《Gatsby》TS打卡 - 第一章

1) motor road vs. rail road

The motor road 公路；汽车路 "hastily joins" the rail road, highlighting the difference between the Eggs and the valley, the rich and poor. 

The rail road 铁路, the means of transportation favored by the wealthy, avoids the valley as if some kind of despicable filthiness will contaminate it. Thus it seems to stand in for the perspective of the wealthy residents of the Eggs. 

West Egg is connected to New York by a road and a set of train tracks. It's not isolated. The railroad and the motor road symbolize the gateway between the city and the rich living. 

2) Valley of Ashes

The valley of ashes is the depressing industrial area of Queens that is in between West Egg and Manhattan. It isn't actually made out of ashes, but related to the factories that are nearby - their smokestacks deposit a layer of soot and ash over everything. 

The valley of ashes represents the moral and social decay that results from the uninhibited pursuit of wealth  (absolute poverty and hopelessness). it also symbolizers the plight of the poor, like George Wilson, who live among the dirty ashes and lose their vitality as a result. 

"fantastic farm"  & "grotesque garden" make the reader to believe the valley is almost fantasy and unbelievable.

"ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys" represent the rickety, low quality houses. 

map in 1924

The characters travel several times between West Eggs and Manhattan, sometimes by railroad and sometimes by car, always passing through the valley of ashes in the middle of the trip. 

3) T.J. Eckleburg's Eyes

The eyes symbolize an all knowing aspect of what is happening in the Great Gatsby. They see the good and all the bad happening throughout the story. They basically represent "God's eyes". 

note the color of Dr. Eckleburg's glasses. Yellow, the color of gold, is often the sign of wealth. One way to look at this detail is that Dr. Eckleburg is watching over the Valley of Ashes through gold lenses or through views of the upper class.

"wag" is normally used as a verb, as in the phrase "the dog wagged its tail". When uses as a noun, the word has a second meaning that was current in the 16th century, and continued to appear in literary contexts through the 20th country. As a noun it refers to someone with a droll or mischievous sense of humor. Therefore, the phrase "wild wag of" means someone who plays extravagant jokes on others.

4) waste land:

The valley of ashes is created as a result of capitalism and the bond business of the roaring 20's. It contains the dumping of industrial ashes and soot. the people who occupy this land are in poverty and lack a lavish lifestyle. It is a "waste land" because it symbolizes the ugliness and unpleasantness that lies beneath the luxurious lifestyle of the West Egg and East Egg. 

5) Wilson's Garage:

It was a symbol of a humble working man in a poverty stricken area.

The extended description of the neighborhood ensures this isn't a pretty picture - the area is run down the poor. The ashes seem to have trailed to the door from the very outset of the chapter. The shops themselves are very revealing - such businesses exist to serve the needs of their market, and so are an appropriate reflection of the inhabitants of the neighborhood. One vacant, one an all-night diner, one for repairs. 

6) dust-covered wreck of a Ford 

Since this story was set in 1922, the car being described is most likely henry Ford's Model T. This was the first car that was mass produced, so it was much more affordable. Since so many families were able to afford it, the Model T Ford became a symbol of the working class, so it would make sense for it to show up int he Valley of Ashes. 

7) Myrtle

She is not pretty in the delicate kind of way the other woman we've met so far. She's not thin, she's poor, and she's older than Tom. But she has an energy and vitality that intrigues Tom. It's important that this is the opposite of Daisy's put-together sophistication. 

Myrtle appears to be full of life, even thought Mr. Wilson seems like he's dead on his feet. This might be because her occasional visits with Tom make getting through a day in the Valley of Ashes more manageable. 

She is not very attractive in her face, yet seems her body is incredibly sexy. She is thick, and sumptuous. Tom may like the feeling of superiority that she is dependent on Tom, both financially and emotionally.

crepe-de-chine,  also spelled Crêpe De Chine, (French: “crepe of China”), light and fine plainwoven dress fabric produced either with all-silk warp and weft or else with a silk warp and hard-spun worsted weft.

8) Fourth of July

United State's independence Day - a day associated with all of the great things America has to offer - right before bring up America's ugly side (poverty, unemployment, etc). Poor immigrants like this Italian boy come to America because they buy into all of the great things American appears to offer, but more often than not fall short of achieving the "American Dream", the belief that hard work leads to Prosperity. 

Another possible meaning is that everyone in the Valley of Ashes, including "scrawny" children are affected by all the ashes and pollution in which they have to grown up in. The children are malnourished and probably not in good health due to the conditions in which the wealthy enforce on them. 

torpedoes:  torpedo (鱼雷)   in this case torpedoes aren't actually weapons, they are fireworks. This is probably the valley's workers' only form of holiday-getting to see a couple of blasts in the air once night falls.  The torpedoes that the child is setting up shows his yearning for color and light in his town. With these fireworks he can have a little joy. 

