The Great Gatsby

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The Great Gatsby

• By F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Student Notes

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F. Scott Fitzgerald

• born on September 24, 1896, in St. Paul,
  Minnesota.
• Intelligent child, he did poorly in school and
  was sent to a New Jersey boarding school
• Enrolled at Princeton in 1913
• Academic troubles and apathy plagued him
  throughout his time at college, and he never
  graduated,
• Enlisted in the army in 1917, as World War I
  neared its end
• Stationed at Camp Sheridan, in Montgomery,
  Alabama
• Met and fell in love with a wild
  seventeen-year-old beauty named Zelda Sayre
• The publication of This Side of Paradise in 1920,
  Fitzgerald became a literary sensation
• Most of his work is semi-autobiographical

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Scott and Zelda

• Fitzgerald was considered the spokesman for his
  generation, by extension he and Zelda were
  incredibly famous
• Zelda came from money, and wouldnt marry Scott
  until he published his first book, put pressure
  on Scott to continue his success
• The couple lived a lavish lifestyle, sometimes
  wild and reckless
• Lived in Europe for a period of time
• Turmoil in their Marriage
• Constant stress from their drinking,
• Scott worked continuously to support their
  lifestyle
• Zelda felt neglected

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Tragic Endings

• Scott

• Zelda

• Scott struggled with drinking through out his
  life, left him in poor health
• Went to work in Hollywood, which he found
  degrading
• Died of a massive heart attack in 1940
• Died think he had been a failure
• After his death his work found a new audience
• He is recognized as one of the most influential
  American writers

• In 1930 Zelda was placed in a sanatorium for a
  brief period
• Diagnosed as a schizophrenic, by 1932 she was in
  a mental institution
• Scott still devoted to her, but resentful
• Died in a hospital fire in 1948
• Now seen as a tragic icon
• Feminist image of someone oppressed by her husband

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Impact on Society

• Fitzgerald named the 1920s The Jazz Age
• Wrote screenplays for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Created the The Great Gatsby which is said to be
  the most accurate description of the 1920s

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The 1920s

• Prohibition was in effect
• Made millionaires out of bootleggers
• Speakeasies secretly sold alcohol
• Violence of World War I left America in a state
  of shock
• The generation that fought the war turned to
  extravagant living to compensate
• Conservatism and timeworn values of the previous
  decade were turned on their ear
• Economy was in a Boom
• Flappers were women who rebelled against the
  fashion and social norms of the early
  1900s.
• They married at a later age and drank and smoked
  in public
• Flappers were known for their carefree
  lifestyles.
• Dances such as the Charleston were popular

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Setting

• West Egg- where Nick and Gatsby live, represents
  new money
• East Egg- where Daisy lives, the more fashionable
  area, represents old money
• The City- New York City, where the characters
  escape to for work and play, a place where
  anything goes
• The Valley of Ashes- between the City and West
  Egg, where Wilsons gas station is, desolate
  wasteland

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Fitzgerald in Gatsby

• Nick Carraway

• Jay Gatsby

• Thoughtful young man from Minnesota
• Educated at an Ivy League school
• Moved to New York after the war
• like Nick, Fitzgerald saw through the glitter of
  the Jazz Age to the moral emptiness and hypocrisy
  beneath, and part of him longed for this absent
  moral center

• Sensitive young man who idolizes wealth
• Falls in love with a beautiful young woman while
  stationed at a military camp in the South
• Fitzgerald fell into a wild, reckless life-style
  of parties and decadence, while desperately
  trying to please Zelda by writing to earn money
• Similarly, Gatsby amasses a great deal of wealth
  at a relatively young age, and devotes himself to
  acquiring possessions and throwing parties that
  he believes will enable him to win Daisys love
• Like Gatsby, Fitzgerald was driven by his love
  for a woman who symbolized everything he wanted,
  even as she led him toward everything he despised

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Symbols

• Green Light- at the end of Daisys dock and
  visible from Gatsbys mansion. Represents
  Gatsby's hopes and dreams about Daisy.
• The Valley of Ashes- the area between West Egg
  and New York City. It is a desolate area filled
  with industrial waste. It represents the social
  and moral decay of society during the 1920s. It
  also shows the negative effects of greed.
• The Eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg- A decaying
  billboard in the Valley of Ashes with eyes
  advertising an optometrist. There are multiple
  proposed meanings, including the representation
  of Gods moral judgment on society.

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Important Quotes

• I hope shell be a fool- thats the best thing a
  girl can be in this world, a beautiful little
  fool. Daisys description of her daughter
• So we beat on, boats against the current, borne
  back ceaselessly into the past. the last line
  of the novel
• "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they
  smashed up things and creatures and then
  retreated back into 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." Nicks description of Tom and
  Daisy

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Major Characters

• Nick Carraway - The narrator of the novel moves
  from the Midwest to New York to learn the bond
  business
• Jay Gatsby - Lives next to Nick in a mansion
  throws huge parties, complete with catered food,
  open bars, and orchestras people come from
  everywhere to attend these parties, but no one
  seems to know much about the host
• Daisy Buchanan - Shallow girl who is the
  embodiment of Gatsby's dreams
• Tom Buchanan- Husband of Daisy a cruel man who
  lives life irresponsibly.
• Jordan Baker - A cynical and conceited woman who
  cheats in golf wants Nick to go out with her.
• Myrtle Wilson - Tom has an affair with this
  married woman, and then abandons her after he
  become bored with her

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Themes

• Hope - represented by the light across the bay
  that Gatsby was fixated on. It was the embodiment
  of his sole goal in life, which was a
  reunification with Daisy.
• Success - Gatsby felt that the only way he would
  win Daisy was through his money.
• Ignorance - The characters have little
  self-knowledge and even less knowledge of each
  other.
• Judgment - Nick misinterprets the advice of his
  father and tries not to judge people.
• Disillusionment - Gatsby dreams of getting back
  together with Daisy even though she is married
  and has a daughter.
• Morals - The morals of people with great wealth
  seem to be less than desirable, but many times
  are more socially accepted than lower classes.

