in New York and his developing relationship with Jordan.
Nick finally meets the eponymous (title character of the work) hero of the story but doesn’t even realise.
The poetic language lends a magical atmosphere to the parties. Gatsby’s ‘blue gardens’ are alive with ‘the
whisperings and the champagne and the stars’ – the list form draws together sound, taste and sight.
The party scene seems to increase in pace as the evening progresses, and Nick’s perspective changes as well –
initially Nick sees everything from far away and it seems romantic and poetic: ‘floating rounds of cocktails permeate
the garden outside, until the air is alive with chatter and laughter’.
Later, when Nick focuses on the people and becomes involved in the party’s action, everything becomes sharp and
vivid: ‘she narrowed her eyes and shivered. We all turned and looked around for Gatsby’.
The wild excess and drunkenness of Gatsby’s parties suggest that Fitzgerald wanted to give a sense of both the
depravity and the hedonism of the wealthy in 1920’s America. There’s a sharp contrast between the guests’ bad
behaviour and the magical surroundings. This highlights both Nick and Fitzgerald’s simultaneous attraction and
repulsion for the era. The emptiness of this lifestyle is symbolised by the ‘oranges and lemons’ that reduce to ‘pulp
less halves’ by Monday.
Conspicuous consumption:
In Chapter 1, Nick tells us that he drives ‘an old Dodge’, an ordinary make of American car. Gatsby’s British Rolls
Royce and his yellow station wagon, like his mansion, clothes and parties, mark him out as a rich man. The American
sociologist Thorstein Veblen used the term ‘conspicuous consumption’ to describe how the rich displayed their
wealth through possessions. Gatsby’s life is a blatant example of conspicuous consumption.
Gatsby’s expensive cars are part of his plan to impress Daisy; they are meant to stand out from the crowd.
Eventually, they play a key role in his downfall. Following Myrtle’s death in Chapter 7, it is easy for George to track
down the owner of the car that killed her.
Fitzgerald made careful use of cars, telephones and electric lighting. We take these things for granted, but they were
recent innovations in the 20’s, and they play a significant part of the story.
Description of the party:
Fitzgerald’s impressionistic description of the party has a blend of long shots and close-up scenes. Observed first
form Nick’s house, we see both the stars and the coloured lights that ‘make a Christmas tree of Gatsby’s enormous
garden’. Nick uses the term ‘spectroscopic gaiety’ to create the image of a prism, separating the light into a whole
spectrum of colours.
Bright primary colours predominate and yellow seems the most dominant; even the cocktail music is yellow, an
example of synaesthesia that suggests bright, cheerful, superficial music. The colours are ‘gaudy’, and Nick stands
out because he is dressed in white, possibly symbolising his naivety or his belief in his moral superiority.
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