9) She had changed her dress to a brown figured muslin which stretched tight over her rather wide hips as Tom helped her to the platform in New York. 

Throughout the story, Myrtle is constantly concerned with keeping up an appearance of having great wealth. She desires to live the extravagant lifestyle of Tom Buchanan. When she is around hi, she acts in a superfluous manner (changing her clothes and spending money) to try to distance herself from the reality of her low-class and desolate lifestyle in the "valley of ashes". She puts on an act to try to become accepted into the "exciting" world of the rich. 

10) Town Tattle

It was a gossip magazine from the 1920's. It is ironic, that Myrtle should be following gossip sheets when really, her affair with Tom would make it in to them. On the other hand of course, perhaps that's what she's looking out for, some brief glimmer of fame or notoriety, a momentary escape from the grayness of the Valley of the Ashes. 

约翰·戴维森·洛克菲勒 1839年7月8日－1937年5月23日.1870年创立标Standard Oil，在全盛期壟斷了全美90%的石油市場，成為歷史上的第一位億萬富豪與全球首富。

Nick uses the adjective "absurd" to emphasize how preposterous it seems that a poor, working-class man can have anything in common with John D. Rockefeller. 

12) Airedale

Airedale Terriers: is a dog breed of the terrier type that originated in the valley of the River Aire, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is traditionally called the "King of Terriers" because it is the largest of the terrier breeds. 

airedale: 有黑斑的大型狗 breed of large wiry-coated terrier bred in Yorkshire.

An Australian and New Zealand Champion

13) Fifth Avenue

The "Fifth Avenue" mentioned is located in New York City, and it runs from the Washington Square Park until the Harlem River on 142nd Street. Going through Fifth Avenue we see the most prestigious shops and building of NYC. This avenue is often ranked as the most expensive street in the World. It is a touristic point in the city, mainly for shopping. 

Tom and Myrtle's love nest is the place where Tom's fake relationship with Myrtle takes place. It is where Myrtle also pretends that she is rich and wear nice clothes and boss the servants around. 

"a small living-room, a small dining-room, a small bedroom, and a bath" -- The size of the room devalues the space slightly - as if this apartment isn't really for living in. Most probably Tom pays for this apartment. These little rooms reflect Myrtle's worth to Tom. 

As with Tom and Daisy's house in East Egg, the apartment is extravagant - so rich that it is absurd. 

Versailles is today a suburb of Paris. For Nick and other WWI veterans, it would perhaps be best known as the name of the peace treaty that France and Britain forced Germany to sign after the armistice of 11 November, 1918. 

The tapestry on the furniture in the flat shows women's "swinging in the gardens of Versailles". It shows the cast of characters that will use this furniture - rich, arrogant and partying hard, they fail to see the damage their wealth and power has caused - to themselves

It is a novel by Rpbert Keable (1887 - 1927) which was a best-seller in 1921. The title is a reference to Simon Peter the apostle and first Pope of the Catholic Church. It tells the story of a priest who has an affair with a French nurse during the first World war. 

Obviously Fitzgerald wasn't a fan of the book. 但是他没有事情可做。只能discreetly sat down。所有人都消失了。很显然的，Tom and myrtle have disappeared to the bedroom. They are not at all ashamed to go and have sex in the other room while Nick waits in the living room. 

It is not a phrase that would normally be associated with a party. But this image of the dog biscuit melting in milk could represent 1) what happens to Myrtle when she is surrounded by money; 2) the draining of George Wilson's life while Myrtle indulges with Tom's money; 3) the indifference of the rick to the hard lives and deaths of the poor.

17) Catherine:

Myrtle's sisiter, slender, aged around 30, has red hair contrasted with skin that has been powdered "milky white" (heavily made up).  She wears so many bracelets that she makes an "incessant clicking sound" every time she moves.  Though she looks at the apartment as though she owns it, she in fact shares a room in a hotel with one of her female friends, suggesting a strong degree of independence. 

She evokes the image of a 1920s flapper girl, which also suggests that she is fashionable and trendy.  She attempts to capture the glamour of flapper society.

Nick describes Mrs. Mckee with four adjectives. 

Shrill implies loud and active

languid suggests inactivity and quiet

handsome implies a certain attractiveness

horrible implies immediate repulsion. 

Mr. Mckee is feminine --> Mrs. Mckee is handsome.... 

19) you'd of thought

Both Myrtle's grammar and her concern for the cost of good health tell us who she really is. 

you'd of thought - > grammar wrong,   the correct way would be: you'd have thought

appendix & appendicities --> she confused both. 

When Myrtle said the woman's name Mrs. Eberhardt. It displays subtle anti-Semitism. Eberhardt is a jewish surname of Germanic origin. Anti-Semitism has existed for thousands of years. 

