By annotating this book, the method I chose was text to text connection, I was forced to summarize and, stop and really think not only about what is happening but why the author made it happen.
While reading chapter one for the second time I realized that Nick Caraway gives away the whole plot line by hinting at events that happen, and the personality of the main charters. Did Fitzgerald want to purposely give the plot away like Shakespeare did in Romeo and Juliet? Why did Fitzgerald choose to make his characters so unlikeable? I think any woman would be angry if they were compared to selfish, reckless Jordan, or ditzy Daisy who is constantly trying to convince Nick she’s deep. Why did Fitzgerald include the scene with the clock during Jay and Daisy’s reunion? It was a very awkward moment and not important to the plot. Does the clock falling represent his desire to travel back in time to when he and Daisy first met falling to pieces? Is this why Gatsby’s obsession with recreating the past put in to the book? Is this is an idea that people of the 1920’s could relate to? Was that a popular idea in the 1920’s, did people want to recreate a past before WWI?
One of the characters that I found most important was Doctor T.J Eckleburg. His eyes witnessed account of everything that was important. I wondered why Fitzgerald would choose to add this essential character as a billboard. Did Fitzgerald mean for Dr. Eckleburg's eyes to be the prying eyes of society, peering in to the lives of the rich and famous? Or are the glasses are as Wilson believes the eyes of God watching our every move and moral miscommings? If Eckleburg’s eyes are the eyes of God is he judging all the sins that took place in his sight? Would he punish Daisy for Myrtle’s instant death or Tom’s lust for Wilson’s wife?
My final thoughts on this book (since I know you have to read a bunch of these) are that I did not care for the charters or what they represent. This book is an exclent reprentaion of the roaring 20’s.On the marking of the book what I liked about this method was renaming the chapters from roman numerals to An Absolute Rose or Valley of Ashes which helped me remember what each chapter was about.
My next book to tackle is Heart of Darkness. :]
LOVE it! Great first post! You did a good job summarizing and I love your questions. I think definitely the clock represents time. The word "time" or the idea of time is mentioned multiple times throughout the book. Sounds like the annotating helped in this instance? I like the renaming of the chapters. Good work! I also like your addition of photos, makes it a little more "real." I hope nobody genuinely likes the characters. Even Nick is a schmuck. :)
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