"He’s so dumb he doesn’t know he’s alive." (Referring to George Wilson)
Who is Tom Buchanan
The person on the billboard whose "blue and gigantic" eyes brood over the Valley of Ashes.
Who is Dr. TJ Eckleburg?
Myrtle Wilson's husband, who owns a garage in the Valley of Ashes.
Who is George Wilson?
A fading billboard whose "blue and gigantic" eyes look down on the Valley of Ashes.
Who is Doctor T.J. Eckleburg?
This setting symbolizes "Old Money," established grace, and inherited social standing.
What is The East Egg?
"I told that boy about the ice! These people! You have to keep after them all the time."
Who is Myrtle Wilson
The specific sport Tom Buchanan was famous for playing in New Haven.
What is football?
The reason Tom gives for why he won't divorce Daisy and marry Myrtle (revealed at the apartment party).
What is because Daisy is Catholic (though Nick knows this is a lie)?
This color is frequently associated with Daisy’s childhood, innocence, and the superficial "purity" of the upper class.
What is White?
This setting represents "New Money," which is seen as gaudy, tasteless, and lacking social "polish".
What is West Egg?
"Civilization’s going to pieces... It’s up to us, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things."
Who is Tom Buchanan?
The color of the light Nick sees Gatsby reaching for at the end of Chapter 1
What is Green?
How Nick and Daisy are related.
What is Second cousins once removed?
These "pale and enormous" objects in the Valley of Ashes symbolize a lack of spiritual values and the "eternal blindness" of a society focused only on money.
What are Dr. T.J. Eckleburg's Spectacles (or Eyes)?
This color, which dominates the Valley of Ashes, represents desolation, poverty, and the "ash-grey men" who are invisible to the rich.
What is Gray?
"All I kept thinking about, over and over, was,'you can't live forever, you can't live forever.'"
Who is Myrtle Wilson?
The "less fashionable" of the two Eggs where Nick and Gatsby live.
What is West Egg?
Nick’s profession, which he moved East to learn.
What is a Bond man (selling bonds)?
This tiny, "minute and far away" light at the end of a dock represents Gatsby’s hopes, dreams, and the unattainable nature of the American Dream.
What is the Green Light?
Tom's choice of a "small" and "crowded" one of these for his affair symbolizes the messy, suffocating nature of his secret life.
What is the New York Apartment?
"I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool."
Who is Daisy Buchanan?
The "solemn dumping ground" between West Egg and New York City.
What is the Valley of Ashes?
This professional golfer is Daisy's friend.
Who is Jordan Baker?
This "grotesque" industrial wasteland represents the moral and social decay that results from the uninhibited pursuit of wealth.
What is the Valley of Ashes?
This geographical feature physically separates East Egg from West Egg, symbolizing the vast, unbridgeable social gulf between "Old Money" and "New Money" despite their proximity.
What is the Courtesy Bay (or simply The Bay)?