The Great Gatsby: Chapter Nine

 Question: How does the ending shape your overall interpretation of the novel? What themes stand out to you? Speculate on why this work is an American classic that is still studied and remembered (and filmed- need I say Leo D.)

Answer:

            Personally, I think the novel is amazing, albeit incredibly sad. The part that stood out to me the most was the funeral and its attendants (or lack there of). Gatsby was a celebrated, hospitable, giving man during his life and he was honored by Nick, a man he knew for a few months, Owl Eyes, a man who he barely knew and vice versa, and his father. It’s sad to think how many people were only around to take from him and how they stopped showing up once he had nothing more to give. It shows how a true friend can be worth a million fake ones in the long run. His empty funeral makes me pity Gatsby even more and be disgusted by all the characters who used him.

            Another part of the ending that surprised me was Tom. The ending made me dislike him a little bit less. While he’s still a selfish, money centered man who cheats on his wife, I did feel sorry for him for a moment when he said, “”And if you think that I didn’t have my share of suffering- look here, when I went to give up that flat and saw that damn box of dog biscuits sitting there on the sideboard, I sat down and cried like a baby. By god it was awful—“” (Fitzgerald, 179). I still don’t agree with his course of actions throughout the novel, but it was shocking to see him as a human with emotions and sorrow.

            There are a few main themes in The Great Gatsby. One would obviously have to be money. It plays a main factor throughout the entire story. For example, it was Gatsby’s dream to become wealthy and the money, once he gained it, never helped him. It allowed him to see Daisy again, but, since it led to his death and she didn’t care for him, it probably would’ve been better if that never happened. It kept his house filled with people at his parties and on his beach, but they didn’t care for him. They weren’t his friends. They were people who took advantage of his hospitality and didn’t bother to show up at his funeral. One of the only people who loved him and cared for him was his dad and his dad was poor and wouldn’t have cared if Gatsby was too. It simply shows that the old proverb is right: Money can’t buy you happiness.

            Another strong theme is ‘Old Money’ verses ‘New Money’. Old Money being defined us people who come from wealthy families and are given their money and New Money being people who have earned and worked for their money. This theme is so involved with the novel that it effects everything from the people to the setting. The novel is set mainly on the West Egg and the East Egg, but they could easily just be renamed the New Money Egg and the Old Money Egg, respectively. An example of New Money would be Gatsby, who was born poor and worked for his money. An example of Old Money would be Tom, Daisy and Jordan. The novel seems to suggest two things about these groups: Old Money doesn’t like New Money and Old Money consist of cold selfish people.

            It’s easy to see that Old Money has no tolerance for New Money. New Money is very flashy and like to have fun with their money, which is evident in Gatsby. He buys expensive cars and hosts costly parties. His parties were described as, “There was music from my neighbor'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… At least once a fortnight a corps of caterers came down with several hundred feet of canvas and enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby's enormous garden. On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors-d'oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold. In the main hall a bar with a real brass rail was set up, and stocked with gins and liquors and with cordials so long forgotten that most of his female guests were too young to know one from another.

By seven o'clock the orchestra has arrived, no thin five-piece affair, but a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos, and low and high drums… The bar is in full swing, and floating rounds of cocktails permeate the garden outside, until the air is alive with chatter and laughter, and casual innuendo and introductions forgotten on the spot, and enthusiastic meetings between women who never knew each other's names.” (Fitzgerald, 39-40). On the other hand, Old Money people are very prim and proper. For example, when we first meet Daisy and Jordan, they are sitting with their noses turned up in the air in a manner that is so proper that Nick describes it as, “… as if she were balancing something on it which was likely to fall.” (Fitzgerald, 8). When Old Money witnesses New Money’s behavior, they’re normally offended. An example of this is when Daisy attends one of Gatsby’s parties. Nick states, “But the rest offended her-and inarguably, because it wasn't a gesture but an emotion. She was appalled by West Egg, this unprecedented "place" that Broadway had begotten upon a Long Island fishing village-appalled by its raw vigor that chafed under the old euphemisms and by the too obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along a short-cut from nothing to nothing. She saw something awful in the very simplicity she failed to understand.” (Fitzgerald, 107). It is clear that Old Money is unable to understand New Money since Old Money grew up in wealthy families and were taught to act in a certain way. The problem between them is that Old Money won’t accept New Money because they act differently.

