The Jazz Age: 'It was borrowed time anyhow'
New York
The post-war mood
The post-war voice

2. A Novel of Intricate Patterns

The organization of The Great Gatsby

Time
The chronology of events preceding 1922 in The Great Gatsby
The summer of 1922: events in the main narrative
1923-4: after the main narrative
A summary of events
The selective use of time as a narrative device

The relationship between the four locations of action
West Egg
East Egg
New York
The valley of ashes

Patterns of imagery
Death and ghosts
Cars
Imagery of nature:
Flowers
Birds
Moonlight
The golden sun
Colour
Eyes
Clocks
The Sea

3. Alernative Worlds

The Buchanans' glittering white palace
Daisy's home in Louisville, Kentucky: the 'white palace' of the 'golden girl'
Gatsby's house
Gatsby's first party in early summer
The history of Gatsby's house
'Silence had fallen within the house'
Gatsby's last party
The swimming pool
'It was a photograph of the house'
'A huge incoherent failure of a house'
Plaza Suite
The flat on 158th Street
Wilson's garage
Conclusion

4. The Women Characters

Emancipated women
Myrtle Wilson
Jordan Baker
Daisy Fay/Buchanan
The woman in white

5. Gatsby and Nick Carraway

Corrective vision
Jimmy Gatz/James Gatz/Jay Gatsby/'Mr. Nobody from Nowhere'
An isolated figure
A mysterious and ambivalent figure
Faithful lover and wealthy parvenu
Gatsby's past
Gatsby and time
The nature of Gatsby's dream
The destruction of Gatsby's dream
Gatsby as victim
Nick Carraway
Nick's 'journey' of discovery
Nick's role as observer and judge
Nick as active participator
Conclusion
Nick Carraway and Scott Fitzgerald, writers of 'this book'

6. America: History and Myth

The title of the novel
Myth as history
The heirs of Dan Cody: Meyer Wolfshiem and Tom Buchanan
Symbolic landscapes: Midwest and East coast

Notes
Selected reading

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.