The Great Gatsby, a teaching guide for A&E Television.
2/2/00
Addendum, 2/11.
Ellen S. Bakalian, Ph.D.
[email protected]
Edition recommended:
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. The authorized text with notes and a preface by
Matthew J. Bruccoli. New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction, Simon and Schuster, Inc.,
1925, 1995.
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
1
Chapter I –
As Nick Carraway tells it, “the history of the summer really begins” on the evening that
he dined with his distant cousin Daisy and her husband Tom Buchanan (10). Nick knows
Tom from Yale, where Tom was a football star. The Buchanans are enormously wealthy
people who enjoy the lifestyle of a privileged few in East Egg, Long Island. Their
mansion is located on the Long Island Sound, across the water from where Nick is
renting a modest home.
One of the most beautiful scenes in the novel is when Nick first sees his cousin Daisy and
her friend Jordan Baker sitting on a couch. No matter how many times one reads it, the
scene is captivating:
We walked through a high hallway into a bright rosy-colored space, fragilely
bound into the house by French windows at either end. The windows were ajar
and gleaming white against the fresh grass outside that seemed to grow a little
way into the house. A breeze blew through the room, blew curtains in at one end
and out the other like pale flags, twisting them up toward the frosted wedding
cake of a ceiling – and then rippled over the wine-colored rug, making a shadow
on it as wind does on the sea.
The only completely stationary object in the room was an enormous couch on
which two young women were buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon.
They were both in white and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they
had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house. I must have
stood for a few minutes listening to the whip and snap of the curtains and the
groan of a picture on the wall. Then there was a boom as Tom Buchanan shut the
rear windows and the caught wind died out about the room and the curtains and
the rugs and the two young women ballooned slowly to the floor. (12)
The women, whom have seemingly been flying about the house, are at last anchored to
the ground when Tom slams shut the door. Daisy laughs charmingly and says that she is
“p-paralyzed with happiness” to see her cousin Nick (13). Daisy has a way of talking to
people with a look that promises “that there is no one in the world she so wanted to see”
(13). Daisy murmurs, which begs the listener to bend close to her in order to hear, a trait
that Nick describes as being part of her charm.
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
2
Nick is enchanted by the women and by the Buchanans‟ home, but by the end of
dinner he feels quite differently. What happens at the dinner party to change Nick‟s
feelings towards the Buchanans? How does he feel? What does he discover? (Nick is
enchanted by Daisy‟s charm and the Buchanans‟ wealth, but he also senses an inner
corruption, an arrogance, which makes him uncomfortable. Nick is attracted to the
Buchanan world, yet is able to step back and even laugh at it – notice the way he
describes Jordan Baker‟s condensing manner as a tendency to hold her head in such
as manner that it appeared she is “balancing something on…[her chin] which was
quite likely to fall” (13). )
When Nick steps into the foyer of the Buchanans‟ home there is a sense that he has
entered a new or different world. What kind of people inhabits this world? (West Egg
is a society of very rich people who have closed ranks and do not allow members of
the newly rich class – such as Gatsby -- entry.)
A telephone call interrupts the Buchanans‟ dinner party. The butler summons Tom to the
phone, and soon after Daisy follows him. Daisy and Tom quarrel offstage while Jordan
shamelessly tries to listen. She informs Nick that Tom has a mistress, something she
thought “everyone knew” (19). The remaining part of the evening is “broken into
fragments” and the party ends (20).
Daisy knows that her husband has a mistress. What else seems amiss in the
Buchanan home? (The conversation is disjointed during dinner; Tom rants idiotically
about the end of civilization; Daisy toys with Nick when they talk alone. When Nick
inquires about their baby, Daisy is only vaguely interested in talking about her child.)
Daisy tells Nick that she‟s “been everywhere and seen everything and done
everything,” but things are in a terrible state (22). Nick feels her statement smacks of
“basic insincerity,…as though the whole evening had been a trick of some sort to
exact a contributory emotion from me” (22). Moments later there is “an absolute
smirk on her lovely face,” and Nick is left feeling “uneasy” (22). What is Daisy
doing to Nick? Is Daisy a sincere person? (Daisy is letting Nick know that he does
not belong to the society in which she and Tom live. She is a snob, and she feels
entitled, by her wealth, to toy with people and play by a different set of rules.)
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
3
Nick returns home and sees Jay Gatsby, his next-door neighbor, standing outside. Nick is
about to call out to him, but he does not because he sees Gatsby reach out towards “the
dark water in a curious way….” (25-26). Nick follows Gatsby‟s arms‟ reach and sees
only “a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock”
(26). Gatsby vanishes, leaving “Nick alone again in the unquiet darkness” (26). Nick
does not meet Gatsby until Chapter III.
Why does Fitzgerald introduce the title character in such a mysterious manner?
(Fitzgerald is adding mystery to the novel. As readers we want to know who this man
is, what he is doing, and why. He creates intrigue with this first glimpse of Gatsby,
and he continues to do it throughout the novel.)
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
4
NICK CARRAWAY
Nick Carraway is the narrator of The Great Gatsby, and it is his voice that guides us
through the novel. Fitzgerald‟s genius stroke is to provide the novel with a narrator who
participates in the action. Nick tells us that he is a good listener, a non-judgmental
person, and because of this he feels that he has learned a great deal about human nature.
The Great Gatsby is the story of one summer and autumn season in which Nick lived in
West Egg, Long Island, the “less fashionable” of the two bays known as West and East
Egg. He works in New York City as a bondman, but by the end of the fall he is so
disillusioned by the people he has met and the things he has witnessed that he goes back
to the Midwest, presumably to work in his family‟s wholesale hardware business.
The device of using Nick as a commentator and active participant in the story is a
clever one. Can Nick be trusted? What do we learn from Nick that we could not learn
without him? (His opinion of people and how events took place colors our opinion;
he tells us what to think.)
Nick claims to be a tolerant person – “I‟m inclined to reserve all judgments” – but by
the end of the novel he is no longer interested in knowing “the abortive sorrows and
short-winded elations of men” (5, 6). What happens to Nick? (By the end of the
novel, Nick becomes disillusioned. He is no longer under the spell of the Buchanans
and Jordan Baker. He sees them as morally depraved and arrogant people who live
vacuous lives.)
What kind of people are the Buchanans? (Rich, careless, selfish, social snobs.)
