The Great GatsbyChapter 7

A couple of contextual asides:

“Trimalchio” (p. 119) is a character in the Roman novel The Satyricon by Petronius. He is a freedman who through hard work and perseverance has attained power and wealth. His full name is Gaius Pompeius Trimalchio Maecenatianus; the references to Pompey and Maecenas in his name serve to enhance his ostentatious character. Trimalchio is known for throwing lavish dinner parties, where his numerous servants bring course after course of exotic delicacies, such as live birds sewn up inside a pig and a dish to represent every sign of the zodiac.

Fitzgerald’s original title for “The Great Gatsby” was “Trimalchio in West Egg” – giving us a clear sign that he was interested in exploring the ideas of ostentation and excess which we have been noticing in the novel

T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Waste Land” ...

...was published in 1922 (Gatsby was published in 1925 and set in 1922)

It has been called one of the most important poems of the 20th century

It deals with the decline of civilization and the impossibility of recovering meaning in life – it can be seen as a response to the devastation of the First World War

It is known that Fitzgerald was very struck with “The Waste Land” and refers to its central themes in “Gatsby” ...

Two obvious connections:“I will show you fear in a handful of dust” – look out for references to dust in “Gatsby”.

Obvious examples: The “foul dust” that “floated in the wake of

[Gatsby’s] dreams” p.8Ch. 2’s valley of ashes; the dust veiling George

Wilson’s business and home“mingled her thick dark blood with the dust” p.

144“a hundred pairs of golden and silver slippers

shuffled the shining dust” p.157Eliot’s poem is full of images of barrenness

(hence the title, “The Waste Land”)

“What shall I do now? What shall I do?  I shall rush out as I am, and walk the

streetWith my hair down, so. What shall we do

tomorrow?What shall we ever do?”

Compare Daisy in chapter 7: “What'll we do with ourselves this afternoon?” cried Daisy, “and the day after that, and the next thirty years?”

- The effect: to give a sense of emptiness and purposelessness at the heart of life

First task:To identify the structure of Chapter 7: how

do events build up to Myrtle’s death, and what happens afterwards?

In groups of 3, plot the important events/moments/mood swings in the following sections:

Pp. 119-131Pp. 131-142Pp. 142-152Plot them as a flow diagram; your section

can then link up with the others in your group to create an overview of the chapter

You have 20 minutes for this.

Second task: in 3 groups:Taking Myrtle Wilson’s death as

the focal point, and looking at different characters’ points of view, we are addressing the question:

“How did we get here?”

Each group will examine one character:

GatsbyDaisyNickYour task is to trace what we know of their

lives, their dreams, their relationships, their experiences, that have brought them to this moment

Include any significant motifs or symbols that attach to your character on their journey towards this moment (e.g. Daisy’s white dresses – an ironic appearance of innocence)

Our aim is to put them all together to create a masterpiece! You have 30 minutes.

Gatsby

Nick Daisy