The Great Gatsby, a teaching guide for A&E Television. 2/2/00 ...
The Great Gatsby, a teaching guide for A&E Television. 2/2/00 ...
The Great Gatsby, a teaching guide for A&E Television. 2/2/00 ...
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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Great</strong> <strong>Gatsby</strong>, a <strong>teaching</strong> <strong>guide</strong> <strong>for</strong> A&E <strong>Television</strong>.<br />
2/2/<strong>00</strong><br />
Addendum, 2/11.<br />
Ellen S. Bakalian, Ph.D.<br />
bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu<br />
Edition recommended:<br />
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Great</strong> <strong>Gatsby</strong>. <strong>The</strong> authorized text with notes and a preface by<br />
Matthew J. Bruccoli. New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction, Simon and Schuster, Inc.,<br />
1925, 1995.
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 1<br />
Chapter I –<br />
As Nick Carraway tells it, “the history of the summer really begins” on the evening that<br />
he dined with his distant cousin Daisy and her husband Tom Buchanan (10). Nick knows<br />
Tom from Yale, where Tom was a football star. <strong>The</strong> Buchanans are enormously wealthy<br />
people who enjoy the lifestyle of a privileged few in East Egg, Long Island. <strong>The</strong>ir<br />
mansion is located on the Long Island Sound, across the water from where Nick is<br />
renting a modest home.<br />
One of the most beautiful scenes in the novel is when Nick first sees his cousin Daisy and<br />
her friend Jordan Baker sitting on a couch. No matter how many times one reads it, the<br />
scene is captivating:<br />
We walked through a high hallway into a bright rosy-colored space, fragilely<br />
bound into the house by French windows at either end. <strong>The</strong> windows were ajar<br />
and gleaming white against the fresh grass outside that seemed to grow a little<br />
way into the house. A breeze blew through the room, blew curtains in at one end<br />
and out the other like pale flags, twisting them up toward the frosted wedding<br />
cake of a ceiling – and then rippled over the wine-colored rug, making a shadow<br />
on it as wind does on the sea.<br />
<strong>The</strong> only completely stationary object in the room was an enormous couch on<br />
which two young women were buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y were both in white and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they<br />
had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house. I must have<br />
stood <strong>for</strong> a few minutes listening to the whip and snap of the curtains and the<br />
groan of a picture on the wall. <strong>The</strong>n there was a boom as Tom Buchanan shut the<br />
rear windows and the caught wind died out about the room and the curtains and<br />
the rugs and the two young women ballooned slowly to the floor. (12)<br />
<strong>The</strong> women, whom have seemingly been flying about the house, are at last anchored to<br />
the ground when Tom slams shut the door. Daisy laughs charmingly and says that she is<br />
“p-paralyzed with happiness” to see her cousin Nick (13). Daisy has a way of talking to<br />
people with a look that promises “that there is no one in the world she so wanted to see”<br />
(13). Daisy murmurs, which begs the listener to bend close to her in order to hear, a trait<br />
that Nick describes as being part of her charm.
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 2<br />
Nick is enchanted by the women and by the Buchanans‟ home, but by the end of<br />
dinner he feels quite differently. What happens at the dinner party to change Nick‟s<br />
feelings towards the Buchanans? How does he feel? What does he discover? (Nick is<br />
enchanted by Daisy‟s charm and the Buchanans‟ wealth, but he also senses an inner<br />
corruption, an arrogance, which makes him uncom<strong>for</strong>table. Nick is attracted to the<br />
Buchanan world, yet is able to step back and even laugh at it – notice the way he<br />
describes Jordan Baker‟s condensing manner as a tendency to hold her head in such<br />
as manner that it appeared she is “balancing something on…[her chin] which was<br />
quite likely to fall” (13). )<br />
When Nick steps into the foyer of the Buchanans‟ home there is a sense that he has<br />
entered a new or different world. What kind of people inhabits this world? (West Egg<br />
is a society of very rich people who have closed ranks and do not allow members of<br />
the newly rich class – such as <strong>Gatsby</strong> -- entry.)<br />
A telephone call interrupts the Buchanans‟ dinner party. <strong>The</strong> butler summons Tom to the<br />
phone, and soon after Daisy follows him. Daisy and Tom quarrel offstage while Jordan<br />
shamelessly tries to listen. She in<strong>for</strong>ms Nick that Tom has a mistress, something she<br />
thought “everyone knew” (19). <strong>The</strong> remaining part of the evening is “broken into<br />
fragments” and the party ends (20).<br />
Daisy knows that her husband has a mistress. What else seems amiss in the<br />
Buchanan home? (<strong>The</strong> conversation is disjointed during dinner; Tom rants idiotically<br />
about the end of civilization; Daisy toys with Nick when they talk alone. When Nick<br />
inquires about their baby, Daisy is only vaguely interested in talking about her child.)<br />
Daisy tells Nick that she‟s “been everywhere and seen everything and done<br />
everything,” but things are in a terrible state (22). Nick feels her statement smacks of<br />
“basic insincerity,…as though the whole evening had been a trick of some sort to<br />
exact a contributory emotion from me” (22). Moments later there is “an absolute<br />
smirk on her lovely face,” and Nick is left feeling “uneasy” (22). What is Daisy<br />
doing to Nick? Is Daisy a sincere person? (Daisy is letting Nick know that he does<br />
not belong to the society in which she and Tom live. She is a snob, and she feels<br />
entitled, by her wealth, to toy with people and play by a different set of rules.)
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 3<br />
Nick returns home and sees Jay <strong>Gatsby</strong>, his next-door neighbor, standing outside. Nick is<br />
about to call out to him, but he does not because he sees <strong>Gatsby</strong> reach out towards “the<br />
dark water in a curious way….” (25-26). Nick follows <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s arms‟ reach and sees<br />
only “a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock”<br />
(26). <strong>Gatsby</strong> vanishes, leaving “Nick alone again in the unquiet darkness” (26). Nick<br />
does not meet <strong>Gatsby</strong> until Chapter III.<br />
Why does Fitzgerald introduce the title character in such a mysterious manner?<br />
(Fitzgerald is adding mystery to the novel. As readers we want to know who this man<br />
is, what he is doing, and why. He creates intrigue with this first glimpse of <strong>Gatsby</strong>,<br />
and he continues to do it throughout the novel.)
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 4<br />
NICK CARRAWAY<br />
Nick Carraway is the narrator of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Great</strong> <strong>Gatsby</strong>, and it is his voice that <strong>guide</strong>s us<br />
through the novel. Fitzgerald‟s genius stroke is to provide the novel with a narrator who<br />
participates in the action. Nick tells us that he is a good listener, a non-judgmental<br />
person, and because of this he feels that he has learned a great deal about human nature.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Great</strong> <strong>Gatsby</strong> is the story of one summer and autumn season in which Nick lived in<br />
West Egg, Long Island, the “less fashionable” of the two bays known as West and East<br />
Egg. He works in New York City as a bondman, but by the end of the fall he is so<br />
disillusioned by the people he has met and the things he has witnessed that he goes back<br />
to the Midwest, presumably to work in his family‟s wholesale hardware business.<br />
<strong>The</strong> device of using Nick as a commentator and active participant in the story is a<br />
clever one. Can Nick be trusted? What do we learn from Nick that we could not learn<br />
without him? (His opinion of people and how events took place colors our opinion;<br />
he tells us what to think.)<br />
Nick claims to be a tolerant person – “I‟m inclined to reserve all judgments” – but by<br />
the end of the novel he is no longer interested in knowing “the abortive sorrows and<br />
short-winded elations of men” (5, 6). What happens to Nick? (By the end of the<br />
novel, Nick becomes disillusioned. He is no longer under the spell of the Buchanans<br />
and Jordan Baker. He sees them as morally depraved and arrogant people who live<br />
vacuous lives.)<br />
What kind of people are the Buchanans? (Rich, careless, selfish, social snobs.)<br />
What kind of person is Jordan Baker? (Throughout the novel it is clear that Jordan is<br />
a snobby person. She cheats on the golf course, and she is condescending to<br />
everyone but the people in her set.)<br />
By the novel‟s end Nick rejects Jordan Baker. Why does it take him so long? (He is<br />
mesmerized by Jordan‟s and the Buchanan‟s world; he is enchanted by her fame and<br />
famous name. She is careless with people like Daisy.)