What kind of person is Jordan Baker? (Throughout the novel it is clear that Jordan is
a snobby person. She cheats on the golf course, and she is condescending to
everyone but the people in her set.)
By the novel‟s end Nick rejects Jordan Baker. Why does it take him so long? (He is
mesmerized by Jordan‟s and the Buchanan‟s world; he is enchanted by her fame and
famous name. She is careless with people like Daisy.)
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
5
Chapter II –
In Chapter II we leave the golden white rooms of the Buchanans‟ mansion and enter the
valley of ashes, a no-man‟s land halfway between East Egg and New York City.
Everything in the vicinity of the valley of ashes is covered with soot, presumably from
the train‟s coal ashes. Nick says that the “locality was always vaguely disquieting, even
in the broad glare of afternoon…” (131).
Fitzgerald has clearly delineated two vastly different places – East Egg and the Valley
of Ashes. Describe the differences between the two locales. (East Egg, land of the
rich gentry, and Valley of Ashes, where the common man labors in obscurity, literally
covered with dust.)
The New York train always stops for a moment or two at this junction, and one day Nick,
who is traveling to New York with Tom Buchanan, finds himself being forced off the
train by Tom. In a determined voiced “border[ing] on violence,” Tom tells Nick that he
wants him to meet his mistress (28). Myrtle and George Wilson live above the garage
business they own. A “white ashen dust” literally covers George Wilson from his dark
clothing to his hair; the dust veils “everything in the vicinity – except his wife” (30).
Myrtle is described as having “an immediately perceptible vitality about her as if the
nerves of her body were continually smouldering,” and this vitality stands out in the dark,
ashen-covered garage (30).
The Wilson‟s garage and home is a far cry from the Buchanans‟ mansion. Tom,
however, seems to move easily between the two vastly different places. Compare and
contrast Myrtle‟s and Daisy‟s worlds. (The apartment above a garage business vs. the
wealthy West Egg estate; a dusty corner of the world vs. a lush mansion on the Long
Island Sound; a world of no money vs. a moneyed world; stagnant lives vs. welltraveled lives; no children vs. a child; a life of toil vs. a life of privilege; a life of want
vs. a life of no want.)
Myrtle joins Nick and Tom on the next train to New York, traveling “discreetly in
another car” (31). Once on the platform in New York, Myrtle immediately begins to buy
items, and this need to purchase material goods continues for the rest of the day and into
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
6
the evening -- she talks about making “a list of all the things I‟ve got to get” during her
party (41). Myrtle‟s need to have, to buy, to own, is part of her dream; the wealthy Tom,
of course, is her ticket.
Nick is coerced into joining the lovers at their apartment, where Myrtle organizes an
impromptu party. Everyone becomes quite drunk, including Nick who has “been drunk
just twice in my life and the second time was that afternoon” (33). Tom seems to be
removed from the party, and does not converse with the others unless he is being
sarcastic. He cruelly teases Myrtle about allowing one of the guests to take photographs
of her husband. Yet when Myrtle and Tom argue about whether she has “any right to
mention Daisy‟s name,” and she shouts “Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!”, Tom makes a “short deft
movement” and breaks her nose (41).
Tom‟s violent behavior is clearly established. How is his violent temper displayed in
Chapter I? (Tom‟s aggressive body language and brutality is apparent in each scene.
In this chapter, Tom slams the door; he bruised Daisy‟s finger. Tom is used to getting
his own way; in college football games his violence was condoned as prowess. As an
adult Tom controls his own environment through his wealth. He has what he wants
(his wife, his mansion, his mistress) whenever and however he wants it. If someone
or something were to threaten his enjoyment, he resorts to violence. He will not be
defeated – Gatsby is proof of this statement.)
To Fitzgerald‟s 1925 reading audience Myrtle‟s wild party is an example of a
Prohibition-style party. Although liquor was outlawed during Prohibition, people
were able to obtain it. Discuss Prohibition with your class. Some people, such as
Gatsby, got rich due to Prohibition. How? (During 1920-1933 it was illegal to
manufacture, sell, transport or possess alcoholic beverages in the United States.
Liquor was available, however; some people made “bootleg whiskey” in their
basements, others bought it from bootleggers. Bootleggers such as Gatsby imported
and sold liquor in store front businesses. Later in the novel Tom Buchanan talks
about Gatsby‟s “drug stores,” from which liquor is sold.)
How serious is Tom and Myrtle‟s relationship? Are they in love? (Myrtle‟s
relationship with Tom is everything she has to live for – he represents her way out of
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
the Valley of Ashes. Tom, however, has only a passing interest in Myrtle. They are
not in love; Myrtle is using Tom much as he is using her.)
7
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
8
Chapter III – pages 43-64
Gatsby‟s estate is the site of lavish parties, from which music and champagne flowed
freely throughout the summer. People come and go “like moths” (43). Guests swim in
his pool and in the Sound, they ride on aquaplanes behind motorboats, they eat lavishly,
they drink from a fully-stocked bar, they dance amongst the lighted trees to a live
orchestra – “no thin five piece affair but a whole pit full of oboes and trombones and
saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos and low and high drums” (44). Gatsby‟s
parties are notorious, and they draw a crowd unlike any Nick has seen before;
furthermore, most of the guests are not invited and they do not know the host.
Nick is invited to his first Gatsby party by a servant who delivers a formal invitation from
Gatsby. At the party Nick runs into Jordan Baker and they gather with several others at a
table. Everyone at the party whispers about Gatsby, and rumors circulate as to how he
got his money. Gatsby inspires “romantic speculation” (48). Nick wants to meet his
host, and he and Jordan go in search of Gatsby to no avail. Soon, however, Nick is in
conversation with Gatsby without realizing to whom he is speaking. They share two
common bonds – they are both from the middle-west and both men served in the Third
Division during the war. The conversation breaks off when Gatsby receives a phone call
from Chicago.
Is there anything about Gatsby that strikes Nick as different? (Nick thinks Gatsby is
an unusual character, noting that he has “had one of those rare smiles with a quality
of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life” (52).
He also thinks Gatsby has an “elaborate formality of speech that just missed being
absurd” (53). Nick thinks Gatsby is a bit artificial, as if he were carefully choosing
his words.)
