Hamlet : Act III

The dramatic elements of Act III.

Act Three starts with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern trying to speak with Hamlet about his madness, as this turns out to be unsuccessful, they go to Claudius. By that time Polonius informs the King that Hamlet invites him and the Queen to a play, so we now know that Hamlet's plan is moving forwards. The play continues with Hamlet's famous soliloquy "To be or not to be...", as he sees Ophelia, he turns to her. It doesn't take long for Hamlet to realise that he is being watched, which was the Kings plan, and he turns his anger towards Ophelia, feeling that she has betrayed him. He says Ophelia should have never believed him when he said he loves her, then he sends her to the nunnery. By asking "Where's your father?", we know that Hamlet is pretty certain about Polonius' presence. The next scene starts with Hamlet talking to one of his players and giving him guidance on how to act properly, then he turns his madness towards Ophelia again. A dumb show follows, but it makes no sense to anyone. As the real play starts, King realises that something is wrong, which proves Hamlet's plan to be successful. He now knows that the King is guilty and can move his plan to the next stage. When the Queen asks Hamlet to go to her room for a chat, Polonius decides to hide behind the curtain and do his usual spying. He leaves the King to pray, then Hamlet enters. This seems to be a perfect moment for killing the King, but Hamlet decides not to do it, just because he doesn't want Claudius to go to heaven since he is praying. When Hamlet goes to his mother, he starts acting angry and turns his madness to the other woman of his life, feeling betrayed. The Ghost appears, Hamlet now truly believes that it is his father, but then vanishes. The Queen sees her son full of madness, as she screams for help, Polonius, who is behind the curtain, also starts screaming. Hamlet then stabs him thinking he is the King. The act ends with Hamlet's and Queen's conversation, Hamlet leaves some letters and informs the Queen he must go to England.

I think this is a very dramatic Act, the events seem to happen faster. At some points, Hamlet's madness isn't even acting, he really is mad. He acts angry towards Ophelia and his mother. Now, when he knows the truth about his father's death, we can only wait for the moment he kills the King.

My opinion of Ophelia

"Ophelia" by John Millais

Ophelia is a character almost everyone feel sorry about. She is being bullied by her father, brother and Hamlet, the one that she thought to be in love with. At first, her father Polonius and brother Laertes insists her not to meet Hamlet, then Hamlet says he doesn't love her anymore and sends her to the nunnery. I think we all agree, it's a bit too harsh.

In my Ophelia is an important character, as she is one of the tragic elements in the play. She brings the play closer to the readers through her pain because of the ones she love, at some points her life seems to be a complete mess and she has no one to trust. We can draw parallels between Hamlet and Ophelia, they both have lost their fathers and both get crazy afterwards. Without her, they play would be bald, as she also brings romantic elements in.

The death of Ophelia is one of the main questions to think about - did she kill herself or was it an accident? Also, the way it is being told by Gertrude leaves me suspicious. After all that had happened in Ophelia's life, it wouldn't be a surprise if she really took her own life away, we don't know what was in her head at the moment she drowned, but we can imagine it. On the other hand, at the time of her death she was mad and maybe didn't realise what's happening so it was an accidental death.

There are lots of discussions to rise whether Ophelia is a needed character or whether she committed suicide or not, but I don't think there's only one right answer to those questions.

"Hamlet" : Act I and II

By the end of Act two comment on Hamlet's character. What is he doing? Why? How have the tragic elements of the play been established?

Act I.

Act I shows us Hamlet's grief, which is because his father has died. Another tragic element is the marriage of Hamlet's mother and uncle, which is held shortly after the death.
Since these two things have happened in a short amount of time, Hamlet's state of mind is unstable and at some points we can clearly see his craziness, he feels as though his father has been forgotten. Hamlet meets a Ghost, who says that he is the dead father and reveals that he has been killed by his brother, Hamlet's uncle, the new king of Denmark. The Ghost asks Hamlet to revenge his death and Hamlet together with Marcellus and Horatio swear that they will not tell anyone about what they had seen. At the end of Act I, Hamlet is left wondering whether the Ghost he had seen really is his father or maybe it's a devil's trick. Hamlet writes down some things the Ghost says so we are thinking "Why is he doing it?"

Act II.