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 5<br />
Chapter II –<br />
In Chapter II we leave the golden white rooms of the Buchanans‟ mansion and enter the<br />
valley of ashes, a no-man‟s land halfway between East Egg and New York City.<br />
Everything in the vicinity of the valley of ashes is covered with soot, presumably from<br />
the train‟s coal ashes. Nick says that the “locality was always vaguely disquieting, even<br />
in the broad glare of afternoon…” (131).<br />
Fitzgerald has clearly delineated two vastly different places – East Egg and the Valley<br />
of Ashes. Describe the differences between the two locales. (East Egg, land of the<br />
rich gentry, and Valley of Ashes, where the common man labors in obscurity, literally<br />
covered with dust.)<br />
<strong>The</strong> New York train always stops <strong>for</strong> a moment or two at this junction, and one day Nick,<br />
who is traveling to New York with Tom Buchanan, finds himself being <strong>for</strong>ced off the<br />
train by Tom. In a determined voiced “border[ing] on violence,” Tom tells Nick that he<br />
wants him to meet his mistress (28). Myrtle and George Wilson live above the garage<br />
business they own. A “white ashen dust” literally covers George Wilson from his dark<br />
clothing to his hair; the dust veils “everything in the vicinity – except his wife” (30).<br />
Myrtle is described as having “an immediately perceptible vitality about her as if the<br />
nerves of her body were continually smouldering,” and this vitality stands out in the dark,<br />
ashen-covered garage (30).<br />
<strong>The</strong> Wilson‟s garage and home is a far cry from the Buchanans‟ mansion. Tom,<br />
however, seems to move easily between the two vastly different places. Compare and<br />
contrast Myrtle‟s and Daisy‟s worlds. (<strong>The</strong> apartment above a garage business vs. the<br />
wealthy West Egg estate; a dusty corner of the world vs. a lush mansion on the Long<br />
Island Sound; a world of no money vs. a moneyed world; stagnant lives vs. well-<br />
traveled lives; no children vs. a child; a life of toil vs. a life of privilege; a life of want<br />
vs. a life of no want.)<br />
Myrtle joins Nick and Tom on the next train to New York, traveling “discreetly in<br />
another car” (31). Once on the plat<strong>for</strong>m in New York, Myrtle immediately begins to buy<br />
items, and this need to purchase material goods continues <strong>for</strong> the rest of the day and into
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 6<br />
the evening -- she talks about making “a list of all the things I‟ve got to get” during her<br />
party (41). Myrtle‟s need to have, to buy, to own, is part of her dream; the wealthy Tom,<br />
of course, is her ticket.<br />
Nick is coerced into joining the lovers at their apartment, where Myrtle organizes an<br />
impromptu party. Everyone becomes quite drunk, including Nick who has “been drunk<br />
just twice in my life and the second time was that afternoon” (33). Tom seems to be<br />
removed from the party, and does not converse with the others unless he is being<br />
sarcastic. He cruelly teases Myrtle about allowing one of the guests to take photographs<br />
of her husband. Yet when Myrtle and Tom argue about whether she has “any right to<br />
mention Daisy‟s name,” and she shouts “Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!”, Tom makes a “short deft<br />
movement” and breaks her nose (41).<br />
Tom‟s violent behavior is clearly established. How is his violent temper displayed in<br />
Chapter I? (Tom‟s aggressive body language and brutality is apparent in each scene.<br />
In this chapter, Tom slams the door; he bruised Daisy‟s finger. Tom is used to getting<br />
his own way; in college football games his violence was condoned as prowess. As an<br />
adult Tom controls his own environment through his wealth. He has what he wants<br />
(his wife, his mansion, his mistress) whenever and however he wants it. If someone<br />
or something were to threaten his enjoyment, he resorts to violence. He will not be<br />
defeated – <strong>Gatsby</strong> is proof of this statement.)<br />
To Fitzgerald‟s 1925 reading audience Myrtle‟s wild party is an example of a<br />
Prohibition-style party. Although liquor was outlawed during Prohibition, people<br />
were able to obtain it. Discuss Prohibition with your class. Some people, such as<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong>, got rich due to Prohibition. How? (During 1920-1933 it was illegal to<br />
manufacture, sell, transport or possess alcoholic beverages in the United States.<br />
Liquor was available, however; some people made “bootleg whiskey” in their<br />
basements, others bought it from bootleggers. Bootleggers such as <strong>Gatsby</strong> imported<br />
and sold liquor in store front businesses. Later in the novel Tom Buchanan talks<br />
about <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s “drug stores,” from which liquor is sold.)<br />
How serious is Tom and Myrtle‟s relationship? Are they in love? (Myrtle‟s<br />
relationship with Tom is everything she has to live <strong>for</strong> – he represents her way out of
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 7<br />
the Valley of Ashes. Tom, however, has only a passing interest in Myrtle. <strong>The</strong>y are<br />
not in love; Myrtle is using Tom much as he is using her.)
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 8<br />
Chapter III – pages 43-64<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s estate is the site of lavish parties, from which music and champagne flowed<br />
freely throughout the summer. People come and go “like moths” (43). Guests swim in<br />
his pool and in the Sound, they ride on aquaplanes behind motorboats, they eat lavishly,<br />
they drink from a fully-stocked bar, they dance amongst the lighted trees to a live<br />
orchestra – “no thin five piece affair but a whole pit full of oboes and trombones and<br />
saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos and low and high drums” (44). <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s<br />
parties are notorious, and they draw a crowd unlike any Nick has seen be<strong>for</strong>e;<br />
furthermore, most of the guests are not invited and they do not know the host.<br />
Nick is invited to his first <strong>Gatsby</strong> party by a servant who delivers a <strong>for</strong>mal invitation from<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong>. At the party Nick runs into Jordan Baker and they gather with several others at a<br />
table. Everyone at the party whispers about <strong>Gatsby</strong>, and rumors circulate as to how he<br />
got his money. <strong>Gatsby</strong> inspires “romantic speculation” (48). Nick wants to meet his<br />
host, and he and Jordan go in search of <strong>Gatsby</strong> to no avail. Soon, however, Nick is in<br />
conversation with <strong>Gatsby</strong> without realizing to whom he is speaking. <strong>The</strong>y share two<br />
common bonds – they are both from the middle-west and both men served in the Third<br />
Division during the war. <strong>The</strong> conversation breaks off when <strong>Gatsby</strong> receives a phone call<br />
from Chicago.<br />
Is there anything about <strong>Gatsby</strong> that strikes Nick as different? (Nick thinks <strong>Gatsby</strong> is<br />
an unusual character, noting that he has “had one of those rare smiles with a quality<br />
of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life” (52).<br />
He also thinks <strong>Gatsby</strong> has an “elaborate <strong>for</strong>mality of speech that just missed being<br />
absurd” (53). Nick thinks <strong>Gatsby</strong> is a bit artificial, as if he were carefully choosing<br />
his words.)<br />
Nick is immediately caught up in the mystery that surrounds <strong>Gatsby</strong>. He asks Jordan<br />
what she knows about the man, and she laughs saying “Now you‟re started on the<br />
subject” (53). Why does <strong>Gatsby</strong> invoke such mystery and suspicion? (No one knows<br />
much about <strong>Gatsby</strong>, where he came from, or how he makes his money. He is not from
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 9<br />
the landed rich, across the Sound in East Egg. He is an upstart, and the gentry want<br />
to know more about him be<strong>for</strong>e they let him in their society. <strong>Gatsby</strong>, like Daisy, has<br />
the ability to dazzle people, to captivate their listeners, to draw people into their<br />
worlds. This sparks interest.)<br />
<strong>The</strong> next time Nick sees <strong>Gatsby</strong> he is standing alone, overlooking the crowd of revelers<br />
from the steps. While the dancers hold their partners close, it occurs to Nick that “no one<br />
swooned backward on <strong>Gatsby</strong> and no French bob touch <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s shoulder and no singing<br />
