Irony
Although Gatsby amasses great wealth to win Daisy’s love, this ironic fact ultimately makes his dream unattainable.
What is that Daisy values old money and social status more than Gatsby’s success?
This setting, located between West Egg and New York City, symbolizes the moral decay and social rot hidden beneath society’s glittering wealth and excess.
What is the Valley of Ashes?
Gatsby’s belief that he can "repeat the past" reveals this major theme of the novel.
What is the illusion and destructiveness of the American Dream?
Gatsby’s life story is a metaphor for this American ideal—one that the novel ultimately calls into question.
What is the self-made person or the American Dream?
Gatsby’s greatest conflict is between his romanticized vision of Daisy and this harsher truth.
What is the reality of who Daisy truly is and what she values?
This is ironic about Gatsby’s funeral, considering the lavish parties he once hosted to hundreds and hundreds of people.
What is that almost no one attends?
The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg symbolize this about the landscape of America.
What are the eyes of God, the absence of a God, or the absence of moral values (such as kindness, compassion, honesty, integrity, and charity) of society?
This theme is reinforced by the stark contrast between East Egg and West Egg.
What is the division between old money and new money (or class stratification)?
Gatsby is described as having “an extraordinary gift for hope.” This metaphor emphasizes this paradox in his character.
What is that his optimism is both admirable and tragically misguided?
This external conflict takes place when Gatsby confronts Tom in the Plaza Hotel (in Manhattan).
What is the complete discord between Gatsby’s illusion and Tom’s brutal reality?
It is ironic that this major character, who to be fair condemns others' immorality and is guilty of infidelity and hypocrisy, ends up being one of the least hypocritical characters.
Who is Tom Buchanan? He just is who he is -- an incredibly flawed person, but not really pretending to be someone he's not.
Gatsby’s shirts, which Daisy cries over, symbolize this.
What is the seductive materialism and aesthetic slickness of Gatsby’s fabricated identity?
Nick’s disillusionment at the end of the novel reflects this larger theme about the American experience.
What is the loss of innocence or the illusion of moral integrity in America?
Nick says, “So we beat on, boats against the current.” This metaphor suggests this paradox about the human condition.
What is the pull between aspiring to be someone incredibly successful and prosperous in America, but that to ever get to that level, we must be willing every time to put it all on the line and risk losing everything?
This broader social conflict underlies what drives Myrtle to tragically pursue what she pursues.
What is trying to get out of the valley of ashes? Also, what is to cross the huge gap between the rich and the poor?
Gatsby’s parties are a metaphor for this paradox of American society during the Jazz Age.
What is the illusion of happiness masking internal emptiness?
Gatsby’s _____________ symbolizes this duality or paradox: the grandiosity of the dreams we have and the hollowness/emptiness we feel once we've achieved what we set out to achieve.
What is mansion?
Gatsby’s internal conflict revolves around this impossible desire and exemplifies this major theme.
What is his longing to repeat the past and recreate his love with Daisy?
Gatsby’s transformation from James Gatz into Jay Gatsby reflects this paradox at the heart of his success.
What is the idea that reinvention requires both self-denial and self-glorification?
Nick’s goes through this moral conflict.
What is that he is torn between his admiration for Gatsby and his scorn of him?