The Great Gatsby - Spirit
In previous posts, I've taken a look at the mind and body characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. In this final post in the series, I will look at the presentation of the spirit character.
Introductions are important and set the stage for the type of character a writer intends to present. Jay Gatsby is first shown emerging from the shadows to examine the stars.
...a figure had emerged from the shadow of my neighbor's mansion... Something in his leisurely movements and the secure position of his feet upon the lawn suggested that it was Mr. Gatsby himself, come out to determine what share was his of our local heavens.
Gatsby reaches out toward a green light across the water, which we discover later is the direction of Daisy's house. He then disappears as mysteriously as he arrived on the scene.
When I looked once more for Gatsby, he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness.
An air of mystery seems to follow Gatsby, even in his own home. At the parties at his mansion, people speculate about his past. Some say he killed a man, some say he was in the war, and others find more fantastic gossip to spread. "Owl Eyes" even adds to the mystery with his amazement that the books in the library are real.
"Absolutely real - have pages and everything. I thought they'd be a nice durable cardboard."
Even Gatsby's physical attributes are described with a hint of supernatural quality.
[his smile] faced - or seemed to face - the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor.
Gatsby is in love with Daisy, but it is a very romanticized idea of love. He wanted his love for Daisy, and her love for him, to pick up where it left off before he went to the war.
"What was the use of doing great things if I could have a better time telling her what I was going to do.?"
He can't comprehend the idea that Daisy may have had feelings for both him and Tom.
Gatsby's eyes opened and closed. "You loved me too?" he repeated. ... "I want to speak to Daisy alone," he insisted. "She's all excited now - " "Even alone I can't say I never loved Tom," she admitted in a pitiful voice.
Gatsby is a classic representation of a spirit character.
The Spirit Character: Jay Gatsby
Introductions are important and set the stage for the type of character a writer intends to present. Jay Gatsby is first shown emerging from the shadows to examine the stars.
...a figure had emerged from the shadow of my neighbor's mansion... Something in his leisurely movements and the secure position of his feet upon the lawn suggested that it was Mr. Gatsby himself, come out to determine what share was his of our local heavens.
Gatsby reaches out toward a green light across the water, which we discover later is the direction of Daisy's house. He then disappears as mysteriously as he arrived on the scene.
When I looked once more for Gatsby, he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness.
An air of mystery seems to follow Gatsby, even in his own home. At the parties at his mansion, people speculate about his past. Some say he killed a man, some say he was in the war, and others find more fantastic gossip to spread. "Owl Eyes" even adds to the mystery with his amazement that the books in the library are real.
"Absolutely real - have pages and everything. I thought they'd be a nice durable cardboard."
Even Gatsby's physical attributes are described with a hint of supernatural quality.
[his smile] faced - or seemed to face - the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor.
Gatsby is in love with Daisy, but it is a very romanticized idea of love. He wanted his love for Daisy, and her love for him, to pick up where it left off before he went to the war.
"What was the use of doing great things if I could have a better time telling her what I was going to do.?"
He can't comprehend the idea that Daisy may have had feelings for both him and Tom.
Gatsby's eyes opened and closed. "You loved me too?" he repeated. ... "I want to speak to Daisy alone," he insisted. "She's all excited now - " "Even alone I can't say I never loved Tom," she admitted in a pitiful voice.
Gatsby is a classic representation of a spirit character.
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