Formalist
What does the green light symbolize?
Gatsby’s hopes and dreams, particularly his desire to reunite with Daisy.
Who holds the most social power in Daisy’s marriage?
Tom as he is the patriarch.
What do East Egg and West Egg represent?
Different forms of wealth and class status
the bourgeois and the proletariat
What archetype might Gatsby represent?
, Questing Hero, or Tragic Hero
What does Gatsby obsessively desire?
Daisy and the recreation of their past relationship.
He follows his Id
What does the Valley of Ashes represent?
Moral and social decay hidden beneath wealth and glamour.
How does Tom demonstrate patriarchal power?
He dominates relationships while expecting women to accept his behaviour.
Which character represents “old money”?
Tom Buchanan.
What archetype might Daisy represent?
The goddess or unattainable object of desire.
Why is Gatsby unable to accept the past?
Gatsby cannot accept the past because of a fixation rooted in trauma and regression. He uses idealization and omnipotent denial to freeze time. He treats a lost memory as a living object he can control.
What is the significance of the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg?
They symbolize judgment, surveillance, moral emptiness, or the loss of spiritual values.
Who was raised within a wealthy patriarchal society with strong expectations around marriage, class, and respectability.
Daisy
Which location most clearly represents the working class and economic exploitation?
The Valley of Ashes.
What archetypal journey does Gatsby undertake?
A quest on the hero's journey to transform himself and achieve his idealized dream
How does Gatsby create a new identity for himself?
He transforms himself from James Gatz into the wealthy and mysterious Jay Gatsby.
Why is Nick an important structural choice as narrator?
His perspective controls what readers know and encourages readers to question his judgments.
How does Myrtle attempt to challenge her social position?
She tries to escape her working-class identity through Tom and by adopting the appearance and behaviour of the wealthy.She is cansidered "the other".
How does Gatsby’s wealth complicate the idea of social mobility?
He gains wealth but cannot fully enter the social world of old-money families such as Tom and Daisy.
This creates class conflict.
What archetype might Nick represent?
The Observer, Narrator, or Outsider.
What does Gatsby’s idealization of Daisy reveal about his psychology?
He is attached not simply to Daisy herself but to an imagined version of her and what she represents.
How do recurring symbols strengthen the novel’s central themes?
Symbols such as the green light, eyes, automobiles, and ash reinforce desire, wealth, illusion, morality, and the American Dream.
Which female character in the novel displayed misandry?
Jordan
How could Gatsby’s pursuit of Daisy be interpreted through a Marxist lens?
His desire for Daisy is connected to his desire for the wealth, status, and social legitimacy she represents.
Why can Gatsby be interpreted as a tragic hero?
He pursues an idealized dream with determination but fails because his dream is based on illusion and the past cannot be recreated.
How could Gatsby’s pursuit of Daisy be interpreted as an attempt to resolve an internal conflict?
He tries to prove that his transformed identity is successful and worthy by obtaining the person and lifestyle he associates with his ideal self.