This act introduces us to Hamlet's plan for revenge, which turns out to be tricky because he wants to kill the uncle but doesn't want to hurt his mother. Even though Hamlet still doubts whether the Ghost had told the truth, he is planning to make a play reflecting the way his father died. He is hoping that the uncle starts acting strange while seeing the play, suggesting that he isn't feeling comfortable and is the one to blame.
Hamlet is acting mad at some points, but this is probably a part of his plan. He also feels a bit relieved because of his plan.
The tragic element in this act, as well as the rest of the play, is the lack of trust between the characters. The only person Hamlet can trust is himself.

The Great Gatsby : Chapter VIII and IX

Chapter VIII.

• Narrative style:

The narrator of this chapter, as well as it is in the rest of the book, is Nick Carraway. This chapter tells us about the events which follow Myrtle's death. At first, Nick tries to warn Gatsby to go away for a while, so no one could find him. Since Gatsby isn't even considering the leaving, he takes the blame on himself. Meanwhile George Wilson starts to think about Myrtle's death and comes to a conclusion that Gatsby was the one who drove the car. He then goes to Gatsby's house, enters his garden and kills him while he's in the pool. George Wilson later kills himself. Chapter VIII starts with the day after Myrtle's death, then there's a description of Daisy, followed by Gatsby's life during the war and Gatsby's thoughts about Tom. This chapter has parallel actions, one is Nick in New York, receiving a phone call from Jordan, another one is Gatsby planning to use his pool for the first time in the summer, getting ready and putting his bathing suit on and another one is George Wilson sitting in his garage and coming to the thought of killing Gatsby, then going to his home.

• Characters:

Gatsby is the main character, he gets shot by George Wilson in Chapter VIII. This event is almost like an ending of the book. Gatsby tells Nick about his youth and about Dan Cody.
We can see that Nick's and Gatsby's friendship is getting stronger, as Nick reveals that he doesn't want to leave Gatsby and also says "They're a rotten crowd" to cheer Gatsby up.
There's a description of Daisy through Gatsby's point of view. She is "the first nice girl he had ever known"

• Themes:

Death - Gatsby's and Wilson's death
Love - Gatsby's love for Daisy
Sacrifice - Gatsby decides to take the blame on himself
Revenge - As Wilson starts thinking, he comes to a wrong conclusion that Gatsby has killed Myrtle so he goes to Gatsby's house and shoots him before shooting himself

• Settings:

Gatsby's house that seems so enormous after Myrtle's death. This house symbolises the emptiness of Gatsby's life and it also contrasts with Myrtle's apartment. Daisy's house and her life was an inspiration to Gatsby, he knew that he wants to have a life like hers. Some action is set in Wilson's garage as it is the place where he remains after Myrtle's death.

• Language:

Colour - yellow is used to warn the readers that something is about to happen, for example, Gatsby has a yellow car and it hits Myrtle, then, right before Gatsby is killed, there's a sentence "Once he stopped and shifted it a little, and then the chauffeur asked him if he needed help, but he shook his head and in a moment disappeared among the yellowing trees."
"It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house that the gardener saw Wilson's body a little way off in the grass, and the holocaust was complete." - the death of three people is compared to the holocaust, which is quite unusual because, as we know, millions of people were killed during it. The word "holocaust" is probably used to show just how significant this event was in Nick's life.

Chapter IX.

• Narrative style:

Written from Nick's point of view, this is the last chapter in "The Great Gatsby". Chapter IX is a reflection of Nick's memories from the day Gatsby died. He tells about how he tried to get people to come to Gatsby's funeral. This chapter also reveals just how careless the rich people are, because no one wanted to come and Daisy together with Tom had gone somewhere without leaving a message, they didn't care at all what they had done. Nick contacted Meyer Wolfshiem, but he answered he couldn't come because he "cannot get mixed up in this thing right now". Nick Carraway later meets Gatsby's father Henry C. Gatz who shows him a book that belonged to Gatsby. Few days later, the funeral is held, but the only persons to come is the Owl Eyes and Mr Gatz.

