The Great Gatsby

What rule does Wolfsheim live by concerning friends?

"Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead."

What is the advice Nick's father has given his that he has been "turning over in [his] mind"?

"Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you had."

How old is Nick?

30

What two items are in Daisy's hands as she lies drunk on her bed a half an hour before her bridal dinner?

A bottle of sauterne in one hand, a letter in the other

What is in the drawer Michaelis opens?

A dog leash for the puppy Tom had gotten Myrtle to 'go with' the apartment he rented for their hookups

What does Cody leave to Gatsby? Why does he not get it?

A legacy of $25k; Gatsby didn't get it because Cody's last mistress/girlfriend (Ella Kaye) used legal maneuvering to get it for herself

What proof does Gatsby offer Nick that he was in the army and involved in Montenegro?

A medal slung on a ribbon with his name inscribed on the back along with For Valour Extraordinary

What does Gatsby carry as proof of his education at Oxford?

A photo of half a dozen men in blazers, standing under an arch with spires visible in the distance

What is happening beneath the parlor suite at the Plaza Hotel as Tom and Daisy's marriage is dissolving?

A wedding is going on below them; this is situational irony

What rules of behavior seem to apply at Gatsby's parties?

Act as if they're at an amusement partk

What is present at Gatsby's parties that the Volstead Act of 1919 prohibited?

Alcohol

What does Dan Cody's yacht represent to Gatz?

All the beauty and glamour in the world

At Gatsby's party, what does Gatsby identify Tom as?

An air of oppressiveness

Nick says, "I've always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave him, because I disapproved of him from beginning to end." Why would Nick give someone he disapproves of such a compliment as "You're worth the whole damn bunch put together"?

Because compared to the rest of the characters, Gatsby is a better person

Who was driving the "death car"? How do we know this?

Daisy was the one who had been driving the death car

Who lives in East Egg whom Nick knows?

Daisy, his second cousin once removed

Who does Jordan meet for the first time in 1917? Whom is this person with?

Daisy; Fay

Who does Wilson identify as being God?

Doctor T.J. Eckleburg

What about Jordan's past nearly reached a sandal?

During a golf tournament it was said she moved her ball from a bad lie in the semi-final round

What does Gatsby represent to Nick?

Everything for which he has an unaffected scorn

What does Nick believe Gatsby believed in? What meaning did the green light hold for Gatsby?

Gatsby believed in the green light (at the end of Daisy's dock) and possibilities of the future

What "extraordinary gift" does Nick find in Gatsby?

Gatsby has an extraordinary gift for hope and romantic readiness

How does Gatsby contradict his past in telling Nick the time it took him to earn his money for his house? How does he correct himself? What do you believe is the true story about Gatsby's money?

Gatsby says it took him only three years to earn the money to buy the mansion; earlier, as Nick points out, Gatsby had claimed he had inherited his fortune from his family. He corrects himself by saying that he did initially inherit his family's money, but lost it in the panic of the war and had to earn it back

What does Gatsby tell Tom about Daisy's love?

Gatsby tells Tom that Daisy never loved Tom, but is in love him him

What car is Tom driving when he stops at Wilson's

Gatsby's car

Who is Henry C. Gatz?

Gatsby's father

What does Mr. Gatz show Nick in the "Hopalong Cassidy" What does Mr. Gatz believe this says about his son?

Gatsby's schedule and general resolves, all aimed at self-improvement. Be nice to parents

What does Nick try to do for Gatsby?

Get people to come to his funeral

What does Kilpspringer call about

Getting his tennis shoes back

What has changed about Nick's feelings for Jordan?

He doesn't care about her anymore; he doesn't care if he never talks to her or sees her again

What does Nick identify the middle-west as being to him?

He feel he is a part of the midwest; it is a part of his youth, especially the trains...

What is the next piece of gossip we hear about Gatsby's possible career?

He is a bootlegger

What is wrong with Wilson?

He is all run down and sick

What, exactly, does Gatsby reveal to Nick about himself?

He is the son of some wealthy people in the middle-west, brought up in America and educated at Oxford

Gatsby takes Daisy under false pretenses. What are these false pretenses?

He made her believe that he was in the "same satrata" as she was that he would have been able to provide for her financially when in fact he was penniless

What does Wilson think about his wife's visits to the city?