quartets were <strong>for</strong>med with <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s head <strong>for</strong> one link” (55). He is alone, a solitary host<br />
surrounded by many people.<br />
Why doesn‟t any one know <strong>Gatsby</strong>? Does he have any friends at the party? (<strong>Gatsby</strong><br />
is a figure alone – in this party scene and throughout the novel. He has no interest in<br />
cultivating friends, and he remains aloof, even at his own parties so it is difficult <strong>for</strong><br />
someone to strike up conversation with him.)<br />
While <strong>Gatsby</strong> is speaking privately with Jordan Baker, Nick wanders inside the mansion.<br />
He finds a drunken woman singing a song while weeping copious tears, and everywhere<br />
he turns he overhears husbands and wives arguing.<br />
What is the significance of this scene? (To illustrate how raucous the party is, to<br />
show how many different types of people flock to these gatherings. <strong>Gatsby</strong> is<br />
surrounded by high drama, but does not show a passing interest in it. All this adds to<br />
the mystery: why does he have these parties if he does not enjoy them? For Daisy, of<br />
course, as we learn later.)<br />
What is the significance of <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s two phone calls (one from Chicago and one from<br />
Philadelphia) during the party? (<strong>The</strong> mysterious calls heighten the mystery<br />
surrounding the man.)<br />
Mystery surrounds <strong>Gatsby</strong>. Some say he killed a man, others say that he was a<br />
German spy during the war; Jordan tells Nick that she heard he went to Ox<strong>for</strong>d, but<br />
she doesn‟t believe it. Nick wants to know more about <strong>Gatsby</strong> too; his curiosity is<br />
peaked. What does Fitzgerald do to surround <strong>Gatsby</strong> with mystery? (Fitzgerald<br />
slowly imparts in<strong>for</strong>mation about <strong>Gatsby</strong> to his readers, <strong>for</strong>cing us to piece it
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 10<br />
together. Nick relates the in<strong>for</strong>mation he learns in the order that he thinks is<br />
necessary, but it is not in chronological order. <strong>Gatsby</strong> appears to be a “regular<br />
fellow,” but his speech is <strong>for</strong>mal and he is an awkward figure, even at his own<br />
parties. This too builds mystery.)<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s party is a wild night of excess, with the air of a staged affair. It is<br />
completely different from Myrtle‟s cramped and pathetic party. <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s party draws<br />
a diverse group of people together <strong>for</strong> a common purpose – to dance, drink, and eat in<br />
lavish style. What do you think of the party? What kind of people are the party-<br />
goers? (<strong>The</strong> party-goers are absurd revelers who drink too much and throw abandon<br />
to the wind. <strong>The</strong>y represent the new, loose moral code of America – women who<br />
dance alone, women and men who drink too much and are not embarrassed or<br />
ostracized <strong>for</strong> it. <strong>The</strong>ir excesses are vulgar, the party is out of control. )
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 11<br />
Chapter IV – pages 64-85<br />
In Chapter IV Nick learns a little bit more about <strong>Gatsby</strong>. He learns about his past from<br />
Jordan Baker, and he sees some of his present life firsthand, when he and <strong>Gatsby</strong> lunch<br />
together in New York.<br />
One morning <strong>Gatsby</strong> drives his “gorgeous car” to Nick‟s house and announces that they<br />
are having lunch together in New York. Nick describes the ride into New York as<br />
“disconcerting” because <strong>Gatsby</strong> leaves his “elegant sentences unfinished,” and seems<br />
generally out of sorts (69). <strong>Gatsby</strong> claims to be the son of “some wealthy people in the<br />
middle-west,” and tells him that he was educated at Ox<strong>for</strong>d (69). Nick does not quite<br />
believe him and wonders if “there wasn‟t something a little sinister about him after all”<br />
(69). <strong>The</strong>n, just as quickly, Nick decides changes his mind: “For a moment I suspected<br />
that he was pulling my leg but a glance at him convinced me otherwise” (70). <strong>Gatsby</strong><br />
tells Nick that he “accepted a commission as first lieutenant” when the War began,<br />
eventually receiving medals <strong>for</strong> valor,” even from “little Montenegro down on the<br />
Adriatic Sea!” (71). Nick is completed mesmerized by <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s story and says “My<br />
incredulity was submerged in fascination now; it was like skimming hastily through a<br />
dozen magazines” (71). <strong>Gatsby</strong> produces the Montenegro medal, and a picture of himself<br />
taken in the Trinity Quad at Ox<strong>for</strong>d. Nick decides that everything he has heard about<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong> “is all true” (71).<br />
Does Nick want to believe <strong>Gatsby</strong>? What do you think of <strong>Gatsby</strong>? (Yes Nick wants to<br />
believe <strong>Gatsby</strong>. He is fascinated by him and enjoys being in his presence.)<br />
At lunch <strong>Gatsby</strong> introduces Nick to Meyer Wolfsheim, a gambler who “fixed the<br />
World‟s Series back in 1919” (78). What does Nick think about <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s business<br />
associate, Meyer Wolfsheim? (Nick is “staggered” by the idea that a person could<br />
fix the World‟s Series, and is probably surprised to have met such a person. He thinks<br />
he should be in jail. Meeting Wolfsheim gives Nick a glimpse of <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s under-world<br />
connections.)
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 12<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong> has told Nick that he has asked Jordan Baker to speak to him on his behalf. Over<br />
tea at the Plaza Hotel, Jordan relates to Nick the story which <strong>Gatsby</strong> has told her. Some<br />
of the story Jordan can supply herself since she grew up with Daisy in Louisville. Be<strong>for</strong>e<br />
the War Daisy Fay was the most popular and the richest of all the girls, and <strong>Gatsby</strong> was<br />
one of her many suitors. Jordan tells Nick what she knows of the romance between<br />
Daisy and Jay <strong>Gatsby</strong>, including the rumor that circulated at the time that Daisy tried to<br />
sneak out of her parents‟ home to say “goodbye to a soldier who was going overseas”<br />
(80). When Daisy wed Tom Buchanan, Jordan was one of bridesmaids. <strong>The</strong> day be<strong>for</strong>e<br />
the wedding she found Daisy “drunk as a monkey,” clutching a letter while crying that<br />
she changed her mind, and wasn‟t going to marry Tom Buchanan (81). <strong>The</strong> letter was<br />
from <strong>Gatsby</strong>. After their wedding, Jordan didn‟t see the Buchanans until after their<br />
honeymoon, but when she did, she thought that Daisy was completely in love with Tom.<br />
Jordan next saw the couple in various places – Cannes, Deauville, Chicago. “<strong>The</strong>y<br />
moved with a fast crowd, all of them young and rich and wild, but she [Daisy] came out<br />
with an absolutely perfect reputation” (82). Jordan reminds Nick that the name “Jay<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong>” came up during the Buchanans‟ dinner party a few weeks ago, and that that was<br />
the first time Daisy had heard her <strong>for</strong>mer boyfriend‟s name in years. Nick surmises that<br />
the whole thing is a “strange coincidence,” but Jordan tells him that <strong>Gatsby</strong> deliberately<br />
“bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (83). Nick thinks back to<br />
when he saw <strong>Gatsby</strong> reaching out towards the stars that night on his front lawn, and<br />
realizes that “it had not been merely the stars to which…<strong>Gatsby</strong> had aspired on that June<br />
night” (83).<br />
Is <strong>Gatsby</strong> still in love with Daisy? What is the significance of the green light on the<br />
dock? (Yes <strong>Gatsby</strong> is in love with Daisy. <strong>The</strong> green light is located on the end of<br />
Daisy‟s dock, and it represents “Daisy” to <strong>Gatsby</strong> – she is seemingly within his<br />
reach. )<br />
Does Daisy know <strong>Gatsby</strong> lives across the bay from her house? (No she does not. She<br />
lost touch with him when she married Tom, but <strong>Gatsby</strong> has been reading the local<br />
papers in hopes of catching any mention of her name.)<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong> wants Nick to arrange a meeting between him and Daisy at his home. Nick is<br />
shocked by such a simple request. Why won‟t <strong>Gatsby</strong> invite Daisy to his own house?
