The Great Gatsby, Francis Scott Fizgerald, 1926

Until 1933, prohibition in the United States went hand in hand with industrial reconstruction in that country. This particular context had a great influence on contemporary authors of the time. The text studied here is an extract from The Great Gatsby. This work is a famous novel written in 1926 by Francis Scott Fizgerald, an American author and especially novelist of the beginning of the 20th century. More specifically, the extract is taken from chapter two of this book. A part of the present story takes place in a train, and then outside. The level of narration is extra-diegetic. Indeed, the narrator allows himself to give the reader some of his thoughts. This text is full of descriptions that are mixed with a single short dialogue. The reader can see that the main theme of the excerpt is the telling of a small journey. One might ask how, through the highly descriptive narrative of this passage, the author seems to reveal a new character, while using the description of the encounter as an anchor, to highlight the setting of the time. It will be interesting to note first of all that the use of certain devices makes the atmosphere of the story almost gloomy and fancy sometimes. Then we will notice that the author's style makes the story particularly real. Finally, we will see that Fizgerald gives an honest description of the new American society at the beginning of the 20th century.

A very dark main plot runs through the whole text, making the reader almost uncomfortable. Indeed, the use of pejorative qualifications in this extract is very present. The reader can see this in the recurrent use of adjectives with a pejorative connotation, such as ghastly, obscure, or dimly in the first paragraph alone. The landscape described by the narrator at the beginning of the text seems hostile, so much so that it is described with negative words. This allows the author to emphasise the specific character of the landscape, the visual context. Thus, we notice the use of a polysyndeton in lines 4 and 5. This figure of speech allows the author to emphasise his comparison between the ashes and human infrastructure. It is as if nature takes on a form modified by man. This adds to and produces a kind of unease for the reader. Indeed, the setting seems very fanciful, almost imaginary, so much so that it is told in detail about the narrator's impressions. This almost threatening presence in the text is reinforced by the description of a seemingly uninteresting advertising poster, however showing the author's hand. Indeed, it mentions the “eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg […] blue and gigantic.” These eyes are described at length, and are like an evil presence that weighs on the reader.  The narrator provides a factual and precise explanation for their presence: "some wild wag of an oculist set them there". However, one cannot help but think that this is another sign that in the story, this appearance on the characters' route is not accidental. Indeed, Fizgerald gives them great importance by taking the time to describe this poster. This is shown by the use of several complements: "by many paintless days", "one yard high", "from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles".

The unhealthy atmosphere that weighs on the narrator is present until the end of the text. Indeed, the protagonists are alone in a vastness. Finally, the only person they end up approaching is a man who again has an unpleasant appearance : “spiritless”, “anaemic”.

We have thus noticed that the narrator was in a position that seems uncomfortable, as the author shows us with the stylistic effects in this text. We will see how the supernatural collides with the very writing of the text.  

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