• Characters:

Meyer Wolfshiem is a friend of Gatsby, probably the closest one. Nick asks him to attend Gatsby's funeral, but he says that he doesn't want to "get mixed up with this thing".
We learn about Myrtle's sister Catherine, as people are trying to contact her.
Gatsby's father, Henry C. Gatz, appears in this chapter. He tells Nick he read about Gatsby's death in a newspaper. He is described as an "old man". Henry also shows Nick a book which belonged to Gatsby when he was younger, showing Gatsby's plans for self development.
Daisy and Tom appear in this chapter as Nick tells about them. They are a great example of just how careless can people be. Daisy hasn't left any message, nor sent flowers.
Owl Eyes is the only person to attend Gatsby's funeral together with Mr Gatz.

• Themes:

Death, as Gatsby's funeral is held. Carelessness, lack of friendship. We learn that Gatsby has no real friends.

• Settings:

Gatsby's house, the room where his body was lying(the drawing room), the cemetery where his funeral was held.

• Ideology:

Henry C. Gatz ideology, his belief in Gatsby. He always thought that Jay's future is going to be bright, "If he'd of lived, he'd of been a great man", he said.

• Language:

A precise time is used, "About five o'clock our procession of three cars reached the cemetery" and "at six o'clock of a December evening". At the time of the funeral it's raining, showing the sadness and misery of the characters. This also links with another chapter from the book.

The Great Gatsby: Chapter VI and Chapter VII

Chapter VI.

• Narrative style:

Written from Nick's point of view, some part of Chapter VI is articulated through speech. This chapter starts with a reporter who has come from New York to visit Gatsby and ask him if he has anything to say. We get to know that Gatsby's real name is James Gatz and he changed it at the age of seventeen and Dan Cody was a man who helped Gatsby to change his life. This chapter also introduces us to Gatsby's past, as Nick tells us that "His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people - his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all". Later in this chapter Gatsby meets Tom and tells him he knows Daisy, Gatsby even invites him to his next party, which also happens in this chapter. Gatsby tells Nick about his plans of getting together with Daisy and at the end, Nick writes about an event that happened "one autumn night, five years before" when Daisy and Gatsby were together.

• Characters:

We get to know Gatsby even more, as he reveals his plans. He is probably very nostalgic and cannot forget Daisy, "I'm going to fix everything just the way it was before" he said. He obviously likes Daisy and doesn't care about Tom at all.
Chapter 6 shows us that Daisy enjoys Gatsby's company very much and probably still has feelings for him.
Tom is showing even more of his aggression in this chapter.
Nick is a bystander and he gives his descriptions and opinions on other people.

• Themes:

Romance - "Daisy blossomed as Gatsby's lips touched hers", said Nick. Romantic descriptions are seen throughout the novel. And maybe Nick as a narrator over describes things.
Jealousy - Gatsby is jealous of Tom and Daisy, as they are married and spend most of the time together. Myrtle is jealous of Daisy because she gets everything she wants and lives a beautiful, rich life, while Myrtle has to spend most of her time in Wilson's garage.

• Settings:

Gatsby's house, another party in moonlight. A street in one autumn night "when leaves were falling and they came to a place where there were no trees and sidewalk was white with moonlight. "

• Ideology:

Nick is seeing a violence in the world, just by describing Tom. There are affairs which are thought to be a normal thing by some persons.

• Language:

Romantic descriptions, for example, "At his lips' touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete". "Daisy began to sing with the music of a husky, rhythmic whisper, bringing out a meaning in each word that it had never had before and would never have again. When the melody rose her voice broke up sweetly, following it, in a way contralto voices have, and each change tipped out a little of her warm human magic upon the air", by saying this, Nick puts Daisy in another world.

Chapter VII.

• Narrative style:

Chapter VII is written from Nick's point of view, as the majority of the novel. This chapter reveals us that Gatsby and Daisy are now meeting quite often. At the beginning, Nick gets to know that Gatsby has fired all servants, because he "wanted somebody who wouldn't gossip". It continues with a hottest day in the whole summer when Gatsby, Daisy, Tom and Jordan got together, drove to a hotel where they started arguing and at the end of the day these events lead to Myrtle's death.

