Blog #1

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald


Analysis over chapter 1 pages 1-12

In these first few pages of The Great Gatsby, I already know the book is written in the first person narrative, which will mostly likely cause less confusion than the third person narrative seen in The House of Mirth. The story's perspective is told from the tolerant and nonjudgmental, Nick Carraway, who I assume will be the antagonist of the novel. Coming from a pronounced family from the Midwest and graduating from Yale, Nick is very aware of the advantages he has received. After fighting in World War 1, Nick moved to New York and now lives in the West Egg. The residents of the West Egg appear to be people of new money, not quite comparable to the the old aristocrats and people of inherited wealth that inhibit the East Egg. Nick's house is located right next to the Gatsby mansion, an old and enormous estate. I'm not quite sure how Nick will come to correlate with the Gatsby mansion, but I'm assuming since the name of the book is in fact The Great Gatsby, it is more than likely to happen. Later in the first chapter, Nick takes a trip to the East Egg to visit his cousin, Daisy Buchanas. Daisy is alluring and witty, "whose face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and bright passionate mouth, but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget."(Fitzgerlad, 9). Daisy is very charming( reminds me of Lily...),but seems to be weighed down by her supercilious and macho husband, Tom. Tom shows Nick around his more than adequate mansion, probably to prove that even after his successful years at Yale, Tom is still number one. I don't care for him very much at all. Lastly, Nick is introduced to Miss Baker, she is a friend of Daisy's and supposedly a professional golfer. The section ends with the mention of Gatsby, but Nick is interrupted before he can declare that Gatsby is his neighbor.