On The Narrative Time In The Great Gatsby

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896– December 21, 1940) was anAmerican writer of novels and short stories, whose works are descriptions of the JazzAge. He is widely considered as one of the twentieth century's greatest writers andregarded as a member of the "Lost Generation" of the Twenties. The Great Gatsby ishis best novel, a classic in American literature which depicts the chaos of World War I,and the unprecedented prosperity American society enjoyed during the "roaring"1920s as the economy soared. It is frequently mentioned as one of the great Americannovels. Among the numerous essays and monographies on The Great Gatsby, thereare quite a number of them analyzed in the respective of narratology. Most of themfocus on narrative structure, point of view, etc, but few is on the analysis of time.This thesis is divided into five parts. The first part is made up of an introductionto Fitzgerald and his The Great Gatsby, the literary review and the researchsignificance; The second part or the first chapter makes an introduction to narratologywhich includes the definition of narratology, the theories of narratology on time, thedefinition of time in literature, the feathers of literary time, and some relevant termson literary time; the third part or the second chapter is made up of the discussion ofthe undercurrent of American Dream, the time model of every main character; thefourth part or the third chapter mainly deals with the interpretation of time in TheGreat Gatsby; the last part is the conclusion.With the analysis on time in The Great Gatsby in the respective of narratology, aconclusion is formed that the delicate arrangement of time by Fitzgerald not onlymakes "the Jazz Age" reappear, and also it echoes with the theme of the novel. Hence,the time arrangement helps bring out the significance of The Great Gatsby.