• Characters:
  

Gatsby, who, as we get to know, had fired all his servants and replaced them with others because he "wanted somebody who wouldn't gossip". We also get to know that he is meeting Daisy quite often, because she comes over in the afternoons. All the servants were brothers and sisters who used to run a small hotel. Gatsby later meets Daisy, Jordan, Nick and Tom and they are planning to have a lunch together. They drove to a hotel where Gatsby tells Tom that his wife doesn't love him, "She has never loved you. She loves me.'' he said. Gatsby and Daisy later drove home in Gatsby's car, when Daisy hit Myrtle. He waits for Daisy to go to bed at the end of this chapter.
Tom Buchanan is suspicious in this chapter. He was ''feeling the hot whips of panic.. His wife and his mistress, until an hour ago secure and inviolate, were slipping precipitately from his control. '' He later argues with Gatsby and tries to prove him that Daisy has always loved her husband.
Daisy is in the centre of the conflict, as Tom and Gatsby fight about her. She invites Gatsby to lunch and later suggests renting "five bathrooms" to cool down from the hotness. When Tom, Gatsby, Jordan, Nick and Daisy get into a hotel room, they start arguing. Daisy is the one who drives Gatsby's car when it hits Myrtle and she didn't even stop it.
In this chapter, George B. Wilson is feeling sick, as he says, and he has locked Myrtle in his house. Apparently, he gets to know about Myrtle's affairs, just doesn't know who are they with. He feels even more sick as the events lead to Myrtle's cruel death. He sits in his garage and barely talks.
Michaelis is George's neighbour , a young Greek "who ran the coffee joint beside the ashheaps'', he goes to Wilson's garage and finds him really sick. He tries to find out what had happened between George and Myrtle, but Wilson wouldn't say a word. Michaelis was the one who reached Myrtle's dead body first.
Myrtle is the victim in this Chapter. Her death almost starts the ending of the book, as the death of Gatsby follows. As Wilson gets to know her affairs, he locks her in the apartment, later in the evening they start arguing and Myrtle runs on the road where she gets hit by Gatsby's car while Daisy is driving. "The mouth was wide open and ripped a little in the corners, as though she had choked a little in giving up the tremendous vitality she had stored so long".
Nick is the narrator. He is the bystander, but tries to calm Gatsby and Tom down several times. Although he doesn't see Myrtle's death, he writes about it poetically in a way like he has been there.

• Themes:

Death is an important theme in this chapter, as it starts the ending of the book. Myrtle's is killed cruely and this event leads to missunderstoodmant by George.
Love also takes an important place, as Gatsby reveals his love for Daisy to Tom. Love is the thing which leads to death.
Missunderstoodman takes place in this chapter, as the killer of Myrtle is confused.

• Settings:

Tom's house. He show Gatsby that his house is visible from the bay. A hotel room, where they are having a time together. George's garage is the place where Myrtle's body is lying while the investigation is going on. The last part of the chapter is set in Daisy's and Tom's house, where they were sitting in the kitchen.

• Ideology:

Tom's view on the world is expressed in this chapter, as he feels in danger of losing his wife and mistress, and he doesn't want Gatsby to meet Daisy.

• Language:

Poetic descritpitons, that are seen throughout the novel. Nick also describes events which he hasn't seen himself. He uses words that seem like he has been there, for example, he describes the moment when Myrtle died, but he hadn't actually been there at the time.

Nick Carraway from "The Great Gatsby"

Nick Carraway is the narrator of the whole book, so we see everything from his point of view. This gives us a little description of himself, for example, we hardly know what he looks like, but we can get a sense what kind of a person he is, as he introduces us to his ideologies and view on the world.
In Chapter One Nick Carraway tells us about his past and notes that in the college he was "unjustly accused of being a politician", and though he mentions "unjustly" we get a sense that he is good at telling people what they want to hear.
While reading the novel, we can clearly see that he over-romanticises most of the things by giving poetic descriptions and sometimes using words that are quite uncommon, for example, what he says about Daisy that she had a "warm human magic" puts her in a different, almost magical world.
From the novel we get a sense that Nick is actually quite lonely and almost empty. At one point he even imagines that he picks out "romantic women from the crowd" and follows them to their apartment, which seems a bit crazy and even scary, but I think this is what people sometimes do(or imagine doing it) when they are feeling lonely.
His confusion shows in the relationship between Jordan and some other person, whose name isn't mentioned. He couldn't understand what he felt to both of them, as he says, at one moment he thought that he loved Jordan, but later added that it wasn't actually love, he "felt a sort of tender curiosity".
Nick is also a nostalgic person, he reflects on his past few times throughout the novel.

