"THE GREAT GATSBY". F.SCOTT
FITZGERALD. CORINNENOTES
"THE GREAT GATSBY". F.SCOTT
FITZGERALD.
QUESTION 1
HOW DOES FITZGERALD USE DYNAMIC CHARACTERISATION TO DEVELOP HIS THEMES?
Being a bit of a Jay Gatsby fan I'd start with him. Gatsby is (without putting him into connection with the other characters) used to develop the themes of the American Dream (or dream/reality) and past/present. If you connect him to other characters he also develops the idea of a moral and spiritual waste land but I'll deal with him on his own first.
I'd look at how he dominates the novel despite the fact he doesn't appear until a third of the way into it and dies before the end. Look at his character and mannerisms (particularly the whole "old sport" thing) and his past,particularly the past he'd have liked to have had. Everything about Gatsby appears to be bigger and showier than necessary (the house,the unworn shirts, the parties). On the surface Gatsby is living the American Dream however Fitzgerald undermines this through Gatsby. There's the lovely symbolism of the "Merton College Library" and the fact that Owl Eyes notices the books (and therefore Gatsby) is real. Gatsby may have all this outer show but he is also real. This is where the pathos enters his character with the "green light" which highlights the empty materialism of the American Dream (see themes). This can also be translated to Gatsby's individual dream, which is "already behind him". This brings in the theme of past/present, Gatsby himself is never able to reconcile this conflict (when he comes into contact with the clock he almost knocks it over). Gatsby is undoubtedly the most dynamic character within the novel and even his death is dramatic. What does the fact that Gatsby dies have to say about the American dream? Equally his funeral and its emptiness, while highlighting the moral waste land which surrounds him, also reveals something which has more meaning and substance (with the symbolic rain). I'm not sure how far you want to go into this but there is also the obvious factor of how much we see of Gatsby is real and how much is of Nick's creation. It is always wise to remember that Nick removes the graffiti and we as the reader tend to do this too,especially after Daisy's rejection of him. Don't forget to mention how Gatsby isn't always the nicest, most straightforward person around and is preoccupied with materialism. Gatsby is undoubtedly a product of the American waste land as much as any of the other characters.The problem simply is, like his car, we can never quite tell what colour he is.
Of all of the characters it is Tom who has the biggest physical presence in the novel, he is the one where the "carelessness" of the waste land collides. Look at the violence which surrounds him, the car and his house and the way he attacks Gatsby. If we take Gatsby to represent what America could have been then Tom is what Fitzgerald's America is, and his attacks show how it is erasing any hope for redemption. Tom's character is also inextricably linked to the valley of ashes, Fitzgerald's literal waste land. We can infer that this is the reality of the dream and this is also the reality of Tom.
Like Gatsby Daisy is a character who we have to be careful of due to Nick's romantic tendencies. Her voice may "sound like money" but this would indicate materialism rather than Nick's more idealistic interpretation. As a bit of a feminist I'd point out how Daisy is trapped between two men (how typical!) neither of whom really understand her, Tom has little feeling for her other than as a possession while Gatsby idealises her, but you may not agree with that! As the "green light" Daisy also reveals the reality of the dream, the materialism which characterises it and the destructive nature of it. She is responsible for the death of Myrtle and ,indirectly that of Gatsby and Wilson and is therefore just "another bad driver". I have trouble thinking as Daisy as a separate character instead always seeming to link her with either Tom or Gatsby and of her time in the novel she seems to be with one or the other almost constantly. Due to this her character has to be assessed with the man she choose, which is of course Tom. My overriding image of her is her absence at the funeral which characterises the reality of the dream and the fact that while Gatsby was living in the past Daisy is resoundly living in the present. Ultimately living for herself and whatever she gets out of her relationship with Tom.
Obviously Nick is the character we know best by the end of the novel, but, due to his own self depreciation, he seems less dynamic than those around him. Yet, as Fitzgerald reminds us through Jordan Baker, he is another "bad driver". He claims total honesty but he manipulates events and injects his own interpretations into them. We can never be sure exactly how much of the story is actually Nick's story rather than the other characters. Nick clings to Gatsby because of what Gatsby represents. Gatsby is the hope which Nick needs in such a spiritual vacuum as he exists in. Nick wants to believe in the American Dream but Fitzgerald refuses to let him, he does however let the rain fall on him and therefore gives him hope for redemption. A parallel can be drawn between Nick and the reader. Does either learn from Gatsby's tale? If Nick learns can society or is it too full of people like the Buchanans?
Obviously you need to connect the characters to provide reasoning for how themes such as west/east is created and it would probably be worthwhile to look at Jordan (and the fact that her name is made up of two types of cars) and Myrtle (and how she is the product of the waste land). You could even comment on Wilson but he probably doesn't merit a section of his own but could provide a nice comparison to Tom, especially as to why Tom survives and Wilson doesn't.