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The Great Gatsby Opening Scene Analysis

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The American dream is dying, but not in the way you think. The opening scene of Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby (2013) is made to show that an insane man's view of the American dream is dying due to the rise of a more progressive society. When looking at how the camera is placed in the scene, it shows that Nick is clearly being diagnosed with a form of psychosis. But, when you look at the color tones of the scene it tries to make the doctor seem warmer, while Nick is colder towards his humanity. Yet throughout the scene, the focus changes between both Nick and the doctor. Making you focus on what each of them is saying to the other.Yes, you can always say the theme is “The death of the American Dream”, but you cannot say that this is all in …show more content…

The scene begins with a close-up shot of Nick's face as he begins to tell the story of Gatsby, acting as an establishing shot. From then on would act as a reaction shot, except when the doctor is looking at nicks file. One shot is a closeup shot of the file showing the symptoms and information on Nick Carraway that was given to the doctor, and in the shot it clearly lists off symptoms that Nick is experiencing that show he is suffering from a form of psychosis, specifically the anxiety, fits of anger, insomnia, and depression. In which Nick treats with alcohol. This leads him to be morbidly alcoholic. The scene continues with Nick and the Doctor going back and forth, however, it is shot as Nick is usually in the foreground in a majority of the shots. While in only a small percentage of the shots has the doctor is in the foreground, keeping him reserved to speak only in the background. This goes on until Nick walks towards the window, and the camera is at face level as it slides away from his face, then transitions through a thick wall of snow to show that what is happening now is a flashback, or something made up by Nick to trick the

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4. What is Gatsby doing when Nick first sees him? Nick says Gatsby is doing something at the end of the dock, when we look closer we see that Gatsby is reaching toward something and staring at a green light. 5.

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5. When Nick first sees him, Gatsby emerges from his mansion with his hands in his pockets to observe the stars. Nick considers calling out to him but thinks better of it once he discerns from his behavior that Gatsby would rather be left alone. Gatsby stretches out his arms toward the water in a strange manner and Nick believes that he is trembling when he does so, although Nick is unsure

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At the beginning the plot was more of who was Gatsby and Tom Buchanan having an affair on Daisy. Nick then got invited to Gatsby's for one his amazing parties. Gatsby tells Jordan Baker to ask a favor of him that gets him involved in the plot. This favor is “ If you'll invite Daisy to your house some afternoon and then let him come over”(Fitzgerald 76). This quote from the book shows how Nick Carraway got put into the plot of The Great Gatsby by inviting Daisy to his house

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Here Nick is talking about how Gatsby felt after Daisy and him met. Gatsby has a new glow to him after this moment and he will go on to get Daisy even more than

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Coasting my rusty black Chevy Cavalier into my garage parking spot after school while playing my music on full is apparently frowned upon. My stiff gray colored neighbor Miss Thelma sits on her porch awaiting my exit from the blasting loud vehicle while probably prepping her words to shun me for my actions. She rises from her perch and moves to make contact with me as I hurriedly rush away with my schools stuff. Her words were peaceful about my fun music choices but as I predicted, “...next time, wont you turn it down? Your gonna lose your hearing by fifty.”

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This passage is taken from the first chapter of the classic novel The Great Gatsby. During this part of the novel Daisy Buchanan is talking to Jordan Baker and Nick Carraway about when her daughter was being born. She discovers that her baby is a girl and states that she “hope(s) she’ll be a fool” because “that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world.” This quote shows how Daisy perceives what it is like to be a girl during the 20s. Although this quote does not relate directly to the themes presented within the novel, it is significant because it gives insight for the reader towards who Daisy is as a character.

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It is assumed because he is the narrator of the story. In the film, we see that it is in fact Nick who is “writing” the story. After the events of his summer with Gatsby, he had checked himself into a sanitarium and is diagnosed as a “morbid alcoholic”. He describes his summer with Gatsby to a doctor, who is using a typewriter to type Nick’s story. The audience is shown this concept in the beginning of the film.

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Nick starts off by judging Gatsby and does not truly like him. Gatsby is shown as naive and does not realize how Nick feels toward him. He continues to be friendly around Nick even though Nick thinks of Gatsby as an awkward person. An example is, “At a lull in the entertainment [Gatsby] looked at [Nick] and smiled” (47). This quote explains Nick and Gatsby’s first encounter.

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In the third chapter Nick had met Gatsby for the first time at one of the large parties thrown at Gatsby 's mansion. Nick hadn 't realized he had met Gatsby until Nick said something about not meeting the host of the party. Gatsby had then stated whom he was and then said "I thought you knew, old sport. I 'm afraid I 'm not a very good host.". Nick had then stated, "He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly.

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In the given passage from the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author compares and contrasts two sets of characters, Tom and Daisy with Gatsby, to surface the differences that had been drawn between them due to their attitudes and moral values. Through the usage of dialogues, focus on the moral values of each set and Nick Carraway’s description of the characters the author conveys this idea to the readers. One reason behind the significance of this passage is the fact that through the usage of dialogues and Nick Carraway’s descriptions the author adds a dimension to the ‘careless’ characters in the novel, Tom and Daisy. Throughout the novel Tom has proven to be a selfish and hypocritical man who would do anything to save

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The Great Gatsby Literary Comparative Essay “Say goodbye to white picket fences, say hello to palm trees and Benzes, say we gotta fall to have it all. We don’t want two kids and a wife, I just want a job I just want a life. And the underdogs rise and the mighty will fall.” With over 10 million views, American Dream by MKTO has become a world-renowned song, only to find that the actual lyrics attack the American Dream and how it is unattainable. The American Dream was once thought of as an achievable task by everybody, but it has been proven that this is untrue.

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In the last passage of The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the reader gains insight into Gatsby’s life through the reflections of Nick Carraway. These reflections provide a summary of Gatsby’s life and also parallel the main themes in the novel. Through Fitzgerald’s use of diction and descriptions, he criticizes the American dream for transformation of new world America from an untainted frontier to a corrupted industrialized society. In the novel, Fitzgerald never mentions the phase “American Dream,” however the idea is significant to the story.

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The flashbacks begin in chapter four on page 74 after Nick Carraway’s lunch in New York, with Mr. Gatsby. After Nicks’ Conversation with Mr. Gatsby, it leaves him confused and angry. Mr. Gatsby tells Nick, “No, old sport, I’m not. But Miss Baker has kindly consented to speak to you about this matter.”

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In The Great Gatsby, author F. Scott Fitzgerald utilizes the subjectivity of narration to provide further insight into the characters of the story. Because the novel is told through a first-person point of view, objectivity is nearly impossible. That would require the narrator to disregard their personal feelings and opinions. Therefore, The Great Gatsby is a subjective narrative full of biased opinions about the lives of the wealthy in New York, during the roaring twenties. The individual that expresses these biased views is the narrator Nick Carraway, who is born into the upper class.

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A low-level shot is used on Nick in the inside of the house to make him appear smaller and emphasise the size of the house. A medium shot is used on Gatsby’s coffin under the staircase to show that he only made up a small portion of the large house he lived in, and what made up the house was the constant and extravagant parties. An overhead shot from the top of the stairs, looking down on his coffin, zooms in on the coffin as the camera moves down to symbolise that Gatsby lived a high life that was grand, but it was all for nothing as he died a tragic death, alone and without

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