The Great Gatsby : Chapter IV and V

Chapter IV.

• Narrative style:

Written from Nick's point of view. Chapter IV is divided in five parts : first part consists of names of people who had visited Gatsby's parties that summer, in second part Gatsby meets Nick and reveals him some truth, but leaves Nick wondering what "this matter" is("But Miss Baker has kindly consented to speak to you about this matter." said by Gatsby), third part is about a lunch that Nick and Gatsby are having together, Nick also learns new things about Gatsby(those are told by Mr Wolfshiem), at the end of this part, Nick meets Tom and introduces Gatsby to him, not knowing that Gatsby already knows Tom. Fourth part is quite unusual, because the story is told by Jordan who's speaking through Nick. She tells how she became friends with Daisy and how Daisy and Gatsby are connected. The final part of this chapter Gatsby's plans are revealed, as Jordan tells Nick that Gatsby wants him to invite Daisy to tea and they could accidentally meet. Chapter IV ends with a romantic moment between Nick and Jordan.

• Characters:

There's a list of people who had visited Gatsby's parties that summer(written down by Nick) from page 67 to 69. We get to know more about Gatsby, as he tells about himself, he tried to die in the war, but "seemed to bear an enchanted life". Nick meets a man named Meyer Wolfshiem, who is "a small, flat-nosed Jew with two fine growths of hair in either nostril", as Gatsby later tells, he is the man who "fixed the World's Series back in 1919. There's a description of Daisy's past from Jordan's point of view. Jordan reflects to "one October day in nineteen-seventeen" when she "was walking from one place to another, half on the sidewalks and half on the lawns." She says that the largest of the lawns belonged to Daisy's house, who was just eighteen at the time and "by far the most popular of all the young girls in Louisville". "She dressed in white, and had a little white roadster", says Jordan. White colour could symbolise Daisy's innocence. Jordan also says that the telephone in Daisy's house rang all day long, and the first time she got drunk was before her wedding. Daisy had "an absolutely perfect reputation. Perhaps because she doesn't drink."

• Themes:

Gatsby's party guests, truth about Gatsby, Nick having a lunch with Gatsby and meeting Mr Wolfshiem and Tom Buchanan, Gatsby's years at war, relationship between Daisy and Gatsby, Nick's and Jordan's conversation.

• Settings:

There's a description of Gatsby's car - "one morning late in July, Gatsby's gorgeous car lurched up the rocky drive to my door and gave a burst of melody from its three-noted horn", "it was a rich cream colour, bright with nickel, swollen here and there in its monstrous length with triumphant hat-boxes and supper-boxes and tool-boxes, and terraced with a labyrinth of wind-shields that mirrored a dozen suns."

• Ideology:

The lives of the rich and the poor, with one having everything you can imagine and the others fighting to get it. Innocence married with dishonesty doesn't bring any happiness.

• Language:

Very poetic ways to describe things are seen, which is not the first time. A description of Gatsby's car is almost like a description of a woman. It's unusual that the fourth part of this chapter is written by Jordan who's speaking through Nick.

Chapter V.

• Narrative style:

Written from Nick's point of view. In chapter V Gatsby finally meets Daisy and finds out that they still have feelings for each other. The in Chapter V progresses in few days time starting from the day when Nick told Gatsby that he knows his plans. The next day Nick phoned Daisy and arranged a meeting.

• Characters:

Gatsby, "pale as death", feeling embarrassed when he meets Daisy, he says that "this is a terrible mistake" and even brakes Nick's clock, though he later completes all his plans by showing Daisy his house and belongings, so she knows what she has, perhaps, lost by marrying Tom. Daisy is feeling embarrassed, too, because she still has feelings for Gatsby and feels amazed by his life as it is now, she even started crying when Gatsby showed his shirts, "It makes me sad because I've never seen such - such beautiful shirts before" she says.

• Themes:

It's never enough for rich people. Daisy's and Gatsby's reunion. Gatsby wanting to impress Daisy so she leaves Tom.

