The Great Gatsby
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Ecphrasis in The Great Gatsby
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Fitzgerald is browsing a classical painting album on his desk.On the page of Fragonard's The Swing,
he marks the young man on the left "Tom,"
the girl on the swing "Myrtle,"
the old man on the right "Wilson, old man," and
the dog with white feet before the old man "dog."
https://i.imgur.com/NxhDMem.jpg
Then he starts writing,
"Hello, Wilson, old man," said Tom.And Myrtle will have a dog.
Origin of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg"T. J." indicates Tom (cat) and Jay (bird); the bird is doomed to be defeated by the cat. This explains why Gatsby is called "second cousin to the devil." J. is in the second position of the devilish T. J. Eckleburg.
Eckleburg is a sound play of egger-burg. Fitzgerald used the word "egger" in chapter II.
"Doctor" was written "Dr." in Fitzgerald's pencil manuscript everywhere. Why changed that? Doc___burg can form Do_g, Dr. cannot. Here dog is the reverse of god, a devil. This explains why Wilson would look at Doctor Eckleburg with "God sees everything."
Fitzgerald played with T. J. and Dr. The next question is, why "a pair of enormous yellow spectacles"? Now we need the ecphrasis of two girls in yellow, a mock at yellow journalism of Pulitzer and Hearst. Spectacles can mean enormous striking shows, glasses cannot. The color of Eckleburg's spectacles was "gild" in pencil manuscript, changed by Fitzgerald to "yellow."
Fitzgerald had no chance to watch the 1941 Citizen Kane, but somehow he knew, if he reveals his secret of enigmatic writing, his novel and himself would have no chance.
The concept of Eyes of Eckleburg may come from the Egyptian deity Horus who ruled Egypt with eyes (sun on the right and moon the left). Horus has a falcon head and human body, which means he has nostrils but no nose (nonexistent). This explains why Fitzgerald made the change: They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose.Fitzgerald's pencil manuscript:
They were set in no face but only in a pair of enormous gild spectacles which joined there by a bridge passing over an imaginary nose.Horus is considered a pagan god from the Christian view.
Origin of the McKeesFitzgerald played with names, e.g., Tom and Jay (T. J.) who bay (bark) to each other with courtesy. The term "courtesy bay" is based on the concept of passing bay or passing place.
Daisy Fay was named Daisy Machen in Fitzgerald's pencil manuscript, taken from Zelda Sayre's mother Minnie Machen Sayre. Later Fitzgerald changed Machen to Fay and named Jordan's aunt Sigourney Howard to form Sigourney Fay, his mentor in Newman School.
The name Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald is taken from his second cousin thrice removed Francis Scott Key (1779–1843). Combining Key from his father's side and McQuillan from his mother's side (Mary McQuillan) may result McKee.
Assuming the McKees reflecting Fitzgerald's parents, many seemingly tedious lines related to them can be well reasoned.
I was standing beside his bed and he was sitting up between the sheets, clad in his underwear, with a great portfolio in his hands.
"Beauty and the Beast . . . Loneliness . . . Old Grocery Horse . . . Brook'n Bridge . . ."
The 1924 "Absolution" and 1922 "Winter Dreams" can help to solve above lines. According to Fitzgerald, the two short stories are The Great Gatsby's prequel and first draft.
Mr. McKee's four pictures have only titles, a "turning over" of ecphrasis for us to build their images.
Fitzgerald's father worked for Procter & Gamble (related to grocery products) from 1901 to 1908.
In "Winter Dreams" Dexter's father owned a second best grocery-store.
In The Great Gatsby Mr. McKee is a photographer in the "artistic game." Initials of photographer-artistic-game can form P&G.
"Old Grocery Horse" pictures Fitzgerald's father working like an old horse for P&G.
Lines from Absolution (prequel of The Great Gatsby) with "bed," "underwear," and "shaved":On Sunday morning Carl Miller awoke in the dustless quiet of six o'clock. Kneeling by the side of the bed he bent his yellow-gray hair and the full dapple bangs of his mustache into the pillow, and prayed for several minutes. Then he drew off his night-shirt—like the rest of his generation he had never been able to endure pajamas—and clothed his thin, white, hairless body in woolen underwear. He shaved.The "hairless body in woolen underwear. He shaved." is a riddle of lamb (just being shaved), saying that Rudolph's father Carl Miller is sheepish, meek as a lamb.
Lines from The Great Gatsby with "bed," "underwear," and "shaved":
Mr. McKee was a pale, feminine man from the flat below. He had just shaved, ... I was standing beside his bed and he was sitting up between the sheets, clad in his underwear, ...Sheet has the usage of a flat piece of paper; "sheets" here indicates pictures taken by Mr. McKee. "Beauty and the Beast ... Loneliness ... Old Grocery Horse ... Brook'n Bridge ..."
The boy is a Beauty; his father a Beast. Both boys, Rudolph Miller and James Gatz, were beaten by their fathers.
"Brook'n Bridge" can be a wordplay of broken bridge, a failure of communication between father and son. To brook is to tolerate, but I think "broken" is a better explanation for why Fitzgerald used "Brook'n" for Brooklyn here.
This elevator scene reflects Fitzgerald's wish, a father's apology for mistreating a son's boyhood, similar to Gatsby's father in chapter nine. Sequence of this dialogue is carefully arranged:"Come to lunch some day," he suggested, as we groaned down in the elevator.
"Where?"
"Anywhere."
"Keep your hands off the lever," snapped the elevator boy.
"I beg your pardon," said Mr. McKee with dignity, "I didn't know I was touching it."
"All right," I agreed, "I'll be glad to."
elevator boy: boy Fitzgerald, who wanted to elevate himself.
Mr. McKee: Fitzgerald's father.
Nick: Fitzgerald's author-self.
"lever": a means of giving pressure to influence a situation.
"groaned": because the father (McKee) and son (elevator boy) are down like the elevator.
"Keep your hands off the lever . . . touching": don't interfere a boy's elevation.
"I beg your pardon" . . . "All right": After the apology, the lunch invitation is accepted, alluding to the father's apology being accepted.
Origin of Valley of AshesThe term "valley of Achor" appears five times in Bible as a place of hope after destruction:
So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day. (Joshua 7:26)Fitzgerald's valley of Ashes imitates God's valley of Achor, but it's ruled by the false god Doctor T. J. Eckleburg and has no hope.
And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope. (Hosea 2:15)
Fitzgerald built the valley of ashes in the book-world via ashes of his leaden pencils (he used no typewriter). He carefully selected his words:
This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air. Occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to rest, and immediately the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud, which screens their obscure operations from your sight.The "leaden spades" was written "gray spades" in Fitzgerald's pencil manuscript.
But above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg.
Very interesting. But do you think there's any particular significance of the girls in the twin yellow dresses? Also, if Fitzgerald is alluding to this artwork, what is the intended message?Thank you so much.
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The last one hides in several places of the novel. One of them is the two girls in yellow:
Source of "the girls in yellow, did a baby act in costume":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Ba...
Source of "champagne was served in glasses bigger than finger-bowls":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yel...
How can we be sure it's Fitzgerald's intention? Fitzgerald named one of the two girls Lucille, same as Pulitzer's daughter Lucille Pulitzer. The other girl is unnamed because Hearst had only one illegitimate daughter Patricia Lake, not Patricia Hearst.