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 13<br />
Or to one of his parties? (He is afraid that she won‟t come. He has dreamed of her<br />
<strong>for</strong> years and to spoil the dream would be devastating to him.)
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 14<br />
Chapter V – pages 86-102<br />
In exchange <strong>for</strong> the favor of inviting Daisy to his home so that <strong>Gatsby</strong> can meet her,<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong> offers Nick a chance to make some money in one of his business deals. Nick<br />
immediately cuts him off mid-sentence.<br />
Nick is not a successful bonds salesman, and he could use the money. Why doesn‟t<br />
he accept <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s offer? (Nick views the offer as tactless and as a gift <strong>for</strong> a service<br />
to be rendered. Nick may also be unwilling to be mixed up in any of <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s illegal<br />
doings. He has met Meyer Wolfsheim and is uncom<strong>for</strong>table in his presence. Nick‟s<br />
refusal points to his moral core, something that becomes more prominent at the<br />
novel‟s end.)<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong> arrives at Nick‟s house be<strong>for</strong>e Daisy. He is noticeably nervous, and he threatens<br />
to leave be<strong>for</strong>e she arrives. At his own parties <strong>Gatsby</strong> is a cool, almost removed host<br />
who creates a sparkling event to delight the frenetic pleasure-seekers who attend his<br />
parties. This is the first time we have seen him ill-at-ease. When Daisy enters the room<br />
he tries to look nonchalant, and leans “against the mantelpiece in a strained counterfeit of<br />
perfect ease, even of boredom (91).<br />
Why is <strong>Gatsby</strong> so nervous? (He is scared to death because he is meeting his dream<br />
face-to-face <strong>for</strong> the first time in 5 years. He has built up his dream, pinning<br />
everything upon it, and now here she is. It is a monumental moment <strong>for</strong> him;<br />
everything is riding on it.)<br />
Nick manages to leave the pair alone <strong>for</strong> awhile, and when he returns to the house, “every<br />
vestige of embarrassment was gone” (94). Daisy is crying tears of “unexpected joy,” and<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong> “literally glowed; without a word or a gesture of exultation a new well-being<br />
radiated from him and filled the little room” (94).<br />
What is happening to <strong>Gatsby</strong>? What change has come over him? (<strong>Gatsby</strong> is overjoyed<br />
to see Daisy, to have her at his side in his house. Fitzgerald writes that “he was<br />
consumed with wonder at her presence” (97). He is more than a man in love, he is a<br />
man in the presence of the dream he has dreamed <strong>for</strong> a long time. )
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 15<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong> shows Daisy and Nick his home. <strong>The</strong>y walk through beautifully decorated<br />
rooms “swathed in rose and lavender silks and vivid with new flowers,” they see<br />
poolrooms, “bathrooms with sunken baths,” all the wonderful delights that money can<br />
buy (96). <strong>Gatsby</strong> cannot take his eyes off Daisy. He seems a different man in her<br />
presence; indeed, he seems astonished by her very presence: “Once he nearly toppled<br />
down a flight of stairs” (96). <strong>Gatsby</strong> is re-evaluating “everything in his house according<br />
to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes” (96-97).<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong> shows them his bedroom, and Nick is surprised by how plain it is. Other<br />
rooms in the mansion are sumptuous, but his room is “the simplest room of all” (97).<br />
What does the plainness of <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s private rooms signify? (<strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s wealth is not<br />
important to him, <strong>for</strong> it was only something he needed to acquire so he could compete<br />
<strong>for</strong> his treasured prize, Daisy. Daisy, and all that she represents, is all he wants.)<br />
Next <strong>Gatsby</strong> shows them his immense shirt collection. Daisy suddenly begins to sob,<br />
burying her head into the shirts. Why does she cry? (Daisy cries <strong>for</strong> the past – her<br />
tears have nothing to do with the shirts. She remembers her youth, be<strong>for</strong>e she met<br />
Tom, when she loved <strong>Gatsby</strong>. )<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong>, Nick, and Daisy look out his window through the rain towards Daisy‟s house,<br />
and <strong>Gatsby</strong> tells Daisy that her home is directly across the bay from his: “You always<br />
have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock” (98). Daisy puts her arm<br />
possessively through <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s, but he does not seem to notice. Fitzgerald writes that the<br />
colossal significance of that light had now vanished <strong>for</strong>ever. Compared to the<br />
great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her,<br />
almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was<br />
again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by<br />
one (98).<br />
What does Fitzgerald mean when he writes that <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s “count of enchanted objects<br />
had diminished by one?” Has the green light lost its significance? (To <strong>Gatsby</strong> the<br />
green light represented Daisy and Daisy represented <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s dream of wealth and<br />
everything attached to it. Now that Daisy is sitting next to him, the green light is no
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 16<br />
longer an enchanted object but a real object – a green light. <strong>Gatsby</strong> has dreamed of<br />
this moment <strong>for</strong> so long that it is difficult to let go of the dream and accept the reality.<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong> is too dazzled to be able to think clearly.)<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong> and Daisy are holding hands when Nick leaves. <strong>Gatsby</strong> bends close to Daisy to<br />
hear her voice, that voice which “held him most with its fluctuating, feverish warmth<br />
because it couldn‟t be over-dreamed – that voice was a deathless song” (101).<br />
What does it mean that Daisy‟s voice is a “deathless song”? (That in her voice one<br />
hears hope, of things to come, of joy, of love, of promises. It‟s a romantic voice that<br />
sings like a song.)<br />
Later <strong>Gatsby</strong> characterizes Daisy‟s voice as a voice “is full of money” (127). Nick<br />
agrees: “That was it. I‟d never understood it be<strong>for</strong>e. It was full of money – that was the<br />
inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals‟ song of it….<br />
High in a white palace the king‟s daughter, the golden girl…” (127). Daisy‟s voice is the<br />
voice of money and wealth and all the things that <strong>Gatsby</strong> spent the last five years trying<br />
to gain. He has succeeded beyond belief, yet he does not have “the king‟s daughter, the<br />
golden girl,” Daisy (127).<br />
What connotations does Fitzgerald bring to mind when he uses such words as “the<br />
king‟s daughter, the golden girl,” to describe Daisy? (127). (By using such words<br />
Daisy loses her identity as a young woman and becomes the ultimate prize, the<br />
princess in the ivory tower. Images of a young girl in Louisville who is besieged with<br />
suitors comes to mind, and indeed, Jordan Baker tells Nick that that‟s the way it was.<br />
Daisy was “by far the most popular of all the young girls in Louisville. She dressed<br />
in white and had a little white roadster and all day long the telephone rang in her<br />
house and excited young officers from Camp Taylor demanded the privilege of<br />
monopolizing her that night…” (79). Daisy seems unattainable, an image rather than<br />
a real woman.