• Settings:

It's raining all the time, showing that something is going to happen. This is also a pathetic fallacy, because the weather shows Gatsby's feelings and his emotional breakdown. There's a massive description on Gatsby's house and his belongings - "We went upstairs, through period bedrooms swathed in rose and lavender silk and vivid with new flowers, through dressing-rooms and poolrooms, and bathrooms with sunken baths", he showed his "cabinets which held his massed suits and dressing gowns and ties, and his shirts, piled like bricks in stacks a dozen high". There were also grounds and a swimming pool and a hydroplane in his possessions.

• Ideology:

Idea of putting things in front of everyone and that everything has to be made up and done in a certain way. Gatsby is over-exposing his life, putting it on show so only few people know the truth about him.

• Language:

Language is used to describe the state of mind - Gatsby is having an emotional breakdown. He feels embarrassed all the time and does strange things. Very poetic words are used at the end of the chapter, again showing Nick's romanticism as a narrator. Daisy has a "voice as a deathless song", which probably means that Gatsby could listen to it over and over again and feels somehow relieved to meet her again and hear hear words of acceptance.

The Great Gatsby : Chapter II and Chapter III

Chapter II.

• Narrative Style:

Written from Nick's point of view, he is the narrator of the whole book. In Chapter II, Nick is looking back at one day in his life, the day when he not only met Tom's mistress, but got drunk as well, he says "I have been drunk just twice in my life, and the second time was that afternoon". Gatsby is not mentioned in this chapter, so spectator is still left wondering why the book is named "The Great Gatsby". Not much of a progress in action, but we get to know that Tom has some respect for Daisy, because he brakes Myrtle's nose when she is repeating Daisy's name.

• Characters:

Chapter II introduces us to few new characters - Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, George B. Wilson and Myrtle Wilson. Doctor T. J. Eckleburg is described to have blue and gigantic eyes, "their retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a non-existent nose." George B. Wilson was "a blond, spiritless man, anaemic and fairly handsome" with "light blue eyes". He was the proprietor of a garage, located in a valley of ashes, right outside New York. By the description, we can tell that he is quite poor and definitely not living the life as Tom did. His wife, Myrtle Wilson, is Tom's mistress, as we find out when Tom wants Nick to meet her. She had a "thickish figure", but "she carried her flesh sensuously as some women can", her face "contained no face or gleam of beauty". Later in the chapter, two other characters appear - Catherine, Myrtle's sister, who is "a slender, worldly girl of about thirty, with a solid, sticky bob of red hair, and a complexion powdered milky white", and Mr McKee - "a pale, feminine man", and a photographer.

• Themes:

The relationship between Tom, Myrtle and her husband. The life of a privileged and the life of a poor. Nick getting drunk. Two different world's - Daisy's and Myrtle's.

• Settings:

Part of the chapter is set in Wilson's garage, which is described as "unprosperous and bare; the only car visible was dust-covered wreck of a Ford which crouched in dim corner" showing that his business is probably not going well. There's an interesting description of the place where Myrtle's and Tom's New York apartment is - "one slice in a long white cake of apartment-houses" which leads to think that the location is quite prestige and contrasting to Myrtle's and George's ordinary lives. However, the apartment itself appears to be small and crowded.

• Language:

At the end of the chapter, some ellipses are used to get the feeling of a drunkenness and not remembering everything that happens. It's like some information of a film is missing, because at one moment Nick was "standing beside his (Mr McKee's) bed" and at the other he was "lying half asleep in the cold lower level of the Pennsylvania Station" and it doesn't say anything about how he got there. The writing is very descriptive when talking about characters or settings. Nick as a narrator and Fitzgerald as a writer mentions things which would normally get unnoticed by others or said in a less poetic way, like when Nick is talking about Doctor T. J. Eckleburg's eyes and face - "their retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face, but, instead a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a non-existent nose". A sense of realism can be felt, but there are also hyperboles and those are used so that the reader can build up an image in his own way which would differ depending on his understanding of things. For example, everyone knows that retinas cannot be one yard high, but each person will imagine the real size differently. Opposite words are used to create a speed, like when saying "scolding and consoling" side by side.

Chapter III.

• Narrative style:

Chapter III starts with a description of Gatsby's party which is attended by Nick himself, he meets with Jordan(who is later brought to Gatsby by his request) and she is an important character in the second part of this chapter, as well. There's a massive description of a car crash right at the end of the first part. We finally get to know more about Gatsby as Nick meets him for the first time. In second part of the Chapter III, Nick tells us about his summer and relationship with Jordan.

