Issues of perspective are highlighted in the first part of this chapter and profoundly affect the rest of the novel. The opening few lines create uncertainty in the reader and a sense of only having partial knowledge of the meanings. Nick thus undermines himself and his father still further. Only Gatsby - In yet another change of direction, Nick then exempts Gatsby from this decision, introducing his character at a point where the reader has already been so disorientated that they no longer know how they should regard the narrative.
If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures … something gorgeous about him … find again - Nick changes tack and is positive about his neighbour, within a conditional framing clause. Can we trust anything Nick says? He has twisted and turned endlessly in this opening page of the novel, and concludes by making a judgement on Gatsby, which is tied up very closely with his subjective and possibly unreliable reactions to events which are not yet revealed to us:. He introduces his own judgements but also undercuts these so that the reader is unable to determine the most reliable interpretation.
Daisy is portrayed as self-absorbed and indulged. He feels he has been tricked by her and Tom together. Nick presents her as physically attractive, knowledgeable and independent.
She is not married and seems to have the freedom to do as she pleases, prompting Tom to question the role of her family in restraining her.
Finally, there is evidence of domestic violence: Daisy accuses him of hurting her knuckle, which Tom initially denies but does not continue to do so. His introduction as a presence into the novel is shadowy and anonymous, signalling the ways in which he will elude being clearly identified. This is reinforced by his disappearance at the end of this description:.
This all contributes to a sense of Gatsby as special and mysterious. Tom, known for his infidelities, makes no pretense to cover up his affairs.
As Tom and Daisy work to set up Nick and Jordan, they seize the opportunity to question him about his supposed engagement to a girl back home. Nick reassures them there is no impending marriage, merely a series of rumors that cannot substitute for truth. Upon returning home that evening, as he is sitting outside, Nick notices a figure emerging from Gatsby's mansion.
Nick's initial impulse is to call out to Gatsby, but he resists because Gatsby "gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone. Gatsby, standing by the waterside, stretches his arms toward the darkness, trembling. This gesture seems odd to Nick, because all he can make out is a green light, such as one finds at the end of a dock, across the Sound. Looking back at the mysterious figure Nick realizes that Gatsby has vanished. Fitzgerald opens his novel by introducing Nick Carraway, the story's narrator.
Nick has, by his own admission, come "back from the East last autumn," jaded and embittered by his experiences there. The reader knows immediately that the story has already taken place and that Nick is telling it to us through the filter of time. He is distanced from the events at hand and is recounting them by way of memory. It is imperative that readers trust him, then, because time can distort memories, and the reception to the story hinges largely on his impartiality and good judgment.
As a means of establishing faith in the narrator, Fitzgerald carefully develops Nick and positions him both within and without the dramatic situation, creating a dynamic and powerful effect. From the very beginning, even before learning about Gatsby, "the man who gives his name to this book," Fitzgerald gives details about Nick.
In his "younger and more vulnerable years" suggesting he is older and wiser now , his father gave him advice that he has carried with him ever since: "Whenever you feel like criticizing any one.
In this was, the reader is encouraged to trust Nick and to believe in his impartiality and good judgment; a biased narrator will make the narrative reactionary, not honest, so stressing his good judgment is crucial. To ensure that readers don't think Nick is superhuman in his goodness, however, Fitzgerald gives him a mortal side.
Nick's reservation of judgment about people is carefully calculated "snobbish," as he even says and even Nick, the rational narrator, can be pushed too far. His tolerance has a limit, and it is the challenge to this limit that forms the basis of the book at hand. As the chapter continues, more of Nick's background is discussed: the way in which he was raised and his moral character.
Nick continues to sell himself, informing the reader that he is an educated man, having graduated from New Haven, home of Yale University.
He comes from "prominent, well-to-do people in this Middle Western city for three generations. It qualifies Nick to be part of the action which he will unfold — a tale of socialites, money, and privilege — while also keeping him carefully apart. He has come from the Midwest, which for Fitzgerald is a land of perceived morality.
Nick has moved East, and disgusted, returns to the Midwest. The reader knows that Nick is not only upset over the action that he will unfold, but he is downright offended by the moral rancor of the situation. Readers, wanting to believe in their own moral fortitude, find themselves siding with Nick, trusting him to exercise the same sound judgment they themselves would exercise. The story begins. It is , and Nick has moved East to seek his fortune as a bond salesman, a booming, thriving business that, he supposes, "could support one more single man.
This detail immediately encourages readers to see the difference between the "haves" and the "have nots. West Egg, although also home to the rich, was home to "new money," people whose wealth was recently earned, as well as to working class people such as Nick.
On another level, the delineation between the Eggs can also be a metaphorical representation of the sensibilities of people from the Eastern and Western parts of the United States.
The story's first adventure, and the one that comprises a large portion of Chapter 1, is Nick's visit with his cousin, Daisy Buchanan, and her husband, Tom, at their mansion in East Egg. The visit not only introduces the other characters crucial to the story, but it also presents a number of themes that will be developed in various ways throughout the novel.
Daisy and Tom appear in stark contrast to the image of Nick: Whereas he is relatively industrious after all, he came East by himself to make his fortune rather than staying home and doing what is expected of him , the Buchanans live in the lap of luxury. Arriving at the mansion, Nick is greeted by Tom, dressed in riding clothes. Tom is an impressive figure, dressed for a sport linked closely with people of wealth and means "effeminate swank" as Nick calls it.
He stands boldly, with "a rather hard mouth," "a supercilious manner," "two shining arrogant eyes," and speaks with "a touch of paternal contempt. Rather, he is harsh and powerful, caring little for social equality and protocol. He has rank and privilege and that's the way he wants to keep it. The first words out of his mouth — "I've got a nice place here" — bring home his inbred superiority as well.
As the story unfolds, Tom serves as a foil to Gatsby, marking a striking contrast from Gatsby's newly found wealth and dreamy nature. Fitzgerald sets the women, Daisy and her friend Jordan Baker, in a dreamlike setting, emphasizing their inability to deal with reality.
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