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 17<br />
Chapter VI pages 103-118<br />
In Chapter VI Nick tells the reader things about <strong>Gatsby</strong> which he learned much later from<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong> himself. <strong>The</strong> yachtsman Dan Cody gave the 17-year-old <strong>Gatsby</strong> the opportunity<br />
to change his entire life and life‟s purpose. <strong>The</strong> first thing he changed was his name, and<br />
then he boarded Cody‟s yacht and began to build a dream of and <strong>for</strong> himself.<br />
Does <strong>Gatsby</strong> create himself? Is this possible? (Yes <strong>Gatsby</strong> created an image to<br />
emulate, and he spent his young life finding a way to live this life.)<br />
What does Dan Cody and his yacht represent to <strong>Gatsby</strong>? (“All the beauty and<br />
glamour in the world” – in short, everything <strong>Gatsby</strong> wanted to have (106).)<br />
Tom and Daisy Buchanan attend <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s next party. <strong>The</strong> evening had a “peculiar<br />
quality of oppressiveness” to it, and Nick attributes this to Tom‟s presence (110). <strong>Gatsby</strong><br />
and Daisy sneak away to Nick‟s home <strong>for</strong> a private half-hour, with Nick serving as the<br />
lookout. Tom finds a “common but pretty” girl with whom to flirt, and deserts his wife at<br />
dinnertime (112).<br />
Does Daisy enjoy herself at the party? What does she think of it? (Daisy is at first<br />
enraptured by the party and then is dismayed by it. <strong>The</strong> party “offended her – and<br />
inarguably, because it wasn‟t a gesture but an emotion” (114). Daisy is<br />
uncom<strong>for</strong>table around people who are not of her social set, people who do not play<br />
by the rules of the society in which she lives.<br />
Throughout the party <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s whole focus is on Daisy. Once the guest room lights are<br />
turned out, <strong>Gatsby</strong> turns to Nick and announces: “She didn‟t like it” (116). For the past<br />
five years he has worked to please her, building his palace just <strong>for</strong> her and now that she<br />
has seen it, he craves her approval. <strong>Gatsby</strong> does not seem to grasp that Daisy is a married<br />
woman with a separate life from his; he complains that she is “far away” from him (116).<br />
Why is <strong>Gatsby</strong> so concerned that Daisy didn‟t like the party? What does <strong>Gatsby</strong><br />
want? (<strong>Gatsby</strong> wants Daisy to be a part of his life – to step right in as if the past five<br />
years had not happened.)
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 18<br />
<strong>The</strong> past is gone, yet <strong>Gatsby</strong> does not believe it. He is determined to “fix everything<br />
just the way it was be<strong>for</strong>e,” and “recover something, some idea of himself perhaps,<br />
that had gone into loving Daisy” (117). What is <strong>Gatsby</strong> trying to do? Can this feat be<br />
accomplished? (<strong>Gatsby</strong> wants to recall the past, and continue his romance with<br />
Daisy. No one can turn back the hands of Time, but <strong>Gatsby</strong> does not believe it.)<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong> tells Nick of the first time he kissed Daisy. In this one kiss lays all his hope <strong>for</strong><br />
the future:<br />
He knew that when he kissed this girl, and <strong>for</strong>ever wed his unutterable visions to<br />
her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. …<br />
At his lips‟ touch she blossomed <strong>for</strong> him like a flower and the incarnation was<br />
complete (117).<br />
What does Fitzgerald mean by “incarnation?” (<strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s vision of himself, fashioned<br />
while traveling with Dan Cody, is now trans<strong>for</strong>med into a concrete image: the dream<br />
of marrying Daisy.)
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 19<br />
Chapter VII pages 119-153<br />
With Daisy back in his life <strong>Gatsby</strong> makes several adjustments to accommodate her. He<br />
no longer throws parties: he read the “disapproval in …[Daisy‟s] eyes,” and ceases to<br />
light up his house <strong>for</strong> strangers. <strong>Gatsby</strong> tells Nick that he fired all his servants because<br />
Daisy visits him in the afternoons, and he doesn‟t want any gossip.<br />
It is the hottest day of the summer when Nick and <strong>Gatsby</strong> join Jordan Baker and the<br />
Buchanans <strong>for</strong> lunch at the Buchanans‟ home. While Tom is making drinks Daisy<br />
impulsively gets out of her chair and kisses <strong>Gatsby</strong>, telling him that she loves him.<br />
Daisy‟s daughter enters the room, led by her nurse, and she greets Nick and <strong>Gatsby</strong>.<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong> seems shocked to realize that the child truly exists. Why is the presence of<br />
Daisy‟s daughter so shocking to him? (<strong>Gatsby</strong> does not quite believe that Daisy has<br />
another life that does not include him. Her daughter is the product of this fact.<br />
Furthermore, <strong>Gatsby</strong> wants to recall the past, and the very presence of the Buchanan<br />
girl makes this impossible. Pammy Buchanan represents the present and the future.)<br />
During lunch Tom becomes aware that Daisy and <strong>Gatsby</strong> are lovers; he is completely<br />
“astounded” (125). Fitzgerald describes this moment of awakening as if Tom had<br />
“just recognized…[Daisy] as someone he knew a long time ago” (125). What does<br />
he mean by this? (Tom has taken Daisy <strong>for</strong> granted and to find that someone else<br />
loves her, has some sort of claim upon her, shocks him. Perhaps this shock reminds<br />
him that he had to compete to win Daisy‟s hand in marriage. Now it seems that he<br />
will have to compete again.)<br />
At Daisy‟s suggestion the party goes into New York City. <strong>Gatsby</strong> and Daisy drive Tom‟s<br />
car, and Tom drives <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s car with Nick and Jordan as passengers. Tom stops his car<br />
at Wilson‟s garage, and Wilson, whose “face was green,” tells Tom he is sick over some<br />
news he has heard (129). He says he needs “money pretty bad,” and tells Tom that he<br />
and his wife “want to go west” (130). <strong>The</strong> news startles Tom, and as Nick listens intently<br />
he realizes that Wilson has just “discovered that Myrtle had some sort of life apart from<br />
him in another world and the shock had made him physically sick. I stared at him and
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 20<br />
then at Tom, who had made a parallel discovery less than an hour be<strong>for</strong>e…” (130-31).<br />
Tom begins to panic – “his wife and his mistress, until an hour ago secure and inviolate,<br />
were slipping precipitately from his control” (131). As they drive away Nick sees Myrtle<br />
peering out of a window, her face full of jealous terror, as she stares at Jordan Baker,<br />
whom she perceives is Tom‟s wife.<br />
Both Wilson and Tom have just learned that their wives‟ are having affairs with other<br />
men. <strong>The</strong> news seems to affect Wilson differently than Tom. Explain. (Wilson is<br />
physically sick, while Tom is in shock. Tom realizes that Nick and Jordan knew about<br />
Daisy and <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s affair, and he prepares to confront <strong>Gatsby</strong>; he will be nobody‟s<br />
fool. Wilson does not know which way to turn, while Tom will tackle the situation<br />
straight on.)<br />
At the cocktail party in the Plaza Hotel, Tom begins his attack on <strong>Gatsby</strong>. He <strong>for</strong>ces<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong> to say when he attended Ox<strong>for</strong>d, and <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s answer, that it was “an opportunity<br />
they gave to some of the officers after the Armistice,” satisfies everyone (136).<br />
When Nick hears <strong>Gatsby</strong> confirm that he attended Ox<strong>for</strong>d, he “had one of those<br />
renewals of complete faith in…[<strong>Gatsby</strong>] that …[he had] experienced be<strong>for</strong>e” (136).<br />
What does Nick mean when he says he had a “renewal in complete faith” in <strong>Gatsby</strong>?<br />
(Suddenly <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s story rings true – he did go to Ox<strong>for</strong>d. Nick very much wants to<br />
believe in <strong>Gatsby</strong> and he is happy when he learns that he has told the truth.)<br />
Tom presses on with his questions, and brings the real issue out into the <strong>for</strong>efront: “What<br />
kind of a row are you trying to cause in my house anyhow?” (136). Daisy tries to<br />
interrupt and stop the argument from escalating, but <strong>Gatsby</strong> tells Tom that Daisy does not<br />
love him:<br />
“She loves me. … She never loved you, do you hear? …She only married you<br />
because I was poor and she was tired of waiting <strong>for</strong> me. It was a terrible mistake,<br />
but in her heart she never loved anyone except me!” (137).<br />
<strong>The</strong> fight <strong>for</strong> Daisy escalates, but as Daisy realizes “at last what she was doing,” her<br />
resolve collapses and she cries out “Oh, you want too much!” to <strong>Gatsby</strong> (139).
