Gatsby Chapter 1, Characterization through dialogue
So I’d like to wrap up this extended discussion of chapter 1 by focusing on Fitzgerald’s fine characterization through dialogue. After Nick arrives at Tom and Daisy’s house almost the entire remainder of the chapter is devoted to dialogue. So we should definitely take a moment to sink our teeth into it and see if we can’t grind out a few thoughtful morsels.
First off, we might need a refresher on how dialogue can develop character. Those of you who are familiar with reading scripts may find this a bit redundant, but please bear with me: we all need a rehearsal now and then. Any of you who are used to and like reading Shakespeare will also find this fairly easy. So I will try to make it quick without missing any key parts.When we want to analyze dialogue we must start with some basic knowledge and assumptions first. This is where most people go wrong: they want to jump right into the story without preparing. A bad habit that should be forever dropped. The reason we need to develop some initial thoughts first is that dialogue is a product of the character’s desires, motivations, thoughts, and fears-all of these are unseen and unsaid. If we have a cursory understanding of these, then we can make predictions about the characters, check it against what they say, make inferences about their motivations and finally draw some enlightening conclusions. Make sense? Bad news to all the guys: stereotypically speaking, guys have a very hard time with this as we tend to never consider WHY something was said-which creates the communication gulf between men and women. So guys, we just have to work harder at it. It makes us tougher in the end.
Alright, so on to the story proper. We already know a little about Nick and Tom. In the dialogue section we’re going to shift gears a little as we first get Daisy speaking to her cousin, Nick, about her home town:
“Do they miss me?” she cried ecstatically.“The whole town is desolate. All the cars have the left rear wheel painted black as a mourning wreath and there’s a persistent wail all night along the North Shore.”
“How gorgeous! Let’s go back, Tom. Tomorrow!” Then she added irrelevantly, “You ought to see the baby.”
So what do we have? First, Daisy is obsessed with their (her friends’ and family from home’s) attitude towards herself, not really their state of affairs. She didn’t ask, “How is everyone doing?” No, she wants to know that they think of her. Nick responds in a joking manner–so we know that Nick is no fuddy-duddy, he likes to make up stories just for fun. He really goes over the top with the all-night-wailing. But look at Daisy’s response: “How gorgeous!” It’s ridiculous. It’s full of self-love and stupid spontaneity. She drives home this fact with her, “Let’s go back Tom. Tomorrow!” Please. But the best is the last, irrelevant statement about the baby. If she has a new child, you’d think that she would be thinking of her first. Or maybe she’d use more humane language like “meet” the baby; rather she says “see” the baby, as if it’s a toy or status symbol or the like. The whole conversation strikes us as frivolous, silly, childish. It’s like a 6 or 8 year old bouncing around on the sofa, her syllables as meaningless as they are incongruous.
Just as Daisy is about to continue with her banter, Tom interrupts her (that’s what dashes are used for in dialogue) with
“What you doing, Nick?”
Wow! He talks over his own wife with a topic that is completely unrelated-and publicly. Now this might not seem like much to us, but our manners have grown coarser these last 20 or so years. His statement is a serious breach of decorum: 1) he interrupts his wife who is speaking to her blood relative; 2) she is speaking about their own daughter; 3) he does not preface his interruption with the classic, “Excuse me for interrupting” or even “Let’s change the subject, darling”; and 4) he asserts his question with a hand on the shoulder so it would be impossible for Nick to not answer. He just blurts out a question about Nick’s job and then goes on to insinuate that Nick is working for a no-name firm because he’s never heard of them.
So far we should be able to make some pretty solid inferences about Tom and Daisy: they are self-absorbed, and care little for actual real conversation.
The next person to speak up is Jordan Baker who blurts out, “Absolutely!” completely unexpectedly. Up till now she’s been lying on the sofa, barely able to move her head. I’m under the impression that she’s drunk and can barely keep her head up or from spinning. She just seems out of it, period. But she claims she’s “in training.” Maybe for lounge-lizard.
After smashing a few cocktails (remember, this is against the US Constitution at this point in history), Tom brings up his book: The Rise of the Coloured Empires. I like this exchange very much:
“Well, it’s a fine book and everybody ought to read it. The idea is if we don’t look out the white race will be–will be utterly submerged. It’s all scientific stuff; it’s been proved.”“Tom’s getting very profound,” said Daisy with an expression of unthoughtful sadness. “He reads deep books with long words in them. What was that word we–”
“Well, these books are all scientific,” insisted Tom, glancing at her impatiently. “This fellow has worked out the whole thing. It’s up to us who are the dominant race to watch out or these other races will have control of things.”
This is just classic. Fitzgerald just lets ol’ Tom open his mouth and insert foot. The best part is that Tom thinks he’s impressive! I love it when people just dig holes for themselves, completely oblivious. Tom reasserts the book’s importance with his “it’s all very scientific.” Spare me! He doesn’t know the first thing about science (which requires measurements and real quantifiable data). He even repeats himself as if it will make it true. And then there’s Daisy’s silly remarks. Notice she’s interrupted when she says “What was the word we…” What do you think was the conclusion of that sentence? How about: “we didn’t know and had to look up the other day?” But Tom interrupts before she can get there and he seals the deal with his impatient stare. Tom never wants to admit weakness, even when he is admittedly a better football player than intellectual. Lordy, what a mess!
The conversation continues–it seems in circles, but I’m going to leave the analysis up to you.
As you can see, it’s not terribly difficult once we sit down and start chewing on the words. The key, I think, is asking yourself a simple question as you read: “What kind of person would say that?” After some practice it will be habit and you should be getting better at predicting and making inferences and drawing conclusions. SLOW DOWN as you read. If you try to burn though the text, you’ll just miss all the interesting stuff and be left with another book “read” but not really enjoyed nor understood.
So can you find at least two other moments in the remainder of the chapter where dialogue reveals character? There’s at least six I see just at a glance. Post a comment and let’s begin a discussion started about how Fitzgerald is exposing his characters.
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I found a few interesting dialogues that stick out in chapter 1, mainly surrounding the highly stereotyped notion that women talk excessively, especially about gossip.
For example, Daisy leans into Nick…”I’ll tell you a family secret,” she whispered enthusiastically. “It’s about the butler’s nose. Do you want to hear?”
Daisy begins this conversation with the secrecy needed when speaking of gossip by leaning in and whispering. Obviously she knows that gossip is not for everybody to hear, so the secretiveness adds to the importance. Another indication that Daisy is is an active gossiper is the joy she finds in revealing other people’s private business, shown in her ‘enthusiasm.’
Even Jordan gets involved in the gossip by commenting that the situation of the butler’s nose “went from bad to worse.”
This just shows how women enjoy the act of reflecting on other people’s lives. The fact that Fitzgerald has both of the women involved in the gossip shows his view of all women being gossipy. This is shown in further detail when Jordan reveals to Nick that Daisy and Tom are having trouble. It’s just too juicy for her to keep in.
Now, I have to say that this book was written from a man’s point of view, by a man, so obviously certain things will be exaggerated, as in how much women gossip. However, he successfully portrayed this characterization of women.
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I think you’re right on, Lauren. Another thing about Daisy’s “secret” is that it’s just plain stupid. I mean so what about his nose…? It seems so awfully superficial, don’t you think?
And you’re right about the negative view of women, at least in this chapter. But hold on and reserve your judgment (like Nick) and see how the men turn out in the upcoming chapters.
Good work.
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