            The people of Old Money have a lot more flaws than their inability to accept people who act differently than them. Their main issue seems to be that the entire lot of them are selfish, shallow people. There are numerous examples of this throughout the novel. In chapter two, Tom selfishly forces Nick to meet Myrtle without consulting with him despite Nick not wanting to. He takes no time to consider that it might be uncomfortable to Nick to witness his cousin’s husband cheat on her or that Nick may have preexisting plans. Another example comes from Jordan Baker and her driving skills. Nick says, “”You’re a rotten driver,” I protested. “Either you ought to be more careful, or you oughtn’t to drive at all.”

“I am careful.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Well, other people are,” she said lightly.

“What’s that got to do with it?”

“They’ll keep out of my way,” she insisted. “It takes two to make an accident.”” (Fitzgerald, 58). Jordan is so careless and unthoughtful of others that she can’t even bother to drive correctly or not drive at all. She risks getting into a car accident or possibly hitting somebody and it doesn’t even faze her. She just expects everyone else to get out of her way so that they won’t crash. It’s an extremely self-centered sentiment. There selfishness is shown quite heavily towards the end of the book. Daisy is selfish when she jerks around Gatsby’s feelings and when she lets him take the blame for the hit and run. She’s also selfish when she has Gatsby sit outside her house all night to ensure her safety and then doesn’t even attempt to say goodbye to him or Nick before she leaves town. She never even attends Gatsby’s funeral after claiming to have loved him. Nick refers to Tom and Daisy and says, “It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy--they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back to their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made...“ (Fitzpatrick, 179). This seems to be something that could be said about most of the Old Money in The Great Gatsby. The whole novel seems to insinuate that people who have never worked for their money, people who never felt the burning of needing something that they didn’t have the means to get, were left cold, shallow and selfish.

            It’s not surprising that this novel is revered by many and still popular in our culture today. It’s the kind of story that changes people’s perspectives on things. It shows you how things aren’t always black and white. For example, if you heard that a man was a bootlegger and was very illegal and there was a lot of mystery and suspicion surrounding him in a story, it’d be easy to assume that he was the ‘bad guy’ or antagonist. This story however shows that Gatsby, a man that earns his money in an illegal business, is still a good guy while the Buchanans, a couple from wealthy families and such, play the ‘villain’ role much better. This novel also depicts the saying “Life isn’t fair”. This is shown when Gatsby is murdered for things he never did while the guilty people get away free. Then to have Gatsby, a man who was always hospitable and kind, have a funeral with three attendants certainly seems wrong as well. The Great Gatsby is a timeless tale that covers themes regarding money, injustice and people not always being as they seem. It takes place in the 1920s with their lavish clothes and parties (for the rich at least). It has romance between Daisy and Gatsby, Nick and Jordan and Myrtle and Tom. It’s a realistic and moving story involving some main characters that you get to know and love. The writing is beautiful and captivating. It’s no wonder that it’s still popular today in both the literature and cinematic worlds!

The Great Gatsby: Chapter Eight

Question: Select a passage that reveals Nick’s attitudes. Discuss how this passage contributes to your interpretation of the work as a whole, including strategies employed by the author to reveal these attitudes. Comment on the role they play in your own reaction to the ending and the novel as a whole.

Answer:

            Chapter Eight brings with us the aftermath of Myrtle’s death, which results in the death of Wilson and Gatsby. Before that, Nick gets to say what turned out to be his last words to Gatsby. He says, “We shook hands and I started away. Just before I reached the hedge I remembered something and turned around.

“They’re a rotten crowd,” I shouted across the lawn. “You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.”

I’ve always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave him, because I disapproved of him from beginning to end. First he nodded politely, and then his face broke into that radiant and understanding smile, as if we’d been in ecstatic cahoots on that fact all the time. His gorgeous pink rag of a suit made a bright spot of color against the white steps, and I thought of the night when I first came to his ancestral home, three months before. The lawn and drive had been crowded with the faces of those who guessed at his corruption—and he had stood on those steps, concealing his incorruptible dream, as he waved them good-by.

I thanked him for his hospitality. We were always thanking him for that—I and the others.” (Fitzgerald, 154).

