the great gatsby quotes

"whenever you feel like criticizing anyone" he told me , just remember that all the people in the world haven't had the advantages that you've had "

- nick describing his fathers advice

- brings nick down to earth

- ironic due to the fact that he critisises everyone throughout the novella

- chapter one

" there was something gorgeous about him "

- chapter one

- illustrates nicks initial view of gatsby fake persona being gorgeous and a illustration of the wanted American dream.

"Hotêl de ville in normandy "

- nicks description of gatsbys house

- describing it as a town hall , grand and able to fit many

- real life beautiful building used by the local administration in France

" my own house was an eyesore "

-chapter one

- metaphor used to juxtapose nicks cottage to the grand house which is his next door neighbour and his "consoling proximity to millionaires "

"the white palaces of fashionable east egg glittered along the water"

-chapter one

- palaces connotes to the idea of royalty being present in east egg

-shows how the Buchannans are the American equivalent of aristocrats .

glittered suggest the hardness and impenetrability as well as beauty.

relates to the quote " I live in west egg, the -well , the less fashionable of the two "

"now he was a sturdy straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and supercilious manner "

-supercilious - behaving in a superior way to others

- highlights toms aggressive , privilege and hostile nature

-chapter one

"she slightly lean forward with a contentious expression"

- contentious expression - argumentative , heated expression , signals high engagement on a serious conversation

"Im p-paralysed with happiness "

- chapter one

- illustrates how emotive daisy's character is

- highlights her dramatic nature and her hyperbolic comments

"I'd be a god d*mn fool to live anywhere else "

- tom buchanan

- justification to live in east egg

- highlights toms pride in his social standing , wanting to live in an area where is social status is very prevalent .

"she accentuated by throwing her body backward at the shoulders like a young cadet "

- nick about Jordan

- illustrates Jordan domineering aura , disapproving of the stereotypical female stereotype of the 1920's .

- first intro of Jordan and she is already seen to be a powerful character .

"Gatsby " demanded daisy " what gatsby? "

- daisy in response to the mention of gatsby's name

-hints to the idea she knows him form her past

-demanded : connotes to the idea that he was an important part of her past during to her abrupt reply .

"You did it, Tom," she said accusingly. "I know you didn't mean to, but you did do it. That's what I get for marrying a brute of a man, a great big, hulking physical specimen of a—"

- illustrate how troubled their marriage is

- what might have been seen as normal for 1920's society (domestic abuse ) is definitely not accepted now .

-shows how abrupt of a character tom is .

-shows how their marriage might just be for convenience and show

"the rise in the coloured empire by this man named Goddard "

- a white supremacist, racist text that argued for the preservation of a Nordic racial hierarchy,

- actually written by stoddard ,

- illustrates his racist anxieties about immigration

"toms got some woman in New York "

- Jordan

-mentioning subtly how tom is cheating on a girl from nyc - later discovered to be Myrtle Wilson of the valley of ashes

- mentioned very casually, like it has already been acknowledge and is now deemed as normal activity for tom

"beautiful little fool"

- Daisy response to giving birth to a girl

- what Zelda says when giving birth to Scottie fitszgerald

- suggests that being a fool and ignorant is better than being painfully aware of everything and issues within society .

reflects Daisy is not a fool herself but is the product of a social environment that, to a great extent, does not value intelligence in women

"he stretched his arm out towards the dark water in a curious way ,and, far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling "

- Nicks first sight of gatsby

- Gatsby is reaching out for something ( the green light )

- illustrates his desperate need and want for something he cannot have - too far away to reach .

-powerful intro to gatsby's complex character

- reaching for daisy and the American dream

"distinguished nothing except a single green light "

- singled out - illustrates its strength and power to shine so bright it doesn't need to be helped by other ( like gatsbys love for daisy )

- green : universal symbol for jealousy and envy

'This is a valley of ashes - a fantastic farm where ashes grow into wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens...'

- uses agricultural image to stress its barren nature through contrast

-ashes : symbolises death , the people who are condemned to live their are basically living death , shut from wealth and happiness

- inspired by T.S Elliot "the wasteland " which describes an environment like the valley

"The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg"

-The eyes of God.

-Somebody is always watching over the valley

-The eyes represent somebody always watching, the yellow rims represent the corruptness of society and characters, and

-the lack of a face represents the hollowness of characters.

- old billboard , advertisement for an "oculist "/ optometrist

"solemn dumping ground "

-description of the valley of ashes

- metaphor to represent the forgotten , impoverished class left behind in the glamour of the jazz age .