• Characters:

Some party guests, most of them were not invited and didn't even know Gatsby. It's obvious that they cannot control theirselves because there are lots of fights, like when some girl explained to Nick "She had a fight with a man who says he's her husband" and then he writes "I looked around. Most of the remaining women were now having fights with men said to be their husbands". The guests were probably using Gatsby and coming to his parties just because they are for free and there are lots of alcohol, which was banned at that time. We finally get introduced to Gatsby, though he still remains a mysterious person, no one knows what he does and whether the rumors like "he killed a man" are true. He is mostly not recognized by his guests, and one of the girl says "He doesn't want any trouble with anybody". In the second part Nick reveals some things about himself which, perhaps, he reveal. "I began to like New York," he says, "I liked to walk up Fifth Avenue and pick out romantic women from the crowd and imagine that in a few minutes I was going to enter into their lives. Sometimes, in my mind, I followed them to their apartments on the corners of hidden streets, and they turned and smiled back at me", which seems quite a strange thing to do. Nick also tells about his feelings with Jordan and how he thought he loved her, "I am slow-thinking and full of interior rules that act as brakes on my desires". He says that "Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply" and for a moment calls himself a fool. We get to know more about Jordan Baker, too, as Nick writes about her - "Jordan Baker instinctively avoided clever, shrewd men", "She was incurably dishonest."

• Themes:

Gatsby's party. Lifestyle of the rich. Gatsby's and Nick's friendship. Nick's and Jordan's relationship. A summer in New York. Car crash.

• Settings:

Gatsby's "blue gardens", a Gothic library, "panelled with carved English oak".

• Ideology:

Carelessness, loose morality. The rich can do whatever they want.

• Language:

In page 47, Nick repeats "I had actually been invited" for two times, to prove that he is standing higher than the other guests and is proud of it. Very poetic ways to express feelings, like when Nick says "At the enchanted metropolitan twilight I felt a haunting loneliness sometimes". The way he talks about Jordan is unusual, too, he uses phrases such as "bored haughty face", "incurably dishonest", "grey sun-strained eyes" though he appears to have some feelings with Jordan. "A wafer of a moon was shining over Gatsby's house, making the night fine as before, and surviving the laughter and the sound of his still glowing garden. A sudden emptiness seemed to flow now from the windows and the great doors" - again, a very poetic description that builds up an image of a picturesque house and garden. There's a little description of Gatsby, which lets the reader create his own image.

A short passage.

Page 65-66.

Starting with "But I am slow-thinking and full of interior rules" and ending at "I am one of the few honest people I have ever known".

It's like a moment of truth where Fitzgerald not only reveals that Nick is meant to be slow-thinking but also arrogant, though Nick's honesty is doubtful. At the beginning, Nick told that he isn't judgemental, however, reading through the three chapters, it's clearly seen that Nick does judge.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Chapter One.

In chapter one reader gets introduced to five main characters : Nick Carraway, who is the narrator, Tom Buchanan, Daisy Buchanan, who is Tom's wife, Jordan Baker and Jay Gatsby, though there's a little description of him.

Nick Carraway starts the chapter by reflecting on his past and relationship with his dad, telling that they have "always been unusually communicative in a reserved way". Nick also tells that in college he was "unjustly accused of being a politician" which leads the reader to think that he is well educated, quite modest and good at talking with people and telling them what they want to hear, as politicians do. In 1922 Nick rented a house "in one of the strangest communities in North America" - on Long Island Sound. He lived at West Egg, which he describes as "the less fashionable one". There's also a description of Gatsby's mansion(which is next to Nick's house) given and it builds up a question why did Gatsby choose the West Egg?

There's a massive description of Tom Buchanan in the first chapter. Describing Tom, Nick has used words such as "enormously wealthy", "straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner. Two shining arrogant eyes" and "enormous leverage - a cruel body", he seems not to like Tom. Reader also gets to know Tom's view on life, his ideology. "It's up to us, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things" shows that he is a racist. 

