Character
Who is the narrator of The Great Gatsby?
Nick Carraway
How does Nick Carraway first meet Jay Gatsby?
Nick attends one of Gatsby’s summer parties. The actual moment of their acquaintance proves awkward. Nick mistakes Gatsby for another guest, telling the stranger that “this man Gatsby sent over his chauffeur with an invitation,” but that he “hasn’t even seen the host” yet. Gatsby announces himself and apologizes for being a poor host.
Who is the quote discussing?
"He's a bootlegger...One time her killed a man who had found out that he was nephew to von Hindenburg and second cousin to the devil."
Jay Gatsby and the rumors told about him
Where does Nick Carraway live?
In West Egg, next door to Gatsby
Who wrote The Great Gatsby?
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Who is Myrtle Wilson and what big event happens to her near the end of the novel?
She is Tom Buchanan's mistress, and she is killed by Daisy running over her with a car.
Why does Daisy marry Tom?
Even though she was still in love with Gatsby, Daisy most likely married Tom because she knew he could provide her with more material comforts.
Who is the quote discussing?
"I just remembered that today's my birthday"
Nick Carraway
Where do Daisy and Tom Buchanan live?
In East Egg
What does the green light represent and where is it found?
Situated at the end of Daisy’s East Egg dock and barely visible from Gatsby’s West Egg lawn, the green light represents Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for the future
How does Daisy know Jordan Baker?
They were childhood friends.
Why does Gatsby arrange for Nick to lunch with Jordan Baker?
Instead of asking Nick to do this himself, Gatsby employs Jordan to convince Nick. The meeting between Nick and Jordan in Chapter 4 is part of a longer-term plan that Gatsby initiated before Daisy moved to East Egg. According to Jordan, Gatsby has kept tabs on Daisy for years and followed her when she and Tom moved from Chicago to the east coast.
Who said this quote, and what were they discussing?
"I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool."
Daisy speaks these words in Chapter 1 as she describes to Nick and Jordan her hopes for her infant daughter. While not directly relevant to the novel’s main themes, this quote offers a revealing glimpse into Daisy’s character. Daisy is not a fool herself but is the product of a social environment that, to a great extent, does not value intelligence in women. The older generation values subservience and docility in females, and the younger generation values thoughtless giddiness and pleasure-seeking. Daisy’s remark is somewhat sardonic: while she refers to the social values of her era, she does not seem to challenge them. Instead, she describes her own boredom with life and seems to imply that a girl can have more fun if she is beautiful and simplistic.
What time period is the novel set in?
The 1920s
Define the American Dream.
Who is Meyer Wolfsheim?
Gatsby’s friend, a prominent figure in organized crime. Before the events of the novel take place, Wolfsheim helped Gatsby to make his fortune bootlegging illegal liquor.
Why does Myrtle run out in front of Gatsby’s car?
Myrtle runs out in front of Gatsby’s car because she mistakes it for Tom’s car. The mistake occurs because, earlier in the day, Tom suggests that he and Gatsby swap cars for the drive to New York. Gatsby drives straight to New York, but Tom, driving Gatsby’s car, stops for gas at the Wilsons’ garage.
What idea does this quote discuss?
"The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that—and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end."
Jay Gatsby's development in to his ideal self
Where does Tom's mistress live?
Valley of Ashes
How does the geography of the novel dictate its themes and characters?
Each of the four important geographical locations in the novel—West Egg, East Egg, the valley of ashes, and New York City—corresponds to a particular theme or type of character encountered in the story. West Egg is like Gatsby, full of garish extravagance, symbolizing the emergence of the new rich alongside the established aristocracy of the 1920s. East Egg is like the Buchanans, wealthy, possessing high social status, and powerful, symbolizing the old upper class that continued to dominate the American social landscape. The valley of ashes is like George Wilson, desolate, desperate, and utterly without hope, symbolizing the moral decay of American society hidden by the glittering surface of upper-class extravagance. New York City is simply chaos, an abundant swell of variety and life, associated with the “quality of distortion” that Nick perceives in the East.
Who is J.T. Eckleberg and what does he represent?
The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are a pair of fading, bespectacled eyes painted on an old advertising billboard over the valley of ashes. They may represent God staring down upon and judging American society as a moral wasteland, though the novel never makes this point explicitly.
The Great Gatsby, how does it forward the plot when Daisy Buchanan attends Jay Gatsby's party?
When Daisy and Tom Buchanan show up at one of Jay Gatsby's parties, Gatsby believes that he has made progress toward his goal of earning Daisy's love, which has been represented by the green light across the water for so long. Daisy's attendance at the party emboldens the two of them, and they begin to take more chances with their relationship, including slipping away from the party together.
Who says this quote and what is happening?
"Daisy, Daisy, Daisy!"
Myrtle said this quote. Tom and her were upset with each other because Tom was not leaving Daisy and felt that Myrtle had no right to mention Daisy's name.
How does F. Scott Fitzgerald describe East Egg and West Egg as symbols of old money versus new money?
F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the descriptions of the area, the homes, and even the people to set up the class theme that comes into play in the novel. Nick Carraway rents a house in West Egg, which is described as the "less fashionable" of the two communities; it's where people with new money reside. Consider his description of Jay Gatsby's mansion in West Egg, in which he calls it "a colossal affair ... with a tower ... and more than forty acres of lawn." By contrast, "the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water" where the Buchanans' house was, is described as "a cheerful red and white Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay." There is warmth and charm and even poise suggested by the verbs and adjectives he uses in his painting of East Egg.