The novel The Great Gatsby is usually spoken of highly by writers and readers alike. One of the reasons for this popularity is the collections of styles used in the telling of the story of the novel.
"In point of fact, stylistically Gatsby is a complicated composite of several distinct kinds of prose, set within the boundaries of a written narration, a composite style whose chief demonstrable point appears to be the inadequacy of any single style (or no single means of perception, point of view) by itself to do justice to the story. Which is a story of a world not so much in transition as falling apart without realizing it. New and old clash continually, violently."
What is George Garret saying in this quote? What are the different styles you pick up on? Why are they so effective together, but uneffective in isolation? What are we to learn from this construction?
Happy Thinking,
Mr. B
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I think that Garret is saying that Gatsby is written in a style that all the stories of all those people come together in a whirl wind of partying, violence and distruction. The ironic, but close naration through nick's perspective shows the authentic and the forgered characters and the roaring 20's in a very different point of view.
ReplyDeleteI think that Garret was making a reference to the different styles involved in creating Gatsby because the story could not be explained fully useing just one style of writing. Fitzgerald uses allusions, symbolism, and irony to add depth to the plot line. The use of irony helps applify the authentic and forgered character in the novel. The allusions to Gatsby's past show you how he came to be.
ReplyDeleteI think these combination of styles works so well together because it develops the characters as well. It makes the readers see different sides of the characters, like Gatsby, while the plot still progresses. The onion affect we experience lets the reader see the authentic or fraud side to the characters.
ReplyDeleteThe most important aspect of Fitzgerald's complex plot is his use of multiple perspectives throughout the plot. While in a plot with one perspective, it is often true that the reader either agrees or disagrees 100% with the person whose perspective tells the story. In a plot with multiple perspectives however, the reader is forced to pull from each perspective and create his or her own interpretation of the novel. It causes the reader to bring a sense of reality to the novel, in the sense that there will never be a true "good guy" or "bad guy"; it shows that there is always a mixture of both in every single person. This is even more significant when it comes to the Great Gatsby specifically, because the plot represents this idea as well. Just as we mentioned in class, Fitzgerald is both Nick (the "good guy") and Gatsby (the "bad guy"). In the end, Fitzgerald has managed to intertwine the significance and lesson of his novel into the complexity of his writing style.
ReplyDelete(I hope I made sense.)
Garret seems to be talking about how people who come from completely different lives and life styles eventually clash when they are in a current environment. They all lived in a snooty New York city, lived in a time of parties and excess, and were all in their own scandals. The scandals were different, but because they were all in the same general situation, they clashed and broke out into a painful clash of death and destruction.
ReplyDeleteLike Reiko said, the fact that Fitzgerald uses more than one perspective throughout the novel helps the reader to perceive the characters as they really are. With a single narrator, the view of someone can be biased. Garret explains that a single point of view is not enough to "do justice to the story."
ReplyDeleteI agree with TJ; I think what he is really trying to say is that as much as people like to think that they are different because of where they come from or how much money they have, they are truly all the same in the sense that they are each human and that they each have their own share of problems. No matter who you are, we all enter the world in the same manner, and leave in the same manner as well.
ReplyDelete