The Great Gatsby Presentation

BY: JADE & INGRID

CHAPTER 2 SUMMARY[:

-Nick and Tom take the train into the city-Tom makes Nick alight at one of the stops with him-Goes to George Wilson’s garage in the valley of ashes-Nick meets Tom’s lover, Myrtle.

Tom gets Myrtle a dog, and they head on to their apartment in NYC

Myrtle’s sister, Catherine, joins in along with Mr and Mrs McKee, the couple that lives downstairs.

They start drinking and Nick claims to be drunk for only the second time ever.

As Myrtle gets more obnoxious with the amount of liqour she takes, she starts talking about Daisy.

Tom warns her to stop, but she ignores him and starts chanting ‘Daisy Daisy Daisy’

Tom breaks her nose in a moment of anger, bringing the party to an abrupt end.

Nick then leaves for the 4am train as he found himself unable to deal with them.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

CHARACTERS: TOM, NICK, MYRTLE, GEORGE, CATHERINE.

TOM BUCHANAN ‘ I want you to meet my girl’ Pg27---He makes it clear to others that he has a

mistress, and seems to be proud of it. It refers to him taking his marriage to Daisy as a game, and it does not mean anything to him, although marriage is meant to be a sacred union of 2 souls.

PAGE 29

‘ He’s so dumb he doesn’t know he’s alive’---

It shows Tom’s proud character, and shows how Tom believes that he’s more superior than everyone else. He is harsh with the comments he makes of people, and does not care if it is hurtful or not.

PAGE 30 ‘It’s a bitch’ [while Myrtle picks out

the puppy she wants and the pet shop owner comments that it’s a boy]—

Tom wants things his way and demands them irrationally, just as how it happened to be an obvious, natural and unchangeable fact of the puppy being a male, he snaps back saying that it’s female.

GEORGE WILSON ‘I don’t mean that….’ Pg 28—Wilson is timid, humble and easy to cave

ion. He is afraid of offending Tom and has an obvious lack of self esteem and self respect. It may have something to do with the huge difference in status.

PAGE 28

‘Oh sure’—His immediate response to his WIFE in a

hurried manner shows how he is henpecked and is easy to push around. As the husband, he ought to be the person on the other end of the finger, ordering Myrtle around.

Myrtle Wilson ‘ She was in the middle thirties, and

faintly stout, but she carried her flesh sensuously as some women can’ Pg 28—

The description of her highlights Myrtle’s high self esteem as she appears to be average looking, but still manages to carry herself as a beauty, with the figure and looks, would.

PAGE 28 ‘She smiled slowly…flush in the eye’—Myrtle completely disregards her

husband’s presence as Tom was also in the room. Just like Tom, the significance and sacredness of marriage means nothing compared to satisfaction. Which in her case, meant the luxurious life that Tom could provide her with.

PAGE 28 ‘She wet her lips…’—This reflects Myrtle as a flirtatious

woman as seen from her seductive actions.

PAGE 29 ‘ At the news stand….Town Tattle’--it is a gossip magazine and based on the

things she reads, we can conclude on her personality as a nosy, overly curious woman.

PAGE 33 ‘…rejected the compliment by…’—It’s her way of fishing for compliments,

and feigning a humble nature. She rejects them knowing that the other party would continue persuading her on how amazing whatever is.

PAGE 38 ‘You can’t live forever, you can’t live

forever.’—It shows how Myrtle lives for the

moments and explains how she got attracted to Tom only for his money and status, not for who he is on the inside. She is materialistic and feels the need to fulfill all her material wants for as long as she can.

Nick Carraway ‘I’ve been drunk just twice in my life’

Pg 32—Nick is upright, and this quote refers to

Tom and company as bad influences.

PAGE 37 ‘…but each time I tried to go I became

entangled in some wild, strident argument which pulled me back, as if with ropes, into my chair.’—

He does not want to be involved in the drama that Tom and Myrtle got in their lives. He prefers the serenity and simplicity of life should represent.

CATHERINE ‘It’s really his wife that’s keeping them

apart. She’s a catholic, and they don’t believe in divorce.’ Pg 36—

Nick points out that Daisy was NOT a catholic and thus readers can conclude that Catherine is a liar, and believes in gossips and rumors. She does not have her own perspective about things. It emphasises on her shallow character.

THEMES

MORALITY IN THE 1920s

There is a significant lack of moral values as seen in how marriage is taken so lightly that Tom and Myrtle could stray from their own spouses. The cases of infidelity emphasises on the superficiality and frivolousness of life.

MATERIALISM Myrtle betrays her husband while

leading another lifestyle completely different from her real life due to her low status. She gets that luxurious lifestyle from Tom, and stays with Tom only because of his status and wealth. Only those 2 factors can fill the empty voids in her poor life.

Division Of Society The rich and poor live in 2 different

states and there is an obvious difference in the way they are described as in the book. The way the poor are treated is also different from how the rich are favoured. Back in the 1920s, respect was only due to the rich.

SIGNIFICANT QUOTES PAGE 37: ‘…simultaneously

enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.’

Nick feels both intrigued but also disgusted by Tom and Myrtle’s lifestyle and refuses to be part of it.

PAGE 26: ‘But above….the eyes of Doctor TJ Eckleburg.’

There is a religious reference to that pair of eyes to that of God’s. Fitzgerald only brings up those eyes occasionally, but the suspicious insignificance of them hides a deeper meaning.

As they are covered in ashes and dust due to the environment of the Valley Of Ashes, it indicates a sense of neglect.

God’s people chose to ignore the fact that they are indeed being watched and continues commiting sins.

7 Deadly sins:  wrath, sloth, greed, lust, pride, envy, gluttony.

Myrtle– GREED, SLOTH, Tom– WRATH, LUST, PRIDE

PAGE 37: ‘Yet high over the city….casual watcher in the darkening streets..’

Casual watcher=> Eyes of TJ Eckleburg=>God

Actions of people are watched constantly although they may not know it

THOUGHTS ON CHAPTER

It has elaborated on Tom Buchanan’s character, and illustrated the themes such as ‘materialism’ better. It is also a rather mysterious chapter as the vague descriptions of the eyes of TJ Eckleburg are being brought up and therefore encourages readers to come up with interpretations of their own regarding the pair of eyes.

THANK YOU