Chronotope as Counter Movements in Time and Space in The Great Gatsby

Abstract

This article aims to reveal the relationship between time and space in the novel The Great Gatsby and employs the Bakhtinian term “chronotope” to expose the characteristics of this temporal and spatial connectedness. Chronotope in this novel refers to a reversal of spatial movement that can be termed as a movement in a direction contrary to American history that is characterized by a movement to the West. This reversal can best be exemplified in Nick’s movement from the West to the East in the larger context of the novel. On a smaller scale, this reversal of movement is also repeated through Nick’s travels from West Egg to East Egg. In contrast to the movement of the nineteenthcentury settlers, who went to the West in order to be pathfinders, Nick goes to the East in order to be a pathfinder in the twentieth century. In addition to a counter movement in space, The Great Gatsby also displays a willingness of reversibility, a willingness to move contrary to future. The characters look backwards when they move in their cars. Just like Nick, who contemplates the land with the eyes of the first settlers, Gatsby contemplates the green light as the image of a long-lost past. The article associates these counter movements with what Walter Benjamin calls “cultural treasure” to which the characters are attached when they are faced with the chaos of an unredeemed past.