The Great Gatsby Group

Question:

a9syou
a9syou
Student
High School - 12th Grade

What do Fitzgerald’s verb choices convey in the following sentence from "The Great Gatsby"?

Ch. 4

“He hurried the phrase ‘educated at Oxford,’ or swallowed it or choked on it as though it had bothered him before."

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Posted by a9syou on Thursday December 4, 2008 at 2:44 PM and tagged with chapter 4, gatsby, quotes, style, the great gatsby.

Answers:

  1. dneshan
    dneshan Teacher
    High School - 11th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    In this chapter Gatsby decides that it is time that he reveals his "history" to Nick. The verb choices that Fitzgerald uses in this quote reveal that Gatsby may not have wanted Nick to pick up on him mentioning that he was educated at Oxford or that Gatsby was uncomfortable lying to Nick. It is clear by the way that Nick describes this interaction that Gatsby had rehearsed what he was telling Nick yet his education was the only aspect that he "chokes" up on.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/great-gatsby/
    http://www.enotes.com/great-gatsby/chapter-4-summary-anal...

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    Posted by dneshan on Thursday December 4, 2008 at 3:31 PM

  2. rlendensky
    rlendensky Student
    College - Freshman

    eNotes Editor

    Gatsby finally begins to open up to Nick Carraway about his past and how he earned all of his money. This was something that Gatsby never told anyone. It is for this reason, that Gatsby is having such difficulty saying this to Nick. Fitzgerald uses such great imagery and metaphors in order to describe the difficulty of telling his history (which Fitzgerald compares to swallowing something difficult).

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/great-gatsby/
    http://www.enotes.com/great-gatsby/chapter-4-summary-anal...

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    Posted by rlendensky on Friday December 5, 2008 at 10:18 PM