The Great Gatsby Literary Devices

“I must have stood for a few moments listening to the whip and snap of the curtains and the groan

of a picture on the wall.”

PERSONIFICATION

“Daisy and Jordan lay upon an enormous couch, like silver idols, weighing down their dresses against the

breeze of the singing fans.”

SIMILE

“Daisy and Jordan lay upon an enormous couch, like silver idols, weighing down their dresses against the

breeze of the singing fans.”

PERSONIFICATION

“ I bought a dozen volumes on banking and credit and investment securities and they stood on my shelf in red and gold like new money from the mint, promising to

unfold the hiding secrets that only Midas and Morgan, and Maecenas knew.”

SIMILE

“In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whispering and the champagne stars.”

SIMILE

“I’m paralyzed with happiness” (Fitzgerald 9)

HYPERBOLE

“ I bought a dozen volumes on banking and credit and investment securities and they stood on my shelf in red and gold like new money from the mint, promising to

unfold the hiding secrets that only Midas and Morgan, and Maecenas knew.”

ALLUSION &

ALLITERATION

“The whole town is desolate. All the cars have the left wheel painted black as a mourning wreath, and there’s a persistent wail all night along the

north shore.”

HYPERBOLE

"his hand took hold of hers..."

ALLITERATION

"He's the man who fixed the World's Series back in 1919."

ALLUSION

"When I came home to West Egg that night I was afraid for a moment that my house was on fire. Two o'clock in the morning and the whole corner of the peninsula was blazing with light...Turning a corner I saw that it was Gatsby's house, lit from tower to cellar.

Hyperbole

"The eyes of Dr T.J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic-their retinas are a yard high. They look

out of no face, but instead from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a

nonexistent nose."

IMAGERY &

SYMBOLISM

“Conduct may be founded on the hard rock or the wet marshes”

METAPHORS

“For a moment the last sunshine fell with romantic affection on her glowing face; her voice compelled me forward breathlessly as I listened - then the glow faded, each light deserting her with

lingering regret, like children leaving a pleasant street at dusk. “

SIMILE &

IMAGERY

“Her voice was full of money”

METAPHOR

"And I like large parties. They're so intimate. At small parties there isn't any privacy."

PARADOX

“a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat”

SIMILE

The flowers were unnecessary, for at two o’clock a greenhouse arrived from Gatsby’s, with innumerable

receptacles to contain it.

METONYMY Could be considered HYPERBOLE as well

“Now, in the reaction, he was running down like an overwound clock.”

SIMILE

Tom despises Daisy’s cheating on him with Gatsby, yet has been having an affair with Myrtle.

SITUATIONAL IRONY

Ch 7: Tom, Jordan, and Nick all ride together back from their city outing towards the Valley of Ashes. Nick says, “So we drove on toward death through

the cooling twilight.”

FORESHADOWING

Wolfsheim is characterized as Jewish, yet the title of his office in Ch 9 is “The Swastika Holding Company”

SITUATIONAL IRONY

“It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house that the gardener saw Wilson’s body a little way off in

the grass, and the holocaust was complete.”

** Do you know why this is NOT an allusion?

Nobody wants to come to Gatsby's funeral, even though everyone wanted to come to his

parties.

SITUATIONAL IRONY

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

ALLITERATION METAPHOR HYPERBOLE