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Lessons

• Money cannot buy happiness.
• You cannot relive the past.
• If dreams are too fantastic, and reality cannot
  keep up with ideals they are usually not
  fulfilled.
• Life is paradoxical aspects and attitudes seem
  to contradict

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The Great Gatsby Narrator First Person
(Peripheral Narrator) Nick Carraway

• The story is told in the first person, through
  the eyes of Nick Carraway.
• The primary and most visible story is about Jay
  Gatsby and his devotion to his dream.
• Other stories, also told through Carraways eyes,
  include Toms reconciliation with his wife Daisy,
  Nicks own relationship with Jordan, and Nicks
  evolving friendship with Gatsby.
• Nick Carraway is able to easily become part of
  the wallpaper. His major character trait
  reserving judgment allows him to be almost an
  "invisible" narrator, similar to a traditional
  third-person omniscient point of view.
• Ultimately, however, if we lost Nicks
  point-of-view, we would never understand the
  evolution of his character. He is the invisible
  man until the end of the book, when suddenly, he
  has opinions about everybody.

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Chapter 1

• "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.
• -- Daisy Buchanan

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• Nick has moved from the Midwest to work in NYC
• His cousin, Daisy, lives close by with her
  husband Tom
• He meets Jordan and first hears about Gatsby
• Class is one of them most important themes in the
  novel
• Affects the relationships of the characters
• Much of the way people are treated can be linked
  to their class and social position
• Nick is non-judgmental but very much aware of his
  class
• " 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.
• The social position of women is criticized here.
• Daisy is a witty and clever woman, far more so
  than her brute husband. Yet she is the one
  treated as inferior because she is a woman.
• Nick sees Gatsby at the end of the chapter
• He is looking out at a green light at the end of
  Daisys dock

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Nick Carraway

• Nick often becomes a confidant for those with
  troubling secrets.
• The Great Gatsby is told entirely through Nick's
  eyes his thoughts and perceptions shape and
  color the story. The story is revealed
  gradually.
• Nick is the hardest character to understand in
  the book because he is the narrator and will
  therefore only give us an impression of himself
  that he would like to give. He tells the reader
  that "I am one of the few honest people that I
  have ever known", but we see him lie on several
  occasions. So it is all but impossible to get an
  accurate picture of Nick.
• By the end of the book he is very jaded, though.
  When he and Jordan break up he says "I'm thirty.
  I'm five years too old to lie to myself and call
  it honor". So the experience with Gatsby and the
  others takes its toll on him. But in the end, the
  reader cannot be certain of who the real Nick is.
  
• Nick the Moral arbiter, everything is seen
  through his consciousness. Carraway is the only
  character to exhibit, and hold onto, a sense
  morals decency throughout the novel.
• Has a backbone he will not be rumored into an
  engagement

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Analysis

• Nicks father tells him, Whenever you feel like
  criticizing anyone, just remember that all the
  people in this world havent had the advantages
  that youve had. (p.1) Nick shares this advice
  because he wants the reader to know that he is
  not a man who jumps to conclusions, but has
  learned to give people the benefit t of the
  doubt. Fitzgerald wants to establish Nick as a
  credible narrator and a sympathetic character.
• When I came back from the East last autumn...
  (p.2) tells reader that Nick has returned to his
  home in the West and is telling the story of
  Gatsby through the filter of time.
• My family have been prominent, well-to-do
  peoplefor three generations? (p.3) This
  information makes Nicks participation with
  socialites, money, and privilege believable for
  the reader.

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• They books on investments and securities stood
  like new money from the mint. (p.4) The new
  books on the shelf could be there simply for
  show, as much of what happens in East Egg and
  West Egg are. It is interesting to note that the
  books are about investments and securities. The
  fact that Nick has some of these books and
  intends to read them makes one believe that he is
  going to earn his money legally. The author draws
  a comparison (simile) between the books and mint
  condition. Coming from the mint can signify new
  money. Gatsby represents new money, thus
  highlighting the theme of social stratification.
• Two old friends whom I scarcely knew at all.
  (p.6) The phrase containing the oxymoron Old
  friends is a term used to indicate deep
  friendships, and, yet, Nick states he scarcely
  knows them. Perhaps this foreshadows the fact
  that even though he thinks he knows them, he will
  find out he knows little of them. It also
  suggests the superficiality of the upper class.
  Daisy is a relative of Nicks, and Tom is an old
  college friend. Nick has known them a long time
  (old friends), but he does not know them well.
  Their relationship has always been surface-level
  and superficial

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• Personification is used to make the Buchanan
  palace seem alive. The lawn appears as a runner,
  starting at the beach, jumping over sun-dials,
  running up the wall of the house, drawing the
  reader and Nick towards the house, giving the
  impression things are alive here. (p.6)
• Tom is described with a negative tone. Tom is a
  straw-haired, bossy, muscular man in his thirties
  with arrogant eyes. Fitzgerald uses words with
  negative connotations such as arrogant, proud,
  hard, shifting, and cruel in describing Tom,
  causing the reader to immediately dislike him.
• Fitzgerald creates a light, airy mood in the home
  by having the wind flowing through the room,
  lifting the curtains, ruffling the ladies
  dresses. He uses a simile comparing the couch to
  a balloon to add to the airy, light feeling. The
  girls feel paralyzed with happiness.

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• The hyperbole The whole town is desolate, and
  Nicks comment that follows it are used to add
  humor and to emphasize the superficial boredom of
  the upper class.
• Nick is annoyed that Tom is quick to remark he
  has never heard of the bond company Nick works
  for. It is Toms way of diminishing Nick, keeping
  him in his place.

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Symbols

• East West Egg
• One of the most important themes in the novel is
  class and social standing. It is a barrier for
  almost every character. East and West Egg acts as
  a symbol of this in its physical makeup.
• The barrier that the water creates between these
  worlds in symbolic of the barrier that keeps
  these people apart from one another and from much
  of what they want.
• The green light shines from the East Egg enticing
  Gatsby towards what he has always wanted. And
  Daisy, the woman that Gatsby has always wanted
  but never gets, lives on East Egg.
• The Green Light Green the color of Promise
• The green light is a multi-faceted piece of
  symbolism in the book. It's most obvious
  interpretation is that the light is symbolic of
  Gatsby's longing for Daisy, but that is too
  simplistic. Daisy is part of it, but the green
  light means much more.
• Gatsby has spent his whole life longing for
  something better. Money, success, acceptance, and
  Daisy. And no matter how much he has he never
  feels complete. Even when he has his large house
  full of interesting people and all of their
  attention, he still longs for Daisy.

