Companionship

"'My children,' [Caroline] said, 'my firmest hopes of future happiness were placed on the prospect of your union'" (pg. 24). Although Victor and Elizabeth grow up together almost as siblings, they and the whole family are taught that they are not immediate family. Elizabeth addresses Caroline and Alphonse as aunt and uncle and Victor and his siblings as cousin. It is implied my Victor's mother's words on her deathbed that she intended for Victor and Elizabeth to marry, but I don't see how that union could ever be possible. The two basically grew up together. Even if they are not exactly related, their relationship seems too close for marriage. I feel like since the author puts so much emphasis on Elizabeth, an event will occur involving both Elizabeth and the monster. Going off the theme of death, it is possible that the monster will kill Elizabeth and Victor is chasing him in the arctic to avenge it. Then he tells his misfortunes to Walton and that is how the story begins.

Death

"Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world" (pg 32). One of the eminent themes so far in this book is death. Elizabeth's parents die which eventually leads her to live with the Frankensteins. Victor's mother dies after catching the fever Elizabeth had while taking care of her. Justine's, the servant, mother dies. William, the youngest Frankenstein brother, is murdered (pg. 47). An intelligent observation would be to assume that this theme will continue throughout the rest of the novel. I would guess that the monster will play a large role in this theme. Although when he is first created he is established to be a "gentle giant," I believe that his lack of companionship and giant structure signifying his differences from other people will compell him to the point of actually being a monster.

...

"Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always had some resolves or something like that" (pg 182) I find it ironic that on multiple occasions, various people said that Gatsby had a bright future ahead of him. In the military, he was recognized for his accomplishments. In business, he was able to get ahead and make a handsome living. Although his future looked promising, it was ended. I very much enjoyed the book, but I am still trying to find Fitzgerald's reasoning for Gatsby's death. I think it was to have a final establishment of the theme: the shallowness of the people living the "high life." Even if Gatsby had material things in his life, the only people that showed up to his funeral or even cared about him were Nick, his father, and some random party guest. Daisy, the one person for whom he did everything he did, didn't even show up. I liked the novel, but I wish it could have ended differently. (at least Jordan and Nick could have stayed together!)

Ending?

"The minister glanced several times at his watch so I took him aside and asked him to wait for half an hour. But it wasn't any use. Nobody came." (pg 182 Nick speaking about Gatsby's funeral) These sentences pretty much sum up the theme of the book. When Gatsby threw parties, a great amount of people came. But when Nick informed them of Gatsby's funeral, no one came. His "friends", or more so party guests, used Gatsby for his house, his parties, and his liquor. They had no real concern for him, which is shown through their lack of attendence at his funeral. His funeral! After Gatsby's death, things pretty much fell apart. Tom and Daisy moved, Jordan and Nick broke up, and Nick moved back west. What happened happened and none of them looked back on it. They looked forward to start a new part of their lives.

Old Sport

"You know, old sport, I've never used that pool all summer?" "Do, old sport." (pg 161) Throughout the whole novel, Gatsby continually used "old sport" mostly when he was talking to Nick, and even a few times when he was talking with Tom. His using "old sport" symbolized his false appearance. Although not know until towards the end of the novel, Gatsby was not born with wealth or even into a high-standing family. He had to change his name and aquire his wealth on his own. He was never refined so therefore had to fake his upbringings, shown in one way through using old sport. When Gatsby and Tom are battling about Daisy in the hotel room, Tom calls Gastby out about his use of "old sport." "That's a great expression of yours, isn't it?" said Tom sharply..."All this 'old sport' business. Where'd you pick that up?" (pg 134) Gatsby never answers because Daisy cuts in. Overall, "old sport" is simple a motif for Gatsby's made-up life that he tries to hard to conceal.

Viewpoint

"Angry as I was, as we all were, I was tempted to laugh whenever he opened his mouth. The transition from libertine to prig was so complete." (pg. 137 Nick talking about Tom) The Great Gatsby is told (almost entirely) by Nick's narration. The audience perceives the actions through how Nick experiences and tells them. In the quote above, Nick is describing the scene when they are all in the hotel room and Tom and Gatsby are fighting about Daisy and every little thing they can think of. If the novel was narrated by either Gatsby or Tom, it would be biased and would not hold the same effect. But since Nick is the narrator, he is portraying the scene as a completely objective third-party viewer. This is also seen in the scene of Nick's tea party where Gatsby and Daisy are invited. He vaguely knew their background together so the whole thing seemed awkward. Then Nick steps outside so the readers don't know what happened between Gatsby and Daisy in Nick's absence. Nick's perspective on the novel was a major contributor to themes and attitude of the work as a whole.

High Life

"The rumor is," whispered Jordan, "that that's Tom's girl on the telephone." One of the themes of the book was trying to live the highlife and the shallowness of the people up there. For Gatsby to even be considered by Daisy, he had to change his name, come into a lot of money, buy a huge house and expensive things, and through lavish parties for so-called friends. (They also aid the theme by pretending to be Gatsby's "friends" but don't even show up to his funeral.) Just as James Gatz, Jay Gatsby had no social standing in the world. Daisy portrays her shallowness by her actions with her daughter and how she carries an affair with Gatsby. Although Daisy and Tom have a child, she is only mentioned a few times and is only physically in a scene once before being quickly lead away. It is almost as if she doesn't even have a daughter. Tom also shows the same trait. He takes a mistress, is obsessed with his social standings, and thinks people are inferior to him. Jordan could also be grouped in this highlife category. She doesn't really spend her time on anything but golf and maintaining her image. Because Nick is dating Jordan, is neighbors with Gatsby, and is cousins with Daisy, he sort of gets swept up in the highlife when he has no business being there. This is probably the reason why him and Jordan didn't work out.