Examples Of Epigraph In The Great Gatsby

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To open The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald wrote: “Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her; / If you can bounce high, bounce for her too, / Till she cry “Lover, gold-hatted, high- bouncing lover, / I must have you!”. Fitzgerald’s intention was to set the novel’s theme of obsessive love in regards to Gatsby’s love for Daisy. An epigraph is a short quote that is strategically placed at the beginning of a novel to set the theme. The quote suggests that if you do something to gain the attention of the woman you want by wearing “the gold hat” and you pursue her to the fullest extent of your abilities, “if you can bounce high, bounce for her too,” then she will fall for you. The epigraph leaves the reader with an insight into Gatsby’s mind and explains