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Themes

• The effect of wealth wealth is depicted as
  selfish shallow
• Morals the morals of people with great wealth
  seem to be less than desirable, but the wealthy
  are more socially accepted than lower classes.
• Hope represented by the green light, embodiment
  of his single goal in life
• Ignorance characters have little self-knowledge
  even less knowledge of each other

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Chapter 2

• The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are blue and
  gigantic their retinas are one yard high. They
  look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of
  enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a
  non-existent nose.
• -- Nick Carraway

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• Nick and Tom go to NYC
• Nick meets Toms mistress Myrtle
• Nick mentions how shameless Tom is in taking
  Myrtle out in public no matter who may see them
• Myrtle takes advantage of Toms money by spending
  it on silly things
• Tom and Myrtle host a small party in their
  apartment
• The party differs from the Buchanans because it
  is noisy and wild
• It is similar because there is an air of boredom
• Nick hears rumors about Toms and Daisys
  marriage
• In spending Toms money, Myrtle becomes very
  arrogant towards the less well-off, even though
  she and her husband have very little money
• She is in the novel as yet another commentary on
  wealth and class. Her attitude exemplifies what
  money can do to a person
• Tom's senseless attack on Myrtle goes back to the
  issue of consequence.
• Tom need not worry about any reaction to what he
  does, so he has no fear
• Toms allegiance is to Daisy

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George Wilson

• As with many of Fitzgerald characters, the name
  George Wilson is carefully chosen to reflect
  certain traits and ideals.
• It was President Wilson who took the Americans
  into WWI. During the peace process, Wilson was
  outmaneuvered by England, France, and Italy.
  Unwilling to compromise his ideals, Wilson set
  out across the country working to sell his
  position to the Americans.
• He worked himself too hard and became ill,
  eventually suffering a stroke.
• Wilson eventually died a defeated idealist. The
  character George Wilson is also a defeated
  idealist, living in the valley of ashes. He is
  unwilling to compromise his ideals about
  marriage, and has become very ill in the fight.
• George is the name of the United States first
  president. Just as Fitzgerald intends to
  illustrate how the American Dream has
  deteriorated, George Wilson, in the valley of
  ashes, indicates a waste of potential greatness.

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Symbols

• Valley of Ashes
• Represents the modern world
• Physical desert spiritual desolation
• The Eyes of T.J. Eckleburg
• These eyes are from a billboard that looks over
  Wilson's garage. The eyes are always mentioned
  whenever Nick is there.
• They look over the situation objectively, but
  offer judgment on the characters their actions.
  

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Themes

• Spiritless-ness George Wilson
• Escape Myrtle Wilson wants to change class
• Hypocrisy Toms hypocrisy, selfishness and
  brutality, other people are below him, when he
  hurts Myrtle he is not defending Daisy but
  brutalizing Myrtle

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Analysis

• Fitzgerald uses alliteration to create a musical
  effect. Some examples are railroad and runs,
  fantastic farm, grotesque gardens, cars crawl,
  obscure operations.
• I think hed tanked up a good deal at luncheon,
  and his determination to have my company bordered
  on violence. (p.24) This statement seems to
  foreshadow the fact that Tom, particularly after
  drinking, may exhibit violent tendencies.
  Perhaps, one of his women may experience the
  unpleasantness of abuse.
• Shes said to be very beautiful by people who
  ought to know. (p.28)Myrtle refers to people
  who ought to know as though there are some in
  the society who set the standards for others. It
  seems that that thought is acceptable to her.

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Chapter 3

• Nick "Suppose you meet someone just as careless
  as yourself?"Jordan "I hope I never will."

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• Nick attends the party at Gatsbys house, where
  he runs into Jordan
• The guests all speculate on Gatsbys background
• No one has a real understanding of Gatsby
• He is detached from the guests in his home
  aloof
• Finally meets Gatsby
• Gatsby uses Jordan as a go between with Nick
• Owl Eyes is overwhelmed by the fact that Gatsby's
  library is stocked not with the fake, cardboard
  backs of hooks, but with the works themselves. He
  knows that Gatsby has never read the books,
  however, because the pages have never been cut.
  This fella's a regular Belasco.
• The reference to David Belasco, the great
  playwright-producer-director of realistic plays.
  Owl Eyes is the first to realize the essentially
  theatrical quality of Gatsby's world. Just as
  Belasco was a technician who wanted to get
  everything right, so Gatsby spares no expense to
  build the material world necessary to fulfill his
  dream. Owl Eyes, as his name suggest s, is one of
  the few to really see and, in some way,
  understand Gatsby.

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Jordan Baker

• New woman of the 1920s, cynical conceited
  woman, friend of Daisy
• Jordan faces the same problems that Tom and Daisy
  do. She has been born with money and has lived in
  a culture full of money and has been spoiled by
  it.
• She is surrounded by people like the Buchanans
  who perpetuate her indulgent behavior.
• It can be seen that Jordan has no concept of
  accountability and that has been furthered by the
  people who allow her to go unaccountable.
• Purpose
• Jordan, a professional golfer, is one of a rising
  group of athletic stars. In the 1920s, attitudes
  began changing, and athletes, including women,
  were elevated to a higher social status.
•  Character Flaws
• Careless unconcerned about her driving
• She is a chronic liar. She lies in her private
  life as well as in her public life as an athlete.
  The reader has been warned and should not take
  anything she says to heart.

