The Lost Generation (G.

Stein) was defined by Fitzgerald as a New Generation grown up to find all

Gods dead, all wars fought and all faiths in man shaken.
!ts framework " #ruelty of war o##asioning the shift from the sur$i$al of the fittest (%arwin, Spen#er) to
the e&tin#tion of the fittest (theme)
Gatsby and the Green Light (Fitzgerald, F. S#ott. The Great Gatsby. '()*. +are, +ordsworth, '((-.)
'.! didn.t #all him, for he ga$e a sudden intimation that he was #ontent to be alone / he stret#hed out his
arms towards the dark water in a #urious way, and, far as ! was from him, ! #ould ha$e sworn he was
trembling. !n$oluntarily ! glan#ed seaward / and distinguished nothing e&#ept a single green light, minute
and far away, that might ha$e been the end of a do#k. +hen ! looked on#e more for Gatsby he had
$anished, and ! was alone again in the un0uiet darkness. ('1)
). 2!f it wasn.t for the mist we #ould see your home a#ross the bay,. said Gatsby. 23ou always ha$e a green
light that burns all night at the end of your do#k..
%aisy put her arm through his abruptly, but he seemed absorbed in what he had 4ust said. 5ossibly it had
o##urred to him that the #olossal signifi#an#e of that light had now $anished fore$er. 6ompared to the great
distan#e that had separated him from %aisy it had seemed $ery near to her, almost tou#hing her. !t had
seemed as #lose as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a do#k. 7is #ount of en#hanted
ob4e#ts had diminished by one.
! began to walk about the room, e&amining $arious indefinite ob4e#ts in the half darkness. 8 large
photograph of an elderly man in ya#hting #ostume attra#ted me, hung on the wall o$er his desk.
2+ho.s this9.
2:hat9 :hat ;r. %an 6ody, old sport..
:he name sounded faintly familiar.
27e.s dead now. 7e used to be my best friend..
:here was a small pi#ture of Gatsby, also in ya#hting #ostume, on the bureau / Gatsby with his head
thrown ba#k defiantly / taken apparently when he was about eighteen.
2! adore it,. e&#laimed %aisy. 2:he pompadour. 3ou ne$er told me you had a pompadour / or a ya#ht..
2<ook at this,. said Gatsby 0ui#kly. 27ere.s a lot of #lippings / about you..
=...> 8s ! went o$er to say goodbye ! saw that the e&pression of bewilderment had #ome ba#k into Gatsby.s
fa#e, as though a faint doubt had o##urred to him as to the 0uality of his present happiness. 8lmost fi$e
years? :here must ha$e been moments e$en that afternoon when %aisy tumbled short of his dreams / not
through her own fault, but be#ause of the #olossal $itality of his illusion. !t had gone beyond her, beyond
e$erything. 7e had thrown himself into it with a #reati$e passion, adding to it all the time, de#king it out
with e$ery bright feather that drifted his way. No amount of fire or freshness #an #hallenge what a man #an
store up in his ghostly heart. (1@A1))
-. Bn the last night, with my trunk pa#ked and my #ar sold to the gro#er, ! went o$er and looked at that
huge in#oherent failure of a house on#e more. Bn the white steps an obs#ene word, s#rawled by some boy
with a pie#e of bri#k, stood out #learly in the moonlight, and ! erased it, drawing my shoe raspingly along
the stone. :hen ! wandered down to the bea#h and sprawled down on the sand.
;ost of the big shore pla#es were #losed now and there were hardly any lights e&#ept the shadowy, mo$ing
glow of a ferryboat a#ross the Sound. 8nd as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt
away until gradually ! be#ame aware of the old island here that flowered on#e for %ut#h sailor.s eyes / a
fresh, green breast of the new world. !ts $anished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby.s house,
had on#e pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreamsC for a transitory en#hanted
moment man must ha$e held his breath in the presen#e of this #ontinent, #ompelled into an aestheti#
#ontemplation he neither understood nor desired, fa#e to fa#e for the last time in history with something
#ommensurate to his #apa#ity for wonder.
8nd as ! sat there, brooding on the old, unknown world, ! thought of Gatsby.s wonder when he first pi#ked
out the green light at the end of %aisy.s do#k. 7e had #ome a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream
must ha$e seemed so #lose that he #ould hardly fail to grasp it. 7e did not know that it was already behind
him, somewhere ba#k in that $ast obs#urity beyond the #ity, where the dark fields of the republi# rolled on
under the night.