He thinks she goes to visit her sister

What had James Gatz been doing before he met Dan Cody?

He was a clam digger, and a salmon fisher, and later a janitor at St. Olaf University

In literature, water can symbolize many things. It most often symbolizes baptism, a cleansing, a rebirth. Gatsby has "paid a high prive for living too long with a single dream." What could his death in a pool of water signify about eh man and his life?

He was an island unto himself, or that this was a transformation, a baptismal 'washing away' of Gatsby so he turned back into James Gatz of North Dakota (Jay Gatsby was also 'born' in that rowboat as he looked up at Dan Cody's yacht)

What is the owl-eyed man in the library most surprised about? What does his astonishment tell you about the society of the day?

He was surprised that all the books in the library are real, which shows in this time most wealthy people's private libraries were filled with not real but fake books because it was only for show and they never had any intention of reading those books; they just wanted to appear intellectual. Everyone was fake and only out to impress others

What occupation does Gatsby attribute to Wolfsheim? What scandal does Gatsby link to Wolfsheim

He's a gambler, and he fixed the 1919 World's Series baseball game

Several women at the party recognize and seem to have met Jordan at some of Gatsby's other parties. What does Jordan's inability to recognize or remember these people say about the relationships established at these parties?

Her relationships are just for the duration of the party, mostly; she is shallow and her relationships are transitory and ephemeral

What seems to attract Myrtle to Tom the first time they meet?

His appearance; the way he dresses in his nice dress suit and leather shoes

What are Wolfsheim's cuff buttons made of? Based upon the conversation and the cuff's, what does this tell you about this man?

Human molars; he is a dangerous man

Nick says that "reserving judgments is a matter of" what?

Infinite hope

Give a brief description of his neighbor's house

It was a mansion that he describes as a colossal affair, a factual imitation of some hotel in Normandy with a tower on one side and a thin veil of new ivy. It also has a marble swimming pool and more than forty acres of lawn and garden.

What was Gatsby's legal name?

James Gatz, from North Dakota

What does Nick learn about Jordan before he leaves?

Jordan is engaged

What causes Jordan Baker to "Sh!" Nick? What is she listening for? What does this reveal to Nick about Tom?

Jordan was listening for Tom talking on the phone because he has another woman in New York. She wants to eavesdrop on his conversation with the mistress.

Jordan says, "life starts all over again when it gets crips in the fall." How is Jordan's statement ironic?

Life starts over again in the spring; the fall everything is dying

What does Gatsby recognize Daisy's voice as being full of?

Money

Who is in the picture that Nick notices?

Mr. Dan Cody; Gatsby says Dan Cody was his best friend years ago

Who is Nicks' neighbor?

Mr. Gatsby

What does Michaelis witness happen in front of his restaurant?

Mrytle getting run over and killed by a car

Who is watching Tom, Nick, Jordan, and Wilson?

Myrtle Wilson

What causes Tom and Myrtle to fight around midnight?

Myrtle shouting out Daisy's name; Tom says she has no right to say Daisy's name

What part of the state does Nick live in? How does he compare it with East Egg?

Nick lives on an island in Long Island Sound, one of a pair of identically shaped islands; he lives in West Egg, the less fashionable of the two

What adjective does Nick use to describe Tom?

Nick says that Tom was sturdy, with a hard mouth and a supercilious manner.

Michaelis tells George, "you ought to have a church, George, for times like this." How is this remark commentary on the morals of the society?

People at this time and place only use religion when they need it to prop them up or support them

Where does Gatsby's phone calls come from?

Philadelphia,

What two adjectives does Nick use to describe Daisy's face? What is your first impression of Daisy?

Sad and lovely, she's girlish and kind of giddy

At what age and what event initiated the changing of his name?

Seventeen

What has Wilson discovered about his wife?

She has been seeing another man

What does Wilson reveal to Tom about Myrtle's wants?

She has talked about wanting to go west for the past ten years. Now, he says, he is going to take her west whether she still wants to go or not

What kind of people does Jordan hate? What does she like about Nick?

She hates careless people; she likes Nick because he isn't careless

Daisy justifies her crying by saying, "It makes me sad because I've never seen such-such beautiful shirts before." Why is she really crying?

She is really crying because now she realizes Gatsby is as wealthy as Tom- if not wealthier- and she should have chosen him, and now she wants to be with him again

What confuses Gatsby about Daisy's love for him?

