·
“I
spent my Saturday nights in New York, because those gleaming, dazzling parties
of his were with me so vividly that I could still hear the music and the
laughter, faint and incessant, from his garden, and the cars going up and down
his drive”(179).
Fitzgerald primarily uses cumulative
or loose sentences in The Great Gatsby.
He uses long, complex sentences with a central idea, but many unnecessary,
dependent clauses to make it seem excessively sophisticated, quite similar to
the way Gatsby lived his life: one central idea of fitting in with high
society, and all his material possessions to give him credibility and
sophistication.
·
“By
seven o’clock the orchestra has arrived, no thin five-piece affair, but a whole
pitiful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and
piccolos, and low and high drums”(40).
Fitzgerald manipulates syntax in this
sentence by utilizing a polysyndeton to create a rushed and hurried feeling
when reading the sentence, as if no pauses or stops are allowed while reading. This
sentence reveals the feeling of crowdedness one must feel at Gatsby’s parties,
strictly because of the sheer number of people that must attend in order for an
orchestra of this magnitude to be necessary. Fitzgerald manipulates syntax to
imply certain elements about the plot or characteristics of a character so as
to create an air of mystery, similar to the one that shrouds Gatsby.
I just realized this comment did not post last week because I forgot to type in the little code box that proves you are not a robot. Sorry!
ReplyDeleteThe connection to made in the first sentence is very interesting. I did not recognize all the tiny details, such as sentence structure as relating to the entire plot. While there were large amounts of loose sentences like you said, I found there to also be many fragmented and staccato like sentences that represented Nick's confused and fractured thinking. In your second example, it was interesting that you connected the polysyndeton to "crowdedness" at the parties. Not only does the statement exemplify the business of the party, but the commotion as well. Great job recognizing the over all theme and tone and how it relates to Nick's (Fitszgerald's) feelings of discontent toward the 1920's lifestyle.