Ch. 1
Ch. 2
Ch. 3
Ch. 4
Ch. 5
100
“Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”
Significance: Do not judge people based on their social background. Basically, look for the good in all people. People come from different social classes.
100
“I married him because I thought he was a gentleman,” she said finally. “I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe” (Fitzgerald 23).
Significance: Value is placed on choosing a husband with a “high breed” background. Myrtle didn’t think she was marrying a poor, working man.
100
“They were at least agonizingly aware of the easy money in the vicinity and convinced that it was theirs” (Fitzgerald 112).
Significance: This quote implies the economic complications and social structure as the young Englishmen at Gatsby’s party try to make money off of the wealthy Americans that were there.
100
“I am the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West – all dead now. I was brought up in America but educated at Oxford, because all my ancestors have been educated there for many years” (Fitzgerald 42).
Significance: This quote is significant because Gatsby is trying to convince Nick that he comes from a rich, royal family and that he is worthy.
100
“I’ve got a man in England who buys me clothes. He sends over a selection of things at the beginning of each season, spring and fall.”
This signifies how the rich easily get the best of whatever they want.
200
“The Carraways are something of a clan, and we have a tradition that we’re descended from the Dukes of Buccleuch…” (Fitzgerald 4).
Significance: The Carraways come from “old” money, handed down from one generation to the next. This maintains the wealth; therefore, maintaining the high social from one generation to the next.
200
“Well, they say he’s a nephew or a cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm’s. That’s where all his money comes from” (Fitzgerald 22).
Significance: The significance of this quote is the value that people place on money, and the difference between the social classes of people.
200
“On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains” (Fitzgerald 26).
Significance: This quote portrays the images of the elaborate parties and wealth associated with Gatsby. It shows the affects of the booming economy, and how the socioeconomic system of wealth created the party atmosphere experience.
200
“Then the valley of ashes opened out on both sides of us and I had a glimpse of Mrs. Wilson straining at the garage pump with panting vitality as we went by” (Fitzgerald 44).
Significance: This quote shows the difference between the rich and the poor. It shows how Mrs. Wilson watches the wealth drive by and desperately wants to go with them to live the wealthy lifestyle.
200
“One thing’s sure and nothing’s surer The rich get richer and the poor get – children. In the meantime, In between time” (Fitzgerald 61).
This quote signifies the differences between the rich and the poor.
300
“His family were enormously wealthy – even in college his freedom with money was a matter for reproach…” (Fitzgerald 6).
This quote shows how Tom flaunted his wealth in college in an arrogant way. Everyone was aware of Tom’s wealth and social structure even when he was young.
300
“…where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of ash-grey men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” (Fitzgerald 16).
The valley of ashes is where some of the poor people work. The rich people that come from New York City, the West Egg, and the East Egg benefit from their work.
300
“And on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before” (Fitzgerald 26).
This is significant because it shows the class difference of the servants that show up at Gatby’s to clean up the mess from his wealthy weekend parties. It also provides imagery.
300
“And the Hornbeams and the Willie Voltaires, and a whole clan named Blackbuck, who always gathered in a corner and flipped up their noses like goats at whosoever came near” (Fitzgerald 39).
This quote signifies the class differences and how the old money, rich people at Gatby’s parties, snubbed their noses at everyone else.
300
“I adore it,” exclaimed Daisy. “The pompadour. You never told me you had a pompadour – or a yacht” (Fitzgerald 60).
This quote represents the importance that wealth plays in this book and with Daisy. She is impressed by his wealth, which seems to be a requirement for Daisy.
400
“The house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red-and-white Georgian colonial mansion, overlooking the bay” (Fitzgerald 6).
his quote provides images of the wealthy, elite, and upper class level of Daisy and Tom Buchanan.
400
“The interior was unprosperous and bare; the only car visible was the dust-covered wreck of a Ford which crouched in a dim corner” (Fitzgerald 17).
The poor people live in dull, dim, and bare surroundings. This is strikingly different from the rich people from East and West Egg.
400
“Evidently he lived in this vicinity, for he told me that he had just bought a hydroplane, and was going to try it out in the morning” (Fitzgerald 31).
This reflects the way Gatby’s socioeconomic system, meaning his wealth, is the source of experience for not only Gatsby, but those who associate with him.
400
“He come down with a hundred people in four private cars, and hired a whole floor of the Muhlbach Hotel, and the before the wedding he gave her a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars” (Fitzgerald 49)
This quote shows the social structure and that Daisy married the richest man around as she herself comes from a wealthy family.
400
“Recovering himself in a minute he opened for us two hulking patens cabinets which held his massed suits and dressing-gowns and ties, and his shirts, piled like bricks in stack a dozen high” (Fitzgerald 59).
This represents the rich and wealthy. This quote represents Gatsby trying to prove to Daisy that he is high class and part of her social structure.
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