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Themes

• Illusion Gatsby is an illusion, difference in
  appearance reality
• Carelessness accident dont understand that
  actions have consequences
• Nick describes Jordan as a "careless" driver. She
  seems unconcerned that she drives so poorly. Nick
  asks, "suppose you met somebody just as careless
  as yourself?' and she replies "I hope I never
  will". Fitzgerald uses the word careless to
  describe many of the characters because this
  attitude is so closely tied to the theme of
  consequence and responsibility

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Analysis

• By holding off on his introduction of Gatsby,
  Fitzgerald knits a closer relationship between
  the reader and Nick. Secondly, Fitzgerald creates
  an air of mystery for the reader, not unlike the
  mystery that Nick and the others associate with
  Gatsby. This technique of delayed character
  revelation is also used to emphasize the
  theatrical quality of Gatsbys approach to life
  that is an important part of his personality.
• In the opening paragraph (p.39), is one example
  of polysyndenton, with mops and
  scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears,
  and in the second complete paragraph on page 40,
  the word and is used eighteen times. This
  device is used to convey multiplicity, to give an
  energetic enumeration, and to add build-up. In
  this particular case the polysyndenton gives the
  idea that, if it can be found, Gatsby owns it. If
  it can be purchased, Gatsby has it. At Gatsbys
  house, the party goes on and on and on.

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• Nick comments that the people at the party
  conduct themselves according to the rules of
  behavior associated with an amusement
  park.First, the statement draws a comparison of
  the atmosphere at Gatsbys to an amusement park
  many things going on in different places, many
  things to do, many drinks and food items, many
  people who dont know each other. Second, the
  statement highlights the fact that the people at
  the party lack manners, even to the point of
  showing up at a party uninvited their nouveau
  riche lack of breeding is what stands out to
  Nick.
• Fitzgerald uses the books in Gatsbys library as
  a metaphor to convey the theme of hollowness. Owl
  Eyes is completely amazed that the books on the
  shelves are not simply hollow, cardboard
  looka-likes, but are actual books. They are not
  there just for show someone could actually read
  them. In this class of people, so many of them
  are simply hollow cardboard replicas of people
  with nothing real or useful on the inside.

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• I was looking at an elegant young roughneck,
  whose elaborate formality of speech just missed
  being absurd. Some time before he introduced
  himself Id got a strong impression that he was
  picking his words with care? (p.48)Since we have
  seen nothing ill mannered or rowdy about Gatsby,
  we can assume that Fitzgerald means to suggest
  that, despite Gatsbys elegant dress and
  appearance, there is something hard-looking about
  him. That he is picking his words with care
  suggests he is speaking in a manner that is not
  entirely natural to him, a manner with which he
  is not comfortable, or one which his family has
  not taught to him.
• Although there are many rumors regarding Gatsby,
  there is a clue given to the reader about what
  the nature of Gatsbys work may be, a butler
  hurried toward him with the information that
  Chicago was calling him on the wire. (p.48)
  Chicago was the seat of organized crime and
  bootlegging in the 1920s. The reader begins to
  see past the rumors and discern that perhaps
  Gatsby came by his money, at least partially, as
  a bootlegger.

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• at intervals she appeared suddenly at his side
  like an angry diamond, and hissed You
  promised! into his ear. (p.51) As a diamond has
  many facets, so does this simile. The diamond, a
  symbol of forever love, a promise of undying
  love, is being challenged by a flirtatious, young
  actress and the husband of the woman speaking.
  His wife was once the diamond of his life and, as
  her position is challenged, the sharpness of the
  diamond, the cutting aspects of the diamond, are
  exposed. The diamond sharply reminds him, You
  promised!
• The four motifs of geography correspond with a
  particular theme or type of character
  encountered. West Egg is represents new money,
  like Gatsby, and symbolizes the emergence of the
  newly established aristocracy of the 1920s. East
  Egg symbolizes the old upper class that continues
  to dominate American social life. The valley of
  ashes is desolate and desperate, like George
  Wilson, symbolizing the decay of American society
  hidden behind the facade of a glittering upper
  class. New York City is an example of the chaos
  that Nick perceives in the East. Setting
  reinforces the themes and characters throughout
  the entire book.

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Chapter 4

• those who accepted Gatsbys hospitality and
  paid him the subtle tribute of knowing nothing
  whatever about him.
• -- Nick Carraway

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• The date, July 5, 1922, is the day after
  Independence Day. It seems to indicate that the
  people are enjoying a freedom they didnt fight
  for.
• Another party at Gatsbys
• Later Nick goes to lunch with Gatsby
• Seeing the hearse is foreshadowing
• Gatsby offers proof of his background, has
  created an image
• Nick knows he is lying, thread bare phrases
• Nick is fascinated by Gatsby, begins to believe
  him
• Wants Nick to speak with Jordan
• Nick meets Wolfsheim
• Gatsby avoids Tom
• Jordan tells Nick about Daisys Gatsbys past
• Met during when Gatsby stationed in the South
• Gatsby has followed Daisy, but she had forgotten
  him
• Gatsby wants to show Daisy he has money

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Themes

• Rootless-ness Tom Daisy have no roots, travel
  move from place to place
• Innocence corruption highlighted by Gatsbys
  better self the unsavory Wolfsheim

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Gatsbys Car

• Gatsbys car is a rich cream yellowish color
  trimmed with bright nickel on the outside with a
  green leather interior. It is monstrous in length
  and has hat-boxes, and supper-boxes, and tool
  boxes. (p.64)
• Gatsbys car is the symbol of his wealth.
• It reinforces the theme of the American Dream, as
  the car is certainly representative of that dream.

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Analysis

• The East Eggs list of names includes names such
  as Mr. Bunsen from Yale, Doctor Webster Civet,
  the Blackbucks who always gathered together and
  flipped up their noses at whoever came near,
  Stonewall Jackson Abrams of Georgia, and Mrs.
  Ulysses Swett reputable, American-sounding names
  from reputable, stuffy places. The West Eggs
  list of names includes the Mulreadys, Don S.
  Schwartze and Arthur McCarty, people connected
  with the movies in one way or another, Da Fontano
  and De Jongs who came to gamble, Gus Waize and
  Horace ODonavan, theatrical people
  ethnic-sounding names from less-reputable
  businesses or places. Fitzgerald meticulously
  names each character to further the motif of
  geography.
• Not only does the list offer an explanation of
  the makeup of the two Eggs it is also a
  description of the excessive nature of these
  parties. Fitzgerald wants this book to be
  critical of the materialism of America during
  this time period. The list talks of people who
  were wealthy and acted excessively in all that
  they did.

