TEXT 1
Their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red-and-white Georgian
Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay. The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the
front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sun-dials and brick walks and burning
gardens — finally when it reached the house drifting up the side in bright vines as though
from the momentum of its run. The front was broken by a line of French windows, glowing
now with reflected gold and wide open to the warm windy afternoon, and Tom Buchanan in
riding clothes was standing with his legs apart on the front porch.
He had changed since his New Haven years. Now he was a sturdy straw-haired man of
thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner. Two shining arrogant eyes had
established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning
aggressively forward. Not even the effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the
enormous power of that body — he seemed to fill those glistening boots until he strained the
top lacing, and you could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved
under his thin coat. It was a body capable of enormous leverage — a cruel body.
His speaking voice, a gruff husky tenor, added to the impression of fractiousness he
conveyed. There was a touch of paternal contempt in it, even toward people he liked — and
there were men at New Haven who had hated his guts.
“Now, don’t think my opinion on these matters is final,” he seemed to say, “just because I’m
stronger and more of a man than you are.” We were in the same senior society, and while
we were never intimate I always had the impression that he approved of me and wanted me
to like him with some harsh, defiant wistfulness of his own.
We talked for a few minutes on the sunny porch.
“I’ve got a nice place here,” he said, his eyes flashing about restlessly.
Turning me around by one arm, he moved a broad flat hand along the front vista, including in
its sweep a sunken Italian garden, a half acre of deep, pungent roses, and a snub-nosed
motor-boat that bumped the tide offshore.
“It belonged to Demaine, the oil man.” He turned me around again, politely and abruptly.
“We’ll go inside.”
We walked through a high hallway into a bright rosy-colored space, fragilely bound into the
house by French windows at either end. The windows were ajar and gleaming white against
the fresh grass outside that seemed to grow a little way into the house. A breeze blew
through the room, blew curtains in at one end and out the other like pale flags, twisting them
up toward the frosted wedding-cake of the ceiling, and then rippled over the wine-colored
rug, making a shadow on it as wind does on the sea.
The only completely stationary object in the room was an enormous couch on which two
young women were buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon. They were both in
white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in
after a short flight around the house. I must have stood for a few moments listening to the
whip and snap of the curtains and the groan of a picture on the wall. Then there was a boom
as Tom Buchanan shut the rear windows and the caught wind died out about the room, and
the curtains and the rugs and the two young women ballooned slowly to the floor.
,Contextualisation
-Chapter 1
-Nick visits the Buchanan Mansion and narrates his perception of their mansion and Tom
and Daisy’s character
-Nick is still an ambitious young man who arrived on East Egg to attain wealth and reputable
social status
-He shares similar conception of the American Dream with others although possessing
greater moral compass and that’s what makes his narrative interesting
Main Ideas
1. Nick’s imagery-filled description of Buchanan’s mansion as a reflection of the
elite’s self-aggrandising lifestyle
a. Suggests grandeur and prominence of the mansion
i. “more elaborate than I expected” - Nick was pleasantly surprised by
the scale of the mansion
ii. “glowing now with reflected gold” - glamour, shining imagery; suggests
quality and prestige
iii. “ bright rosy-colored space” - blissful, happy imagery; perhaps
suggests that the space is really filled with beautiful roses
iv. “fresh grass” - imagery of renewal and revitalisation
v. “Overlooking the bay” - suggests to us the size of the mansion
b. Personification of the mansion implies that Nick fancies the mansion and
suggests his excited emotions
i. “The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a
quarter of a mile”
ii. Vibrant and energetic imagery symbolises how Tom and Daisy are
perceived in society due to their wealth and social statues; nothing
they do is wasteful or extravagant but classy and highly approved
c. References to colonial/imperial times
i. “Georgian colonial mansion” - associates the Buchanans with feudal
lord characteristics
ii. “A line of French windows” - symbolises soldiers staying on guard for
their ruler (Napoleon)
iii. “Standing with reflected gold” - imperialism connotations as the
European imperialist set out their conquest of the weak seeking for
gold
d. Builds reader’s appreciation of the narrator, Nick as a human being of 1920’s
America
i. His colourful, approving description of the mansion reflects his bias
towards the social elites (Tom and Daisy)
ii. Went to East Egg to endeavour in the bond business in pursuit of
material wealth
, iii. Based on his admiring tone of the mansion and yet contemptuous
towards Tom, perhaps he is also envious of him; why should Tom
inherit all this wealth while all he did was to arbitrarily birthed into an
extremely affluent family?
