Thinking Activity: The Great Gatsby

This Blog-post is a response of thinking activity on 'The Great Gatsby',given by our professor Dr. Dilip Barad Sir. To know more about this task, CLICK HERE.

'The Great Gatsby' a Novel by American novelist Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald(1886-1940), commonly known as F.Scott Fitzgerald. It was published in 1925. Whole novel depicted by first person narrator Nick Carraway. 

Generally the story centralized in love-story and their reunion between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. Setting is in New York. The journey of Nick from West Egg to East Egg is also described the past of Gatsby. However, first person narration is somewhere doubtful also. My classmate Jheel pointedly noticed that we had studied Pamela as an epistolary novel. 

We saw the movie, though there is five or six movies are based on the novel with same title. We saw latest movie,released in 2013 which made under the direction of  Baz Luhrmann. I also share the views in Facebook. To visit my Facebook post, CLICK HERE. Here is the trailer of the movie.

• The Jazz Age - the Roaring Twenties of the America in 1920s:

The setting of the film is in twentieth century. The decade of twentieth century, 1920 also known as Roaring of Twenties in Western Society or Western Culture. Here is the table of the Roaring Twenties.

1.Economy	2.Society
New Products and Technologies (Automobiles,Radio,Cinema,Sound Movies)Aviation,Television, Medicine,New Infrastructure	Suffrage, Lost Generation, Social Criticism, Art Deco, Expressionism and Surrealism, Cinema, Harlem, Jazz Age, Dance, Fashion, (Attire) Sexuality of women during the 1920s, Changing role of women,Liberalism in Europ, Homosexuality, Psychoanalysis
3.Culture	4.Sports
Immigration Restriction, Prohibition, (Rise of the speakeasy), Literature, Solo flight across the Altlantic, Organized Crime	Olympics, Balakans, United States
5.American Politics
Decline of labor unions, Progressivism in 1920s, (Business Progressivism)
6.Culture of Weimar Germany
7.Canadian Politics
8.End of the Era
Black Tuesday, Repeal of Prohibition.

In the film, Scott used the term Jazz music or dance style mentioned during the party given by Jay Gatsby. The party actually given by him to impress Daisy who married Tom. The way the people were danced in the party, shows modernistic term which presented by Baz Luhrmann in the film. The cinematography. The rolling of camera upon the people and covered the entire hall was also very amazing. The man who played piano, and the other peoples who enjoyed the free party. The organization of party is also beautiful. The white chandelier also played significance role in the party that the striking light shows high prosperity of the rich-class.

The another thing is that, in the underground party while Meyer Wolfsheim, Jay Gatsby and Nick were there. The Jazz music also played in the meeting at Apartment Party. So the music also consider as how the corrupted society and through the music and dance people enjoyed their corrupted business life. And during the accident scene music also played while Myrtle's body was on air and the board which represent the eyes of God. 

• The film help in understanding the characters of the novel: 

Film is the literary tool which helps us to understand the novel. In this movie, first narrative technique is quite difficult. The narrator told the past of his life with his cousin and his lover Jay Gatsby who is the main character of the story. In film, cinematography is quite helpful to understand the characters. Sometimes we read the description about particular character but we don't understand what they think in-sightly. Like the most important character is the eyes of God which presented very silently through the rolling of camera. 

• The symbolic significance of 'The Valley of Ashes', 'The Eyes of Dr. T J Eckleberg' and 'The Green Light'?

The Valley of Ashes:

In the second chapter of the novel is begins with the introduction of The Valley of Ashes.Lines like,

About half way between West Egg and New York the motor-road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside  it for a quarter of a mile, so as to shrink away from a certain  desolate area of land. This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic  farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and  grotesque gardens where ashes take the forms of houses and  chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling  through the powdery air. 

This paragraph shows the industrialization and how the dimly air,chimneys, rising smoke are represents the sketch of mechanism. 

 Occasionally a line of grey cars  crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak and  comes to rest, and immediately the ash-grey men swarm up  with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud which  screens their obscure operations from your sight. 

While this paragraph symbolized the sight of poor people like George Wilson who lived that dirty era of ashes. In the film,while Tom go to that valley area to meet his lover and wife of George, Myrtle, the way the car is pass through the black roads and presents the class like, Tom's talking with George and other people also connecting with Classicism. 

The Eyes of Dr.T.J.Eckleberg: 

In the film, this eyes were painted on an old advertising billboard which is stand over the valley of ashes.In the film, the accident scene was depicted the symbolization.

The Green Light:

The Green light symbolized the hope, dreams and future of Jay Gatsby. In hope may be it symbolized that Daisy will come in his life. The another things like his dreams and his future to live and to have the rich and lavish life. 

• Nick Carraway as a Narrator: 

In the very first side, we simply trust go with the story-line which said by narrator. Fitzgerald employs literary technique of using an  implied author. Stylized texts floats over the screen also very interesting to see in the film which also keep the viewers in film.This narrative style in modern cinematography is impressive. 

According to the filmmakers and producers, this opening scene of his character described the persona of Nick Carraway. Another thing is that Nick's own narration leads his own self as the good person, moral and nicely guy in other's eyes. Tobey Maguire who lead this character, he also played lead roles in famous movies like Spider Man and some more. He chooses by filmmakers for very good kind of  person.

He introduced us in starting of the book about Tom Buchanan. He uses words like'hard mouth', 'supercilious manner','arrogant','dominance','aggressively'. before we come to know about his nature. In film, Nick not opened his personal history with Jordan Baker.While in novel he is different.

• Psychoanalytical study of Jay Gatsby:

Obsessiveness: 

We can found two types of obsessiveness in Jay Gatsby. One is about the money and second about Daisy.If we see through the pattern of narration by Nick Carraway, we found that he gained money to achieve Daisy's attention. To gain the money in very short time, he chooses wrong path in illegal  alcohol and trading in stolen securities. For money, he obsessive from his childhood while he didn't accept his poverty and leave his family to gained money and live. 

Excessiveness: 

First we can find Ecessiveness in Gatsby, about his organizing parties, and living in huge lavish life.Organization of parties is not needed to him, but  it was just show off towards Daisy to attract her. Another thing is while Daisy come to Nick's house, he decorated his living room and house with lots of flowers and other things for Daisy. 

The Great American Dreamer:

In 1920s, the era was popularized the great american dreamer also. Jay Gatsby was considered as the dreamer.That was the era while people get success in their life with very easier way and was quite wrong also.

Shame:

Jay's real name was Jimmy Gatz. He changed his named after he got success to gain money and rich position in society. This is also the main reason that why he changed his name. It looks or to listen like amazing name also.From which family you belongs to, you can't proud them.People worried about that how society thinks about you.And his psyche was that the name which connected with identity was very bad in his past that he suffered from poverty and classicism.And ultimately he felt this psyche and changed his name.

Guilt:

Guilt controls him. Part is an example that helps him to cover up the Guilt and his behavior,  through dress up and money. As in this video Jared DeFife,mentioned, “The characters are relatively without guilt about their actions, but they are very afraid of being seen, and the negative things about them being seen.” Jay hide his guilt because he afraid about it revelation.  

Words:1480.