She loves him but she also loved Tom

What specifically does Gatsby want Daisy to tell Tom?

She never loved him

How does Wilson's wife treat him?

She treats him horribly, speaking to him in commands, and treating him almost as if he were not there and didn't exist

What is Gatsby's reason for purchasing his house in West Egg?

So he can be right across the bay from Daisy

What does Tom guess about the source of Gatsby's wealth?

That Gatsby is a bootlegger

What does Gatsby's waving off of the policeman with a supposed card from the commissioner suggest about his character?

That he is powerful and influential; or at least, that he derives power and influence from those who are powerful or influential themselves

What are some of the rumors and gossip about Gatsby?

That he killed a man, he was a german spy during the war, and that he was in the American army

What does Gatsby suggest in order to try to help Nick with his financial state?

That he work with him on a business deal

What advice does Nick give about Gatsby about the past?

That you can't repeat the past

What does Mr. Klipspringer become known as and why?

The boarder; he was there so often and for so long it was as if he had moved it

What does Nick go eat to learn?

The bond business

What two businesses does Gatsby tell Nick he has been in?

The drug business and the oil business

What appears out of nowhere in the Valley of Ashes?

The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg

What is halfway between East Egg and New York?

The valley of ashes

Daisy tells Nick, "I'm pretty cynical about everything." Based on what you know, what do you believe has caused Daisy to become cynical?

The way her husband treats her

Where are the people when the Church bells are ringing on Sunday morning? What might this tell you about their morality?

They are still at Gatsby's party. Fitzgerald does this to tell us their spiritual or community values are not nearly as important to them as having a good time and partying

Why does Nick classify Tom and Daisy as careless?

They were careless people, who smashed up things and creatures and then retreated into their money or their vast carelessness, running away and refusing to take responsibility for the messes they had made, leaving other people to clean up the messes they made

Who do we learn was Wilson's informant?

Tom Buchanan

What had Gatsby not believed in the existence before this day?

Tom and Daisy's daughter, Pammy

Tom gives an intense lecture about the family institution. How is this ironic?

Tom himself has violated the rules of the family institution by cheating on his wife many times, perhaps by abusive towards her, and by not really raising his child and leaving that to their servants and nannies

What does Wilson want from Tom?

Tom's car

Gatsby's car is something to admire. What might his car be symbolic of?

Wealth

Nick says, "No-Gatsby turned out alright at the end." What is it that bothers Nick?

What preyed on Gatsby, the foul dust that floated in the wake of his dreams

What seemed to be a great disappointment for Myrtle concerning her marriage to George? What does her reaction to the episode tell you about where she places value?

When they got married Mr. Wilson borrowed a suit from a friend to get married in. Myrtle doesn't value the old, she values the new, she values money and riches and being at the top. When she found out he'd borrowed the suit she layed down and cried all afternoon. She's highly materialistic; a gold-digger.

What remark does Tom make about he drug store?

You can buy anything at a drugstore nowadays

What does Gatsby want Nick to arrange for him?

a meeting between him and Daisy

What three shops are located on the Main Street of the Valley of Ashes?

a place for rent, an all-night restaurant and a garage repair place owned by George B. Wilson, who repairs and buys and sells cars

Who arrives to investigate Gatsby?

an ambitious young reporter

What is George B. Wilson's occupation?

car salesman and mechanic

Why do Tom, Jordan, and Nick stop at Wilson's garage

for gas

What sport do we learn that Jordan plays?

golf

What does Gatsby do for Dan Cody?

he became Dan's skipper, mate, steward, secretary, and even jailor

What about Nick is different from the other guests at Gatsby's parties?

he had actually been invited, unlike most who had shown up

What had Tom Buchannan done at New Haven?

played football

What change occurs at Gatsby's on Saturday night?

the lights failed to go on; the parties have stopped

Why is it important that Daisy see Gatsby's house?

to show daisy that he was very wealthy and could provide for her materially. That's why he lost her in the first place: he wasn't wealthy enough for her and Tom was, and now Gatsby wants to show her he is as wealthy as Tom if not wealthier

What is the color of Gatsby's car?

yellow

Nick says, "There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams - not through her own fault because of the colossal vitality of his illusion." Has Gatsby made Daisy out to be more than she really is?

yes