Chronology in The Great Gatsby
Starter: in Chapter 5, Gatsby knocks a clock off
Nick’s mantlepiece, which he catches and replaces.
“I think we all believed for a moment that it had
smashed in pieces on the floor.”
If this episode is symbolic of the treatment of time
in the novel, what might be the significance of it?
Narrative Structure & Chronology in
Literature
• In literature, chronology and narrative
structure is best understood as a sliding scale
from linear to fractured – not all novels, after
all, present the events in chronological order.
• Where do you think The Great Gatsby stands
on that scale?
linear
fractured
Did you know: In The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Fitzgerald plays with the notion
of chronology even further...
How does this work in Gatsby?
• Gatsby is full of flashbacks (analepsis), flashforwards
(prolepsis) and non-linear narrative structures.
• Look at this grid, which (in a rather complicated
fashion!) compares the chronological order of the
events with the way Fitzgerald presents them in the
novel.
• In pairs, pick a couple of points which you find
interesting and be ready to discuss them with the class.
Pair/small group work
Each group will be allocated a section of the novel.
Examine your chapter(s) closely.
What does Nick tell us and why does Nick tell us this
information in this chapter?
What effect does it have on our understanding of
what happened before and what follows?
Extension: can you make a link between the chronology and the type of
narrator Nick is?
Why has Fitzgerald chosen such a
complex structure for his novel?
• How do the following methods contribute to
a) the effect of the novel and b) the meaning
the reader takes from it?
• The division of the story into 9
chapters
• Repeated tellings of sections of
the story
• The relationships between the
frame narrative (Nick writing
the story) and the events he is
telling
• The use of place and
movements to different
settings.
• The staggered release of
information (‘jigsaw’ structure –
Nicholas Tredell)
• Near repetitions, foils and
parallels (e.g. The three female
characters)
• Repeated events (e.g. The car
crash at the end of the party in
chapter 3)
• The ‘episodic’ or ‘scenic’ quality
Plenary
• How has your understanding of the novel’s
structure developed this lesson?
linear
fractured