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• Characterization Fitzgerald first describes
  Wolfsheim using caricature. He exaggerates the
  size of his head and nose, and points out the
  two fine growths of hair which luxuriated in
  either nostril. (p.69) Fitzgerald then alludes
  to the incident with Rosy Rosenthal, a small time
  gambler, involved with the underworld. The
  characterization of this shady fellow further
  develops by drawing attention to the fact that he
  eats with ferocious delicacy and that his cuff
  buttons are human molars. (p.71) After Wolfsheim
  departs from the restaurant, Gatsby informs Nick
  that he is the man who fixed the Worlds Series
  back in 1919. (p.73) Fitzgerald appropriately
  names him Wolfsheim, meaning wolfs home. There
  is no doubt left in the readers mind. This
  Wolfsheim is a shady character, and if Gatsby
  keeps company with him, something about Gatsby
  must be amiss.

45

• Metaphor He Gatsby came alive to me Nick,
  delivered suddenly from the womb of his
  purposeless splendor. (p.69) Nick had been in
  the dark and confused about Gatsby, but all of a
  sudden, it all made sense, no longer hidden, but
  delivered and exposed. What had seemed
  purposeless now had meaning. The bright lights,
  big parties, and carnival atmosphere were to draw
  attention to his home in hopes that Daisy might
  attend. The purposeless nights of staring off
  into the sound at a green light now made sense
  Daisy was across the sound. Now Nick understands
  more of Gatsbys actions.

46
Chapter 5

• He had passed visibly through two states and was
  entering upon a third. After his embarrassment
  and his unreasoning joy he was consumed with
  wonder at her presence. He had been full of the
  idea so long, dreamed it right through to the
  end, waited with his teeth set, so to speak, at
  an inconceivable pitch of intensity. Now, in the
  reaction, he was running down like an over wound
  clock.
• -- Nick Carraway

47

• As Nick is driving up to his house, he thinks it
  may be on fire, but turning the corner, he sees
  that it is Gatsbys house, lit from tower to
  cellar, looking like the Worlds Fair. This
  description furthers the mood that Gatsbys place
  is much like a carnival. By continuing the
  development of the carnival like feeling,
  Fitzgerald conveys to the reader a sense that,
  like a carnival, Gatsby or Gatsbys money may not
  be stable, may not be real, may be here today and
  gone tomorrow.
• Gatsby cant hide his excitement that Daisy is
  coming for tea
• He offers a job to Nick, who declines

48

• Daisy comes for tea
• Gatsby shows up and gets reacquainted with Daisy
• They go to Gatsbys house where he shows off his
  possessions
• Daisys opinions matter, Gatsby revalues things
  based on Daisys reaction
• Gatsby points out the green light
• Symbolic of Gatsbys longing for Daisy wealth
• Represents all that in the distance that Gatsby
  wants to posses
• Daisy is a part of the world that Gatsby wants to
  be a part of
• The rain outside mirrors the storms within, as
  Gatsby and Daisy meet again. When Nick leaves
  Gatsby and Daisy alone to talk, he stands outside
  under a tree and the rain sounds like their
  voices. As the rain stops, signifying the end of
  their conversation, the sun begins to shine. Nick
  perceives that silence has fallen within his
  house as the sun begins to shine, and he enters
  the house to find Gatsby absolutely glowing,
  radiant.

49
Themes

• Dreams Tour of mansion is culmination of
  Gatsbys dream
• Pursuit of an ideal Gatsby has a long-sought
  reunion with Daisy resumption of romance

50
Analysis

• The flowers were unnecessary, for at two oclock
  a greenhouse arrived from Gatsbys (p.84) The
  exaggeration (hyperbole) of the number of flowers
  sent over by Gatsby emphasizes both his
  extravagance and the desperateness of his
  questthe lengths to which he feels he must go in
  order to win his lost love.
• The exhilarating ripple of her voice was a wild
  tonic in the rain. (p.85) is a metaphor that
  compares the sound of Daisys voice to tonic. It
  is appropriate to compare Daisys voice to a wild
  tonic since it is her voice that is intoxicating
  to men. A tonic can also be a medicinal cure,
  and the sound of Daisys voice is a cure for
  Gatsbys longing.

51

• The clock is like Jay Gatsby, who, when he
  realized he was poor and would never get Daisy,
  stopped ticking. He is trapped in his dreams just
  as the clock is trapped in a moment. Fitzgerald
  may also be implying that Gatsby stopped growing
  emotionally, and is essentially frozen in time
• The self-assured, easy-going Gatsby is visibly
  ill at ease. He is as pale as death with his
  hands shoved into his pockets. First, he is
  embarrassed at seeing Daisy again. Then, he is
  filled with unreasoning joy. Next, he is consumed
  with wonder.
• Daisy cries about the shirts, She says because
  they are beautiful, but, in reality, she is
  mourning the fact that she could have had both
  money and love. Perhaps at this moment she
  realizes the emptiness of her life with Tom and
  is overwhelmed at the thoughts of a dream she can
  now not attain.

52

• He had been full of the idea so long, dreamed it
  right through to the end, waited with his teeth
  set, so to speak, at an inconceivable pitch of
  intensity. Now, in the reaction, he was running
  down like an over-wound clock. (p.80) This is
  the second time that Fitzgerald uses a clock to
  compare Gatsby and his dream. The first time, it
  was a broken clock, frozen in time. This time, it
  is a clock that has been wound too tightly. It
  seems the spring will break and uncoil. This may
  be used as a symbol to alert the reader that this
  is the climax of the story, and it is all down
  hill from here. This passage reflects not only
  Gatsbys life and dream, but also reflects
  America in the 1920s. As WWI ended, the Roaring
  Twenties began. The American dream changes as the
  stock market grew. By 1929, the stock market had
  reached an unprecedented level, like an
  over-wound clock, until the spring broke and the
  stock market crashed. It is an uncanny
  predication of what is to come, as Fitzgerald
  could not have known it when publishing this book
  in 1925, but he surely could have known that the
  growth could not continue at this rate for long.

53

• Daisy tumbled short of his dreams. (p.83) Much
  of The Great Gatsby, including symbols and
  themes, has to do with, and is associated with,
  dreams. This statement is filled with symbolic
  meaning as well as literal meaning. Oftentimes
  one dreams and builds such an illusion, that when
  the dream comes to fruition, it is often less
  than one had hoped for. This is true for Gatsby.
  The romantic vision of Daisy that Gatsby has
  created, much as he created himself, dissipates
  as the reality sets in that Daisy is only human.
  This statement also reflects the sentiments of
  the American people as the elusive American
  dream, once attained, also tumbled far short.