            The most important relationship in this novel is the friendship between Gatsby and Nick because it’s one of the only real ones. Most of the others mentioned are shallow and fake. For example, Gatsby’s ‘friends’ that comes to his parties are just using his hospitality. Daisy’s ‘feelings’ for Gatsby are either very fragile or non-existent based on how she quickly changes her mind about him at the hotel. Even the mother-daughter relationship between Daisy and Pammy is superficial beings as Daisy treats her more like a toy that she can take out to dress up and show around before putting her back away and not bothering with her. In comparison to those sorry excuses for a connection between two people, Gatsby and Nick’s friendship stands out. They tell each other things that they don’t reveal to others (for example, Gatsby tells Nick about his life and family), they help each other out and simply care for one another (like when they stay awake all night after Myrtle’s death because both are unable of dealing with it). Therefore, Nick’s opinion and attitude towards and about Gatsby is very important. In this passage, he reveals that he spent a lot of time judging and opposed to his behavior and whatnot. However, as he gets to truly know Gatsby, he, while still sometimes disapproving of his course of actions, finds that Gatsby’s motives are pure and good. Gatsby is a good person, plain and simple. He’s made mistakes and might not always be on the right side of the law, but he is undoubtedly a good person and Nick can appreciate that when they’re surrounded by all of the fake and selfish people. What is Nick’s attitude towards Gatsby? He makes it very clear in his last words to his gentlemanly neighbor, “You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.” (Fitzgerald, 154).

            Nick also makes his attitude towards Daisy, Tom and Jordan very clear. He ends chapter seven by saying, ““I’d had enough of all of them for one day, and suddenly that included Jordan too.” (Fitzgerald, 142) and it seems that a few hours to calm down and reflect has certainly not changed his opinion. To Gatsby, he says, “They’re a rotten crowd.” (Fitzgerald, 154). While he’s had his suspicions the whole time, there was no question about it anymore. Nick has seen who these people truly are and it’s not a pretty sight. They’re bad people in the sense that they only care for themselves and their money. Nick has clearly decided that they aren’t the type of people he should surround himself with. They’re worth millions monetarily, but when it comes to substance and character, they’re dirt poor.

            Nick’s attitudes don’t affect my interpretation of the story much, because I agree with him on it. This passage did assist me in figuring out Gatsby’s death before it occurred though due to its blatant foreshadowing. Nick states, “I’ve always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave him” (Fitzgerald, 154). That excerpt along with the emphasis on their goodbyes makes it clear that they wouldn’t ever see each other again, which is probably because one of them is about to die. It’s only logical to assume that it would be Gatsby since the story focuses on him, Nick is the narrator (and narrators don’t often get killed off in books), Gatsby is involved in dangerous and illegal business and was recently caught having an affair with a man’s wife and is taking the blame for a hit and run. Since I realized that he was going to die, Gatsby’s death wasn’t surprising. However, I did feel the incredible sadness and injustice of it all since he was murdered for two things that he didn’t do (the affair with Myrtle and the hit and run). It was awful to see a good man die for the wrongs of Tom and Daisy, who are two horrible people. 

The Great Gatsby: Chapter Seven

Question: Select a passage that utilizes symbolism. Discuss how this passage contributes to your interpretation of the work as a whole and comment on the symbols on the overall meaning of the novel.

Answer:

            Chapter Seven holds the climax of The Great Gatsby. Here is where the truth of Daisy and Gatsby’s affair becomes known to Tom, Daisy finds out that Gatsby earned his wealth through illegal ways and Myrtle Wilson is killed. There is also a symbol used to describe Daisy that reveals something about her voice and its symbolism. As Nick and Gatsby converse over Daisy’s voice, Nick thinks, “Gatsby turned to me rigidly: "I can't say anything in his house, old sport."

"She's got an indiscreet voice," I remarked. "It's full of-"

I hesitated.

"Her voice is full of money," he said suddenly.

That was it. I'd never understood before. It was full of money-that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals' song of it. . . . high in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl. . . .” (Fitzgerald, 120).

            Daisy’s voice had been one of her most notable qualities. When Nick goes to her house in Chapter One, he talks of her voice and says, “I looked back at my cousin, who began to ask me questions in her low, thrilling voice. It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down, as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again. Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth, but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget: a singing compulsion, a whispered "Listen," a promise that she had done gay, exciting things just a while since and that there were gay, exciting things hovering in the next hour.” (Fitzgerald, 9). It’s a quality of hers that is mentioned often.

            Gatsby refers to her voice by saying, “Her voice is full of money.” (Fitzgerald, 9).By saying this, his saying that her voice sounds wealthy and makes her sound like she’s a rich, respectable and dignified person who is from ‘old money’. This helps explain why Gatsby, who grew up poor, finds her voice so alluring because it signifies his dream of being ‘old money’, which he can never be since it’s something you need to be born into.