Nick is immediately caught up in the mystery that surrounds Gatsby. He asks Jordan
what she knows about the man, and she laughs saying “Now you‟re started on the
subject” (53). Why does Gatsby invoke such mystery and suspicion? (No one knows
much about Gatsby, where he came from, or how he makes his money. He is not from
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
9
the landed rich, across the Sound in East Egg. He is an upstart, and the gentry want
to know more about him before they let him in their society. Gatsby, like Daisy, has
the ability to dazzle people, to captivate their listeners, to draw people into their
worlds. This sparks interest.)
The next time Nick sees Gatsby he is standing alone, overlooking the crowd of revelers
from the steps. While the dancers hold their partners close, it occurs to Nick that “no one
swooned backward on Gatsby and no French bob touch Gatsby‟s shoulder and no singing
quartets were formed with Gatsby‟s head for one link” (55). He is alone, a solitary host
surrounded by many people.
Why doesn‟t any one know Gatsby? Does he have any friends at the party? (Gatsby
is a figure alone – in this party scene and throughout the novel. He has no interest in
cultivating friends, and he remains aloof, even at his own parties so it is difficult for
someone to strike up conversation with him.)
While Gatsby is speaking privately with Jordan Baker, Nick wanders inside the mansion.
He finds a drunken woman singing a song while weeping copious tears, and everywhere
he turns he overhears husbands and wives arguing.
What is the significance of this scene? (To illustrate how raucous the party is, to
show how many different types of people flock to these gatherings. Gatsby is
surrounded by high drama, but does not show a passing interest in it. All this adds to
the mystery: why does he have these parties if he does not enjoy them? For Daisy, of
course, as we learn later.)
What is the significance of Gatsby‟s two phone calls (one from Chicago and one from
Philadelphia) during the party? (The mysterious calls heighten the mystery
surrounding the man.)
Mystery surrounds Gatsby. Some say he killed a man, others say that he was a
German spy during the war; Jordan tells Nick that she heard he went to Oxford, but
she doesn‟t believe it. Nick wants to know more about Gatsby too; his curiosity is
peaked. What does Fitzgerald do to surround Gatsby with mystery? (Fitzgerald
slowly imparts information about Gatsby to his readers, forcing us to piece it
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
10
together. Nick relates the information he learns in the order that he thinks is
necessary, but it is not in chronological order. Gatsby appears to be a “regular
fellow,” but his speech is formal and he is an awkward figure, even at his own
parties. This too builds mystery.)
Gatsby‟s party is a wild night of excess, with the air of a staged affair. It is
completely different from Myrtle‟s cramped and pathetic party. Gatsby‟s party draws
a diverse group of people together for a common purpose – to dance, drink, and eat in
lavish style. What do you think of the party? What kind of people are the partygoers? (The party-goers are absurd revelers who drink too much and throw abandon
to the wind. They represent the new, loose moral code of America – women who
dance alone, women and men who drink too much and are not embarrassed or
ostracized for it. Their excesses are vulgar, the party is out of control. )
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
11
Chapter IV – pages 64-85
In Chapter IV Nick learns a little bit more about Gatsby. He learns about his past from
Jordan Baker, and he sees some of his present life firsthand, when he and Gatsby lunch
together in New York.
One morning Gatsby drives his “gorgeous car” to Nick‟s house and announces that they
are having lunch together in New York. Nick describes the ride into New York as
“disconcerting” because Gatsby leaves his “elegant sentences unfinished,” and seems
generally out of sorts (69). Gatsby claims to be the son of “some wealthy people in the
middle-west,” and tells him that he was educated at Oxford (69). Nick does not quite
believe him and wonders if “there wasn‟t something a little sinister about him after all”
(69). Then, just as quickly, Nick decides changes his mind: “For a moment I suspected
that he was pulling my leg but a glance at him convinced me otherwise” (70). Gatsby
tells Nick that he “accepted a commission as first lieutenant” when the War began,
eventually receiving medals for valor,” even from “little Montenegro down on the
Adriatic Sea!” (71). Nick is completed mesmerized by Gatsby‟s story and says “My
incredulity was submerged in fascination now; it was like skimming hastily through a
dozen magazines” (71). Gatsby produces the Montenegro medal, and a picture of himself
taken in the Trinity Quad at Oxford. Nick decides that everything he has heard about
Gatsby “is all true” (71).
Does Nick want to believe Gatsby? What do you think of Gatsby? (Yes Nick wants to
believe Gatsby. He is fascinated by him and enjoys being in his presence.)
At lunch Gatsby introduces Nick to Meyer Wolfsheim, a gambler who “fixed the
World‟s Series back in 1919” (78). What does Nick think about Gatsby‟s business
associate, Meyer Wolfsheim? (Nick is “staggered” by the idea that a person could
fix the World‟s Series, and is probably surprised to have met such a person. He thinks
he should be in jail. Meeting Wolfsheim gives Nick a glimpse of Gatsby‟s under-world
connections.)
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
12
Gatsby has told Nick that he has asked Jordan Baker to speak to him on his behalf. Over
tea at the Plaza Hotel, Jordan relates to Nick the story which Gatsby has told her. Some
of the story Jordan can supply herself since she grew up with Daisy in Louisville. Before
the War Daisy Fay was the most popular and the richest of all the girls, and Gatsby was
one of her many suitors. Jordan tells Nick what she knows of the romance between
Daisy and Jay Gatsby, including the rumor that circulated at the time that Daisy tried to
sneak out of her parents‟ home to say “goodbye to a soldier who was going overseas”
(80). When Daisy wed Tom Buchanan, Jordan was one of bridesmaids. The day before
the wedding she found Daisy “drunk as a monkey,” clutching a letter while crying that
she changed her mind, and wasn‟t going to marry Tom Buchanan (81). The letter was
from Gatsby. After their wedding, Jordan didn‟t see the Buchanans until after their
honeymoon, but when she did, she thought that Daisy was completely in love with Tom.
Jordan next saw the couple in various places – Cannes, Deauville, Chicago. “They
moved with a fast crowd, all of them young and rich and wild, but she [Daisy] came out
with an absolutely perfect reputation” (82). Jordan reminds Nick that the name “Jay
Gatsby” came up during the Buchanans‟ dinner party a few weeks ago, and that that was
the first time Daisy had heard her former boyfriend‟s name in years. Nick surmises that
the whole thing is a “strange coincidence,” but Jordan tells him that Gatsby deliberately
“bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (83). Nick thinks back to
when he saw Gatsby reaching out towards the stars that night on his front lawn, and
realizes that “it had not been merely the stars to which…Gatsby had aspired on that June
night” (83).
