Structure & Narrative Voice
English Lit: AQA A Level The Great Gatsby - Specification A, topic 6.1.1
Narrative Voice
The novel is told from the first person point of view of Nick Carraway. The novel begins after all of the events have happened.
All-seeing narrator
- Nick Carraway is looking back on the incidents that happened in Long Island and New York.
- The ‘I’ persona is indicative of Modernist writing where an all-seeing, God-like narrator is deemed to be less realistic.
- Nick’s recollection only pauses at one point where the report of Michaelis intrudes.
Tone
- The general tone of Nick’s narration is of him being an innocent outsider.
- As the novel progresses, we learn more about his background.
Structure
The overall structure of the novel may be described as ‘Quixotic’. Quixotic means ‘extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary, impractical, or impracticable’.
Quixotic journey
- All of the terms (‘extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary, impractical, or impracticable’) seem to suit Gatsby’s pursuit of love, as well as the tragedy of it.
- We see a quixotic journey, where the romantic protagonist moves to an understanding that his love is impractical.
Three parts
- The nine chapters of the novel neatly divide the book into three parts – each consisting of three chapters.
- This, in many ways, is a standard dramatic tragedy format.
- The novel may also be divided into the model of an Old World (Gatsby before ‘new money’), a Green World (a world of confusion and the pursuit of love, culminating in tragedy) and a New World (the aftermath of the death and the rebuilding lives in the West of the USA rather than in East).
Test yourself on Structure & Narrative Voice
Whose perspective is the story told from?
At what point does Nick's narrative pause?
When does Nick Carraway's narrative begin?
Which word means ‘extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary, impractical, or impracticable’?
What feature of The Great Gatsby could all these terms be applied to?
‘Extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary, impractical, or impracticable’