            Nick compares Daisy to someone “high in a white palace the king’s daughter, the golden girl” (Fitzgerald, 120). To hear Nick refer to his cousin that way sheds some light on who she really is. When he says that she’s ‘high’ in a palace, it symbolizes her being unreachable and unattainable. This could refer to how Gatsby’s been trying to get her back all these years and saying that she’ll always be out of his reach, which is a foreshadowing on the end of the chapter. Also, her position high in the castle would result in her looking down on anybody not at her ‘height’ or in her social class. This would make sense based on how she was disgusted and offended by the people at Gatsby’s party because they weren’t ‘old money’ people and they behaved differently than her. The ‘white palace’ that she’s in would be symbolic of her being in a place or living a life where she’s oblivious and uncaring to the outside world or people of lesser wealth or social standing than her (unless it’s to look down on them from her elevated position). Throughout the whole novel so far, she hasn’t truly concerned herself with anything that didn’t directly affect her. The color white symbolizes perfection, safety and innocence. This can easily be taken to mean that her ‘palace’ can keep her safe and secure with her money to protect her from any harshness of the world and keep everything perfect. The innocence saying that it can keep her conscience clear so that she’s grown up without bothering to fell guilt over any of her actions that have affected or harmed others and to feel guiltless over not helping anyone else but herself. For example, when she ran over another human being, Myrtle, she didn’t even stop the car. Then she allowed Gatsby to take the blame because her main concern was not for the person that she just hit, but for making sure that she didn’t get in trouble for it. When Gatsby tells of Daisy’s reaction to the hit and run, he says “Anyhow- Daisy stepped on it. I tried to make her stop, but she couldn’t, so I pulled on the emergency break. Then she fell over into my lap and I drove on.” (Fitzgerald, 144). Her being a ‘king’s daughter’ is just showing that she comes from ‘old money’ and was born into her position without doing any work to earn her riches. She’s also ‘the golden girl’, which is again just saying that she’s perfect and loved by all. The golden has the double meaning of symbolizing ‘old money’. In conclusion, she’s a selfish, rich girl who’s never worked for her money and turns her nose up at anyone that’s ‘lesser’ than her.

            This particular passage, along with the chapter that accompanied it, affected my feelings towards Daisy greatly. She was never my favorite character and she has done some very suspect and cold things throughout the novel, but I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt so far. However, this chapter has shown her true colors and the symbol that Nick uses to describe her explains what they are perfectly. She’s simply a selfish person who doesn’t care for anything, but herself and her money. Now that I see who she really is, it affects my judgment of other characters as well.

I feel beyond sorry that Gatsby, who, although he has illegal dealings, is a gentlemanly and caring man, has become infatuated with her. My hope for him is that he can come to realize that he’s too good for her and that she doesn’t care for him and that his love for her can finally come to an end.

I’ve also begun to think that Jordan, who is very close friends with Daisy, must be worse than I was expecting as well if she finds pleasure and happiness with spending time with Daisy. So far, I’ve had little care for Jordan and didn’t have any opinions for or against her. I thought that what Nick said of her in chapter three, “She was incurably dishonest. She wasn’t able to endure being at a disadvantage and, given this unwillingness, I suppose she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was very young in order to keep that cool, insolent smile turned to the world and yet satisfy the demands of her hard, jaunty body.” (Fitzgerald, 59), showed that she wasn’t somebody that I’d want to be around, but it made her interesting and she could still be a good person, even if she was a liar. However, I now suspect that Jordan is most likely as bad as Daisy since they’re so close. I don’t see how a good person could bear to surround themselves with a people like Daisy. For example, Nick gets sick of the lot of them and their selfish, stuck up ways and says, “I’d had enough of all of them for one day, and suddenly that included Jordan too.” (Fitzgerald, 142). 

The Great Gatsby: Chapter Six

Question: Select a passage that reveals the nature of the narrator. Discuss how this passage and the narrator contribute to your interpretation of the work as a whole. Identify the narrator’s tone and literary strategies that shape it. Comment on the narrator’s purpose in the chapter, as well as the effect the narrator is having on your reactions to the events and characters.

Answer:

            Nick attends another one of Gatsby’s parties in Chapter Six, but this time he goes with Daisy and Tom and he feels quite different about it. He says, “Tom was evidently perturbed at Daisy's running around alone, for on the following Saturday night he came with her to Gatsby's party. Perhaps his presence gave the evening its peculiar quality of oppressiveness-it stands out in my memory from Gatsby's other parties that summer. There were the same people, or at least the same sort of people, the same profusion of champagne, the same many-colored, many-keyed commotion, but I felt an unpleasantness in the air, a pervading harshness that hadn't been there before. Or perhaps I had merely grown used to it, grown to accept West Egg as a world complete in itself, with its own standards and its own great figures, second to nothing because it had no consciousness of being so, and now I was looking at it again, through Daisy's eyes. It is invariably saddening to look through new eyes at things upon which you have expended your own powers of adjustment.” (Fitzgerald, 104).

