The Great Gatsby Study Questions
What term does Gatsby use to address Nick?
"Old Sport"
Tom's physical description is important later in the novel. How does the narrator describe him?
A sturdy straw-haired man of thirty, arrogant eyes and a powerful body- a "cruel" body, gruff and aggressive.
What does Gatsby represent to Daisy?
A way to relieve the boredom of her wealthy lifestyle.
What is Nick's only compliment to Gatsby mean?
Although Nick disproves of Gatsby's shady business dealings, he admires his honest and steadfast devotion to a goal.
What attitude do Daisy and Jordan have?
Both Daisy and Jordan are cynical. They have enjoyed a childhood of affluence and innocence. As adults they find life rather empty and meaningless. They are used to the affluence without the innocence.
What was Tom doing shortly after the wedding?
Cheating on Daisy
Describe Daisy.
Daisy has a "low, thrilling voice", a sad lovely face, bright eyes, and a bright, passionate mouth. Her most alluring asset is her voice.
Why does Gatsby describe Daisy's voice as being "full of money"?
Daisy is the embodiment of what Gatsby has been longing for all his life, byt he might have better that her voice was full of OLD money- something he can never have.
Discuss the confrontation between Tom and Gatsby.
Gatsby insists Daisy denounce her love for Tom. Tom attacks Gatsby's business dealings. Daisy is affected by Tom's revelations and revises her original stand to say that she loved both men.
What gossip about Gatsby does Nick learn at the party?
Gatsby is supposedly the "nephew or cousin" of Kaiser Wilhelm.
What does Gatsby propose that offends Nick?
Gatsby offers to return the favor of making arrangements with Daisy by offering Nick a rather lucrative business deal. Nick refuses and doesn't want to be bought.
How does Nick catch Gatsby in a lie?
Gatsby says he earned his money. Earlier he said he inherited it.
Why doesn't Nick believe Gatsby's story in the car?
Gatsby seems to hurry over his explanation of his life, and says he's from San Francisco by calls it the Midwest. He does show Nick a medal of honor and a picture of himself at Oxford. Gatsby is trying to establish his credibility before he request a favor of Nick.
What favor is asked of Nick on Gatsby's behalf?
Gatsby wants Nick to invite Daisy to tea at his house, alone, so he can see her again.
Nick urges Gatsby to go away. Why does he refuse?
Gatsby was still clutching at one last hope that Daisy would choose to be with him after all.
Gatsby's parties are juxtaposed to Tom's by Fitzgerald. How do they compare?
Gatsby's parties are on a much grander scale; however, the end results are not much different: everyone gets drunk acts foolishly.
Compare Tom and George in their knowledge of their wive's affairs.
George wants to take Myrtle and run away. Tom is trying to act as if its no big deal.
What do you think the significance of the green light is at the end of Chapter 1?
Go for the relationship. He also loves Daisy and bought it because he can see Daisy's dock.
What are some rumors about Gatsby heard at the party?
He doesn't want any trouble with anybody. Someone says he once killed a man. Someone else says he was a German spy during the war.
Why did Tom get so angry at Myrtle for mentioning Daisy's name ? From his reaction, how do you think he feels about Daisy? about Myrtle?
He doesn't want to be reminded that he is cheating on Daisy. Tom doesn't respect Myrtle.
What three emotional states does Gatsby move through during his meeting with Daisy?
He first felt embarrassed, then filled with joy, and finally consumed with wonder.
What is extremely unusual about Mr. Wolfsheim?
He gives the impression he is a gangster or bootlegger. One of his friends was shot in his presence. Hie cuff links are made out of human molars.
What have been the results of the narrator's habit of reserving judgment?
He has been the often-unwilling recipient of the "intimate revelations" of many men (people often open us to him).
Who is "Owl Eyes" and what surprises him?
He is a young man with large glasses who is impressed to discover that the books in Gatsby's books are real. This means Gatsby is not fake.
