In this passage, Nick reflects on what the landscape must have looked like when the Dutch explorers arrived to the continent. He is looking at Gatsby's house, and at this point in the novel, we know that Nick believes that New York, as well as the people he has met, are vile, corrupt and greedy. He contrasts this view with that of the pristine continent on the arrival of the European settlers.
The phrase "fresh, green breast of the New World" presents a view that is "fresh." The land is new, but it is also fresh in the sense that it is not rotten. The land has not yet been "infected" with the corruption of modern times. Therefore, the phrase is intended to represent a time before America had become a land of greed and vice.
<span>George Orwell was hesitant to kill the elephant,
but also felt that he needed to do his duty in a situation where he mustn’t show
any weakness to the townspeople. He had to be cruel and at the same time,
pitiful.</span>
Match these items.
1. tone - the attitude of a piece of writing
2. theme - the main idea of a text
3. motif - a distinctive feature in a text
4. imagery - visually descriptive language
5. Shakespearean sonnet - a poem with fourteen lines