            Nick’s change of attitude toward the party could be caused by a few things. He says that one of the things that are different is “a pervading harshness that hadn't been there before” (Fitzgerald, 104). Since the only changing factor between this party and the rest is that Daisy and Tom were in attendance, it would not be unreasonably to assume that they’re the cause of this harshness and Nick’s new feelings. One way that they could’ve done this is because of the love triangle element between the three. Daisy, who is married to Tom and has a strong romantic history with Gatsby, undoubtedly caused tension while the anger between Gatsby and Tom, Tom disliking Gatsby because he didn’t trust him around Daisy and Gatsby hating Tom for being married to the woman he loves, had its own hostility. The incessant drama and stress of the whole ordeal could have easily ruined the party for Nick. This shows that Nick is affects by the affairs of others and the emotions that they give off if tension between his two friends and his cousin managed to spoil the whole evening.

            Another thing that could have affected him is Daisy and Tom’s scrutiny of the whole event. Daisy, in particular, seemed to have an effect on him. She disliked mostly the whole evening and at dinner, when they were sitting next to people who Nick was amused by last time he was them, he became embarrassed and ashamed of them around her. He states, “We were at a particularly tipsy table. That was my fault-Gatsby had been called to the phone, and I'd enjoyed these same people only two weeks before. But what had amused me then turned septic on the air now.” (Fitzgerald, 106). He later comments that Daisy hated the party and he says, “But the rest offended her-and inarguably, because it wasn't a gesture but an emotion. She was appalled by West Egg, this unprecedented "place" that Broadway had begotten upon a Long Island fishing village-appalled by its raw vigor that chafed under the old euphemisms and by the too obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along a short-cut from nothing to nothing. She saw something awful in the very simplicity she failed to understand.” (Fitzgerald, 107). He’s commenting on the differences between East Egg, where she lives and the people there are proper and do things that are deemed socially acceptable, and West Egg, where Gatsby and Nick live where they don’t worry about social boundaries and are free to do as they please for the most part since they aren’t confined by only doing what is ‘proper’. This shows the differences between the two places and the attitudes of the peoples that live there. It appears that Daisy’s disapproval of the event affected Nick to the point where the entire party became unappealing to him. This shows that Nick is a person easily swayed by the opinions of others.

            Another thing that is revealed about Nick during this chapter is how he reacts to people using Gatsby for his never-ending hospitality and considerable wealth. For example, when people stop by at Gatsby’s home unexpectedly to mooch off of him, Nick thinks snide remakes towards them, such as “"I'm delighted to see you," said Gatsby, standing on his porch. "I'm delighted that you dropped in." As though they cared!” (Fitzgerald, 101). This shows that Nick, who might be Gatsby’s one true friend, is annoyed and angered by others taking advantage of Gatsby. This suggests that Nick is very protective of his friends. 

The Great Gatsby: Chapter Five

Question: Select a passage that develops the relationship between Daisy and Gatsby. Discuss how this passage contributes to your interpretations of the work as a whole, including literary strategies that contribute to this relationship and shape your own reaction to both Daisy and Gatsby.

Answer:

            During Chapter Five, the long awaited meet up between Daisy and Gatsby occurs. After some tea at Nick’s home, Gatsby brings them to his house and gives them a tour, which includes showing Daisy all of his shirts. Nick describes the scene and ends it with, “Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily.

            “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.””(Fitzgerald, 92).

             Daisy’s reaction is an extremely important point of progress in the development of her relationship with Gatsby. Throughout the novel, it’s obvious that Gatsby is head-over-heels in love with Daisy and we can find examples of that in almost everything he does. However, Daisy, who had married Tom instead of waiting for Gatsby, hasn’t shown any such signs of care for Gatsby. This scene with the shirts is the first example of how she does feel about him. Her words, “It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such- such beautiful shirts before.” (Fitzgerald, 92) are a way for her to express her feelings about Gatsby. She’s not truly upset about not seeing the shirts, but more so upset that she hasn’t seen the shirts because she hasn’t seen Gatsby. This is the first real sign that she’s missed him and is sad or maybe regretful about their time apart and the way things played out between them.

