The Great Gatsby is one of the most famous pieces of American Literature. It has become the social commentary of an entire decade - the 1920’s. The ‘20s was a time contradictions. Prohibition made the production and consumption of alcohol illegal in an attempt to legislate morality. This was a reaction to the immorality that some saw pervading society. As you will see in the book extra-marital affairs became more common, women enjoyed a lot more freedom, and society was becoming less religious.
We encounter the wealthy, careless, and immoral in this book. The characters will surprise and confuse you. Fitzgerald’s style of writing takes a while to get used to, so persevere through the slow beginning. You will be rewarded in the end. The book forces you to challenge people’s perceptions of themselves. We see the consequences of envy, greed, immaturity, and deceit woven into a magical story. The book has a dream like quality. The images are unbelievable, bathed in hot humid air. The conversations are stilted, rhythmic and inconclusive. In doing this Fitzgerald is making a point about the setting and the characters. Their actions and thoughts are unbelievable, thus the writing style mirrors that, as well as the chaos of the decade.
I hope you enjoy this book! The plot is fascinating and tragic, I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts about it. Below I have assigned you questions to answer. In addition to answering those questions, choose any 3 questions as well.
Kevin - Ch 1, Q 1 and 3. Ch 3, Q 2. Ch 4, Q 3. Ch 8 and 9, Q 1 and 4.
Tyler - Ch 1, Q 1. Ch 2, Q 1. Ch 4, Q 2. Ch 5, Q 1 and 2. Ch 8 and 9, Q 4.
Daniel - Ch 1, Q 2 and 3. Ch 2, Q 1. Ch 4, Q3. Ch 5, Q 2. Ch 7, Q 1.
Ch 1
1. What advice does Nick, the narrator’s father give him?
2. What are Tom and Daisy like? What character qualities do they exhibit?
3. What is Gatsby looking at across the bay at the end of the chapter? What does green symbolize?
Ch 2
1. Describe the sign they pass on their way to New York.
2. What do we know about Gatsby by the end of this chapter?
Ch 3
1. How does Nick finally meet his neighbor Gatsby?
2. What does Nick think about himself? Hint: It’s the last line of the chapter.
Ch 4
1. What is the story of Gatsby and Daisy?
2. Why did Gatsby buy his mansion?
3. Is Gatsby vain?
Ch 5
1. How do Gatsby and Daisy finally meet?
2. Gatsby know exactly how long it has been since he has seen Daisy. What does this show about his level of obsession?
Ch 7 (in this chapter everything becomes transparent, especially the intentions of Gatsby and Daisy)
1. When does Tom realize what is going on?
2. What does it mean that “Her voice is full of money”?
3. Gatsby claims that Daisy “never loved you”, how do we, as the reader, and Tom know this is not true?
4. Why is it so devastating to Gatsby that Daisy does/did love Tom?
5. How does Daisy respond to the position that Gatsby has put her in?
6. How does Myrtle die and who kills her?
Ch 8 and 9
1. Daisy is described as a “grail.” What is the significance of this?
2. How does Gatsby die?
3. Why does Nick have such a hard time finding people to attend Gatsby’s funeral?
4. Nick realizes what type of people Tom and Daisy are, how does he describe them?
6 comments:
Ch 1
1. What advice does Nick, the narrator’s father give him?
“Whenever you feel like criticizing someone, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had advantages that you’ve had.”
Ch 2
1. Describe the sign they pass on their way to New York.
It was described as, “a sort of compact Main St. ministering to it and contiguous to absolutely nothing.”
Ch 3
1. How does Nick finally meet his neighbor Gatsby?
Nick is invited to Gatsby’s party, and is wandering around and eventually runs into him.
2. What does Nick think about himself? Hint: It’s the last line of the chapter.
He thinks he is one of the few honest people that he has ever known.
Ch 4
2. Why did Gatsby buy his mansion?
He bought it because Daisy was right across the way.
Ch 5
1. How do Gatsby and Daisy finally meet?
Nick, by the instruction of Gatsby, arranges for Daisy to come over to his house, and Gatsby is there. At first Gatsby is so nervous he almost leaves, but after Nick leaves for a while, he is fine.
2. Gatsby knows exactly how long it has been since he has seen Daisy. What does this show about his level of obsession?
It shows that ever since he knew her, dated her and left her, that he has spent all his time thinking and fantasizing about her.
Ch 7 (in this chapter everything becomes transparent, especially the intentions of Gatsby and Daisy)
6. How does Myrtle die and who kills her?
Daisy runs her over with Tom’s car.
Ch 8 and 9
4. Nick realizes what type of people Tom and Daisy are, how does he describe them?
He describes them as careless people, who smashed things up and retreated to back into their money or vast carelessness.
Ch 1
2. What are Tom and Daisy like? What character qualities do they exhibit? Both Tom and Daisy are very wealthy. Tom is a very strong character who is not faithful to his wife, because of his relationship with a woman in New York named Myrtle. He is a quick witted man with a restless personality. It seems that Tom always needs to be doing something such as riding and exploring the world. Daisy is a nice lady with a sad countenance. Her husband’s relationship with Myrtle is taking away from his family life, this weighs heavily on Daisy’s heart.
