The Costume: “Gatsby, in a white flannel suit… hurried in.” This quote is taken from when Gatsby is about to meet Daisy at Nick’s place. The white suit is symbolic of his hope that his dream of being with Daisy could become reality. He also wears this elegant suit to show Daisy how he no longer is the dirt poor man she used to know. “…I could think of nothing except the luminosity of his pink suit…” This quote is from the moment when Nick is speaking with Gatsby in the bush, after Gatsby had just killed Myrtle. The suit is bright and colourful although the terrible things that had happened that evening, this shows how wealth is not impacted by tragedy. A theme that shows through all of Gatsby’s clothes is the extravagance of them, this is to mask his true identity and show himself as the man he wants to be perceived as.
The Props: Gatsby carries props with him like a white card, photos of him at oxford and a medal from the war to convince others that he is the man he says he is. The white card is used by Gatsby when he is pulled over for speeding in his car, Gatsby simply shows the card to the police officer and he is let go. This card shows how people with wealth can do what they want and get away with it. Gatsby’s photo of him at oxford and his medal from war are both used to prove to Nick that he is the person he says he is. The fact that Gatsby so desperately wants to prove to Nick that he is who he says he is raises a lot of suspicion as a normal person would not do this.
The Setting of the ‘Stage’: The ‘stage’ is Gatsby’s elaborate palace of a house, he fills it with books, decorations and people to make his whole life seem real to those who enter it. Gatsby is compared to Belasco, a stage show producer that was famous for how realistic his sets were. If Gatsby is considered a ‘regular belasco’ this shows how much effort he puts in to make his setting look real. He also uses the house to show Daisy how far he has come from being the poor man she used to know. He does this by hosting extravagant parties filled with extravagant people.
The Speech and Dialogue: Gatsby ever since he was a young boy has practiced being well spoken as this is a way to convince people he is the person he wants them to think he is. “Practice elocution, poise and how to attain it 5.00-6.00 P.M” this quote from when Gatsby was young shows his desire to be well spoken from a young age. Gatsby also spent a lot of time with Dan Cody who helped him become the man he is, Cody uses the phrase ‘old sport’ quite often. Gatsby has picked this up cause he knows Cody is a man of wealth and high status s o he associates this phrase with those things and believes if he uses it people will see him like that.
The Backstory: Gatsby is said by people at his party to once have killed a man and to be a german spy amongst other rumours. Gatsby knows these rumours fly around and thats why when riding his car into town with Nick he has many props to prove his backstory. This includes pictures of him at Oxford, a medal from war and a story that doesn’t add up of his beginnings.”‘What part of the middle-west?’ I inquired casually. ‘San Francisco.’” This quote shows how although Gatsby tries very hard to sell the backstory that he is from a wealthy background raised the mid west, he really isn’t. San Francisco is on the west coast of America and is not in the Mid-west which proves Gatsby is lying about his backstory.
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