            Personally, I’m not a fan of the romance between Gatsby and Daisy. I like Gatsby and his character very much and it’s undeniable that he has strong feelings towards Gatsby. This has been proven through his actions in the last few years that include buying a house just to be near her and throwing parties in the desperate hope that she might show up. I also like Gatsby as a person so far. He’s interesting and gentlemanly. He has a peculiar air about him, but that just makes him more unique. My favorite characteristic about him though would probably have to be how he works for what he wants. For example, when his wish is to see Daisy again, he goes to crazy lengths to make it happen. He’s very determined and knows how to focus on his goals, which are admirable traits.

However, I’m not as fond of Daisy. It seems that if she really loved Gatsby, she should have found a way to wait for him instead of just marrying Tom simply because he was wealthy and she wouldn’t have to wait for him. Nonetheless, I’m willing to excuse that since she was a woman in the 1920’s and I understand that things were different for women back then that I might not be fully aware of. Possibly there was a push for her to marry from her family or maybe she worried that if Gatsby were to die in the war that she’d have no way to support herself. Although I do still think that it says something about the lack of loyalty that Daisy possesses. That being said, this scene did change my mind a bit about her and their relationship. It’s the first real bit of emotion that we see from her over Gatsby and it allows me to forgive her for her decision to not wait for him during the war. It shows that she might still love him as well and that maybe the relationship, now that the feelings are shown to be mutual, might progress into what it was meant to be five years ago. 

The Great Gatsby: Chapter Four

Question: Select a passage that gives the reader background information about Gatsby. Discuss how this passage contributes to your interpretation of the work as a whole, including literary strategies that affect your feelings about Gatsby.

Answer:

            During Chapter Four, Nick has tea with Jordan Baker, who, with Gatsby’s permission, tells him about Gatsby and Daisy’s history. About this, Nick writes, “He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths-so that he could "come over" some afternoon to a stranger's garden.

"Did I have to know all this before he could ask such a little thing?"

"He's afraid, he's waited so long. He thought you might be offended. You see, he's a regular tough underneath it all."

Something worried me.

"Why didn't he ask you to arrange a meeting?"

"He wants her to see his house," she explained. "And your house is right next door."

"Oh!"

"I think he half expected her to wander into one of his parties, some night," went on Jordan, "but she never did. Then he began asking people casually if they knew her, and I was the first one he found. It was that night he sent for me at his dance, and you should have heard the elaborate way he worked up to it. Of course, I immediately suggested a luncheon in New York-and I thought he'd go mad: " 'I don't want to do anything out of the way!' he kept saying. 'I want to see her right next door.' "

When I said you were a particular friend of Tom's, he started to abandon the whole idea. He doesn't know very much about Tom, though he says he's read a Chicago paper for years just on the chance of catching a glimpse of Daisy's name."” (Fitzgerald, 78-79).

One of the characteristics that make up Gatsby the most is his infatuation and everlasting love for Daisy. Despite the facts that the couple has been separated for five years and that Daisy is married to another man, Gatsby remains devoted to her and does things that are borderline obsessive. For example, Nick states that Gatsby “had waited five years and bought a mansion” (Fitzgerald 78) just so he could meet up with her. He also threw wild, extravagant parties weekly in the hopes of her coming to one and asked people about her. Jordan mentions that “he's read a Chicago paper for years just on the chance of catching a glimpse of Daisy's name” (Fitzgerald, 79). These actions can lead one to believe that he’s either unnaturally obsessed with her or crazy with love.

This passage also explains the (possible) motives behind Gatsby’s past actions. Based on what Jordan said, his reason for throwing the parties was to attract Daisy and/or help him meet up with her once more. It also explains what he wanted from Miss Baker when he beckoned for her at the first party that Nick attended. Earlier in this chapter, Mr. Wolfsheim, Gatsby’s longtime friend, said, “Gatsby's very careful about women. He would never so much as look at a friend's wife.” (Fitzgerald, 72). Aside from Gatsby’s loyalties to his friends, a reason that he might be this way is because he only cares for Daisy and isn’t interested in any other women. 

The Great Gatsby: Chapter Three

Question: Select a passage that describes the party. Discuss how the passage contributes to your interpretation of the work as a whole, including literary strategies that affect your reaction to the character.

(Note to my teacher: I tried to figure out what a limit was for how long a passage should be, but I couldn’t find an answer. Most things just said an excerpt from a literary piece. I suspect that this one might be a little wrong, but there were so many things that I wanted to include. I tried to cut away the paragraphs that I could though to shorten it.)

Answer:

            Chapter Three begins with Nick describing Gatsby’s parties by saying, “There was music from my neighbor'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. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before….