54
Chapter 6

• Nick I wouldnt ask too much of her. "You cant
  repeat the past.Gatsby Cant repeat the past?
  Why of course you can!

55

• Chapter VI provides the reader with more details
  regarding Gatsbys past and points out the
  distinction between old money and new money.
  Regardless of how wealthy one is, what matters is
  the source of the money, and how long ones
  family has had it.
• The reader sees that Gatsby has risen from rags
  to riches through his ingenuity and
  resourcefulness The American Dream
• James Gatz
• Jay Gatsby is actually James Gatz from North
  Dakota.
• At sixteen, he left home and became his own man.
• He met wealthy Dan Cody and joined him on his
  yacht as a personal assistant.
• Cody becomes a mentor and a link to another class

56

• Tom and two friends arrive at Gatsbys
• Gatsby tries to remain polite
• Invite Gatsby to go with them, but leave without
  him
• He doesnt fit in to there club
• Tom and Daisy attend one of Gatsbys parties
• Tom questions how Gatsby got his money
• Daisy is unhappy

57
Themes

• Creating own identity Nick details Gatsbys
  true identity
• Illusions shattered by real history party not
  up to Daisys standards
• Dreams
• American Dream parallels Gatsbys dream
• Gatsby wants to go back in time
• Dan Cody is the American archetype of instant
  wealth

58
Analysis

• The meaning of the name Dan Cody. Dan is short
  for Daniel, a probable allusion to Daniel Boone.
  Daniel Boone was one of the first frontiersmen
  who headed for the West. Wild Bill Cody is one of
  the last of the frontiersman. Gatsby is fashioned
  by Dan Cody to be a type of frontiersmanone who
  lives and dies in the pursuit of the frontier of
  the American dream.

59
Chapter 7

• He put his hands in his coat pockets and turned
  back eagerly to his scrutiny of the house, as
  though my presence marred the sacredness of the
  vigil. So I walked away and left him standing
  there in the moonlight watching over nothing.
• -- Nick Carraway

60

• Foreshadowing Hot weather builds climate for
  the confrontation, shows intensity
• The group heads to NYC
• Tom, Nick Jordan are in Gatsbys car
• Gatsby Daisy are in Toms car
• Tom wants to take what Gatsby loves, just as
  Gatsby has taken what Tom loves. Daisy slips away
  from Tom and says she will ride in the coupe with
  Gatsby. Gatsby is not thrilled about give up his
  car, but, if Daisy is with him, he will.
• Tom stops for gas and finds out Wilson wants to
  leave town
• Argument at the hotel
• Gatsby says Daisy never loved Tom
• Tom wants Daisy to say she never loved Gatsby
• Gatsby Daisy leave in his car
• Myrtle, thinking Tom is in the yellow car, runs
  out into the street. She is hit by the car and
  dies
• Gatsby is only concerned about Daisy
• Tom sees an opportunity to get rid of Gatsby

61
Allusions

• Trimalchio is a character in the novel The
  Satyricon by Petronius.
• Trimalchio is a freedman who through hard work
  and perseverance has attained power and wealth.
  He is known for throwing lavish parties.
• His background parallels Gatsbys.
• Trimalchio and Trimalchio in West Egg were among
  Fitzgerald's working titles for the novel.

62
Themes

• Carelessness
• Jordan not affected by Myrtles death
• Daisy treats Gatsby as a game wants the
  security of being Mrs. Buchanan, but like
  Gatsbys attention
• Dreams Gatsby needs Daisy to have never loved
  Tom to justify his dream
• Hypocrisy Tom defends marriage family
• Responsibility
• Gatsby still wants to protect Daisy keeps watch
• Nick sympathized with him

63
Analysis

• Im right across from you? (p.118) Gatsby is
  conveying the idea that he and Tom are equals.
• Her voice is full of money. (p.120) Daisys
  voice has been highlighted throughout the story,
  but it is Gatsby who is able to identify the
  sound. It is full of money. She is a prize to be
  had. Gatsbys lust for wealth preserves his love
  for her
• I just remembered that todays my birthday.
  I was thirty. (p.135) This statement is
  significant because this is the day that Gatsbys
  dream dies. It seems as though Fitzgerald signals
  the end of dreams as Nick turns 30. the passing
  of youth
• So we drove on toward death through the cooling
  twilight. (p.136) This statement serves three
  purposes. It highlights the fact that Gatsbys
  dream is dead, foreshadows an upcoming death as
  twilight closes in, and works as a transition
  statement signaling that the climax of the novel
  is over

64
Chapter 8

• "They're a rotten crowd. You're worth the whole
  damn bunch put together.
• -- Nick Carraway

65

• The tone is set in the opening paragraph by
  foreshadowing upcoming trouble. Nick says that he
  cannot sleep and feels he should warn Gatsby
  about something.
• Gatsby finally tells Nick the truth about himself
• Gatsbys love for Daisy is real to him
• He has been obsessed with the mystique of wealth
  that she has
• Wilson is told Gatsby was involved in the
  accident
• The eyes of T.J. Eckleburg
• Wilson God sees everything
• The eyes remind the characters of the judgment
  they deserve, even if they never receive it.
• The eyes make them and the reader conscious of
  the guilt these people should be feeling.

66
Themes

• Dreams Gatsby wont run away end of a dream
• Carelessness Daisy over protected
• Social Awareness Michaelis Wilson the state of
  ordinary man in wasteland
• Innocence corruption Nick tells Gatsby hes
  better than all of them

67
Analysis

• Jay Gatsby had broken up like glass against
  Toms hard malice (p.148) The simile compares
  Gatsby with a broken pile of glass. Tom has
  broken the image that Gatsby created. All that
  Gatsby says he is, and all that he hopes to
  accomplish, is gone forever. His dreams are
  shattered his image is shattered. There is
  nothing left but a broken, empty life.
• Nick says, Youre Gatsby worth the whole damn
  bunch put together. (p.154) Although at first
  glance this sounds like a compliment, in
  actuality Nick is saying that even though he
  knows Gatsby isnt the greatest, in comparison to
  the crowd, Gatsby looks angelic. Following this
  statement to Gatsby, Nick informs the reader that
  he is glad he said that to Gatsby although I
  disapproved of him from beginning to end.