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 21<br />
Why does Daisy tell <strong>Gatsby</strong> he “wants too much”? Why does she back down when<br />
she is so close to walking out on Tom? (“Too much” is asking her to say she never<br />
loved Tom, to leave him and her com<strong>for</strong>table life. She backs down <strong>for</strong> she never<br />
intended to leave Tom. She never wanted this confrontation, she “never, all along,<br />
intended doing anything at all” about her affair with <strong>Gatsby</strong> (139).)<br />
Tom grabs control of the argument by verbally attacking <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s character, telling him<br />
that he knows about his bootlegging activities, and calling him “a common swindler”<br />
(140). <strong>The</strong> attack is too much <strong>for</strong> <strong>Gatsby</strong>. For a moment an expression appears on his<br />
face “as if he had „killed a man‟,” but it passes just as quickly (142). <strong>Gatsby</strong> “talks<br />
excitedly to Daisy, denying everything…, but with every word she was drawing further<br />
and further into herself,” eventually begging Tom to take her home (142).<br />
Of <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s defeat Fitzgerald writes: “…only the dead dream fought on as the<br />
afternoon slipped away, trying to touch what was no longer tangible, struggling<br />
unhappily, undespairingly, toward that lost voice across the room” (142). Read the<br />
sentence again and note that although no dialogue is recounted, we know exactly<br />
what Fitzgerald is describing. Explain what it means to say “only the dead dream<br />
fought on.” (<strong>Gatsby</strong> is fighting a losing battle. His dream of having Daisy is over, but<br />
he will not accept it, and he won‟t stop fighting <strong>for</strong> her.)<br />
Tom has succeeded in ending the affair between Daisy and <strong>Gatsby</strong>. Does he also<br />
destroy <strong>Gatsby</strong>? How? (Yes he does. Tom attacks the fiber of <strong>Gatsby</strong> – „Jay <strong>Gatsby</strong>,‟<br />
the character <strong>Gatsby</strong> created. <strong>Gatsby</strong> thinks he is a member of Daisy‟s social set,<br />
because he has the wealth, but Tom lets <strong>Gatsby</strong> know he is not accepted. Tom<br />
correctly calls <strong>Gatsby</strong> a bootlegger, and seems to know that he is a gambler, too.<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong> cannot refute Tom‟s attacks, he cannot fight back when his character is under<br />
attack, and he loses the leg he stands on. He begins to falter, and in that brief<br />
moment, Daisy slips away from him.)<br />
Tom instructs <strong>Gatsby</strong> to drive Daisy home, saying that <strong>Gatsby</strong> “won‟t annoy you. I think<br />
he realizes that his presumptuous little flirtation is over” (142). Daisy and <strong>Gatsby</strong> leave<br />
in <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s car, and Tom, Jordan and Nick follow in Tom‟s vehicle. En route home
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 22<br />
Tom, Nick and Jordan see a commotion outside Wilson‟s garage and they stop the car.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y see Myrtle Wilson‟s body wrapped in a blanket, and piece together the news that<br />
she was instantly killed by a “big, yellow car,” which didn‟t even stop (147). Tom<br />
realizes “the death car” is <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s, and he seizes upon the moment to tell Wilson that the<br />
yellow car he drove up in earlier was not his (144).<br />
Tom talks sternly to Wilson, confirming <strong>for</strong> him that the car which hit Myrtle was a<br />
yellow car. Is Tom being merely helpful? Is Tom a friend of Wilson‟s? (No, Tom is<br />
not Wilson‟s friend, he is no man‟s friend. He looks out <strong>for</strong> himself only. He wants<br />
Wilson to know that although he was driving the yellow car earlier that day, it is not<br />
his car -- Myrtle certainly thought it was Tom‟s car. By ensuring that the blame <strong>for</strong><br />
the accident and death goes to <strong>Gatsby</strong>, he is also ensuring that the blame will not go<br />
to him. He also wants to lead Wilson away from suspecting him as Myrtle‟s lover. He<br />
simply does not want to be involved in the death, even though he already is.)<br />
On the ride home Tom cries, and calls <strong>Gatsby</strong> a “God Damn coward” <strong>for</strong> not stopping<br />
his car (149). Why is Tom crying? (He is crying because Myrtle is dead, but not<br />
because he loves her. He cries <strong>for</strong> himself – he realizes that another one of his<br />
“sprees” has ended in disaster. He may be concerned that this one will also make<br />
the papers, and that Daisy will learn of it in full.)<br />
Tom drives Nick and Jordan to his home, and invites them in to eat. Nick declines,<br />
but Jordan lingers on the porch and points out that “it‟s only half past nine” as she<br />
tries to convince Nick to come inside (150). Nick is upset by Jordan‟s invitation.<br />
Why? What does her statement say about her? (Jordan has displayed callous<br />
behavior throughout the novel, but her reaction to Myrtle‟s death – that it‟s time to<br />
eat dinner – strikes Nick as especially coldhearted, and he is thoroughly disgusted.<br />
Jordan is incapable of feeling compassion <strong>for</strong> another human being, and Nick cannot<br />
in good conscience associate with her any longer. <strong>The</strong>ir love affair officially ends<br />
days later, but it is this night that triggers the beginning of the end <strong>for</strong> Nick.)<br />
As Nick waits <strong>for</strong> a taxi outside the Buchanan home, <strong>Gatsby</strong> steps out of the bushes.<br />
He asks Nick if there was “any trouble on the road,” and Nick guesses that it was<br />
Daisy, not <strong>Gatsby</strong>, who was driving the car when it struck Myrtle (150). Why doesn‟t<br />
Daisy stop the car when she hits Myrtle? (She is probably momentarily shocked that
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 23<br />
she hit a person, but then she is probably able to put it out of her mind. Daisy does<br />
not have the capacity to think about anyone but herself. Indeed, she is not concerned<br />
with anyone or anything unless it pertains to herself and her com<strong>for</strong>t. She and Tom<br />
move on, as they are wont to do – they leave, and let others worry about the mess they<br />
leave in their wake. <strong>The</strong>ir actions are both selfish and cowardly.)<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s plan is to wait outside Daisy‟s home all night to protect her from Tom‟s<br />
temper (152). Nick peers in the window, and sees Daisy and Tom eating “a plate of<br />
cold fried chicken,” talking intently, and looking as if “they were conspiring together”<br />
(152-53). Does Daisy need protecting? (No, she and Tom are “conspiring together,”<br />
planning their next step.)<br />
Are the Buchanans affected by Myrtle‟s death? (No they are not affected by or upset<br />
about her death. <strong>The</strong>y are only concerned with themselves, and how they might be<br />
connected to the “trouble on the road” (150).<br />
Does Nick think Daisy has any intention of leaving Tom? (No, Nick knows that<br />
Daisy will never leave Tom or her com<strong>for</strong>table life <strong>for</strong> <strong>Gatsby</strong> or <strong>for</strong> anyone else.)
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 24<br />
Chapter VIII pages 154-170<br />
At dawn the day after the car accident Nick advises <strong>Gatsby</strong> to go away, knowing that his<br />
car will be traced by the police. But <strong>Gatsby</strong> will not go.<br />
Why doesn‟t <strong>Gatsby</strong> flee? (Because he will not leave Daisy. He still thinks that Daisy<br />
needs or may need him. Of <strong>Gatsby</strong>, Nick says: “He couldn‟t possibly leave Daisy<br />
until he knew what she was going to do. He was clutching at some last hope and I<br />
couldn‟t bear to shake him free” (155). )<br />
Nick knows that Daisy is not going to leave Tom <strong>for</strong> <strong>Gatsby</strong>, but he hasn‟t the heart<br />
to tell <strong>Gatsby</strong>. Why? (<strong>The</strong> news would devastate him. <strong>The</strong> dream of Daisy is all<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong> has now, and it is beginning to crumble.)<br />
At the beginning of the novel Nick states that he despises all the people he met on Long<br />
Island that summer. He says that after spending time out east he wanted the “world to be<br />
in uni<strong>for</strong>m and at a sort of moral attention <strong>for</strong>ever” (6). As Nick walks away from<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong> he compliments him, and is pleased with himself <strong>for</strong> doing so:<br />
“<strong>The</strong>y‟re a rotten crowd,” I shouted, across the lawn. “You‟re worth the whole<br />
damn bunch put together.” I‟ve always been glad I said that. It was the only<br />
compliment I ever gave him, because I disapproved of him from beginning to end<br />
(162).<br />
Who is the “rotten crowd,” and what does Nick “scorn” and despise about them? (<strong>The</strong><br />
Buchanans, Jordan Baker, and the people who attend <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s parties. Nick scorns<br />
their inability to care <strong>for</strong> others, their snobbishness, and their vacuous, immoral<br />
lives.)<br />
Why is <strong>Gatsby</strong>, who “represented everything <strong>for</strong> which I have unaffected scorn,”<br />
exempt from Nick‟s reaction (6)? (Nick admires <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s ability to remain true to his<br />
dream until the end. <strong>Gatsby</strong> is undeterred in his quest <strong>for</strong> Daisy, even though she is<br />
unattainable. Nick also admires <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s determination to stick around and accept<br />
the consequences of the accident.)