Why is Klipspringer unable to refuse Gatsby's request to play the piano?
He is non-paying self-invited "boarder" at Gatsby's.
How does Nick change as a result of Myrtle's death?
He is suddenly sicked by Jordan and the Buchanans. He blames Tom's involvement with Myrtle for her death, but sees how unconcerned Jordan is with the situation.
What has George Wilson learned?
He knows Myrtle is having an affair with someone.
Why has George been trying to but a car from Tom?
He knows he can make a quick profit on the sale of the car and get the money he needs to get out of town.
What is Nick's comment about gossip?
He means that the people at the party were rather wild and daring in their casual acceptance of all kinds of behavior, so their being in awe of Gatsby was remarkable.
What is Tom's hypocritical reaction to Daisy's affair?
He suddenly becomes a "prig" acting like the guardian of morality.
What is the narrator especially careful not to forget?
His father's suggestion that "a sense of the fundamental decencies is parceled out unequally at birth."
What is Klipspringer's biggest concern?
His tennis shoes
Why is Fitzgerald's use of flashback more effective than chronological order?
It creates suspense.
Describe the Valley of Ashes. What does it symbolize?
It is a desolate area where empty people labor, watched over by the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg. It symbolizes the "wasteland mentality" of the materialistic middle class and spiritual emptiness of society as a whole.
Why does Fitzgerald include Gatsby's flashback about Daisy?
It unravels a bit more of mystery about Gatsby, this time giving the reader the real story of his feelings fro Daisy.
What does the call from Slagle tell the reader?
It's more evidence of Gatsby's criminal activities.
Who lives next door to Nick? Describe his house.
Jay Gatsby- his mansion resembles the Hotel de Ville in Normandy. It has a tower on one side, ivy climbing its walls, a marble swimming pool, and forty acres of lawn and garden.
Describe Jordan Baker and why she is at the Buchanan's?
Jordan is a girlhood friend of Daisy's. She's tall, slender, has grey eyes and a charming face. She is their guesthouse.
What does Nick realize about Jordan?
Jordan is more concerned about herself than anything else.
How is Jordan shown as "immoral" and Daisy as innocent?
Jordan wants to talk about Tom's girlfriend and Daisy does not.
What does Nick mean when he says he is one of the few who where invited?
Many guest merely crash the parties given by Gatsby . He doesn't even know most of his guests.
Describe Myrtle and her husband.
Myrtle is in her mid-thirties, is fairly stout bu carriers her surplus flesh "sensuously". She wishes to escape her circumstance and have the trappings of the wealthy. Her husband George runs an unprofitable garage. Myrtle treats him badly.
Who did Myrtle think was driving the car?
Myrtle ran out to the car because the had seen Tom driving it before. Daisy was actually driving the car, and Gatsby was her passenger.
What is the significance of the puppy?
Myrtle's wish for the dog was immediately fulfilled by Tom, but neither considers how she will be able to care for the puppy properly. It's just another possession.
What foreshadows Gatsby's death?
Nick has nightmares and wakes just before dawn with a feeling that he must warn Gatsby about something.
What advice does Nick give Gatsby after the party Daisy attended?
Nick says you can't repeat the past. Gatsby says sure you can.
The details of Gatsby's funeral are left up to Nick. Why?
No one else is interested in Gatsby in a personal way. They just used him for pleasure but no one really cared about him.
Does Tom try to keep his affair with Myrtle a secret?
No, everyone know about it, he often takes her to restaurants where is is likely to see friends.
What did Daisy do the day before her wedding to Tom?
She got drunk and said she's changed her mind. She was clutching a letter from Gatsby.
How does Pammy's appearance affect Gatsby?
She is out of harmony with his dream.
What does Nick discover about Jordan later that summer?
She is terribly dishonest. He recalls a past gold scandal in which she moved her ball to a better spot.
Why does Daisy cry when she sees all of Gatsby's beautiful shirts?
She may be crying over the "lost years" the accumulation of shirts represents or maybe the sight of expensive clothing brings her to tears.