Is Gatsby still in love with Daisy? What is the significance of the green light on the
dock? (Yes Gatsby is in love with Daisy. The green light is located on the end of
Daisy‟s dock, and it represents “Daisy” to Gatsby – she is seemingly within his
reach. )
Does Daisy know Gatsby lives across the bay from her house? (No she does not. She
lost touch with him when she married Tom, but Gatsby has been reading the local
papers in hopes of catching any mention of her name.)
Gatsby wants Nick to arrange a meeting between him and Daisy at his home. Nick is
shocked by such a simple request. Why won‟t Gatsby invite Daisy to his own house?
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
Or to one of his parties? (He is afraid that she won‟t come. He has dreamed of her
for years and to spoil the dream would be devastating to him.)
13
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
14
Chapter V – pages 86-102
In exchange for the favor of inviting Daisy to his home so that Gatsby can meet her,
Gatsby offers Nick a chance to make some money in one of his business deals. Nick
immediately cuts him off mid-sentence.
Nick is not a successful bonds salesman, and he could use the money. Why doesn‟t
he accept Gatsby‟s offer? (Nick views the offer as tactless and as a gift for a service
to be rendered. Nick may also be unwilling to be mixed up in any of Gatsby‟s illegal
doings. He has met Meyer Wolfsheim and is uncomfortable in his presence. Nick‟s
refusal points to his moral core, something that becomes more prominent at the
novel‟s end.)
Gatsby arrives at Nick‟s house before Daisy. He is noticeably nervous, and he threatens
to leave before she arrives. At his own parties Gatsby is a cool, almost removed host
who creates a sparkling event to delight the frenetic pleasure-seekers who attend his
parties. This is the first time we have seen him ill-at-ease. When Daisy enters the room
he tries to look nonchalant, and leans “against the mantelpiece in a strained counterfeit of
perfect ease, even of boredom (91).
Why is Gatsby so nervous? (He is scared to death because he is meeting his dream
face-to-face for the first time in 5 years. He has built up his dream, pinning
everything upon it, and now here she is. It is a monumental moment for him;
everything is riding on it.)
Nick manages to leave the pair alone for awhile, and when he returns to the house, “every
vestige of embarrassment was gone” (94). Daisy is crying tears of “unexpected joy,” and
Gatsby “literally glowed; without a word or a gesture of exultation a new well-being
radiated from him and filled the little room” (94).
What is happening to Gatsby? What change has come over him? (Gatsby is overjoyed
to see Daisy, to have her at his side in his house. Fitzgerald writes that “he was
consumed with wonder at her presence” (97). He is more than a man in love, he is a
man in the presence of the dream he has dreamed for a long time. )
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
15
Gatsby shows Daisy and Nick his home. They walk through beautifully decorated
rooms “swathed in rose and lavender silks and vivid with new flowers,” they see
poolrooms, “bathrooms with sunken baths,” all the wonderful delights that money can
buy (96). Gatsby cannot take his eyes off Daisy. He seems a different man in her
presence; indeed, he seems astonished by her very presence: “Once he nearly toppled
down a flight of stairs” (96). Gatsby is re-evaluating “everything in his house according
to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes” (96-97).
Gatsby shows them his bedroom, and Nick is surprised by how plain it is. Other
rooms in the mansion are sumptuous, but his room is “the simplest room of all” (97).
What does the plainness of Gatsby‟s private rooms signify? (Gatsby‟s wealth is not
important to him, for it was only something he needed to acquire so he could compete
for his treasured prize, Daisy. Daisy, and all that she represents, is all he wants.)
Next Gatsby shows them his immense shirt collection. Daisy suddenly begins to sob,
burying her head into the shirts. Why does she cry? (Daisy cries for the past – her
tears have nothing to do with the shirts. She remembers her youth, before she met
Tom, when she loved Gatsby. )
Gatsby, Nick, and Daisy look out his window through the rain towards Daisy‟s house,
and Gatsby tells Daisy that her home is directly across the bay from his: “You always
have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock” (98). Daisy puts her arm
possessively through Gatsby‟s, but he does not seem to notice. Fitzgerald writes that the
colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. Compared to the
great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her,
almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was
again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by
one (98).
What does Fitzgerald mean when he writes that Gatsby‟s “count of enchanted objects
had diminished by one?” Has the green light lost its significance? (To Gatsby the
green light represented Daisy and Daisy represented Gatsby‟s dream of wealth and
everything attached to it. Now that Daisy is sitting next to him, the green light is no
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
16
longer an enchanted object but a real object – a green light. Gatsby has dreamed of
this moment for so long that it is difficult to let go of the dream and accept the reality.
Gatsby is too dazzled to be able to think clearly.)
Gatsby and Daisy are holding hands when Nick leaves. Gatsby bends close to Daisy to
hear her voice, that voice which “held him most with its fluctuating, feverish warmth
because it couldn‟t be over-dreamed – that voice was a deathless song” (101).
What does it mean that Daisy‟s voice is a “deathless song”? (That in her voice one
hears hope, of things to come, of joy, of love, of promises. It‟s a romantic voice that
sings like a song.)
Later Gatsby characterizes Daisy‟s voice as a voice “is full of money” (127). Nick
agrees: “That was it. I‟d never understood it 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…” (127). Daisy‟s voice is the
voice of money and wealth and all the things that Gatsby spent the last five years trying
to gain. He has succeeded beyond belief, yet he does not have “the king‟s daughter, the
golden girl,” Daisy (127).
What connotations does Fitzgerald bring to mind when he uses such words as “the
king‟s daughter, the golden girl,” to describe Daisy? (127). (By using such words
Daisy loses her identity as a young woman and becomes the ultimate prize, the
princess in the ivory tower. Images of a young girl in Louisville who is besieged with
suitors comes to mind, and indeed, Jordan Baker tells Nick that that‟s the way it was.
Daisy was “by far the most popular of all the young girls in Louisville. She dressed
in white and had a little white roadster and all day long the telephone rang in her
house and excited young officers from Camp Taylor demanded the privilege of
monopolizing her that night…” (79). Daisy seems unattainable, an image rather than
a real woman.
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
17
Chapter VI pages 103-118
In Chapter VI Nick tells the reader things about Gatsby which he learned much later from
Gatsby himself. The yachtsman Dan Cody gave the 17-year-old Gatsby the opportunity
to change his entire life and life‟s purpose. The first thing he changed was his name, and
then he boarded Cody‟s yacht and began to build a dream of and for himself.
