The Great Gatsby: Introduction Notes

The Eyes of Dr T J Eckleburg

'Trimalchio in West Egg'

• The original title of the novel was 'Trimalchio in West Egg'.
• 'Trimalchio' refers to a character in 'Satyricon' by Petronius: a Roman satire.
• There are many similarities that can be drawn between 'Trimalchio' and Gatsby. 
• For example they both create a facade of wealth and entitlement by throwing extravagant parties designed to impress. 
• They both struggled with accepting the irreversibility of time. 
• Both their lives were surrounded by fragility with this manifesting itself as a green ball for Trimalchio and a green light for Gatsby- the ball must be kept in the air and the light must be kept at a distance.

The Eggs

• The description of the islands as eggs domesticates them.
• The blatant dissimilarity between West and East egg links to the different types of people that America 'hatches'.
• East egg represents those who focus on self pleasuring and materialism, linking to the American dream of Benjamin Franklin.
• West egg represents those who have a nostalgic desire for an ideal that material things cannot satisfy.
• But is one good and one bad? There is a large focus on vision in the novel: are the eggs distorted by perspective?

Other Works

'Winter Dreams' 1922

• 'Winter Dreams is another story written by Fitzgerald and many parallels can be drawn between it and The Great Gatsby.
• The main character- Dexter Green- is arguably an "embryonic Gatsby".
• Dexter constructs an artificial life of wealth as Gatsby does and this means he struggles with his relationship with Judy Jones, a character with links to Daisy
• As with Gatsby and Daisy, their relationship is more about what Judy represents to Dexter rather than who she is.
• His future is made up of his past dreams which only grow bright as they are about to dim.

'Absolution' 1924

• 'Absolution' is another of Fitzgerald's short stories and was originally intended as Gatsby's early life.
• Rudolph Miller is the main character and,  just as Gatsby does, rejects his identity.

Both of these stories present the idea that getting close to a dream ruins it: it is better enjoyed and experienced at a distance. This idea is parallelled in The Great Gatsby.

Nick + His Narration

• The Great Gatsby is both the story of Gatsby and the story of Nick trying to write Gatsby and so Nick's character s just as important.
• Everything comes from Nick, even the words and information supposedly from different sources is transcribed by him.
• The narration relies on his memory which could arguably be "disintegrating at the folds" just like the 1922 guest list he uses as evidence.
• Nick often hypothesises, with his narration full of phrases such as "I suppose", "I suspect", "possibly" and "as if"- the latter used over 60 times.
• He wants a performance and so what he relates is coloured by his own imagination, things eroded and things supplemented.
• He has a tendency to only move between the extremes of enchantment and disgust.
• There is the suggestion of an obsession with neatness and order. For example he notices small details that are out of place such as the "dried lather" on Mr McKee. Nick wants the story to be neat and so erases whatever may be the 'dirty' side of the story or of Gatsby. What is interesting is when the reader is able to catch glimpses of what Nick is trying to hide.
• Gatsby is an outlet for Nick's imagination; he bypasses the material truth, preferring dream-like fantasies and speculation. For example, Wilson's garage in the valley of ashes is describes as looking as if it had "sumptuous and romantic apartments concealed overhead" which suggests that Nick could not tolerate the idea of something bare and so invented the notion of something more hidden beneath.
• All of these traits of Nick add to the 'unknowability' and mystery of Gatsby.

American Identity

• Exploration of the idea that a 'self-made man' must cast off their past.
• Link to Plato: 'material without being real'. There are many references to accidents, such as Gatsby's relationship with Daisy beginning with the "colossal accident" that brought him to her house and then arguably finally ending with the colossal accident of the crash.
• Desire for origins unachievable for Americans who must rely on imported facades e.g. Gatsby's house modelled on the Norman "Hotel de Ville" and Tom's "Italian Garden".
• Although Gatsby's origins are even more dubious than all the other characters, Nick chooses to overlook this. His willing suspension of disbelief relates to the idea of truth perhaps being found where it is least expected, or possibly just indicates Nick's desperation that there must be more to Gatsby than his corruption.
• Is "Great Gatsby" ironic? Or does Gatsby's vagueity make him powerful- his image more powerful than Tom's despite it being Tom who emerges stronger?

'Roaring Twenties' Culture

Advertising

• Gatsby's lifestyle is arguably a mere advertisement display to attract Daisy.
• The eyes of Dr T J Eckleburg. Arguable that the display represent God- the eyes watching over everything as God does. Yet the eyes are faded, which suggests that God has turned away from the consumerist immorality, and the spectacles, which represent materialism, are untarnished. This shows that although materialism was initially viewed as good it has risen at the expense of the spiritual power of God.

Cars + Pollution

• Lots of focus on cars and the glamorous lifestyle but also on what this leads to- namely the valley of ashes.
• The valley is Fitzgerald's own interpretation of  "The Wasteland" in T S Eliot's poem of that name. It shows, as the poem describes, how "what might have been a wonderland we have made a wasteland". Symbolically, Wilson's garage which fuels and repairs cars sits at the centre of the wasteland it, and others like it, have warped America into.

Blue and Yellow

• Blue and yellow are symbolic throughout the novel.
• Blue has connotations of water, sky, restfulness etc.
• Yellow has connotations of bright opportunity but beneath that whiskey, gold and straw. This suggests that what seems attractive at first can turn out to be violent, hot and combustible.
• Many references in the novel link to these connotations.
• For example they link back to the eyes of Dr T J Eckleburg as the eyes (representing the fading spiritualism of the roaring twenties) were a dimmed blue and the spectacles (representing materialism and consumerism taking the place of God) were yellow. 
• Also Tom's car is blue while Gatsby's is yellow which is especially symbolic when they switch cars as the fight for Daisy reaches a climax. Moreover, the fact that a yellow car kills Myrtle links to the idea that the darker side of consumerism (yellow linking to gold and therefore wealth and consumerism) was her downfall.
• There is also a lot of yellow at Gatsby's parties which relates to the idea that they seem to be bright and joyful on the surface but beneath there are sinister undercurrents.