“So we beat on, boats against the current, born back ceaselessly into the past.”
– Nick Carraway
Chapter One
In this chapter, we are introduced to Nick Carraway, the man who will be narrating the story. He visits his cousin, Daisy Buchannan and her husband, Tom, for dinner one evening. During this event, we come to understand that Tom and Daisy’s marriage is not a happy one. Tom is having an affair with “some woman in New York” and Daisy is feeling as though she has “been everywhere and seen everything and done everything”. Nick finishes the chapter by telling us about a strange man he spots late at night. The man appears to be reaching out to something but Nick can “distinguish nothing except a single green light, minute and far away that might have been at the end of a dock.”. When he looks around, the stranger is gone.
Form a response to the following questions in preparation for our discussion in class:
- Nick states that he is “inclined to reserve all judgments” at the beginning of the chapter. What does this mean? How does this set him up to reliably tell the story?
- Describe your initial impressions of the following characters: Nick, Tom, Daisy and Jordan.
- Explain the relationship between Daisy and Tom. Explain what seems ‘wrong’ with their marriage.
Chapter Two
Chapter two brings with a couple of new settings for us to explore: the Valley of Ashes and New York City. Below, you will find our breakdown of the description of the Valley of Ashes. Nick narrates the afternoon that he spends in the apartment that Tom keeps to have affairs in. The behaviour grows more outrageous with the amount of alcohol that is consumed and Nick tells us that he has “been drunk just twice in my life and the second time was that afternoon.”. Tom breaks Myrtle’s nose and creating a scene of of “bloody towels upon the bathroom floor and women’s voices scolding” which makes him want to leave the apartment. In the morning, Nick finds himself “lying half asleep in the cold lower level of the Pennsylvania Station, staring a the morning Tribune and waiting for the four o’clock train.”.
Form a response to the following questions in preparation for our discussion in class:
- How does the scene at the apartment develop our perception of Tom?
- Nick states that he “was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.” What do you think he means by this?
We also spent time discussing the valley of ashes, a new setting which we are introduced to at the beginning of the chapter. The photos below outline where our discussion took us about what this setting really is.
Chapter Three
In this chapter, we finally meet our main character, Gatsby! Nick attends a party one night at his mansion and Jordan Baker uncovers a surprising story about Gatsby’s past. The rift between the ‘old money’ and ‘new money’ is established and we come to understand how many rumours circulating about this mysterious man, the ‘Great’ Gatsby.
Form a response to the following questions:
- There is a colour that is frequently associated with Gatsby and his house and party. It is mentioned frequently throughout this chapter, particularly at the start. What colour is it? Write down 2-3 quotes from this chapter that connect the colour with Gatsby.
- Gatsby’s character is developed in this chapter. Locate two quotes that reveal something about who he is/his personality. Explain what is expressed by these quotes.
- Nick observes that “East Egg condescending to West Egg, on guard against its spectroscopic gaiety.” Explain what this means and what it says about the relationship between ‘New Money’ and ‘Old Money’.
- Owl Eyes observes that Gatsby is “a regular Belasco!” Research who David Belasco was and explain the connection you think could exist between him and Gatsby.
Chapter Four
Nick and Gatsby journey to NYC for lunch together one day and we hear the tale the Gatsby spins for Nick about where he has come from, complete with well-timed props to support the story. Nick is introduced to Myer Wolfshiem, a symbol of the corruption that ran rife through America during this time period. We finally hear from Jordan Baker…Gatsby and Daisy had an affair 5 years ago! He’s back to win her love again and is hoping Nick will set up a meeting for them.
Form a response to the following questions:
- Who is Meyer Wolfsheim, and what do we know about him?
- What is weird about Nick’s drive into New York with Gatsby? List at least three things about Gatsby in this scene that strike you as odd.
- Jordan recalls the time in 1917 when she saw Gatsby and Daisy together. From Jordan’s description, do you think Daisy was genuinely interested in Gatsby?
- Nick says, “Then it had not been merely the stars to which he had aspired on that June night” when Nick first spotted Gatsby reaching out across the bay. What does Nick now realize about that night and about Gatsby’s real estate purchase?
In this chapter, we finally realise that the strange behaviour that Nick saw Gatsby exhibiting at the end of chapter one has a point…Daisy’s house is just across the bay at the green light.
Chapter Five
They’re reunited! It’s love all over again! Nick sets up a meeting between Daisy and Gatsby and his description of the event is heavily reliant on the symbolism of water, the clock, shirts and the green light.