Does Gatsby create himself? Is this possible? (Yes Gatsby created an image to
emulate, and he spent his young life finding a way to live this life.)
What does Dan Cody and his yacht represent to Gatsby? (“All the beauty and
glamour in the world” – in short, everything Gatsby wanted to have (106).)
Tom and Daisy Buchanan attend Gatsby‟s next party. The evening had a “peculiar
quality of oppressiveness” to it, and Nick attributes this to Tom‟s presence (110). Gatsby
and Daisy sneak away to Nick‟s home for a private half-hour, with Nick serving as the
lookout. Tom finds a “common but pretty” girl with whom to flirt, and deserts his wife at
dinnertime (112).
Does Daisy enjoy herself at the party? What does she think of it? (Daisy is at first
enraptured by the party and then is dismayed by it. The party “offended her – and
inarguably, because it wasn‟t a gesture but an emotion” (114). Daisy is
uncomfortable around people who are not of her social set, people who do not play
by the rules of the society in which she lives.
Throughout the party Gatsby‟s whole focus is on Daisy. Once the guest room lights are
turned out, Gatsby turns to Nick and announces: “She didn‟t like it” (116). For the past
five years he has worked to please her, building his palace just for her and now that she
has seen it, he craves her approval. Gatsby does not seem to grasp that Daisy is a married
woman with a separate life from his; he complains that she is “far away” from him (116).
Why is Gatsby so concerned that Daisy didn‟t like the party? What does Gatsby
want? (Gatsby wants Daisy to be a part of his life – to step right in as if the past five
years had not happened.)
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
18
The past is gone, yet Gatsby does not believe it. He is determined to “fix everything
just the way it was before,” and “recover something, some idea of himself perhaps,
that had gone into loving Daisy” (117). What is Gatsby trying to do? Can this feat be
accomplished? (Gatsby wants to recall the past, and continue his romance with
Daisy. No one can turn back the hands of Time, but Gatsby does not believe it.)
Gatsby tells Nick of the first time he kissed Daisy. In this one kiss lays all his hope for
the future:
He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to
her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. …
At his lips‟ touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was
complete (117).
What does Fitzgerald mean by “incarnation?” (Gatsby‟s vision of himself, fashioned
while traveling with Dan Cody, is now transformed into a concrete image: the dream
of marrying Daisy.)
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
19
Chapter VII pages 119-153
With Daisy back in his life Gatsby makes several adjustments to accommodate her. He
no longer throws parties: he read the “disapproval in …[Daisy‟s] eyes,” and ceases to
light up his house for strangers. Gatsby tells Nick that he fired all his servants because
Daisy visits him in the afternoons, and he doesn‟t want any gossip.
It is the hottest day of the summer when Nick and Gatsby join Jordan Baker and the
Buchanans for lunch at the Buchanans‟ home. While Tom is making drinks Daisy
impulsively gets out of her chair and kisses Gatsby, telling him that she loves him.
Daisy‟s daughter enters the room, led by her nurse, and she greets Nick and Gatsby.
Gatsby seems shocked to realize that the child truly exists. Why is the presence of
Daisy‟s daughter so shocking to him? (Gatsby does not quite believe that Daisy has
another life that does not include him. Her daughter is the product of this fact.
Furthermore, Gatsby wants to recall the past, and the very presence of the Buchanan
girl makes this impossible. Pammy Buchanan represents the present and the future.)
During lunch Tom becomes aware that Daisy and Gatsby are lovers; he is completely
“astounded” (125). Fitzgerald describes this moment of awakening as if Tom had
“just recognized…[Daisy] as someone he knew a long time ago” (125). What does
he mean by this? (Tom has taken Daisy for granted and to find that someone else
loves her, has some sort of claim upon her, shocks him. Perhaps this shock reminds
him that he had to compete to win Daisy‟s hand in marriage. Now it seems that he
will have to compete again.)
At Daisy‟s suggestion the party goes into New York City. Gatsby and Daisy drive Tom‟s
car, and Tom drives Gatsby‟s car with Nick and Jordan as passengers. Tom stops his car
at Wilson‟s garage, and Wilson, whose “face was green,” tells Tom he is sick over some
news he has heard (129). He says he needs “money pretty bad,” and tells Tom that he
and his wife “want to go west” (130). The news startles Tom, and as Nick listens intently
he realizes that Wilson has just “discovered that Myrtle had some sort of life apart from
him in another world and the shock had made him physically sick. I stared at him and
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
20
then at Tom, who had made a parallel discovery less than an hour before…” (130-31).
Tom begins to panic – “his wife and his mistress, until an hour ago secure and inviolate,
were slipping precipitately from his control” (131). As they drive away Nick sees Myrtle
peering out of a window, her face full of jealous terror, as she stares at Jordan Baker,
whom she perceives is Tom‟s wife.
Both Wilson and Tom have just learned that their wives‟ are having affairs with other
men. The news seems to affect Wilson differently than Tom. Explain. (Wilson is
physically sick, while Tom is in shock. Tom realizes that Nick and Jordan knew about
Daisy and Gatsby‟s affair, and he prepares to confront Gatsby; he will be nobody‟s
fool. Wilson does not know which way to turn, while Tom will tackle the situation
straight on.)
At the cocktail party in the Plaza Hotel, Tom begins his attack on Gatsby. He forces
Gatsby to say when he attended Oxford, and Gatsby‟s answer, that it was “an opportunity
they gave to some of the officers after the Armistice,” satisfies everyone (136).
When Nick hears Gatsby confirm that he attended Oxford, he “had one of those
renewals of complete faith in…[Gatsby] that …[he had] experienced before” (136).
What does Nick mean when he says he had a “renewal in complete faith” in Gatsby?
(Suddenly Gatsby‟s story rings true – he did go to Oxford. Nick very much wants to
believe in Gatsby and he is happy when he learns that he has told the truth.)
Tom presses on with his questions, and brings the real issue out into the forefront: “What
kind of a row are you trying to cause in my house anyhow?” (136). Daisy tries to
interrupt and stop the argument from escalating, but Gatsby tells Tom that Daisy does not
love him:
“She loves me. … She never loved you, do you hear? …She only married you
because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake,
but in her heart she never loved anyone except me!” (137).
The fight for Daisy escalates, but as Daisy realizes “at last what she was doing,” her
resolve collapses and she cries out “Oh, you want too much!” to Gatsby (139).
