The Great Gatsby - Mind
(Note: This post was originally written in July 2013)
With the recent movie release, I thought I would reread The Great Gatsby. In doing so, I discovered yet another fine example of mind, body, and spirit in literature, which I will show you in this series of posts.
The book is written in first person, past tense, with Nick Carraway as the narrator. He introduces himself like this:
In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since,
After explaining what the advice was, he writes:
...I understand he meant a great deal more than that
After introducing himself and several other characters, Nick ends up in an apartment in NY with Tom Buchanan, Tom's mistress, and a group of merrymakers, but he doesn't quite fit in with this crowd. He isn't a big drinker and doesn't have a girl of his own, so he sits in a chair reading a book.
...either it was terrible stuff or the whiskey distorted things, because it didn't make any sense to me.
At Gatsby's party, Nick starts to hear stories about Gatsby's mysterious background. He listens in on other conversations and asks question to gather information. When Jordan mentions Gatsby may have been an Oxford man,
...a dim background started to take shape behind him, but at her next mark it faded away.
In a later scene, Gatsby starts explaining his time at Oxford and Nick says,
This tremendous detail was to be cleared up at last
One of the best examples showing Nick's mind character traits comes on page 56 of my copy of the book. Nick has been detailing the parties at Gatsby's home, as well as his time with Tom, Daisy, and Jordan. At that point, he feels compelled to explain he had "personal affairs" outside the events he has been describing.
...I see I have given the impression that the events of three nights several weeks apart were all that absorbed me. On the contrary, they were merely casual events in a crowded summer.
Nick is emotionally cool throughout the book. He bases his opinions of Gatsby and others on fact and observation, not rumor and innuendo. He is concerned with social rules. All of this adds up to a very convincing mind character.
With the recent movie release, I thought I would reread The Great Gatsby. In doing so, I discovered yet another fine example of mind, body, and spirit in literature, which I will show you in this series of posts.
The Mind Character: Nick Carraway
The book is written in first person, past tense, with Nick Carraway as the narrator. He introduces himself like this:
In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since,
After explaining what the advice was, he writes:
...I understand he meant a great deal more than that
After introducing himself and several other characters, Nick ends up in an apartment in NY with Tom Buchanan, Tom's mistress, and a group of merrymakers, but he doesn't quite fit in with this crowd. He isn't a big drinker and doesn't have a girl of his own, so he sits in a chair reading a book.
...either it was terrible stuff or the whiskey distorted things, because it didn't make any sense to me.
At Gatsby's party, Nick starts to hear stories about Gatsby's mysterious background. He listens in on other conversations and asks question to gather information. When Jordan mentions Gatsby may have been an Oxford man,
...a dim background started to take shape behind him, but at her next mark it faded away.
In a later scene, Gatsby starts explaining his time at Oxford and Nick says,
This tremendous detail was to be cleared up at last
One of the best examples showing Nick's mind character traits comes on page 56 of my copy of the book. Nick has been detailing the parties at Gatsby's home, as well as his time with Tom, Daisy, and Jordan. At that point, he feels compelled to explain he had "personal affairs" outside the events he has been describing.
...I see I have given the impression that the events of three nights several weeks apart were all that absorbed me. On the contrary, they were merely casual events in a crowded summer.
Nick is emotionally cool throughout the book. He bases his opinions of Gatsby and others on fact and observation, not rumor and innuendo. He is concerned with social rules. All of this adds up to a very convincing mind character.
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