iv. Favours the “old-money” such as Tom and Daisy; a starking contrast
to his description of Gatsby’s mansion - a factual imitation
v. At this point of the novel Nick aspires to be like the Buchanans
vi. Fitzgerald successfully establish Nick’s initial naivety so that later on
readers can witness his prominent growth
2. Insight into the character trait of social elite of 1920s America through Nick’s
characterisation of Tom Buchanan, Daisy and Jordan
a. Tom’s authoritative and condescending manner
i. “standing with his legs apart” - demonstrate his ownership not only of
his mansion but everything around him; total control; authoritative
motif;
ii. “a sturdy straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a
supercilious manner. Two shining arrogant eyes had established
dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always
leaning aggressively forward” - highlights his haughtiness and
self-established superiority
iii. “Straw-haired man” - straw has a negative connotation as it is
equivalent to weak/feeble. This contrasts the previous descriptions of
Tom as being very strong and dominant, and expresses Nick’s
contempt towards Tom from the very beginning. Perhaps Nick is
jealous of Tom who was born with silver spoon
iv. “just because I’m stronger and more of a man than you are.” - Tom
thinks that he has a natural superiority over others because of his
family, his “blood” or his physical size; chauvinistic character; physical
strength and brutality
v. “Turning me around by one arm” - impulsion to manipulate others
even by coercion/force; authoritative motif; demonstrates a serious
disregard for others
vi. “It belonged to Demaine, the oil man” - anything that isn’t nice,
luxurious, worthy cannot be Tom’s. He seems almost embarrassed of
the motor-boat that is so run down as it is in his vista. Tom needs to
maintain his social elite standard as he is known to be very rich and
living lavishly. Also, referring to Demaine as ‘the oil man’ shows how
Tom views himself as above others and doesn’t think much of
Demaine (looks at him with less respect).
vii. “a broad flat hand along the front vista, including in its sweep” -
showing that he has got everything which you don’t have
viii. “Then there was a boom as Tom Buchanan....” - loud, dominant, bold-
few of the words closely associated with Tom’s character and
personality; foregrounds his destructive nature
Their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red-and-white Georgian
Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay. The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the
front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sun-dials and brick walks and burning
gardens — finally when it reached the house drifting up the side in bright vines as though
from the momentum of its run. The front was broken by a line of French windows, glowing
now with reflected gold and wide open to the warm windy afternoon, and Tom Buchanan in
riding clothes was standing with his legs apart on the front porch.
He had changed since his New Haven years. Now he was a sturdy straw-haired man of
thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner. Two shining arrogant eyes had
established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning
aggressively forward. Not even the effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the
enormous power of that body — he seemed to fill those glistening boots until he strained the
top lacing, and you could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved
under his thin coat. It was a body capable of enormous leverage — a cruel body.
His speaking voice, a gruff husky tenor, added to the impression of fractiousness he
conveyed. There was a touch of paternal contempt in it, even toward people he liked — and
there were men at New Haven who had hated his guts.
“Now, don’t think my opinion on these matters is final,” he seemed to say, “just because I’m
stronger and more of a man than you are.” We were in the same senior society, and while
we were never intimate I always had the impression that he approved of me and wanted me
to like him with some harsh, defiant wistfulness of his own.
We talked for a few minutes on the sunny porch.
“I’ve got a nice place here,” he said, his eyes flashing about restlessly.
Turning me around by one arm, he moved a broad flat hand along the front vista, including in
its sweep a sunken Italian garden, a half acre of deep, pungent roses, and a snub-nosed
motor-boat that bumped the tide offshore.
“It belonged to Demaine, the oil man.” He turned me around again, politely and abruptly.
“We’ll go inside.”
We walked through a high hallway into a bright rosy-colored space, fragilely bound into the
house by French windows at either end. The windows were ajar and gleaming white against
the fresh grass outside that seemed to grow a little way into the house. A breeze blew
through the room, blew curtains in at one end and out the other like pale flags, twisting them
up toward the frosted wedding-cake of the ceiling, and then rippled over the wine-colored
rug, making a shadow on it as wind does on the sea.