What is ironic about Jordan's comment about large parties?
She says they are more intimate than small parties, and it seems that it should be the other way around.
What does Myrtle observe and what conclusions does she jump to?
She sees Jordan in the car with Tom and assumes it is Daisy.
What shows Myrtle's lack of sophistication?
She uses poor grammar and speaks coarsely to her husband. She has lived with George over the garage for 11 years, and Tom is her first "sweetie".
What shows Myrtle's lack to sophistication?
She uses poor grammar and speaks coarsely to her husband. She has lived with George over the garage for 11 years, and Tom is her first "sweetie".
What about Gatsby is suspicious to Nick?
That he seemed to drift out of nowhere to buy a palace on Long Island.
What does Nick find most striking about Gatsby?
That his smile has quality of "eternal reassurance".
What is the West Egg and the East Egg?
The "eggs" are two unusual formations of land on Long Island, which extends due east of New York City. East Egg is more fashionable. Nick rents a small house on the West Egg.
What is symbolic significance of autumn at the novel's end?
The falling leaves and the draining of the pool signal an end and parallel the end of the illusion and the end of Gatsby's life.
What use of foreshadowing is utilized by Fitzgerald?
The first paragraphs of the book foreshadow the novel's main themes: the reader realizes that Gatsby presented, and still presents, a challenge to the way in which Nick is accustomed to thinking about the world. It is clear from the story's opening moments that Gatsby will not be what he initially appears: despite the vulgarity of his mansion, Nick describes Gatsby's personality as "gorgeous."
What "secret society" do the Buchanans belong to?
They seem to enjoy playing with other people's emotions as if life were nothing more than as amusing game.
What startling news does Nick find out Daisy and Gatsby?
They were lovers in 1917. She married Tom even though she still loved Gatsby.
Describe Myrtle and George Wilson and what happens during the course of the evening Myrtle spends with Tom and Nick.
Tom Buchanan takes Nick to George Wilson's garage, which lies at the edge of the valley of ashes. Wilson's wife, Myrtle, is the woman with whom Tom has been having an affair. Tom forces both Myrtle and Nick to accompany him to the city. There, in the flat in which Tom maintains his affair, they have a shrill, vulgar party with Myrtle's sister, Catherine, and a repulsive couple named McKee. The group gossips about Jay Gatsby: Catherine claims that he is somehow related to Kaiser Wilhelm, the much-despised ruler of Germany during World War I. The group becomes exceedingly drunk; as a result, Myrtle begins to grow garrulous and harsh. Shortly after Tom gives her a puppy as a gift, Myrtle begins chanting Daisy's name to irritate Tom. Tom tells her that she has no right to say Daisy's name; she continues taunting him, and he responds by breaking Myrtle's nose.
Who are the Buchanans and where do they live?
Tom and Daisy Buchanan live on the East Egg. Daisy Buchanan is Nick's second cousin, once removed. Tom and Nick knew one another at Yale.
How do we get the impression that Tom is racist?
Tom calls whites the "dominant race" and asserts that they must keep control or people of color with destroy society.
Compare Tom and Gatsby's behaviors.
Tom is rude to Gatsby. Gatsby is hospitable.
According to Jordan Baker, who phoned Tom during dinner?
Tom's girlfriend in New York.
Who unexpectedly drops in at Gatsby's one Sunday?
Tom, he possibly has some idea of Daisy and Gatsby, and hopes to catch her with him.
What advice did the narrator's father give him?
When he feels like criticizing anyone, he should remember that all the people in this world haven't had his advantages.
What crime does Gatsby say Wolfsheim committed?
Wolfsheim fixed the World Series.
How does the meeting with Daisy affect Gatsby?
he literally glows with a new well-being.
Describe the weather and its relevance to the plot.
it is very hot, builds dramatic tension as the story "heats" up.
What does Gatsby flaunt at Tom?
the fact that he knows Daisy.
