The Great Gatsby Ch. 1 Analysis

Chapter Summary Chapter 1 introduces the main characters (Daisy, Tom, Ms. Baker, Nick, and even Gatsby) to the reader. Nick’s back story about his family and how he came to be where he is today is told in detail. Nick visits some old friends, and that is when we are introduced to Tom, Daisy, and Jordan. After an interesting night with his friends, Nick heads home, where he first sees Gatsby. There is no conversation with Gatsby at this point, but we do see some foreshadowing and some metaphors in the end of this chapter. In this chapter we learn about Tom’s affair and see his general opinion on Gatsby, and we see what a mess Tom and Daisy are. Nick comes over for dinner at Tom and Daisy’s house, where he meets Jordan (a potential love interest). During dinner, Tom leaves the table to take a phone call, supposedly from his mistress, showing that he is unashamed in his affair. Upon arriving home, Nick sees Gatsby outside of his home, looking towards Daisy’s dock, reaching for the green light at the end of it.

Syntax Example and Analysis 1 “Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction—Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn.” pg. 2 The dash in this sentence creates a dramatic pause and puts an emphasis on the rest of the sentence.

Syntax Example and Analysis 2 “Father agreed to finance me for a year, and after various delays I came East, permanently, I thought, in the spring of twenty-two.” pg. 3 This is a declarative sentence, and the commas make the whole sentence seem flowy and laid back.

Syntax Example and Analysis 3 “I was a guide, a pathfinder, an original settler.” pg. 4 The omission of conjunctions in this quote puts emphasis on each thing being said and makes it seem more dramatic. The use of asyndeton also makes it seem to be said faster when reading it.

Diction Example Fitzgerald uses neutral diction throughout the book. “I never saw this great-uncle, but I’m supposed to look like him-with special reference to the rather hard-boiled painting that hangs in father’s office.” pg. 3 Fitzgerald uses a contraction and standard language in this example. He uses the same type of language throughout the chapter, and doesn’t use slang or idioms.

Figurative Language Example and Analysis 1 “The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping when it reached the house drifting up the side in bright vines as though from the momentum of its run.” pg. 6 The use of personification in this quote helps create a vivid image of what’s being described (the grass/lawn).

Figurative Language Example and Analysis 2 “A breeze blew through the room, blew curtains in at one end and out the other like pale flags, twisting them up toward the frosted wedding-cake of the ceiling, and then rippled over the wine-colored rug, making a shadow on it as wind does on the sea.” pg. 8 The use of simile in this quote creates an image of the curtains flying up and around the room, casting a shadow on the rug.

Figurative Language Example and Analysis 3 “Then there was a boom as Tom Buchanan shut the rear windows and the caught wind died out about the room, and the curtains and the rugs and the two young women ballooned slowly to the floor.” pg. 8 The use of an onomatopoeia in this quote makes it easy for readers to ‘hear’ the window being shut.

Figurative Language Example and Analysis 4 “Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth, but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget…” pg. 9 The use of repetition emphasizes that Daisy is bright and puts that image in the reader’s head over and over again.

Figurative Language Example and Analysis 5 “...he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock.” pg. 20 The green light on the dock in this quote symbolizes the American Dream, and Gatsby’s outstretched arms symbolize Americans reaching for that dream.