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 25<br />
Nick says he no longer wants to know any secret desires and yearnings in men‟s hearts;<br />
knowing too much about what men hope and dream saddens him. He has no ill-feelings<br />
towards <strong>Gatsby</strong> (except, perhaps, <strong>for</strong> his illegal business practices), saying “No – <strong>Gatsby</strong><br />
turned out all right at the end; it was what preyed on <strong>Gatsby</strong>, what foul dust floated in the<br />
wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interested in the abortive sorrows and<br />
short-winded elations of men” (6-7).)<br />
What is the “foul dust” that follows <strong>Gatsby</strong>? (It is the motley crowd of party people<br />
who flock to his sparkling and lavish parties, uninvited but welcomed, and who<br />
partake liberally of his generous nature. It is people like the Buchanans and Jordan<br />
Baker who only care <strong>for</strong> themselves. <strong>The</strong> dust could also represent <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s illegal<br />
business dealings. Nick no longer wants to associate with such people.)<br />
During their early morning talk Nick realizes that “‟Jay <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟ had broken up like<br />
glass against Tom‟s hard malice and the long secret extravaganza was played out”<br />
(155). What does this mean? How does Tom break <strong>Gatsby</strong>? (Tom destroys <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s<br />
dream of attaining Daisy by crushing the man “Jay <strong>Gatsby</strong>.” Tom laughs at him,<br />
scornfully telling him that Daisy has no intention of leaving him <strong>for</strong> <strong>Gatsby</strong>. He<br />
points out <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s flaws or weaknesses – the drug store business, the shady dealings<br />
with Wolfsheim, and the fact that <strong>Gatsby</strong> is not accepted by the social class in which<br />
he and Daisy live. <strong>Gatsby</strong> cannot recover from these fatal wounds. Tom figuratively<br />
slaps <strong>Gatsby</strong> in the face by telling Daisy to go home in his car. He knows that <strong>Gatsby</strong><br />
is too weak after their battle to try and steal Daisy away from him, and he flaunts her<br />
in his face.)<br />
Nick believes that <strong>Gatsby</strong> would have told him anything about his secret life. Why<br />
doesn‟t Nick ask him any of the questions he has been curious about <strong>for</strong> so long? (It<br />
no longer matters. Nick allows <strong>Gatsby</strong> to do what he needs to do – talk about Daisy.)<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong> tells Nick that he fell in love with Daisy because she represents mystery and “gay<br />
and radiant activities” which he could only imagine (155). He values Daisy, as did her<br />
other suitors, even more so because there were other suitors. Daisy represents a prize to<br />
be won, and <strong>Gatsby</strong> spends his whole life working to win her. By loving Daisy, he<br />
“committed himself to the following of a grail” (156).
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 26<br />
What does the expression “following the Holy Grail” connote? (<strong>The</strong> word “grail”<br />
invokes the images of knights who spent their days on a quest, a mission, <strong>for</strong> the<br />
elusive object. In this case Daisy is the “grail,” she is the one object in this dream of<br />
wealth that must be possessed; she is the most expensive object as well, as Tom knows<br />
when he gives her the $350,<strong>00</strong>0 pearl necklace the night be<strong>for</strong>e their wedding.<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong> has indeed devoted his life to Daisy, in the hopes of obtaining her, like a<br />
knight in shining armor.)<br />
Does <strong>Gatsby</strong> fall in love with Daisy, the young woman, or Daisy, the rich prize?<br />
(<strong>Gatsby</strong> treats the courting of Daisy as if she were a prize, something to be won, and<br />
he falls in love with that vision. Daisy is more than a symbol of all the things <strong>Gatsby</strong><br />
desires, she is the ultimate object, the finest prize, within the world of which he wants<br />
to be a part. He cannot separate the woman from the wealth, and his dream of<br />
having wealth can only be fulfilled with her by his side. Even though he achieves the<br />
wealth, it means nothing to him without her, which is why he cancels the parties when<br />
she shows her disapproval.)<br />
Later Nick correctly suspects that Wilson walks to Tom‟s house the day he murders<br />
<strong>Gatsby</strong>. What does Tom tell Wilson? (That the car belonged to <strong>Gatsby</strong>, and that he<br />
knows where Wilson can find him. He also may have told Wilson that <strong>Gatsby</strong> was<br />
Myrtle‟s lover.)<br />
What is different about this chapter and the next from the rest of the novel?<br />
(Fitzgerald abandons the dramatic method. Nick tells us what happened after<br />
Myrtle‟s fatal car accident, but he isn‟t there as an eyewitness.)
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 27<br />
Chapter IX – pages 171-189<br />
Nick phones in “news of the catastrophe to West Egg Village,” and becomes the person<br />
who plans <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s funeral and to whom all questions are referred (172). He has just<br />
turned thirty years old and, overnight, he seemingly gains a moral conscious. Nick<br />
desperately tries to get people to come to the funeral but it is an impossible task. Nick<br />
calls Daisy soon after he learns of <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s death, but Daisy and Tom have packed their<br />
bags and skipped town; no one knows of their whereabouts. He sends a letter to Meyer<br />
Wolfsheim, asking him if he knows of <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s family.<br />
Nick is shocked that he does not hear from Daisy. He begins “to have a feeling of<br />
defiance, of scornful solidarity between <strong>Gatsby</strong> and…[himself] against them all”<br />
(173). Why doesn‟t Daisy call? (Daisy cannot be bothered; she has already left town,<br />
left the mess she created. In his letter to Nick, Wolfsheim states that is afraid to get<br />
“mixed up.” He wants to protect himself, and to ensure that his name is not in any<br />
way connected to <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s murder.)<br />
Wolfsheim claims to have “started” <strong>Gatsby</strong> on his road to riches, but he won‟t come<br />
to the funeral, saying he “never like[s] to get mixed up” when someone is killed<br />
(179). What does Wolfsheim imagine happened to <strong>Gatsby</strong>? (Wolfsheim thinks <strong>Gatsby</strong><br />
was murdered by a hit man, and that <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s death has something to do with his<br />
business dealings in the underworld. He has no idea that a jealous and deranged<br />
husband murdered <strong>Gatsby</strong>.)<br />
Three days after <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s death Nick receives a telegram from <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s father, Henry C.<br />
Gatz, saying that he is attending the funeral. Mr. Gatz shows Nick a list that <strong>Gatsby</strong> made<br />
as a child. One is a schedule of activities, which includes specific times <strong>for</strong> exercises and<br />
sports, and the other is a list of “general resolves,” such as “no wasting time,” and “read<br />
one improving book or magazine a week” (181-82).<br />
What does young <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s list tell us about his character? (Even as a young boy he<br />
wanted to trans<strong>for</strong>m himself, to improve himself, to get ahead, to push himself to the<br />
limits.)