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
21
Why does Daisy tell Gatsby he “wants too much”? Why does she back down when
she is so close to walking out on Tom? (“Too much” is asking her to say she never
loved Tom, to leave him and her comfortable life. She backs down for she never
intended to leave Tom. She never wanted this confrontation, she “never, all along,
intended doing anything at all” about her affair with Gatsby (139).)
Tom grabs control of the argument by verbally attacking Gatsby‟s character, telling him
that he knows about his bootlegging activities, and calling him “a common swindler”
(140). The attack is too much for Gatsby. For a moment an expression appears on his
face “as if he had „killed a man‟,” but it passes just as quickly (142). Gatsby “talks
excitedly to Daisy, denying everything…, but with every word she was drawing further
and further into herself,” eventually begging Tom to take her home (142).
Of Gatsby‟s defeat Fitzgerald writes: “…only the dead dream fought on as the
afternoon slipped away, trying to touch what was no longer tangible, struggling
unhappily, undespairingly, toward that lost voice across the room” (142). Read the
sentence again and note that although no dialogue is recounted, we know exactly
what Fitzgerald is describing. Explain what it means to say “only the dead dream
fought on.” (Gatsby is fighting a losing battle. His dream of having Daisy is over, but
he will not accept it, and he won‟t stop fighting for her.)
Tom has succeeded in ending the affair between Daisy and Gatsby. Does he also
destroy Gatsby? How? (Yes he does. Tom attacks the fiber of Gatsby – „Jay Gatsby,‟
the character Gatsby created. Gatsby thinks he is a member of Daisy‟s social set,
because he has the wealth, but Tom lets Gatsby know he is not accepted. Tom
correctly calls Gatsby a bootlegger, and seems to know that he is a gambler, too.
Gatsby cannot refute Tom‟s attacks, he cannot fight back when his character is under
attack, and he loses the leg he stands on. He begins to falter, and in that brief
moment, Daisy slips away from him.)
Tom instructs Gatsby to drive Daisy home, saying that Gatsby “won‟t annoy you. I think
he realizes that his presumptuous little flirtation is over” (142). Daisy and Gatsby leave
in Gatsby‟s car, and Tom, Jordan and Nick follow in Tom‟s vehicle. En route home
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
22
Tom, Nick and Jordan see a commotion outside Wilson‟s garage and they stop the car.
They see Myrtle Wilson‟s body wrapped in a blanket, and piece together the news that
she was instantly killed by a “big, yellow car,” which didn‟t even stop (147). Tom
realizes “the death car” is Gatsby‟s, and he seizes upon the moment to tell Wilson that the
yellow car he drove up in earlier was not his (144).
Tom talks sternly to Wilson, confirming for him that the car which hit Myrtle was a
yellow car. Is Tom being merely helpful? Is Tom a friend of Wilson‟s? (No, Tom is
not Wilson‟s friend, he is no man‟s friend. He looks out for himself only. He wants
Wilson to know that although he was driving the yellow car earlier that day, it is not
his car -- Myrtle certainly thought it was Tom‟s car. By ensuring that the blame for
the accident and death goes to Gatsby, he is also ensuring that the blame will not go
to him. He also wants to lead Wilson away from suspecting him as Myrtle‟s lover. He
simply does not want to be involved in the death, even though he already is.)
On the ride home Tom cries, and calls Gatsby a “God Damn coward” for not stopping
his car (149). Why is Tom crying? (He is crying because Myrtle is dead, but not
because he loves her. He cries for himself – he realizes that another one of his
“sprees” has ended in disaster. He may be concerned that this one will also make
the papers, and that Daisy will learn of it in full.)
Tom drives Nick and Jordan to his home, and invites them in to eat. Nick declines,
but Jordan lingers on the porch and points out that “it‟s only half past nine” as she
tries to convince Nick to come inside (150). Nick is upset by Jordan‟s invitation.
Why? What does her statement say about her? (Jordan has displayed callous
behavior throughout the novel, but her reaction to Myrtle‟s death – that it‟s time to
eat dinner – strikes Nick as especially coldhearted, and he is thoroughly disgusted.
Jordan is incapable of feeling compassion for another human being, and Nick cannot
in good conscience associate with her any longer. Their love affair officially ends
days later, but it is this night that triggers the beginning of the end for Nick.)
As Nick waits for a taxi outside the Buchanan home, Gatsby steps out of the bushes.
He asks Nick if there was “any trouble on the road,” and Nick guesses that it was
Daisy, not Gatsby, who was driving the car when it struck Myrtle (150). Why doesn‟t
Daisy stop the car when she hits Myrtle? (She is probably momentarily shocked that
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
23
she hit a person, but then she is probably able to put it out of her mind. Daisy does
not have the capacity to think about anyone but herself. Indeed, she is not concerned
with anyone or anything unless it pertains to herself and her comfort. She and Tom
move on, as they are wont to do – they leave, and let others worry about the mess they
leave in their wake. Their actions are both selfish and cowardly.)
Gatsby‟s plan is to wait outside Daisy‟s home all night to protect her from Tom‟s
temper (152). Nick peers in the window, and sees Daisy and Tom eating “a plate of
cold fried chicken,” talking intently, and looking as if “they were conspiring together”
(152-53). Does Daisy need protecting? (No, she and Tom are “conspiring together,”
planning their next step.)
Are the Buchanans affected by Myrtle‟s death? (No they are not affected by or upset
about her death. They are only concerned with themselves, and how they might be
connected to the “trouble on the road” (150).
Does Nick think Daisy has any intention of leaving Tom? (No, Nick knows that
Daisy will never leave Tom or her comfortable life for Gatsby or for anyone else.)
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
24
Chapter VIII pages 154-170
At dawn the day after the car accident Nick advises Gatsby to go away, knowing that his
car will be traced by the police. But Gatsby will not go.
Why doesn‟t Gatsby flee? (Because he will not leave Daisy. He still thinks that Daisy
needs or may need him. Of Gatsby, Nick says: “He couldn‟t possibly leave Daisy
until he knew what she was going to do. He was clutching at some last hope and I
couldn‟t bear to shake him free” (155). )
Nick knows that Daisy is not going to leave Tom for Gatsby, but he hasn‟t the heart
to tell Gatsby. Why? (The news would devastate him. The dream of Daisy is all
Gatsby has now, and it is beginning to crumble.)