3. What is Gatsby looking at across the bay at the end of the chapter? What does green symbolize? Gatsby is looking across the bay at Daisy’s house. He purposely bought his house on West Egg because he knew that Daisy’s was directly across the bay on East Egg. For all those years, that green light had symbolized Gatsby’s love for Daisy. It also represented that small ray of hope he held within himself that Daisy still loved him. Throughout those five years that light gave Gatsby hope that Daisy might still love him.
Ch 2
1. Describe the sign they pass on their way to New York. For some reason the author has given the sign the name Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. The sign has gigantic blue eyes and enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a non-existent nose.
Ch 4
3. Is Gatsby vain? At first it is definitely hard to tell if Gatsby is vain. But after reading chapter five, Gatsby can hardly wait to show Daisy how wealthy he is. Instead of trying to bring her in with his “virtuous” character, he chooses to impress her with his stuff. It definitely seems that Daisy brought out some of the vanity that hovered below the surface. One thing that is interesting to me are the values which these people live by. It is evident that Gatsby feels that to gain Daisy’s affection he must show off his worldly possessions. This shows us how much morals have been thrown out the door and replaced with lust, vanity, selfishness, and greed. Gatsby is using his wealth as a tool to bring Daisy in. In the first place Gatsby should not be hanging out with Daisy alone. Obviously in Tom and Daisy’s case, wealth does not guarantee a happy marriage, but the man and woman who are married make marriage a success, not the material stuff involved. In conclusion I would say that Gatsby is vain.
Ch 5
2. Gatsby knew exactly how long it has been since he has seen Daisy. What does this show about his level of obsession? Gatsby has thought about Daisy every day. He is unwilling to let go of her. For five years she had been alive in his mind filled with illusions and dreams about her. To have her actually standing in his house was somewhat of a shock to him. By his pale countenance and nervous demeanor before meeting her, the reader can tell how much he had anticipated getting to meet Daisy again.
Ch 7 (in this chapter everything becomes transparent, especially the intentions of Gatsby and Daisy)
1. When does Tom realize what is going on? Tom realizes what is going on when he hears Daisy talking about how Gatsby is always cool (as in temperature). In other words she said that she loved him. He also saw them staring at each other as if they were alone in space.
Ch 1
1. What advice does Nick, the narrator’s father give him?
he learned from his father to reserve judgment about other people, because if he holds them up to his own moral standards, he will misunderstand them.
3. What is Gatsby looking at across the bay at the end of the chapter? What does green symbolize?
i think it symbolizes Gatsby's love for Daisy, and his hopes that his dream comes true.
Ch 3
2. What does Nick think about himself? Hint: It’s the last line of the chapter.
He thinks that he is one of the few honest people that he has ever known.
Ch 4
3. Is Gatsby vain?
No i don't think that Gatsby is vain. Sure, he has many possessions, but he doesn't obsess over them like most people of high social status.
Ch 5
1. How do Gatsby and Daisy finally meet?
Gatsby convinces Nick to arrange meeting with Daisy. Gatsby will just happen to be there when Daisy arrives.
2. Gatsby knows exactly how long it has been since he has seen Daisy. What does this show about his level of obsession?
He has counted the exact amount of days it has been until he has seen Daisy. This shows that he has obsessed over Daisy for a very long time. "Five years next november", to be exact.
Ch 7
1. When does Tom realize what is going on?
When daisy begins to talk about Gatsby a lot, and they stare at each other often, oblivious to the world around them.
Ch 8 and 9
1. Daisy is described as a “grail.” What is the significance of this?
In this book, a grail symbolizes something that is heavily sought after. Daisy was definitely very sought after. its a great analogy.
Tyler,
Good job on the questions!
What I was actually looking for in Chapter 2, Q 1 was a description of the eye doctor sign. It has symbolic purpose as the eyes of God looking out over the ash heap.
You clearly answer all the questions, but next time I would like you to take it a step further and tell me what you think. Is Nick and honest person, like he believes himself to be? Are Daisy and Tom careless people?
Very good work though! Well done.
Daniel,
Your answer about Gatsby being vain is very good! You look at it from a lot of different angles, and come up with an appropriate conclusion. I like how you noticed that instead of trying to win Daisy over by being a good person, he just shows off his stuff. Very shallow world!
I also like what you say about the light symbolizing a ray of hope that Daisy still loves Gatsby. I always have considered it to be symbolic of Gatsby's envy. Green with envy towards the world that Daisy is a part of, and wanting to get in. But I like your interpretation of it as well!
You did a really good job with these questions! You are taking your thinking to another level, and really putting your thoughts to the questions. Very impressive!
Kevin,
I'm glad you made the connection about the grail. A grail always symbolizes goal at the end of a long quest. Gatsby has been on a five year quest to see Daisy again and show her he is worthy of her. Good job noticing this!
I would like you to take your answer's to the next level and tell me what you think. Is the advice Nick's father gave him good or bad? Doesn't it sort of support a relativistic view of the world? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
I also like this idea that Gatsby is not vain. I think he is, so I would like to know more about what you think.
Overall you did a good job, and it is clear you understand the book very well. Keep up the good work!
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