20) Long Island

Long Island is an island in the state of New York. Mr. Mckee is trying to get Tom to introduce him to potential wealthy patrons in his "neighborhood". It is the most populated island in the U.S. with around 7.5 million habitants. Two of its four countries are boroughs of New York City (Brooklyn and Queens), and the other two are suburban areas (nassau and Suffolk). 

Montauk Point: This is a national park located at the Eastern tip of Long Island in the town of East Hampton. 

He was the German Emperor until the end of World War I in 1918. As the leader of Germany he would have plenty of money and influence, so someone related to him would have to be taken seriously. 

This is the first of the wild rumors about Gatsby's background. But money talks in America, so Gatsby's back story isn't that important as long as he has the money to back it up. At this point, gatsby is still toted as a wildly affluent and well connected man, and adding the mystique of European Royalty furthers the disparity that we see later btween Gatsby's money and his actual social standing. 

22)  She's a Catholic and they don't believe in divorce.

Catherine said Daisy was a Catholic, but she does not. This lie indicates that Tom has no enduring interest in Myrtle, and has invented an lie to cover over the obvious reason. But Catherine sees this as a serious relationship. 

Kyke is a slur for "Jewish"

In the 1920s, casual antisemitism was fashionable among both the privileged and the lower-middle classes (who, feeling oppressed themselves, needed groups they could look down on). Nobody is certain of how the word originated, but the most convincing explanation is that Jewish immigrants arriving on Ellis Island in New York in the 19th and early 20th century preferred to sign their names with an "O" rather than an "X" because of the Christian connection to the cross symbol. 

The Pathos is obvious here - Wilson supports Myrtle and cares greatly for her, but Myrtle not only cheats on him but also despises him, and runs him down in front of her friends from the city. Myrtle will never admit to loving a working class man; she believes herself to be upper-class. She has no problem at all denying her love for Wilson in order to be with Tom. Despite this, her husband that she is berating is the only one who actually cares what happens to her. 

Also Myrtle's name; Myrtle is a plant that is almost weed like, and grows upwards. Likewise, Myrtle is at the bottom of the social ladder, and like the Myrtle plant, Myrtle is trying to rise upwards and climb the social ladder. Myrtle want to leas a life like Daisy's; but she is not a Daisy, a lovely spring/summer flower. She is Myrtle, a weed like plant. 

Further to this, note Daisy's name: a daisy has white petals, and a yellow-golden centre. Likewise, Gatsby has this image of Daisy as being a pure, innocent, angel like being. However, that is not what Daisy is about; Daisy is better characterized by the yellow-golden centre of the daisy flower, for at her core, she is materialistic and all about the wealth. 

美国在1920年到1933年期间在美国推行全国性禁酒，禁止酿造，运输和销售含酒精饮料。

So here mentioned the "bottle of whiskey - a second one", the alcohol is prohibited at this time in American. The little party deals with several illegal and immoral matters, drinking alcohol, affairs.

26) You can't live forever

Here Myrtle is telling Nick how she came to meet and begin seeing Tom. 

She is poor, lives in the Valley of Ashes, and is married to a man that borrowed wedding suit. Tome comes into her life and offers her a chance at the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Myrtle knows that she might only get one chance with a man like Tom and the life that he offers, so she jumps at the opportunity, because she knows she can't live forever and get another chance. 

The desire to enjoy life, to engage in hedonism because there is no tomorrow was a cultural hallmark of the Roaring Twenties, including the Lost Generation of American exiles in Europe that Fitzgerald formed a part of. 

27) "any rights to mention Daisy's name" 

In Tom's eyes, seems like Myrtle does not have right to do so. Notice that earlier in the chapter, Tom freely uses George Wilson's name, and he uses it disparagingly. 

Tom can get whatever he wants, whenever he wants; this applies to women also. Myrtle, like his money, is disposable. She is nothing to him, just a mistress. She is not even worthy to utter his wife's name. 

To prevent the blood from damaging the tapestry, she uses a copy of Town Tattle. This is symbolic because it hints that Myrtle just uses these trivial things to cover up the brutal reality that she is not upper class. Her nose has just been broken, and she's busy trying to keep her material possessions clean. 

28) ... I was standing ....... "Beauty and the Beast... Loneliness... Old Grocery Horse...  Brook'n Bridge...."

The ellipses suggest the haziness of Nick's memory. 

The dude was really drunk when all of this took place. After he left the apartment, it's all just a bunch of short memories. he's on the elevator; he's getting a tour of Mckee's photographs; he's watching Mr. Mckee in his bed and in his underwear; 

this short message to the previous elevator scene--> there are some homosexual undertones in the way Mckee and Nick interact ("hands off the lever, groaned down in the elevator"). And then somehow they end up in the same room together and Mr. Mckee in his underwear.