Quotes & Meaning
“You always look so cool.” This comment hints that someone is becoming aware of a hidden relationship.
What is Daisy realizing something important about Gatsby and Tom’s tension?
This glowing object across the bay represents Gatsby’s dream and hope for the future.
What is the green light?
The city where the major confrontation between Gatsby and Tom takes place.
What is New York City?
Language that appeals to the senses.
What is imagery?
The idea that people chase wealth, success, and happiness.
What is the American Dream?
Nick describes the difference between “the sick and the well.”
What is the contrast between Wilson’s emotional breakdown and Tom’s composure?
These giant billboard eyes symbolize judgment or the idea that someone might always be watching.
What are the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg?
The heated argument that forces Daisy to confront her feelings.
What is the hotel confrontation?
Words chosen for emotional associations beyond literal meaning.
What is connotative language?
The influence of wealth and status on relationships.
What is social class?
“God sees everything.”
What is Wilson mistaking the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg for God?
This bleak area between New York and West Egg symbolizes moral decay and the consequences of wealth.
What is the Valley of Ashes?
The tragic accident involving Myrtle in the Valley of Ashes.
What is Myrtle being struck by a car?
A sentence that builds intensity with additional descriptive phrases.
What is a cumulative sentence?
When characters create false images or misunderstand what is real.
What is illusion vs. reality?
Nick describes West Egg using eerie imagery similar to the style of this painter.
Who is El Greco?
This flashy vehicle becomes a symbol of wealth, recklessness, and tragedy.
What is Gatsby’s yellow car?
After the confrontation, Gatsby waits outside this place to make sure Daisy is safe.
What is Daisy Buchanan’s house?
Nick contrasts how two men react to shocking news to highlight this difference.
What is the difference between sickness and health?
The novel suggests that money does not guarantee this.
What is happiness?
“So we beat on, boats against the current…”
What is the idea that people keep striving for dreams even though the past pulls them back?
In the final chapter, Nick compares America to a “fresh green breast,” symbolizing this national ideal.
What is the American Dream?
Nick struggles to organize this event because many people who attended Gatsby’s parties refuse to come.
What is Gatsby’s funeral?
Gatsby’s self-improvement schedule resembles the habits promoted by this early American figure.
Who is Benjamin Franklin?
The force that continually pulls people backward in the novel’s final line.
What is the past?