Two other characters appear - Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker. Daisy is Nick's second cousin and the wife of Tom Buchanan. She is described to have a "low, thrilling voice" and "sad and lovely" face with "bright things in it, bright eyes, bright passionate mouth". Daisy and her husband Tom is living on East Egg of Long Island. Jordan Baker, a friend of Daisy and a professional golfer, is described as a "slender, small breasted girl" with "grey sun-strained eyes" and "charming, discontented face". Nick says that he enjoyed looking at Jordan, but isn't describing her in adoring way. "Sitting down at the table as if she were getting into bed" shows that she is careless, rather bored and so rich that she hasn't got any focus on things.

Gatsby only appears once, but then suddenly vanishes. Tom is saying that "A figure had emerged from the shadow of my neighbour's mansion and was standing with his hands in his pockets regarding the silver peppers of the stars", "He gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone - he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way".

Part of the chapter is set at Tom and Daisy's house which is "a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay. The lawn started at the beach and toward the front door for a quarter of a mile jumping over sun-dials and brick walks and burning gardens", "the front was broken by a line of french windows" which all suggest that they were living a rich lifestyle. Nick describes Gatsby's mansion as "a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, an more than fifty acres of lawn and garden". Both of these were a great contrast to Nick's bungalow which he rented for 80 dollars a month.

It seems like first part of the chapter is written in present, but the rest of it in past, because of the "Gatsby turned out all right at the end". There's a very strong characterization, the reader also gets to know the relationship between the characters and there's some interesting use of language. Nick is talking directly to the reader, like in the sentence "Well, the less fashionable of the two". "The history of the summer really begins" seems almost like the rest of the summer was just not important, but something unforgettable is about to happen when the history has begun.

Currently reading...

"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" by Mark Haddon.

• A story about 15-year-old boy suffering from Asperger's Syndrome and his adventures after discovering his neighbours dog Wellington being stabbed with a garden fork.

The opening of a novel

• The opening of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" written by Mark Haddon.
  

"It was 7 minutes after midnight. The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs Shears' house. Its eyes were closed. It looked as if it was running on its side, the way dogs run when they think they are chasing a cat in a dream. But the dog was not running or asleep. The dog was dead. There was a garden fork sticking out of the dog. The points of the fork must have gone all the way through the dog and into the ground because the fork had not fallen over. I decided that the dog was probably killed with the fork because I could not see any other wounds in the dog and I do not think you would stick a garden fork into a dog after it had died for some other reason, like cancer, for example, or road accident.. But I could not be certain about this. I went through Mrs Shears' gate, closing it behind me. I walked onto her lawn and knelt beside the dog. I put my hand on the muzzle of the dog. It was still warm.
The dog was called Wellington. It belonged to Mrs Shears' who was our friend. She lived on the opposite side of the rod, two houses to the left.
Wellington was a poodle. Not one of the small poodles that have hairstyles, but a big poodle. It had curly back fur, but when you got close you could see that the skin underneath the fur was a very pale yellow, like chicken.
I stroked Wellington and wondered who had killed him, and why."






The author opens this novel by telling exact time when something had happened, which also leads to reader involvement. It bilds up many questions, for example, "What is the character doing on the street at that time?" and "What had happened? Why?".
The novel is written in first person. The opening introduces reader with one of the characters, which is the dead dog, there's also a description of Mrs Shears' who is said to be the owner of the dog and a friend, but there is a little description of the person who tells the story, it's only known that this person lives near and knew the dog. The opening also introduces empathy of the character, the reader is told how the speaking character feels and what he thinks, for example, the dog was killed with the fork, in his opinion.
A good description to what had happened, that builds up an image of how everything could look like, which is very important for a reader to get the right sense. Since the novel is opened by a death incident, we can guess that the rest of the novel will be built up around it.

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

Published in 1996. Biography.

"Into the Wild" is a non-fiction book about the adventures of Christopher McCandless, who became known world-wide after article about his death("Death of an Innocent" by the same author) was published in 1993.

After graduating high-school in 1990, Christopher McCandless gave away his savings of $24,000 to Oxfam charity, stopped communicating with his family(except his sister) and began wandering around Arizona, California and South Dakota. He later changed his name to Alexander Supertramp, abandoned his car, burnt all the money in his wallet and went into the wild.

The book begins with McCandless body being discovered in an abandoned bus, two years had passed since he started wandering and went missing.


To be continued...