Since Gatsby has been mentioned, I just saw the trailer for the movie The GreatGatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay and a host of amazing actors. They show Gatsby coming out of the “rain” – dripping – to reestablish a relationship with Daisy – but I didn’t see him knock the clock from the mantle. ( These are details other movie versions don’t include. Lots of other super scenes in the trailer: the party sequences, wow!)
Since we have Gatsby fans, here’s the link for the trailer on YouTube:
or Gatsby? When will there be time for family, presents, and dinner? :drool:
Also, since many in this thread are mentioning motifs from Gatsby similar to those in the reread POV’s, I thought I would offer up (from memory) a list I used to give to my students “regarding” their analytical papers on Gatsby; some of these motifs may evoke similar motifs in Martin. (I mention many of the motifs, but not all, I am sure, with briefly noted illustrations from the book, and forgive my memory. I may have misspelled names and misquoted).
BTW – I never even considered the Gatsby Concordance until making this editing note! (I think the GC helps more in finding quotes – although I haven’t been there in years, honest).
Magic – (now presenting the magician the ‘great’ Gatsby; floating cocktails, “seizes a cocktail out of air”; Gatsby vanishes at docks and “appears” at party – Nick doesn’t even know he is talking to his host, etc.)
Detective Story/Crime/Spy/eavesdropping – (all the mystery around Gatsby; he killed a man; )
Alcohol – (Prohibition, sneaking liquor into hotel in NYC, etc.}
Games – (“old sport”, Tom moves Nick around “like checker piece to another square”)
Carnival / Circus /Performance- (balancing acts, literal and figurative; Daisy’s voice playing tricks in her throat, and more; partiers behave like people at “amusement park”; Belasco; “ticket of admission”; connects to Illusion versus Reality Motif below)
America and American Dream- (Gatsby’s pursuit and downfall; connect Trimalchio; Nick’s butler named “Finn” – Huck, etc.)
Roses, flowers, and gardens (rose colored glasses, Gatsby’s blue gardens, Daisy’s name; “she blossomed for him [Gatsby] like a flower”, Myrtle’s name, etc.)
Cars -(Gatsby’s Vehicle; vehicle accidents, i.e., wheel off car at G’s party and Myrtle getting hit; transportation as status symbols – apply motif to horses in Martin, Mandrely’s litter, etc.)
Money and the Color of Money- (Gold/Silver/Green, etc.; Daisy’s voice sounding like money, Gatsby wears a silver shirt and gold tie to meet Daisy, etc.)
Cheating - (World Series fixed, Jordan cheats at golf, Tom cheating Gatsby; Gatsby cheats, or breaks the law, bootlegging to earn his wealth, etc.)
Books -(Gatsby’s uncut books, Tom’s scientific books, Nick’s box of books and bond books, etc.)
Colors- lavender, rose, red, white, and blue (lawns), gray, Gatsby’s white card, and more.
Fertility- (East and West Egg, Egg picture, Carraway seed, etc.)
Unreliable Narrator -(Nick – gets hammered and sleeps with Mr. McKee? And other occasions when we ? our narrator, etc.)
Jazz Age -(documents the history of a period)
Dogs/Bitches (Myrtle, Tom buys Daisy a dog from a John D. Rockefeller look-alike, police dogs, etc.)
Police (Upholders of justice who are, ironically, blind; Myrtle says “Call a policeman”; etc.)
Nautical Motif -(Daisy and Jordan adrift on wine-dark carpet in Buchanan’s home; currents; ending line: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”– underlined ‘borne’ for it also goes with fertility motif )
Time (Trying to repeat the past, stopping time, clocks, railroad timetable, Myrtle looks for time on the ceiling, etc.)
Christ-Figure- (Gatsby – crucified on his floatation device by George –Jay is stopped or trips three times while carrying it to pool? I can’t remember)
Illusion Vs. Reality - (Gatsby believes in the “green light” – he seeks his illusion of Daisy; he is an illusion himself; this motif also connects with magic/carnival tricks)
Search for Holy Grail and Knight Errant (Gatsby’s search for Daisy; Nick’s quest for order. etc.)
Catholic Mass- (Chapter 3) the host, whisperings, brass rail, communion recipients like partiers, etc. (This is Ser Gatsby’s chapter, so I say nothing.)
Patriotism -(Nick’s POV - “the republic” etc.)
Military- (world at formal attention, uniforms, used in verbs as well, etc.)
Bridges - (Brooklyn bridge, broken bridge of Myrtle’s nose)
Ash/Dust/Aging (Valley of Ashes, George looks like a ghost and is already dead, etc.)
Names (The people attending Gatsby’s parties & the significance of their names – the rotten crowd – represent corruption – “Rot-Gut’ Ferret, Leeches, Hornbeams, Edgar Beaver, Ulysses Swett, etc. )
Father/Son Motif (Nick quotes dad, Gatsby’s dad arrives too late)
Morality (moral disorder – people breaking the law, drinking, hit and run, etc.)
Fairies (Daisy Fey, an empty headed fool who flits about; ties in with illusion versus reality and Grail, etc.)
Noses – (Myrtle’s broken nose, Meyer Wolfsheim’s nose and hairs; Brewer’s shot off nose,sticking nose in another's business, etc.)
I recall Windows and Founding Fathers/Founding a Nation, but I cannot recall examples. Yikes! And it’s almost time for DWS.
I hope this helps anyone comparing – or thinking of – drawing comparisons between Fitzgerald’s work and Martin’s. I am sure I also missed motifs, so add them in later posts, if you like.
The motifs are ones that I myself can think of ASoIaF similarities; however, I am a 'details' person - I often miss the "whole" picture, if you know what I mean. I can find lots of evidence, but putting things all together as well as you people do, :bowdown: there I am limited, like Elphaba. :crying:
I sure put my mind to use for once. Now to corrupt it with Maxim, Derrick, and Val. :devil:
Thanks evita, I had not seen the trailer for this.. it looks splendiphorous? I'll probably go see it with my sister, she loves the book and would probably enjoy the style of the movie. There's also the inevitable comparison to be made that The Great Gatsby is the Great American novel of the 20th century, while maybe those of us fervent enough(or at least I will) will call A Song of Ice and Fire the Great American Novels of the late 20th-early 21st century.
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