Gatsby belie$ed in the green light, the orgiasti# future that year by year re#edes before us. !t eluded us then,
but that.s no matter / tomorrow we will run faster, stret#h our arms farther... 8nd one fine morning /
So we beat on, boats against the #urrent, borne ba#k #easelessly into the past. (''*)
'
Time in Modernist Writings Juxtaposition / Suspension of Chronoogy / !ast into
!resent
=%aisy>, 2+hat.ll we do with oursel$es this afternoon, and the day after that, and the ne&t
thirty years9.
28nd she doesn.t understand,. he said. 2She used to be able to understand. +e.d sit for
hours /.
7e broke off and began to walk up and down a desolate path of fruit rinds and dis#arded
fa$ours and #rushed flowers.
2! wouldn.t ask too mu#h of her,. ! $entured. 23ou #an.t repeat the past..
26an.t repeat the past9. he #ried in#redulously. 2+hy of #ourse you #an?.
7e looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house,
4ust out of rea#h of his hand.
2!.m going to fi& e$erything 4ust the way it was before,. he said, nodding determinedly.
2She.ll see..
7e talked a lot about the past, and ! gathered that he wanted to re#o$er something, some
idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into lo$ing %aisy. 7is life had been #onfused and
disordered sin#e then, but if he #ould on#e return to a #ertain starting pla#e and go o$er it
all slowly, he #ould find out what that thing was...
... Bne autumn night, fi$e years before, they had been walking down the street when the
lea$es were falling, and they #ame to a pla#e where there were no trees and the sidewalk
was white with moonlight. :hey stopped here and turned towards ea#h other. Now it was
a #ool night with the mysterious e&#itement in it whi#h #omes at the two #hanges of the
year. :he 0uiet lights in the houses were burning out into the darkness and there was a
stir and bustle among the stars. But of the #orner of his eye Gatsby saw that the blo#ks of
the sidewalks really formed a ladder and mounted to a se#ret pla#e abo$e the trees / he
#ould #limb to it, if he #limbed alone, and on#e there he #ould su#k on the pap of life,
gulp down the in#omparable milk of wonder.
7is heart beat faster and faster as %aisy.s white fa#e #ame up to his own. 7e knew that
when he kissed this girl, and fore$er wed his unutterable $isions to her perishable breath,
his mind would ne$er romp again like the mind of God. So he waited, listening for a
moment longer to the tuningAfork that had been stru#k upon a star. :hen he kissed her. 8t
his lips. tou#h she blossomed for him like a flower and the in#arnation was #omplete.
:hrough all he said, e$en through his appalling sentimentality, ! was reminded of
something / and elusi$e rhythm, a fragment of lost words, that ! had heard somewhere a
long time ago. For a moment a phrase tried to take shape in my mouth and my lips parted
like a dumb man.s, as though there was more struggling upon them than a wisp of
startled air. Dut they made no sound, and what ! had almost remembered was
un#ommuni#able fore$er. (E@AE')
)
Library S"ene # Windo$ to Ja%% #ge So"iety
8 stout, middleAaged man with enormous owlAeyed spe#ta#les, was sitting somewhat drunk on the edge of
a great table, staring with unsteady #on#entration at the shel$es of books. 8s we entered he wheeled
e&#itedly around and e&amined Fordan from head to foot.
2+hat do you think9. he demanded impetuously.
28bout what9.
7e wa$ed his hand towards the bookAshel$es.
28bout that. 8s a matter of fa#t you needn.t bother to as#ertain. ! as#ertained. :hey.re real..
2:he books9.
7e nodded.
28bsolutely real / ha$e pages and e$erything. ! thought they.d be a ni#e durable #ardboard. ;atter of fa#t,
they.re absolutely real. 5ages and / 7ere? <emme show you..
:aking our s#epti#ism for granted, he rushed to the book#ases and returned with Golume Bne of the
2Stoddard <e#tures..
2See?. he #ried triumphantly. 2!t.s a bonaAfide pie#e of printed matter. !t fooled me. :his fella.s a regular
Delas#o. !t.s a triumph. +hat thoroughness? +hat realism? Hnew when to stop, too / didn.t #ut the pages.