The only completely stationary object in the room was an enormous couch on which two
young women were buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon. They were both in
white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in
after a short flight around the house. I must have stood for a few moments listening to the
whip and snap of the curtains and the groan of a picture on the wall. Then there was a boom
as Tom Buchanan shut the rear windows and the caught wind died out about the room, and
the curtains and the rugs and the two young women ballooned slowly to the floor.
,Contextualisation
-Chapter 1
-Nick visits the Buchanan Mansion and narrates his perception of their mansion and Tom
and Daisy’s character
-Nick is still an ambitious young man who arrived on East Egg to attain wealth and reputable
social status
-He shares similar conception of the American Dream with others although possessing
greater moral compass and that’s what makes his narrative interesting
Main Ideas
1. Nick’s imagery-filled description of Buchanan’s mansion as a reflection of the
elite’s self-aggrandising lifestyle
a. Suggests grandeur and prominence of the mansion
i. “more elaborate than I expected” - Nick was pleasantly surprised by
the scale of the mansion
ii. “glowing now with reflected gold” - glamour, shining imagery; suggests
quality and prestige
iii. “ bright rosy-colored space” - blissful, happy imagery; perhaps
suggests that the space is really filled with beautiful roses
iv. “fresh grass” - imagery of renewal and revitalisation
v. “Overlooking the bay” - suggests to us the size of the mansion
b. Personification of the mansion implies that Nick fancies the mansion and
suggests his excited emotions
i. “The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a
quarter of a mile”
ii. Vibrant and energetic imagery symbolises how Tom and Daisy are
perceived in society due to their wealth and social statues; nothing
they do is wasteful or extravagant but classy and highly approved
c. References to colonial/imperial times
i. “Georgian colonial mansion” - associates the Buchanans with feudal
lord characteristics
ii. “A line of French windows” - symbolises soldiers staying on guard for
their ruler (Napoleon)
iii. “Standing with reflected gold” - imperialism connotations as the
European imperialist set out their conquest of the weak seeking for
gold
d. Builds reader’s appreciation of the narrator, Nick as a human being of 1920’s
America
i. His colourful, approving description of the mansion reflects his bias
towards the social elites (Tom and Daisy)
ii. Went to East Egg to endeavour in the bond business in pursuit of
material wealth
, iii. Based on his admiring tone of the mansion and yet contemptuous
towards Tom, perhaps he is also envious of him; why should Tom
inherit all this wealth while all he did was to arbitrarily birthed into an
extremely affluent family?
iv. Favours the “old-money” such as Tom and Daisy; a starking contrast
to his description of Gatsby’s mansion - a factual imitation
v. At this point of the novel Nick aspires to be like the Buchanans
vi. Fitzgerald successfully establish Nick’s initial naivety so that later on
readers can witness his prominent growth
2. Insight into the character trait of social elite of 1920s America through Nick’s
characterisation of Tom Buchanan, Daisy and Jordan
a. Tom’s authoritative and condescending manner
i. “standing with his legs apart” - demonstrate his ownership not only of
his mansion but everything around him; total control; authoritative
motif;
ii. “a sturdy straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a
supercilious manner. Two shining arrogant eyes had established
dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always
leaning aggressively forward” - highlights his haughtiness and
self-established superiority
iii. “Straw-haired man” - straw has a negative connotation as it is
equivalent to weak/feeble. This contrasts the previous descriptions of
Tom as being very strong and dominant, and expresses Nick’s
contempt towards Tom from the very beginning. Perhaps Nick is
jealous of Tom who was born with silver spoon
iv. “just because I’m stronger and more of a man than you are.” - Tom
thinks that he has a natural superiority over others because of his
family, his “blood” or his physical size; chauvinistic character; physical
strength and brutality
v. “Turning me around by one arm” - impulsion to manipulate others
even by coercion/force; authoritative motif; demonstrates a serious
disregard for others
vi. “It belonged to Demaine, the oil man” - anything that isn’t nice,
luxurious, worthy cannot be Tom’s. He seems almost embarrassed of
the motor-boat that is so run down as it is in his vista. Tom needs to
maintain his social elite standard as he is known to be very rich and
living lavishly. Also, referring to Demaine as ‘the oil man’ shows how
Tom views himself as above others and doesn’t think much of
Demaine (looks at him with less respect).
vii. “a broad flat hand along the front vista, including in its sweep” -
showing that he has got everything which you don’t have
viii. “Then there was a boom as Tom Buchanan....” - loud, dominant, bold-
few of the words closely associated with Tom’s character and
personality; foregrounds his destructive nature
