Book Anatomy · The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby: Prose style
17 lenses on prose style for The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6 H7 H8 H9 H10 H11 H12 H13 H14 H15 H16 H17
H1. Readability score per chapter. Count
Flesch reading ease for the whole book is about 73 (higher is easier; 60 to 70 is plain English).
Reading ease per chapter, chapter by chapter
H2. Vocabulary range. Count
5,938 different words. On average 54 in every 100 words are new within a 500 word stretch. 3,164 words appear only once.
H3. Signature words: what this author uses far more than others. Count
daisy, wilson, sport, baker, around. See the full lens on the book page.
H4. Adverb and adjective rates. Count
About 16.15 words ending in 'ly' and 8.23 likely adjectives per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
'ly' words per 1,000, chapter by chapter
H5. Share of weak verbs such as "was" and "had". Count
'Was', 'were', 'had', 'is' and 'are' make up 3.0% of all words.
H6. Passive voice rate. Count
About 3.8% of sentences use a passive form such as 'was taken'. (rough estimate from word lists)
H7. Variety of sentence openings. Count
The five most common first words start 30% of sentences: i, he, the, it, she.
| First word | Sentences |
|---|---|
| i | 448 |
| he | 225 |
| the | 168 |
| it | 115 |
| she | 98 |
| you | 80 |
| but | 69 |
| a | 60 |
| we | 55 |
| and | 52 |
H8. Rhythm: how much sentence length varies. Count
Sentence length varies by 0.79 of its mean on average (higher means a more varied rhythm).
Variation per chapter, chapter by chapter
H9. Similes and metaphors: how many, and of what kind. Both
47 likely similes ('like a', 'as ... as'): 0.97 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Ch 1, para 7: I never saw this great-uncle, but I’m supposed to look like him—with special reference to the rather hard-boiled painting that hangs in father’s office. I graduated from New …
Ch 1, para 8: The practical thing was to find rooms in the city, but it was a warm season, and I had just left a country of wide lawns and friendly …
Ch 1, para 14: It was a matter of chance that I should have rented a house in one of the strangest communities in North America. It was on that slender riotous …
Ch 1, para 52: At this point Miss Baker said: “Absolutely!” with such suddenness that I started—it was the first word she had uttered since I came into the room. Evidently it …
Ch 1, para 53: “I’m stiff,” she complained, “I’ve been lying on that sofa for as long as I can remember.”
Ch 1, para 58: I looked at Miss Baker, wondering what it was she “got done.” I enjoyed looking at her. She was a slender, small-breasted girl, with an erect carriage, which …
The novel uses abundant similes and metaphors, often extended and sensory. Examples include Gatsby's smile as 'eternal reassurance', Daisy's voice as 'full of money', and Gatsby breaking 'like glass against Tom's hard malice'. Metaphors cluster around dreams, light, and decay.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 3, Ch 5, Ch 7, Ch 8
It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. (Ch 3, para 76)
Her voice is full of money,” he said suddenly. (Ch 7, para 104)
Jay Gatsby” had broken up like glass against Tom’s hard malice, and the long secret extravaganza was played out. (Ch 8, para 9)
H10. Senses used: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste. Both
Share of sense words. sight 58%, sound 27%, touch 14%, taste 1%, smell 1%. (rough estimate from word lists)
| Sense | Words |
|---|---|
| sight | 464 |
| sound | 211 |
| touch | 108 |
| taste | 7 |
| smell | 4 |
All five senses appear throughout. Sight dominates (green light, eyes of Doctor Eckleburg, yellow car). Sound features in music and dialogue. Touch and taste emerge in intimate moments. Smell appears sparingly in the valley of ashes and Myrtle's apartment.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 5, Ch 7, Ch 8
But above the grey land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. (Ch 2, para 2)
There was music from my neighbour’s house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. (Ch 3, para 1)
They’re such beautiful shirts,” she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. “It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such—such beautiful shirts before. (Ch 5, para 118)
H11. Repetition, lists of three and other patterns. Both
44 lists of three in the pattern 'a, b and c': 0.91 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Repetition anchors the novel: the green light recurs across chapters, Gatsby's past is retold multiple times, and the phrase 'boats against the current' echoes the opening advice. Lists of three appear in descriptions of wealth and excess, such as Gatsby's parties.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 8, Ch 9
In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. (Ch 1, para 1)
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. (Ch 9, para 169)
H12. Old words that may trip modern readers. Count
Old forms that may trip a modern reader: art, anon.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| art | 1 |
| anon | 1 |
H13. Showing against telling, with examples. AI
Fitzgerald shows rather than tells through scenes and dialogue. Gatsby's obsession is shown through his actions and reunion with Daisy in chapter 5, not stated. Tom's cruelty is shown when he breaks Myrtle's nose rather than described as brutality.
Chapters: Ch 2, Ch 5, Ch 7
Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand. (Ch 2, para 127)
Under the dripping bare lilac-trees a large open car was coming up the drive. It stopped. Daisy’s face, tipped sideways beneath a three-cornered lavender hat, looked out at me with a bright ecstatic smile. (Ch 5, para 47)
H14. How much description comes before action. Both
Description often precedes action, especially in chapter 3 where the party setting is painted before Gatsby appears. However, action and description are frequently woven together, as in chapter 7's confrontation at the Plaza Hotel.
Chapters: Ch 3, Ch 5, Ch 7
There was music from my neighbour’s house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. (Ch 3, para 1)
Under the dripping bare lilac-trees a large open car was coming up the drive. It stopped. Daisy’s face, tipped sideways beneath a three-cornered lavender hat, looked out at me with a bright ecstatic smile. (Ch 5, para 47)
H15. Filter words such as "saw", "felt", "heard". Count
Filter words ('saw', 'felt', 'heard' and so on): 5.8 per 1,000 words.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| knew | 54 |
| saw | 52 |
| thought | 48 |
| heard | 44 |
| seemed | 39 |
| felt | 24 |
| realized | 7 |
| wondered | 6 |
| watched | 5 |
| noticed | 3 |
H16. Shifts in tone. AI
Tone shifts from Nick's detached observation in early chapters to moral urgency by chapter 8. The novel moves from satirical comedy about wealth to tragic inevitability. The final chapter adopts a reflective, elegiac tone.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 3, Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9
No—Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men. (Ch 1, para 4)
Jay Gatsby” had broken up like glass against Tom’s hard malice, and the long secret extravaganza was played out. (Ch 8, para 9)
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. (Ch 9, para 169)
H17. How the comedy works. AI
Comedy arises from social satire: the absurdity of Gatsby's parties, Tom's blunt cruelty, and Daisy's shallow remarks about being a 'beautiful little fool'. Humour undercuts the tragic elements, especially in chapters 2 and 3.
Chapters: Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 6
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. (Ch 1, para 119)
He’s a bootlegger,” said the young ladies, moving somewhere between his cocktails and his flowers. (Ch 4, para 2)
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