Dut what do you want9 +hat do you e&pe#t9. (-@)
Gatsby and the #meri"an &ream
=Ni#k 6arraway to Gatsby.s father> 2had you seen him lately9.
27e #ame out to see me two years ago and bought me the house ! li$e in now. Bf #ourse we was broke up
when he run off from home, but ! see now there was a reason for it. 7e knew he had a big future in front of
him. 8nd e$er sin#e he made a su##ess he was $ery generous with me..
7e seemed relu#tant to put away the pi#ture, held it for another minute, lingeringly, before my eyes. :hen
he returned the wallet and pulled from his po#ket a ragged old #opy book #alled Hopalong Cassidy.
2<ook here, this is a book he had when he was a boy. !t 4ust shows you..
7e opened it at the ba#k #o$er and turned it around for me to see. Bn the last flyAleaf was printed the word
S67I%J<I, and the date September '), '(@1. 8nd underneath,
Kise from bed 1.@@ 8.;.
%umbbell e&er#ise and wallAs#aling 1.'*A1.-@
Study ele#tri#ity, et#. E.'*AL.'*
+ork L.-@AM.-@ 5.;.
Daseball and sports M.-@A*.@@
5ra#tise elo#ution, poise and how to attain it *.@@A1.@@
Study needed in$entions E.@@A(.@@
GINIK8< KISB<GIS
No wasting time at Shafters or =a name, inde#ipharable>
No more smoking or #hewing
Dath e$ery other day
Kead one impro$ing book or magazine per week
Sa$e N *.@@ =#rossed out> N -.@@ per week
De better for parents
2! #ome a#ross this book by a##ident,. said the old man. 2!t 4ust shows it, don.t it9.
2Fimmy was bound to get ahead. 7e always had some resol$es like this or something. %o you noti#e what
he.s got about impro$ing his mind9 7e was always great for that. 7e told me ! ate like a hog on#e, and !
beat him for it.. (''@)
-
The Sound and the Fury
=Faulkner, +illiam. The Sound and the Fury. '()(. New 3ork, Norton, '((M.>

Matrix image of the boo' as identified by Faulkner, the fatherless and motherless girl
#limbing down the drainpipe to es#ape from the only home she had, where she had ne$er
been offered lo$e or affe#tion or understanding. (Faulkner.s inter$iew with Fean Stein
0td in ;eriwether )-))
Faulkner.s ife approa"h as pre(aiing (ersus enduran"e #orresponding to #hara#ter
typology in The Sound and The Fury as doers (ersus ta'ers,
! de#line to a##ept the end of man. !t is easy enough to say that man is immortal be#ause
he will endure, that when the last dingAdong of doom has #langed and faded from the last
worthless ro#k hanging tideless in the last red and dying e$ening, that e$en then there
will still be one more sound, that of his puny ine&haustible $oi#e, still talking. ! refuse to
a##ept this. ! belie$e that man will not merely endure, he will pre$ail. 7e is immortal not
be#ause he alone among #reatures has an ine&haustible $oi#e, but be#ause he has a soul, a
spirit #apable of #ompassion and sa#rifi#e and enduran#e. (Nobel 5rize 8##eptan#e
Spee#h, %e#ember '@
th
, '(*@)
Tite signifi"an"e
6onsider the following 0uote. +hat does sound and fury refer to9 +hat would be their
signifi#an#e in Faulkner.s no$el9
But, out, brief #andle.
<ife.s but a walking shadow, a poor player
:hat struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
8nd then is heard no more. !t is a tale
:old by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing. (Shakespeare, Macbeth *.* '@')
Women)s traditiona roe in the 8meri#an South / early )@
th
#entury,
:he Southern woman was #aught in a so#ial doubleblind, toward men she was to be
submissi$e, meek and gentleC with the #hildren and sla$es in the management of the
household, she was supposed to display #ompeten#e, initiati$e and energy. Dut she
remained a shadowy figure, always there and e$er ne#essary, but rarely emerging in full
for#e. (Ki#hard Hing, A Southern Renaissance)
%ominant modernist te#hni0ue, stream of "ons"iousness O Dergson.s dur*e
A 5roustian model of asso"iation through simiarity $ia metaphori"a
imagination ($olume ' Swanns Way of Remembrance o Things !ast, '('-), an
e$eryday ob4e#t is infused with a powerful emoti$e for#e and be#omes the trigger
for reawakening a buried e&perien#e / result, palimpsestAlike effe#t, s#enes
$isible behind or within others
M
Ways of +no$ing, Modernist !erspe"ti(ism and Juxtaposition
P!f ! say you and :.5. #an #ome too, will you let him hold it.P 6addy said. P8int nobody said me and :.5. got to mind you.P Frony said.
