The Great Gatsby Body Analysis

The Role of the Body in The Great Gatsby In The Great Gatsby, the body allows the characters to have two personalities – one that they show outwardly (their physical body) and one the readers only get to see through the characters’ actions and words (their inner self). In addition to the split personality the characters are able to have, they are able to embody several of the trademark features Fitzgerald places in his novel. Jay Gatsby, although idolized by the people in his community, successfully concealed his true identity and intentions with his outward appearance. Even the guests at his house parties did not know anything about him, they only had theories based off of his superficial characteristics. As far as anyone could tell, Gatsby …show more content…
In chapter one, she is described as having bright eyes. One would not expect someone with bright eyes (which is commonly associated with happiness) to say things such as, “…she told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. ‘All right,’ I said, ‘I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool (17),” or “what’ll we do with ourselves this afternoon? And the day after that, and the next thirty years (118)?” These quotes hint at an underlying sadness that Daisy’s physical outward body does not readily indicate. In addition to the inner and outer bodies and personality, the characters in The Great Gatsby are able to embody certain features. Traditional gender roles are displayed throughout the story. The men in the novel, especially Tom, exercise control over the women. His control is first aired in the novel when Jordan and Daisy are in the sunroom with all of the windows open enjoying themselves. Tom closes the doors, ending their fun (8) and continues until the end of the book when he and Daisy go into hiding. The females in the novel do not work, only participate in leisure