The Great Gatsby: Hypothesis Bank

• Fitzgerald utilizes the weather to intensify the mood in pivotal scenes in the novel. To show a buildup of tension in chapter 7, Fitzgerald describes the weather a ‘broling’ hot to indicate hightened emotional intencity, and foreshadow the showdown between Tom and Gatsby.

• Fitzgerald builds up tension through pathetic fallacy in his description of the bleak and omissions setting of the Valley of Ashes, to emphasize the unjust divide between the rich and poor, and foreshadow Tom’s abuse of power over Wilson. (Wilson is described as having blue eyes = symbolism of truth and honesty)

• The use of internal analysis creates suspense as clearly the memory of these events is significant enough for Nick to recount.

• Fitzgerald delays mention of Gatsby until dialogue in chapter 3, in which he shows that Gatsby’s past is mysterious even to those who know him, and this generates suspense about who he really is and why he is the Titular character of the novel.

• Fitzgerald uses water imagery in the description of the Buchanan's mansion, to represent the higher classes as a powerful element that can’t be controlled.

• Fitzgerald creates the juxtaposed characters, both in power and status, of Tom and Wilson, to amplify the oppression of the poor by the rich and privileged.

• Fitzgerald uses water imagery to suggest the power of uncontrollable forces, and this generates suspence.

BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS/Structure/time

• Fitzgerald uses the motif of the green light to symbolise Gatsby’s hope and dreams at the beginning and the end of the novel, to show that the events have gone full circle, and despite Gatsby belief, the American Dream has failed and is ultimately a myth that leads to tragedy.

• Fitzgerald juxtaposes the beginning and end of Nick and Jordan's relationship, to symbolise the chaotic and dissatisfied nature of the 1920s elite classes

• Chapter 3 ‘oranges and lemons’ metaphor people beaten drained. Metaphor for corruption. Will leave you worse off than you started.

• Pathetic fallacy - Gatsby meets Daisy in the Autumn (temporary) and Tom in the Spring (new beginnings!)

• Water imagery - Gatsby is free and exploring the world to begin with, then later killed in the water.

• Framing structures, analepsis and prolepsis, significant episodes and their relation to the wider text

• Structural parallel of the parties in Chapters 3 and 6 and the different moods and atmospheres at both due to the presence of the Buchanans at the latter and there was also less focus on the rapid denouement and the tragic end or the arrival of Henry Gatz.

• Fitzgerald's use of internal analepsis builds tension when F shows that the writing character, Nick, is calling a significant event in his life after the events of the novel, and therefore they must be significant for him to write to such length.?

• Fitzgerald uses motifs, including the green light and the broken timepiece, to show that his titular character refuses to accept time and change, which leads to his ultimate downfall. (quote: 'You can't repeat the past' 'Why, of course you can!'

• Nick’s changing views over time are used by Fitzgerald to show that America in the 1920s was restless and dissatisfied.

• Fitzgerald uses water imagery to show that despite rejecting his past and creating a new mythical life, the American Dream is a myth.

NARRATIVE VOICE

• Nick identified most frequently as an unreliable, peripheral homodiegetic participant in the narrative who has both privileged and limited access to events in the novel.

• Alternate voices such as those of Jordan, Michaelis and even young Gatz through the list his father has saved, briefly take over the narration and successful candidates were able to comment on the impact on the reader of shifting perspectives and framing.

Relationships

• Fitzgerald uses the fleeting relationship between Jordan and Nick to represent the chaotic and restless lifestyle of the elite classes in the 1920s

• Fitzgerald presents Tom and Daisy’s relationship as dysfunctional

• Fitzgerald uses the symbiotic relationship between Gatsby and the green light to symbolise Gatsby’s pursuit of Daisy, and the American Dream

• Fitzgerald uses the relationship between Gatsby and Nick to show how, while Gatsby reflects the sober voice of reason Nick represents, his overwhelming desire to reunite with the past the American Dream skews his perspective.

- As he has structured the novel Fitzgerald uses repeated motifs to imply that the American Dream is vacuous myth. (Beginning and ending of novel – Daisy’s dock and the pool)

- Fitzgerald only reveals the truth about Gatsby’s past in the final chapter, creating suspicion and tension around his titular character. (foreshadowing, pathetic fallacy, final revelation after Gatsby's death – pathos).

- Another way Fitzgerald creates  suspense around Gatsby is through long sequences of dialogue which cast suspicion about his past. (hyperbole, Grice’s maxims)

- Structure is used to create contrasting settings which enable Fitzgerald to intensify the inequality in America at this time. (Buchanan’s vs Valley of Ashes)

- The modernist non-chronological narrative enables Fitzgerald to reveal the narrative through the unreliable Nick Caraway and this unreliable narrative voice echoes the uncertainty and hypocrisy of the age. (internal analepsis, stream of consciousness)

- Fitzgerald uses extended descriptive passage to create tension and foreshadow the tragic events of the novel. (pathetic fallacy, summer to Autumn)

- Fitzgerald utilises a cyclical narrative to show the American dream in a myth. (Nick’s journey East to Nick’s journey West)

- Fitzgerald uses foreshadowing to create tension as well as to convey a discontented society. (car crash at party, the fatal car crash

- Fitzgerald presents companionship in the novel as a source of conflict as most of the relationships are unstable and virulent. This is clearly represented early on in the novel when two “wives were lifted, kicking, into the night...” after two men removed them from Gatsby’s party

Moreover this idea that women are unequal in 1920s Amercia is reinforced through Tann’s attitude towards Myrtle. For instance Tom gives Myrtle a “dog leash “which symbolises his control of the affair. Tom also decides when they meet and what she is allowed to say as he “broke her nose with his open hand

Fitzgerald uses Nick’s voice as a vehicle to explore Gatsby’s ambiguous past, and consequently critique a society where it is entirely possible to re-create one’s identiy for personal gain.

The cyclical nature of Nick’s narration is used by Fitzgerlad to imply that the American Dream is a myth, and that society is irretrivably corrupt. (Chapter 1 wants to move to east, then towards end wants to move back West)

Nick’s discontented narration reminds the reader that many Americans at this time experienced eelings of isolation; Fitzgerlad reminds the reader that despite the promise of the American Dream, inequalities still remain rife.

Nicks’s prescient narration is a reminder of the dangers of Capitalism.

Nick’s restless narration acts as a metaphor to hold a mirror up to society, that is genrally restless, discontended and dissatisified.

Fitzgerlad uses Nick’s narration to remind the reader that deep seated prejudices influenced citizen’s belief despite the promise of equality

Finally, Nick’s changing views about Buchanans are perhaps Fitzgerlad’s way of criticising the wealthly elite.

Fitzgerald uses Nick’s voice as a vehicle to explore Gatsby’s ambiguous past, and consequently critique a society where it is entirely possible to re-create one’s identiy for personal gain.

The cyclical nature of Nick’s narration is used by Fitzgerlad to imply that the American Dream is a myth, and that society is irretrivably corrupt. (Chapter 1 wants to move to east, then towards end wants to move back West)

Nick’s discontented narration reminds the reader that many Americans at this time experienced eelings of isolation; Fitzgerlad reminds the reader that despite the promise of the American Dream, inequalities still remain rife.

Nicks’s prescient narration is a reminder of the dangers of Capitalism.

Nick’s restless narration acts as a metaphor to hold a mirror up to society, that is genrally restless, discontended and dissatisified.

Fitzgerlad uses Nick’s narration to remind the reader that deep seated prejudices influenced citizen’s belief despite the promise of equality

Finally, Nick’s changing views about Buchanans are perhaps Fitzgerlad’s way of criticising the wealthly elite.