P!f ! say you dont ha$e to, will you let him hold it.P 6addy said. P8ll right.P Frony said. P<et him hold it, :.5. +e going to wat#h them
moaning.P
P:hey aint moaning.P 6addy said. P! tell you itQs a party. 8re they moaning, Gersh.P
P+e aint going to know what they doing, standing here.P Gersh said.
P6ome on.P 6addy said. PFrony and :.5. dont ha$e to mind me. Dut the rest of us do. 3ou better #arry him, Gersh. !tQs getting dark.P
Gersh took me up and we went on around the kit#hen.
When we loo"ed around the corner we could see the lights coming up the dri#e$ T$!$ went bac" to the cellar door and opened it$
%ou "now what&s down there' T$!$ said$ Soda water$ ( seen Mr )ason come up with both hands ull o them$ Wait here a minute$
T$!$ went and loo"ed in the "itchen door$ *ilsey said' What are you peeping in here or$ Where&s +en,y$
He out here' T$!$ said$
Go on and watch him' *ilsey said$ -eep him out the house now$
%essum' T$!$ said$ (s they started yet$
%ou go on and "eep that boy out o sight' *ilsey said$ ( got all ( can tend to$
8 snake #rawled out from under the house. Fason said he wasnQt afraid of snakes and 6addy said he was but she wasnQt and Gersh said they both
were and 6addy said to be 0uiet, like Father said.
%ou aint got to start bellering now' T$!$ said$ %ou want some this sassprilluh$
(t tic"led my nose and eyes$
( you aint going to drin" it' let me get to it' T$!$ said$ All right' here tis$ We better get another bottle while aint nobody bothering us$ %ou be
.uiet' now$
+e stopped under the tree by the parlor window. Gersh set me down in the wet grass. !t was #old. :here were lights in all the windows.
P:hatQs where %amuddy is.P 6addy said. PSheQs si#k e$ery day now. +hen she gets well weQre going to ha$e a pi#ni#.P
P! knows what ! knows.P Frony said.
:he trees were buzzing, and the grass.
P:he one ne&t to it is where we ha$e the measles.P 6addy said. P+here do you and :.5. ha$e the measles, Frony.P
P7as them 4ust where$er we is, ! re#kon.P Frony said.
P:hey ha$enQt started yet.P 6addy said.
They getting ready to start' T$!$ said$ %ou stand right here now while ( get that bo/ so we can see in the window$ Here' les inish drin"ing this
here sassprilluh$ (t ma"e me eel ,ust li"e a s.uinch owl inside$
+e drank the sassprilluh and :.5. pushed the bottle through the latti#e, under the house, and went away. ! #ould hear them in the parlor and !
#lawed my hands against the wall. :.5. dragged the bo&. 7e fell down, and he began to laugh. 7e lay there, laughing into the grass. 7e got up
and dragged the bo& under the window, trying not to laugh. P! skeered ! going to holler.P :.5. said. PGit on the bo& and see is they started.P
P:hey ha$enQt started be#ause the band hasnQt #ome yet.P 6addy said.
P:hey aint going to ha$e no band.P Frony said.
P7ow do you know.P 6addy said.
P! knows what ! knows.P Frony said.
P3ou dont know anything.P 6addy said. She went to the tree. P5ush me up, Gersh.P
P3our paw told you to stay out that tree.P Gersh said.
P:hat was a long time ago.P 6addy said. P! e&pe#t heQs forgotten about it. Desides, he said to mind me tonight. %idnQt he say to mind me
tonight.P
P!Qm not going to mind you.P Fason said. PFrony and :.5. are not going to either.P
P5ush me up, Gersh.P 6addy said.
P8ll right.P Gersh said. P3ou the one going to get whipped. ! aint.P 7e went and pushed 6addy up into the tree to the first limb. +e wat#hed
the muddy bottom of her drawers. :hen we #ouldnQt see her. +e #ould hear the tree thrashing.