At the beginning of the novel Nick states that he despises all the people he met on Long
Island that summer. He says that after spending time out east he wanted the “world to be
in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever” (6). As Nick walks away from
Gatsby he compliments him, and is pleased with himself for doing so:
“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
(162).
Who is the “rotten crowd,” and what does Nick “scorn” and despise about them? (The
Buchanans, Jordan Baker, and the people who attend Gatsby‟s parties. Nick scorns
their inability to care for others, their snobbishness, and their vacuous, immoral
lives.)
Why is Gatsby, who “represented everything for which I have unaffected scorn,”
exempt from Nick‟s reaction (6)? (Nick admires Gatsby‟s ability to remain true to his
dream until the end. Gatsby is undeterred in his quest for Daisy, even though she is
unattainable. Nick also admires Gatsby‟s determination to stick around and accept
the consequences of the accident.)
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
25
Nick says he no longer wants to know any secret desires and yearnings in men‟s hearts;
knowing too much about what men hope and dream saddens him. He has no ill-feelings
towards Gatsby (except, perhaps, for his illegal business practices), saying “No – Gatsby
turned out all right at the end; it was what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the
wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interested in the abortive sorrows and
short-winded elations of men” (6-7).)
What is the “foul dust” that follows Gatsby? (It is the motley crowd of party people
who flock to his sparkling and lavish parties, uninvited but welcomed, and who
partake liberally of his generous nature. It is people like the Buchanans and Jordan
Baker who only care for themselves. The dust could also represent Gatsby‟s illegal
business dealings. Nick no longer wants to associate with such people.)
During their early morning talk Nick realizes that “‟Jay Gatsby‟ had broken up like
glass against Tom‟s hard malice and the long secret extravaganza was played out”
(155). What does this mean? How does Tom break Gatsby? (Tom destroys Gatsby‟s
dream of attaining Daisy by crushing the man “Jay Gatsby.” Tom laughs at him,
scornfully telling him that Daisy has no intention of leaving him for Gatsby. He
points out Gatsby‟s flaws or weaknesses – the drug store business, the shady dealings
with Wolfsheim, and the fact that Gatsby is not accepted by the social class in which
he and Daisy live. Gatsby cannot recover from these fatal wounds. Tom figuratively
slaps Gatsby in the face by telling Daisy to go home in his car. He knows that Gatsby
is too weak after their battle to try and steal Daisy away from him, and he flaunts her
in his face.)
Nick believes that Gatsby would have told him anything about his secret life. Why
doesn‟t Nick ask him any of the questions he has been curious about for so long? (It
no longer matters. Nick allows Gatsby to do what he needs to do – talk about Daisy.)
Gatsby tells Nick that he fell in love with Daisy because she represents mystery and “gay
and radiant activities” which he could only imagine (155). He values Daisy, as did her
other suitors, even more so because there were other suitors. Daisy represents a prize to
be won, and Gatsby spends his whole life working to win her. By loving Daisy, he
“committed himself to the following of a grail” (156).
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
26
What does the expression “following the Holy Grail” connote? (The word “grail”
invokes the images of knights who spent their days on a quest, a mission, for the
elusive object. In this case Daisy is the “grail,” she is the one object in this dream of
wealth that must be possessed; she is the most expensive object as well, as Tom knows
when he gives her the $350,000 pearl necklace the night before their wedding.
Gatsby has indeed devoted his life to Daisy, in the hopes of obtaining her, like a
knight in shining armor.)
Does Gatsby fall in love with Daisy, the young woman, or Daisy, the rich prize?
(Gatsby treats the courting of Daisy as if she were a prize, something to be won, and
he falls in love with that vision. Daisy is more than a symbol of all the things Gatsby
desires, she is the ultimate object, the finest prize, within the world of which he wants
to be a part. He cannot separate the woman from the wealth, and his dream of
having wealth can only be fulfilled with her by his side. Even though he achieves the
wealth, it means nothing to him without her, which is why he cancels the parties when
she shows her disapproval.)
Later Nick correctly suspects that Wilson walks to Tom‟s house the day he murders
Gatsby. What does Tom tell Wilson? (That the car belonged to Gatsby, and that he
knows where Wilson can find him. He also may have told Wilson that Gatsby was
Myrtle‟s lover.)
What is different about this chapter and the next from the rest of the novel?
(Fitzgerald abandons the dramatic method. Nick tells us what happened after
Myrtle‟s fatal car accident, but he isn‟t there as an eyewitness.)
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
27
Chapter IX – pages 171-189
Nick phones in “news of the catastrophe to West Egg Village,” and becomes the person
who plans Gatsby‟s funeral and to whom all questions are referred (172). He has just
turned thirty years old and, overnight, he seemingly gains a moral conscious. Nick
desperately tries to get people to come to the funeral but it is an impossible task. Nick
calls Daisy soon after he learns of Gatsby‟s death, but Daisy and Tom have packed their
bags and skipped town; no one knows of their whereabouts. He sends a letter to Meyer
Wolfsheim, asking him if he knows of Gatsby‟s family.
Nick is shocked that he does not hear from Daisy. He begins “to have a feeling of
defiance, of scornful solidarity between Gatsby and…[himself] against them all”
(173). Why doesn‟t Daisy call? (Daisy cannot be bothered; she has already left town,
left the mess she created. In his letter to Nick, Wolfsheim states that is afraid to get
“mixed up.” He wants to protect himself, and to ensure that his name is not in any
way connected to Gatsby‟s murder.)
Wolfsheim claims to have “started” Gatsby on his road to riches, but he won‟t come
to the funeral, saying he “never like[s] to get mixed up” when someone is killed
(179). What does Wolfsheim imagine happened to Gatsby? (Wolfsheim thinks Gatsby
was murdered by a hit man, and that Gatsby‟s death has something to do with his
business dealings in the underworld. He has no idea that a jealous and deranged
husband murdered Gatsby.)
Three days after Gatsby‟s death Nick receives a telegram from Gatsby‟s father, Henry C.
Gatz, saying that he is attending the funeral. Mr. Gatz shows Nick a list that Gatsby made
as a child. One is a schedule of activities, which includes specific times for exercises and
sports, and the other is a list of “general resolves,” such as “no wasting time,” and “read
one improving book or magazine a week” (181-82).
What does young Gatsby‟s list tell us about his character? (Even as a young boy he
wanted to transform himself, to improve himself, to get ahead, to push himself to the
limits.)