68
Chapter 9

• After Gatsbys death the East was haunted for me
  like that, distorted beyond my eyes power of
  correction. So when the blue smoke of brittle
  leaves was in the air and the wind blew the wet
  laundry stiff on the line I decided to come back
  home.
• -- Nick Carraway

69

• Tom Daisy have left without telling anyone
  where they are going
• Henry Gatz shows up for his sons funeral
• Nick learns that Gatsby had always been
  determined
• Nick ends his relationship with Jordan
• Nick decides that he doesn't want to live in the
  East anymore. He believes that he, and all of the
  others, were not fit to live out in the East and
  that is why they failed there.
•  The poor attendance at Gatsby's funeral
  exemplifies the ultimate failure of Gatsby to
  ever achieve what he wanted.
• The woman he loved was not present, she was off
  with her husband.
• None of the people who frequented the parties
  over the summer showed up
• Wolfsheim, one of the few people who could be
  called a close friend to Gatsby, refused to
  attend.
• This can all be tied into the final quote about
  trying to grasp for that green light. The more
  Gatsby tried to obtain, the less he ended up
  with. Like the green light, it receded before him
  no matter how badly he wanted all of it.

70
Themes

• Carelessness
• Tom Daisy are careless people. Tom and Daisy
  escape in the end of the book. They wont be
  bothered by the suffering they cause
• There was a situation they would have to face and
  they didn't want to.
• Emptiness of people contrast of parties with
  hundreds of people a funeral with three
• Hypocrisy Tom saddened by the loss of Myrtle,
  but he cold-heartedly sent Tom to murder Gatsby
• Pride Henry Gatz is proud of his son, sees him
  as Jimmy the All-American boy
• Shallowness Gatsbys smile is a social weapon,
  it has no meaning

71
Symbols

• Rain at the funeral the end of a dream Autumn
  setting the end is near
• Gatsbys schedule hard working ambition
  thirst for adventure
• Gatsby idealism embodiment of spiritual
  desolation waste
• Nick hope for moral spiritual growth
  traditional moral codes of America
• Tom representative of the moral wasteland which
  has replaced American idealism

72
Key Issues
73
Success

• Gatsby uses a corrupt form of the American dream
  to acquire the wealth he thinks he needs to win
  back Daisy.
• The energy that might have gone into the pursuit
  of noble goals has been channeled into the
  pursuit of power and pleasure, and a very showy,
  but fundamentally empty form of success.
• Gatsby had been in love with Daisy for a long
  while. He tried every way that money could buy to
  try to satisfy his love and lust for Daisy.
• Instead of confronting her with his feelings, he
  tried to get her attention by throwing big
  parties with high hopes that she might possibly
  show up
• Gatsby was actually a very lonesome and unhappy
  man who lived in a grand house and had
  extravagant parties.
• He did it all for one woman, who initially was
  impressed with his flagrant show of wealth.
• Daisy was extremely disenchanted after she found
  out how Gatsby had acquired his fortune.

74
Morals

• The characters in this novel live for money and
  were controlled by money.
• Love and happiness cannot be bought, no matter
  how much money was spent.
• Tom and Daisy were married and even had a child,
  but they both still committed adultery.
• They tried to find happiness with their lovers,
  but the risk of changing their lifestyles was not
  worth it.
• They were not happy with their spouses but could
  not find happiness with their lovers.
• Happiness cannot be found or bought.

75
Hope

• Gatsby bought a house in West Egg, in the hopes
  that he would win Daisy back.
• He did this so that he could look across the bay
  to the green light at the end of Daisy's dock.
• He expected her to turn up at one of his parties,
  and when she didn't, he asked Jordan to ask Nick
  to ask Daisy.
• Fitzgerald stresses the need for hope and dreams
  to give meaning and purpose to man's efforts.
• Fitzgerald goes on to state that the failure of
  hopes and dreams, the failure of the American
  dream itself, is unavoidable, not only because
  reality cannot keep up with ideals, but also
  because the ideals are in any case usually too
  fantastic to be realized.
• Gatsby is naive, impractical and
  over-sentimental. It is this which makes him
  attempt the impossible, to repeat the past.

76
Motifs

• Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and
  literary devices that can help to develop and
  inform the texts major themes

77
Geography

• Throughout the novel, places and settings
  epitomize the various aspects of the 1920s
  American society that Fitzgerald depicts.
• East Egg represents the old aristocracy
• West Egg the newly rich
• The valley of ashes the moral and social decay of
  America
• New York City the uninhibited, amoral quest for
  money and pleasure
• The East is connected to the moral decay and
  social cynicism of New York
• The West (including Midwestern and northern
  areas) is connected to more traditional social
  values and ideals
• Nicks analysis in Chapter 9 of the story he has
  related reveals his sensitivity to this
  dichotomy though it is set in the East, the
  story is really one of the West, as it tells how
  people originally from west of the Appalachians
  (as all of the main characters are) react to the
  pace and style of life on the East Coast

78
Weather

• The weather in The Great Gatsby unfailingly
  matches the emotional and narrative tone of the
  story.
• Gatsby and Daisys reunion begins amid a pouring
  rain, proving awkward and melancholy their love
  reawakens just as the sun begins to come out.
• Gatsbys climactic confrontation with Tom occurs
  on the hottest day of the summer, under the
  scorching sun.
• Wilson kills Gatsby on the first day of autumn,
  as Gatsby floats in his pool despite a palpable
  chill in the aira symbolic attempt to stop time
  and restore his relationship with Daisy to the
  way it was five years before, in 1917

79
Symbols

• Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and
  colors used to represent abstract ideas or
  concepts

80
The Green Light

• Situated at the end of Daisys East Egg dock and
  barely visible from Gatsbys West Egg lawn
• Represents Gatsbys hopes and dreams for the
  future.
• Gatsby associates it with Daisy
• Chapter 1 Gatsby reaches toward it in the
  darkness as a guiding light to lead him to his
  goal.
• Because Gatsbys quest for Daisy is broadly
  associated with the American dream, the green
  light also symbolizes that more generalized
  ideal.
• Chapter 9, Nick compares the green light to how
  America, rising out of the ocean, must have
  looked to early settlers of the new nation.

