fitzgerald gatsby
‘How does Fitzgerald tell the story?’ questions
Chapter 1
The novel takes the form of a 20th century romantic tragedy, this is revealed by contextual means. In chapter 1 Fitzgerald highlights the tragic form of the novel as Nick says ‘what foul dust that floated in the wake of his dreams’. this creates the effect of foreshadow the tragic events of the novel especially as the writer uses the past tense to refer to the eponymous character which creates tension as the impression is given the narrator of the novel knows the outcome of the character but does not disclose information. The line ‘Gatsby turned out alright at the end’ creates an atmosphere of mystery and this is not dissipated by Nick which creates excitement as the reader expects the novel will supply answers.
Form- The novel takes the form of a metafiction narrative as the narrator is aware he is writing a novel. This is shown throughout the novel and is shown in chapter 1 says ‘only Gatsby the man who gave his name to this book’ showing that Nick is aware he is writing a novel which may create the effect of showing that Nick controls how the events of the story are told and so may not be an objective narrator as his opinion could have been blurred by the narrator’s opinion of the events.
Characterisation- In chapter 1 we are introduced to many of the novel’s central characters. The first character we are introduced to is the novel’s first person intradigetic, retrospective narrator, Nick. Nick is first characterised as a trustworthy narrator as he says he is ‘inclined to reserve all judgements’ however the reader has to quickly judge whether this is true as Nick says Gatsby ‘represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn’ this signals to the reader that Nick may not be a reliable narrator as the reader will have to piece together some of the narrative for themselves as Nick may be biased towards his representation of certain characters. Nick immediately invites the reader to
Chapter 1
The novel takes the form of a 20th century romantic tragedy, this is revealed by contextual means. In chapter 1 Fitzgerald highlights the tragic form of the novel as Nick says ‘what foul dust that floated in the wake of his dreams’. this creates the effect of foreshadow the tragic events of the novel especially as the writer uses the past tense to refer to the eponymous character which creates tension as the impression is given the narrator of the novel knows the outcome of the character but does not disclose information. The line ‘Gatsby turned out alright at the end’ creates an atmosphere of mystery and this is not dissipated by Nick which creates excitement as the reader expects the novel will supply answers.
Form- The novel takes the form of a metafiction narrative as the narrator is aware he is writing a novel. This is shown throughout the novel and is shown in chapter 1 says ‘only Gatsby the man who gave his name to this book’ showing that Nick is aware he is writing a novel which may create the effect of showing that Nick controls how the events of the story are told and so may not be an objective narrator as his opinion could have been blurred by the narrator’s opinion of the events.
Characterisation- In chapter 1 we are introduced to many of the novel’s central characters. The first character we are introduced to is the novel’s first person intradigetic, retrospective narrator, Nick. Nick is first characterised as a trustworthy narrator as he says he is ‘inclined to reserve all judgements’ however the reader has to quickly judge whether this is true as Nick says Gatsby ‘represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn’ this signals to the reader that Nick may not be a reliable narrator as the reader will have to piece together some of the narrative for themselves as Nick may be biased towards his representation of certain characters. Nick immediately invites the reader to