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
28
Nick runs into Tom on the street in New York in late October. Tom feels “entirely
justified” for telling Wilson who owned the yellow car, and had no guilt over Gatsby‟s
death, saying “That fellow had it coming to him. He threw dust in your eyes just like he
did in Daisy‟s, but he was a tough one. He ran over Myrtle like you‟d run over a dog and
never even stopped his car.” (187).
Why doesn‟t Nick tell Tom that Daisy was driving the car? (Because it no longer
matters. The fact would not change a thing for Tom and Daisy Buchanan. They
would continue to live their lives as they do – in a moral vacuum. The truth, Nick
realizes, an “unutterable fact” (187).
Nick calls Tom and Daisy “careless people,…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….”
(187-88). Explain Nick‟s summary of the Buchanans.
Nick says he is a man of “provincial squeamishness,” unlike someone such as Tom
Buchanan (188). What is Nick‟s “provincial squeamishness?” (His squeamishness is
his old-fashioned moral code. He believes that people need to be held responsible for
their actions, and he does not want to be associated with anyone who does not live by
this moral code.)
What has happened to Nick? (He has a change of heart; he is no longer in awe of
people like the Buchanans who have great wealth and live in a world apart from most
people.)
The ending of novel invokes the Dutch explorers who first sailed up the Hudson
River in what is now New York, and Fitzgerald plays upon the sense of wonder
that these sailors must have experienced as they looked at the majestic cliffs
lining the river. Explain how the image of exploring the New World can be
associated with Gatsby. (Gatsby‟s greatness lies in his ability to have a capacity
for wonder and for dreams as great as those sailors‟ had when they imagined the
world that lies beyond the cliffs. His tragedy is that his dream, which is
symbolized by a green light and seemingly endless possibilities, is embodied by a
callous and cowardly woman who is not worth the effort.)
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
29
THEMES – Discuss the following themes with your class.
1. Dreams -- The Great Gatsby is a novel of dreams and hopes, of dreams lost and
illusions shattered. Gatsby‟s dream of acquiring Daisy and all that she represents is the
main focus of the novel, but the dreams of Myrtle and Nick are also important. Myrtle
dreams of escaping from her husband, from the garage business, and from the ash dump
which covers their very essence. Both Myrtle and Gatsby pursue the dream of wealth,
but Myrtle‟s dream collapses because it is wholly materialistic, while Gatsby requires
wealth to win the golden princess Daisy, and therefore his dream is incorruptible. His
dream becomes a romantic quest for something elusive. Tragically, Daisy is not the
woman Gatsby dreams she is. Myrtle dies a wretched death, without fulfilling her dream.
Although Gatsby, too, is killed, the myth of the “Great Gatsby” lives on. Nick‟s dreams
are more concrete: he wants to strike it rich on the East Coast as a bonds salesman. But
when Nick detects the shallowness of those who live in the society to which he thought
he‟d like to belong, he moves back to the middle-west. Gatsby, however, never learns
that the class he emulates, the people of West Egg, is not worth his efforts. He dies not
knowing that he was betrayed by that very society, in the persons of Tom and Daisy
Buchanan. His dream, therefore, lives on, uncorrupted.
2. Time -- Fitzgerald incorporates the image of Time throughout the novel, as he does in
many of his works. Nick‟s story is told as if the events were unfolding in time; however,
a close reading points to the fact that chronological order is not the rule. Gatsby wants to
recall time, to relive the past, and is incredulous when Nick tells him that simply cannot
be done:
“Can‟t repeat the past?” he cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!”
He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his
house, just out of reach of his hand.” (116-117).
Recovering the past is so important to Gatsby that he is especially stunned by the
presence of Daisy‟s daughter, for she represents the present, a time in which Gatsby does
not want to live. Gatsby‟s dream depends upon regaining Daisy‟s love and admiration,
and when she does not leave Tom for Gatsby, he is at a loss. Nick imagines that he
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
30
looked out at the world and saw that it was “unfamiliar… material without being real,
where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drift fortuitously about…” (169). Nick
guesses that in his last moments alive, Gatsby might have realized that Daisy was not
going to call, and perhaps he felt that he had “paid a high price for living too long with a
single dream” (169).
3. The Golden Age -- Fitzgerald writes about the period of time in which he lived – the
1920‟s – often called “The Golden Age,” or “The Jazz Age.” It is a time when a certain
type of American people enjoyed great wealth, and the music of jazz, with its emotional
abandon, best expressed the unconventional spirit of the American boom era following
World War I. (Fitzgerald may have coined the term; his work Tales from the Jazz Age,
was published in 1922.) Jazz, the music which filled the air of the time, induced and
encouraged people to embrace life with an exuberance which lasted until the Great
Depression, a period of severe hardship during the 1930s. The Golden Age is the time of
the Flappers, women who rolled down their stockings, shortened their skirt hems, and in
a word, danced. Flappers and other bold women such as the Suffragettes thumbed their
noses to the moral conventions of the recent past which stated that women did not share
the same freedoms and rights as men; over time and with great courage these women
broke down barriers that today‟s women do not even know exist. It is the time of
Prohibition (1920-1933), when it was illegal to manufacture, sell, transport or possess
alcoholic beverages in the United States, but those with the money and the contacts could
easily attain it. In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald portrays Gatsby‟s lavish parties and the
Buchanans‟ stunning mansion with exquisite prose and a romantic flare, yet he is not
seduced by their wealth, choosing instead to expose the moral depravity and barren
nature of wealthy people like Jordan Baker and the Buchanans.
E.S. Bakalian; [email protected]
31
Addendum, 2/11
The Great Gatsby and popular culture
Classroom Activity: Ask you class to find examples of the main themes of the Gatsby in
popular culture – movies, other books, songs.
Example: (from page 18 of this Guide): Gatsby longs to recall the past, and he is
incredulous when Nick tells him he cannot.
The past is gone, yet Gatsby does not believe it. He is determined to “fix everything
just the way it was before,” and “recover something, some idea of himself perhaps,
that had gone into loving Daisy” (117).
Of course no one can turn back the hands of Time, yet this longing is something that
is constantly echoed in popular songs such as “Back to December,” by Taylor Swife
(2010). Ms. Swift sings longingly of going “back to December [to] make it all right,”
and of loving her boyfriend “right this time.”
Students will find many songs which echo this longing, as well as other songs that
pair well with the main themes of the Gatsby.