- “If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away,” (2).
The use of such a
complex sentence draws the reader’s attention to the fascination Nick has with
Gatsby. Nick believes that every
other character sees Gatsby the same way he sees him, wonderful. Fitzgerald
uses a metaphor to attempt to explain the awe that Nick has for Gatsby and
compares Gatsby to a machine that works in mysterious yet amazing ways. The
purpose of this extensive sentence is to emphasize the greatness that Gatsby
has, but only Nick witnesses.
- “‘Either you ought to be more careful, or you oughtn’t to drive at all.’
‘I
am careful.’
‘No,
you’re not.’
‘Well,
other people are,’ she said lightly.
‘What’s
that go to do with it?’
‘They’ll
keep out of my way,’ she insisted,” (58).
In this section,
Fitzgerald uses simple short sentences to convey a tone of obvious honesty
between Jordan and Nick. Writing such blunt statements, Fitzgerald calls
attention to the reality of the large gap between the upper-class citizens and
the lower-class. Because Jordan is so certain the class under her will “keep
out of [her] way,” it shows that she is sheltered from the longing that the
less-fortunate have to simply live her life for a day and how they would do
anything for it.
I agree that your first example "draws the reader's attention to the fascination Nick has with Gatsby," not only because of the complexity of the sentence, but also because of personal experience. At the beginning of the novel, I remember reading Fitzgerald's sentence, and thinking, 'Wow. Who is this Gatsby?' and then annotating that it was Nick's first mention of "The Great Gatsby." As you mentioned, Fitzgerald's intricate sentence introduces Nick's absorption with Gatsby that is present throughout the novel. Though I agree with your first example, I cannot entirely say so for your second one. I agree with the tone you say is revealed with Nick and Jordan's dialect, however, I do not fully agree with your assertion that Fitzgerald is calling attention to the gap between classes. In my opinion, I think Fitzgerald uses these short, concise sentences to expose Jordan's indifference for anyone else, in that "they'll keep out of [her] way" (58) because she believes she is better than everyone else, not just those in a lower-class. For the most part, I agree with your analysis of Fitzgerald and that he effectively uses syntactical sentences to reveal style and tone.
ReplyDeleteI too agree that the complexity and length of Nick's words in your first example shows how much Nick admires Gatsby. He constantly "tops" his previous compliments, and seems to have endless amounts of admiration for Gatsby. But, I must agree with Kylee's comment that the second quote does assert the shortness and condescending manner of their conversation, but I think that it reveals the stubbornness and self absorbtion of Jordan in her own little world. I believe Jordan is conveying that her wealth cancels out all responsibility that she would have if she was poor, or even middle class.
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