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 28<br />
Nick runs into Tom on the street in New York in late October. Tom feels “entirely<br />
justified” <strong>for</strong> telling Wilson who owned the yellow car, and had no guilt over <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s<br />
death, saying “That fellow had it coming to him. He threw dust in your eyes just like he<br />
did in Daisy‟s, but he was a tough one. He ran over Myrtle like you‟d run over a dog and<br />
never even stopped his car.” (187).<br />
Why doesn‟t Nick tell Tom that Daisy was driving the car? (Because it no longer<br />
matters. <strong>The</strong> fact would not change a thing <strong>for</strong> Tom and Daisy Buchanan. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
would continue to live their lives as they do – in a moral vacuum. <strong>The</strong> truth, Nick<br />
realizes, an “unutterable fact” (187).<br />
Nick calls Tom and Daisy “careless people,…they smashed up things and creatures<br />
and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was<br />
that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made….”<br />
(187-88). Explain Nick‟s summary of the Buchanans.<br />
Nick says he is a man of “provincial squeamishness,” unlike someone such as Tom<br />
Buchanan (188). What is Nick‟s “provincial squeamishness?” (His squeamishness is<br />
his old-fashioned moral code. He believes that people need to be held responsible <strong>for</strong><br />
their actions, and he does not want to be associated with anyone who does not live by<br />
this moral code.)<br />
What has happened to Nick? (He has a change of heart; he is no longer in awe of<br />
people like the Buchanans who have great wealth and live in a world apart from most<br />
people.)<br />
<strong>The</strong> ending of novel invokes the Dutch explorers who first sailed up the Hudson<br />
River in what is now New York, and Fitzgerald plays upon the sense of wonder<br />
that these sailors must have experienced as they looked at the majestic cliffs<br />
lining the river. Explain how the image of exploring the New World can be<br />
associated with <strong>Gatsby</strong>. (<strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s greatness lies in his ability to have a capacity<br />
<strong>for</strong> wonder and <strong>for</strong> dreams as great as those sailors‟ had when they imagined the<br />
world that lies beyond the cliffs. His tragedy is that his dream, which is<br />
symbolized by a green light and seemingly endless possibilities, is embodied by a<br />
callous and cowardly woman who is not worth the ef<strong>for</strong>t.)
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 29<br />
THEMES – Discuss the following themes with your class.<br />
1. Dreams -- <strong>The</strong> <strong>Great</strong> <strong>Gatsby</strong> is a novel of dreams and hopes, of dreams lost and<br />
illusions shattered. <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s dream of acquiring Daisy and all that she represents is the<br />
main focus of the novel, but the dreams of Myrtle and Nick are also important. Myrtle<br />
dreams of escaping from her husband, from the garage business, and from the ash dump<br />
which covers their very essence. Both Myrtle and <strong>Gatsby</strong> pursue the dream of wealth,<br />
but Myrtle‟s dream collapses because it is wholly materialistic, while <strong>Gatsby</strong> requires<br />
wealth to win the golden princess Daisy, and there<strong>for</strong>e his dream is incorruptible. His<br />
dream becomes a romantic quest <strong>for</strong> something elusive. Tragically, Daisy is not the<br />
woman <strong>Gatsby</strong> dreams she is. Myrtle dies a wretched death, without fulfilling her dream.<br />
Although <strong>Gatsby</strong>, too, is killed, the myth of the “<strong>Great</strong> <strong>Gatsby</strong>” lives on. Nick‟s dreams<br />
are more concrete: he wants to strike it rich on the East Coast as a bonds salesman. But<br />
when Nick detects the shallowness of those who live in the society to which he thought<br />
he‟d like to belong, he moves back to the middle-west. <strong>Gatsby</strong>, however, never learns<br />
that the class he emulates, the people of West Egg, is not worth his ef<strong>for</strong>ts. He dies not<br />
knowing that he was betrayed by that very society, in the persons of Tom and Daisy<br />
Buchanan. His dream, there<strong>for</strong>e, lives on, uncorrupted.<br />
2. Time -- Fitzgerald incorporates the image of Time throughout the novel, as he does in<br />
many of his works. Nick‟s story is told as if the events were unfolding in time; however,<br />
a close reading points to the fact that chronological order is not the rule. <strong>Gatsby</strong> wants to<br />
recall time, to relive the past, and is incredulous when Nick tells him that simply cannot<br />
be done:<br />
“Can‟t repeat the past?” he cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!”<br />
He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his<br />
house, just out of reach of his hand.” (116-117).<br />
Recovering the past is so important to <strong>Gatsby</strong> that he is especially stunned by the<br />
presence of Daisy‟s daughter, <strong>for</strong> she represents the present, a time in which <strong>Gatsby</strong> does<br />
not want to live. <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s dream depends upon regaining Daisy‟s love and admiration,<br />
and when she does not leave Tom <strong>for</strong> <strong>Gatsby</strong>, he is at a loss. Nick imagines that he
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 30<br />
looked out at the world and saw that it was “unfamiliar… material without being real,<br />
where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drift <strong>for</strong>tuitously about…” (169). Nick<br />
guesses that in his last moments alive, <strong>Gatsby</strong> might have realized that Daisy was not<br />
going to call, and perhaps he felt that he had “paid a high price <strong>for</strong> living too long with a<br />
single dream” (169).<br />
3. <strong>The</strong> Golden Age -- Fitzgerald writes about the period of time in which he lived – the<br />
1920‟s – often called “<strong>The</strong> Golden Age,” or “<strong>The</strong> Jazz Age.” It is a time when a certain<br />
type of American people enjoyed great wealth, and the music of jazz, with its emotional<br />
abandon, best expressed the unconventional spirit of the American boom era following<br />
World War I. (Fitzgerald may have coined the term; his work Tales from the Jazz Age,<br />
was published in 1922.) Jazz, the music which filled the air of the time, induced and<br />
encouraged people to embrace life with an exuberance which lasted until the <strong>Great</strong><br />
Depression, a period of severe hardship during the 1930s. <strong>The</strong> Golden Age is the time of<br />
the Flappers, women who rolled down their stockings, shortened their skirt hems, and in<br />
a word, danced. Flappers and other bold women such as the Suffragettes thumbed their<br />
noses to the moral conventions of the recent past which stated that women did not share<br />
the same freedoms and rights as men; over time and with great courage these women<br />
broke down barriers that today‟s women do not even know exist. It is the time of<br />
Prohibition (1920-1933), when it was illegal to manufacture, sell, transport or possess<br />
alcoholic beverages in the United States, but those with the money and the contacts could<br />
easily attain it. In <strong>The</strong> <strong>Great</strong> <strong>Gatsby</strong> Fitzgerald portrays <strong>Gatsby</strong>‟s lavish parties and the<br />
Buchanans‟ stunning mansion with exquisite prose and a romantic flare, yet he is not<br />
seduced by their wealth, choosing instead to expose the moral depravity and barren<br />
nature of wealthy people like Jordan Baker and the Buchanans.
E.S. Bakalian; bakaliane@mail.montclair.edu 31<br />
Addendum, 2/11<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Great</strong> <strong>Gatsby</strong> and popular culture<br />
Classroom Activity: Ask you class to find examples of the main themes of the <strong>Gatsby</strong> in<br />
popular culture – movies, other books, songs.<br />
Example: (from page 18 of this Guide): <strong>Gatsby</strong> longs to recall the past, and he is<br />
incredulous when Nick tells him he cannot.<br />
<strong>The</strong> past is gone, yet <strong>Gatsby</strong> does not believe it. He is determined to “fix everything<br />
just the way it was be<strong>for</strong>e,” and “recover something, some idea of himself perhaps,<br />
that had gone into loving Daisy” (117).<br />
Of course no one can turn back the hands of Time, yet this longing is something that<br />
is constantly echoed in popular songs such as “Back to December,” by Taylor Swife<br />
(2010). Ms. Swift sings longingly of going “back to December [to] make it all right,”<br />
and of loving her boyfriend “right this time.”<br />
Students will find many songs which echo this longing, as well as other songs that<br />
pair well with the main themes of the <strong>Gatsby</strong>.