Form a response to the following questions:
- Describe Gatsby’s feelings toward the meeting with Dasiy. Find two quotes to support your description. Explain why he might be feeling the way you have identified.
- A new symbol becomes apparent in this chapter. Find three quotes which mention rain, the ocean, mist or water of some kind. Write them down and consider what connection they might have to Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship.
- Discuss the connection between Gatsby and the clock that he breaks on the mantelpiece. A quote to help you understand this might be “He had been full of the idea so long, dreamed it right through to the end, waited with his teeth set, so to speak, at an inconceivable pitch of intensity. Now, in the reaction, he was running down like an overwound clock.“
- Why do you think that Gatsby wants Nick to host this afternoon tea? How important is it to Gatsby that Daisy sees his house?
- Why do you think Daisy cries over Gatsby’s shirts?
Chapter Six
Finally, the truth! We now know that Gatsby was the son of “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people” and at the age of seventeen, reinvented himself, changing his name from ‘James Gatz’ to ‘Jay Gatsby’. We hear the story of Gatsby’s time with Dan Cody and Nick tells us that Gatsby relays all of this information at a time when he believed “everything and nothing about him.” Gatsby throws another party and this time, Tom and Daisy attend. While Daisy tries to sell her enjoyment of the party to us, we can’t help but notice that she is “appalled by West Egg” and its “raw vigour that chafed”. Tom announces that “a lot of these newly rich people are just big bootleggers” which gets us to question the legality of the high life Gatsby and his crew appear to live. Finally, Nick and Gatsby have an interesting conversation at the end of the night during which the full extent of Gatsby delusions are revealed.
Form a response to the following questions:
- Give an overview of where Gatsby came from. How different is this to the rumours that we have heard about him? How true do you think his story about the war and Oxford is now?
- Find two quotes that show us Gatsby ‘reinvented’ himself. Write them down.
- Consider the quote “a promise that the rock of the world was founded securely on a fairy’s wing.” What do you think this has to do with the idea that you can design your own reality? How do you think this applies to Gatsby?
- Describe Daisy’s reaction to the party. Find two quotes to support your observation.
- Why is it significant that Daisy says “I’m giving out green” during the party?
- Gatsby seems to think that Nick’s opinion that “You can’t repeat the past” is insane. Find his response to this line in the novel and write it down. Why do you think he needs to hold this opinion?
Chapter Seven
Things get heated….literally and figuratively! On the hottest day of the summer so far, Nick and Gatsby are invited to lunch at Tom and Daisy’s house. Things are tense and Daisy suggests that they should “all go to town!” to try and break the situation that is evolving up. When they get there, it is decided that they will hang out in a room at the Palace hotel and have a mint julip. Things begin to intensify again and Gatsby tells Tom that “Your wife doesn’t love you…She’s never loved you. She loves me” to which Tom responds to by revealing that Gatsby “bought up a lot of side-street drugstores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter.” Daisy and Gatsby leave together (at Tom’s insistence) and following in their wake, Tom, Nick and Jordan come across a commotion at Wilson’s garage. Myrtle has been killed by a large yellow car speeding along the road. When Nick returns to Tom and Daisy’s house, he discovers that Gatsby is watching the house to be sure that Tom doesn’t give Daisy a hard time. He stays there all night even though Nick assures him that Tom “isn’t thinking of her at the moment.” The chapter closes with Nick leaving Gatsby to his vigil.
Form a response to the following questions:
- Nick observes that “the whole caravansary had fallen in like a card house at the disapproval in her eyes.” What do you think he means by this? Note: the quote relates to Gatsby and Daisy and is near the beginning of chapter one.
- Why do you think Fitzgerald set the events of this chapter on the hottest day of the story so far? Consider how this might connect to the water symbolism.
- Gatsby tells Nick that “Her voice is full of money” in regards to Daisy. Explain what this means.
- “High in a white palace, the kings daughter, the golden girl”. This line appears as Nick is describing Daisy and her voice. Why do you think it is significant? What does it tell us about her?
- Comment on the situation at the palace hotel. Do you think Daisy ever had any intention of leaving Tom? Find a quote to support your answer.
- Break down the following quotation, as we have done as a class on the board. Explain what is revealed about ‘the dream’ in this quote. “But with every word she was drawing further and further into herself, so he gave that up, and only the dead dream fought on as the afternoon slipped away, trying to touch what was no longer tangible, struggling unhappily, despairingly, towards that lost voice across the room.”
- Daisy confirms for us that you cannot repeat the past. Find a quote spoken by her that confirms this and explain why the past cannot be repeated or retrieved.
Chapter Eight