…At least once a fortnight a corps of caterers came down with several hundred feet of canvas and enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby's enormous garden. On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors-d'oeuvres, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold. In the main hall a bar with a real brass rail was set up, and stocked with gins and liquors and with cordials so long forgotten that most of his female guests were too young to know one from another.

By seven o'clock the orchestra has arrived, no thin five-piece affair, but a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos, and low and high drums. The last swimmers have come in from the beach now and are dressing up-stairs; the cars from New York are parked five deep in the drive, and already the halls and salons and verandas are gaudy with primary colors, and hair shorn in strange new ways, and shawls beyond the dreams of Castile. The bar is in full swing, and floating rounds of cocktails permeate the garden outside, until the air is alive with chatter and laughter, and casual innuendo and introductions forgotten on the spot, and enthusiastic meetings between women who never knew each other's names…

…I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby's house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited-they went there. They got into automobiles which bore them out to Long Island, and somehow they ended up at Gatsby's door. Once there they were introduced by somebody who knew Gatsby, and after that they conducted themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with amusement parks. Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all, came for the party with a simplicity of heart that was its own ticket of admission.” (Fitzgerald, 39-41).

One of the things that stick out the most out of what Nick’s saying is that Gatsby’s house, despite him living alone, is most of the time, if not always, filled with people. He recalls that, “men and girls came and went like moths” (Fitzgerald, 39) and, along with the guests, there were many servants (eight plus a gardener). This seems to insinuate that Gatsby doesn’t do well with loneliness or a vacant house. However, it could just be a sign of Gatsby’s extreme generosity and hospitality.

Gatsby’s wealth is made even more obvious with this passage. The aforementioned servants are one sign of that along with other things that Nick spoke of, including: two motorboats, an aquaplane, a Rolls-Royce, a station wagon, a group of caterers and an orchestra. He has the place decorated with amazing lights and tarps regularly.

Gatsby also seems to have a taste for the ‘finer things in life’. Music is mentioned often, like when Nick says, “There was music from my neighbor's house through the summer nights” (Fitzgerald, 39) and “the orchestra has arrived, no thin five-piece affair, but a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos, and low and high drums” (Fitzgerald, 40). Gatsby orders foods that are rich and decadent, including “glistening hors-d'oeuvres, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold” (Fitzgerald, 40). He also seems to appreciate liquor, like “with cordials so long forgotten that most of his female guests were too young to know one from another” (Fitzgerald, 40).

Finally, it shows how the guests treated Gatsby and his house. Nick remarks, “I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby's house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited” (Fitzgerald, 41). This shows how Gatsby’s parties were treated like public rather than private affairs. Nick refers to Gatsby’s house once as a form of “amusement parks” (Fitzgerald, 41). They didn’t always treat it as his home or him as their host. For example, Nick says “Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all” (Fitzgerald, 41). It seems as if these guests had no problems with using his home and hospitality, sometimes every weekend, without even giving their host a ‘hello’ or ‘thank you’. 

The Great Gatsby: Chapter Two

Question: Select a passage that develops a character. Discuss how this passage contributes to your interpretation of the work as a whole, including literary strategies that affect your reaction to the character.

Answer:

            Nick opens up the second chapter by telling how he met Myrtle Wilson, Tom Buchanan’s mistress, and says, “The valley of ashes is bounded on one side by a small foul river, and, when the drawbridge is up to let barges through, the passengers on waiting trains can stare at the dismal scene for as long as half an hour. There is always a halt there of at least a minute, and it was because of this that I first met Tom Buchanan's mistress.

            The fact that he had one was insisted upon wherever he was known. His acquaintances resented the fact that he turned up in popular restaurants with her and, leaving her at a table, sauntered about, chatting with whomsoever he knew. Though I was curious to see her, I had no desire to meet her-but I did. I went up to New York with Tom on the train one afternoon, and when we stopped by the ashheaps he jumped to his feet and, taking hold of my elbow, literally forced me from the car.

"We're getting off," he insisted. "I want you to meet my girl."

             I think he'd tanked up a good deal at luncheon, and his determination to have my company bordered on violence. The supercilious assumption was that on Sunday afternoon I had nothing better to do.” (Fitzgerald, 24).

            I believe that this passage tells us a lot about Tom Buchanan. One thing is that he is extremely open about his affair with Myrtle. About this matter, Nick says, “The fact that he had one was insisted upon wherever he was known” (Fitzgerald, 24), which backs up what Jordan Baker said in chapter one about Tom having a woman in New York, “”You mean to say that you don’t know?” said Miss Baker, honesty surprised. “I thought everybody knew.”” (Fitzgerald, 15). He also mentions that Tom brings her out in public fairly often. This says that not only does Tom not seem to care about Daisy enough to not cheat on her, but he also can’t care to keep it private so that Daisy can be spared the embarrassment of everybody knowing about it.