P;r Fason said if you break that tree he whip you.P Gersh said.
P!Qm going to tell on her too.P Fason said.
:he tree 0uit thrashing. +e looked up into the still bran#hes.
P+hat you seeing.P Frony whispered.
( saw them$ Then ( saw Caddy' with lowers in her hair' and a long #eil li"e shining wind$ Caddy Caddy
P7ush.P :.5. said. P:hey going to hear you. Get down 0ui#k.P 7e pulled me. 6addy. ! #lawed my hands against the wall 6addy. :.5. pulled
me. P7ush.P he said. P7ush. 6ome on here 0ui#k.P 7e pulled me on. 6addy P7ush up, Den4y. 3ou want them to hear you. 6ome on, les drink
some more sassprilluh, then we #an #ome ba#k if you hush. +e better get one more bottle or we both be hollering. +e #an say %an drank it. ;r
Ruentin always saying he so smart, we #an say he sassprilluh dog, too.P
:he moonlight #ame down the #ellar stairs. +e drank some more sassprilluh. ()MA)*)
*
-enaming Cashing Mindsets
Nathalie Sarraute in 01re du soup2on on name ambiguity in The Sound and the Fury,
6e prSnom 0u.il promTne d.un personnage U l.autre sous l.oeil aga#S du le#teur, #omme
le mor#eau de su#re sous le nez du #hien, for#e le le#teur de se tenir #onstamment sur le
.ui/(i(re =...> il doit, pour identifier les personnages, les re#onnaVtre aussitWt, #omme
l.auteur luiAmXme, par e dedans, grY#e U des indi#es 0ui ne lui sont rS$SlSs 0ue si,
renonZant U ses habitudes de #onfort, il plonge en eu& aussi loin 0ue l.auteur et fait sienne
sa $ision.
6onsider the following e&#erpt on renaming. :he 0uestion that arises is the following, is
the relation signifier A referent arbitrary or not and what are the arguments as sustained in
the dialogue between 6addy and %ilsey9
:hat.s right, %ilsey said. ! re#kon it.ll be my time to #ry ne&t. Ke#kon ;aury going to let
me #ry on him a while, too.
7is name.s Den4y now, 6addy said.
7ow #ome it is, %ilsey said. 7e ain.t wore out the name he was born yet, is he.
Den4amin #ame out of the bible, 6addy said. !t.s a better name for him than ;aury was.
7ow #ome it is, %ilsey said.
;other says it is, 6addy said.
7uh, %ilsey said. Name aint doing to help him. 7urt him, neither. Folks don.t ha$e no
lu#k, #hanging name. ;y name been %ilsey sin#e fore #ould remember abd it be %ilsey
when they.s long forgot me.
7ow will they know it.s %ilsey, when it.s long forgot, %ilsey, 6addy said.
!t.ll be in the Dook, honey, %ilsey said. +rit out.
6an you read it, 6addy said.
+ont ha$e to, %ilsey said. :hey.ll read it for me. 8ll ! got to do is say !se here. (-E)
8nd ! saw the dead, great and small alike, standing before the throne. Dooks were
opened, and then another book was opened, the book of the li$ing. :he dead were 4udged
a##ording to what they had done, as re#orded in the book. (+oo" o Re#elations )@, ''A
'*)
=;rs. 6ompson to %ilsey>3ou might hand me the bible.
! gi$e hit to you dis mawnin, befo ! left.
3ou laid it on the edge of the bed. 7ow long did you e&pe#t it to stay there9
%ilsey #rossed to the bed and groped among the shadows beneath the edge of it and
found the bible, fa#e down. She smoothed the bent pages and laid the book on the bed
again. ;rs. 6ompson didn.t open her eyes. 7er hair and the pillow were the same #olor,
beneath the wimple of the medi#ated #loth she looked like an old nun praying. %ont put
it there again, she said, without opening her eyes. :hat.s where you put it before. %o
you want me to ha$e to get out of bed to pi#k it up9
%ilsey rea#hed the book a#ross her and laid it on the broad side of the bed. 3ou #ant see
to read, noways, she said. 3ou want me to raise de shade a little9
No. <et them alone. Go on and fi& Fason something to eat. ('LE)
1