81
The Valley of Ashes

• The valley of ashes between West Egg and New York
  City consists of a long stretch of desolate land
  created by the dumping of industrial ashes.
• Represents the moral and social decay that
  results from the uninhibited pursuit of wealth,
  as the rich indulge themselves with regard for
  nothing but their own pleasure.
• Symbolizes the plight of the poor, like George
  Wilson, who live among the dirty ashes and lose
  their vitality as a result.

82
The Eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg

• The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are a pair of
  fading, bespectacled eyes painted on an old
  advertising billboard over the valley of ashes.
• They may represent God staring down upon and
  judging American society as a moral wasteland,
  though the novel never makes this point
  explicitly.
• Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald suggests that
  symbols only have meaning because characters
  instill them with meaning.
• The connection between the eyes of Doctor T. J.
  Eckleburg and God exists only in George Wilsons
  grief-stricken mind.
• This lack of concrete significance contributes to
  the unsettling nature of the image.
• The eyes also come to represent the essential
  meaninglessness of the world and the
  arbitrariness of the mental process by which
  people invest objects with meaning.

83
Gatsbys "books"

• An owl-eyed man at a Gatsby party sits in awe in
  the library, murmuring with amazement that all
  the books on Gatsbys shelves are "real books.
• The image works to suggest that much of what
  Gatsby presents to the world is a façade for
  example, he wants people to believe that hes a
  well-educated man, an Oxford man, but in fact he
  only spent a short time there after the war.
• The books may represent the fact that Gatsby is a
  fraud that he has built up an image of himself
  that is not consistent with the facts of his
  life.
• But, you could also argue that the unopened,
  unread books represent Gatsby himself though
  there are many rumors about who he is and how he
  earned his money, the facts remain unexamined,
  unopened.

84
The Owl-Eyed Man

• Owls are a symbol of wisdom, but can also be an
  omen of death. Then theres the glasses bit a
  man with large eyes and spectacles would be
  expected to be more perceptive than those around
  him.
• He is the only guest who, in doubting Gatsby, is
  also wise enough to investigate further.
• Moving right along to the portent of death part,
  did you notice that it was the owl-eyed man who
  had the car accident outside of Gatsbys house?
  And that, shortly after he got out of the car, he
  revealed that someone else was driving? Does any
  of this sound familiar?
• The scene at the end hes the only former guest
  to come to Gatsbys funeral. Why would that be?
  Exactly.

85
Colors

• Yellow and Gold Money, Money, Money. Oh, and
  Death
• Gold old money
• "yellow cocktail music" playing at Gatsbys party
  where the turkeys are "bewitched to dark gold"
  and Jordan and Nick sit with "two girls in
  yellow."
• It seems clear, then, that Gatsby is using these
  parties to try to fit in with the "old money"
  crowd.
• While Gatsby buys a yellow car to further promote
  his facade, hes really not fooling anyone.
• Lastly, weve got Daisy, who is only called "the
  golden girl" once Gatsby realizes that her voice,
  her main feature, is "full of money."
• Yellow is not just the color of money, but also
  of destruction. Yellow is the color of the car
  that runs down Myrtle. The glasses of Eckleburg,
  looking over the wasteland of America, are
  yellow. This dual symbolism clearly associates
  money with destruction the ash heaps are the
  filthy result of the decadent lifestyle led by
  the rich.
• White Innocence and Femininity
• Daisys car (back before she was married) was
  white. So are her clothes, the rooms of her
  house, and about half the adjectives used to
  describe her (her "white neck," "white girlhood,"
  the kings daughter "high in a white palace").
• At the end of the novel, she is described as
  selfish, careless, and destructive. Does this
  make the point that even the purest characters in
  Gatsby have been corrupted? Did Daisy start off
  all innocent and fall along the way, or was there
  no such purity to begin with? Or, in some way,
  does Daisys decision to remain with Tom allow
  her to keep her innocence?
• Blue Gatsbys Illusions his deeply romantic
  dreams of unreality
• His gardens are blue, his chauffeur wears blue,
  the water separating him from Daisy is his "blue
  lawn," mingled with the "blue smoke of brittle
  leaves" in his yard.
• His transformation into Jay Gatsby is sparked by
  Cody, who buys him, among other things, a "blue
  coat.
• Grey and a General Lack of Color Lifelessness
• Then there is the lack of color presented in the
  grey ash heaps. If the ash heaps are associated
  with lifelessness and barrenness, and grey is
  associated with the ash heaps, anyone described
  as grey is going to be connected to barren
  lifelessness.
• Wilson "When anyone spoke to him he invariably
  laughed in an agreeable colorless way." Wilsons
  face is "ashen." His eyes are described as "pale"
  and "glazed." It is then no coincidence that
  Wilson is the bearer of lifelessness, killing
  Gatsby among yellow leaved trees.

86
Tone

• Take a story's temperature by studying its tone.
  Is it hopeful? Cynical? Snarky? Playful?

87
Cynical Ironic

• Nick is one cynical little cookie. Even though
  Nick reserves explicit judgment on the
  characters, Fitzgerald still manages to
  implicitly criticize through his narrator's tone.
  (Think about how ludicrous Myrtle seems when,
  although she isn't upper class, she still tries
  to look down on her husband.) The characters are
  sometimes slighted by the ironic tone, and we the
  readers are forced to read with the same cynicism
  that Fitzgerald writes.
• Nick is all too aware of the ridiculousness of
  certain social circumstances hes also aware of
  the seductive quality of the upper class, even
  though he feels its somewhat empty.
• Nick also has a good grip on what he thinks is
  righteous or reproachable, and he hands that to
  his audience as the absolute true judgment of a
  person or an act. For instance, take a look at
  this excerpt from the last few pages of the
  novel, when Nick has become disillusioned with
  his former acquaintancesI couldnt forgive
  Tom or like him, but I saw that what he had
  done was, to him, entirely justified. It was all
  very careless and confused. They were careless
  people,