            Tom also appears to be a rather violent man. It was mentioned in chapter one that he was very strong and had an impressive history in physical activities, especially football. This being said, he shoves and pulls at people to get them to do what he wants, which can easily be harmful with a man his size. For example, Nick states that Tom “literally forced me from the car” (Fitzgerald, 24) and, in chapter one, “turning me around by one arm… He turned me around again, politely and abruptly” (Fitzgerald, 7). Nick admits that Tom’s actions and behaviors “bordered on violence” (Fitzgerald, 24). Later on in the chapter, his violence is on display when “Tom Buchanan broke her (Myrtle’s) nose with his open hand” (Fitzgerald, 37) without hesitation over an argument regarding Myrtle saying Daisy’s name.

            Tom keeping the day’s true plans from Nick is also very inconsiderate and thoughtless. Nick, being Daisy’s cousin, could have been uncomfortable with meeting Tom’s mistress and witnessing the affair, but Tom didn’t bother to ask him and gave him no choice in the matter. He also made these plans without consenting with Nick and seeing if Nick was available or not, which Nick comments on by saying, “The supercilious assumption was that on Sunday afternoon I had nothing better to do” (Fitzgerald, 24). Tom’s actions were both rude and selfish.

The Great Gatsby: Chapter One

Question: Select a passage that describes the setting. Discuss how this passage contributes to your interpretation of the work as a whole, including literary strategies that affect your reaction to the character.
Answer:

In the first chapter of The Great Gatsby, the narrator, Nick, describes his new home and the area that it is located by saying, “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 island which extends itself due east of New York-and where there are, among other natural curiosities, two unusual formations of land. Twenty miles from the city a pair of enormous eggs, identical in contour and separated only by a courtesy bay, jut out into the most domesticated body of salt water in the Western hemisphere, the great wet barnyard of Long Island Sound. They are not perfect ovals-like the egg in the Columbus story, they are both crushed flat at the contact end-but their physical resemblance must be a source of perpetual confusion to the gulls that fly overhead. To the wingless a more arresting phenomenon is their dissimilarity in every particular except shape and size.

          I lived at West Egg, the-well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them. My house was at the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, and squeezed between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season. the one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard-it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden. It was Gatsby's mansion. Or, rather, as I didn't know Mr. Gatsby, it was a mansion inhabited by a gentleman of that name. My own house was an eyesore, but it was a small eyesore, and it had been overlooked, so I had a view of the water, a partial view of my neighbor's lawn, and the consoling proximity of millionaires-all for eighty dollars a month.” (Fitzgerald, 4-5)

            This passage tells a lot about the setting. Nick refers to it as “one of the strangest communities in North America” (Fitzgerald, 4), which is partly referencing the odd shape of the land that the community sits on, but also seems to be referring to the people that occupy the communities. He also mentions that it is just east of New York, which is important since the characters spend much time in the city throughout the novel. He also talks about his neighbor being named Gatsby, which introduces a character that the novel is named after and shows how Nick is connected with him. Nick describes very thoroughly the size and shape of the lands when he calls them “a pair of enormous eggs” (Fitzgerald, 5).

            More important than the location and shapes of the West Egg and East Egg are the people that occupy them. Both places are very different in that aspect, which Nick addresses by stating, “To the wingless, a more arresting phenomenon is their (East Egg and West egg) dissimilarity in every particular except shape and size” (Fitzgerald, 5) and “the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them (the East egg and West egg)” (Fitzgerald, 5). He lives on the West egg, which is considered the “less fashionable” (Fitzgerald, 5). However, he talks about the houses surrounding him to be huge and occupied by millionaires, so it can be inferred that the West Egg is inhabited by many wealthy people. This being said, the East Egg must either be even richer or maybe just more filled with socialites and people who focus more on fashion than the West Egg.

            While Nick is describing the similar egg shape of both land forms, he says, “their physical resemblance must be a source of perpetual confusion to the gulls that fly overhead” (Fitzgerald, 5). This shows Nick to be a creative thinker that can both think outside the box and look at things from others’ perspectives. When he mentions his own new house, he calls it “an eyesore, but it was a small eyesore” (Fitzgerald, 5) and mentions a water view. He also says that he pays 80 dollars a month while his neighbors pay twelve or fifteen thousand dollars for a season. These things show that, in comparison to his neighbors, he is poor.