Discussion Questions For The Great Gatsby

Kaitlin Zarbis
Period 3
Gatsby Questions
1. For some, the American Dream embodies prosperity and the idea of going from rags to riches through hard work and perseverance. For others, the American Dream is about living a happy and fulfilling life. In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald relates how the American Dream has become corrupted in a materialistic society. Gatsby, Myrtle, Daisy, and Tom all represent different aspects of this newly corrupt American Dream and how the prospect of achieving this American Dream is ruined by the harsh realities of life. To begin, Tom and Daisy Buchanan are characters who have already achieved the American Dream due to the fact that they are of “old money” and have inherited a large fortune. They

appear to have everything they could ever possibly want, yet both characters are unhappy and seek constant change, moving from “here and there unrestfully” (6). The Buchanan household is tension filled and both Tom and Daisy cheat on each other. While Tom is drawn by Myrtle’s coarseness and sexuality, Daisy cheats on Tom with Jay Gatsby for reasons involving her own American Dream, separate from having wealth and a nice house.

She wishes to be happy, and being with Tom does not give her this happiness. Sure, he has given her riches and a family, thus fulfilling part of the American Dream, but Daisy does not love Tom the way she loves Gatsby. In the end, however, Daisy resorts back to the comfort of Tom and what he is provided for her; they have obtained the American Dream, but both of their lives are empty and flawed. Continuing on, Myrtle wishes to escape her social status and join the exclusive upper class, and she attempts to do this by having an affair with Tom. Not only is she attracted to Tom because of his money, she is attracted to Tom for his appearance; she sees him as someone who can afford a suit for their wedding, while her husband, George, was not able to do this. She tries to become like Tom by acting in extravagance: she constantly changes her outfit in an effort to fit in; she asks Tom to purchase her things without even thinking twice about the cost; and she shifts her personality to appear as an arrogant, elite upper class woman. By having this affair, she is able to have a small taste of what it is like to fulfill the American Dream; however, her views of what is successful versus what

is not successful depend on material items. Myrtle tries to create a new life for herself under the American Dream, but she falls victim to it by trying to be something different than what she was. Lastly, Gatsby has been chasing his true love, Daisy, for most of his life and feels that the only way to woo her is to live up to the American Dream and its ideals. However, no matter how hard Gatsby tries to live his fantasy with Daisy, he never is able to achieve it. Gatsby is corrupted by the American Dream, for it took over his true self as he continually pursued Daisy, and it eventually leads to his downfall. Overall, Fitzgerald feared that the American Dream had become all about material items—whoever had the most money or the biggest house had thoroughly fulfilled the American Dream. But, as shown by the characters, without happiness, the tangible items produced by the American Dream mean nothing; without too much reliance on material items, the individual spirit of the American Dream can never prosper; and without self-acceptance, the American Dream can corrupt or blind an individual.
4. Through the eyes of an observer, East Egg and West Egg would appear interchangeable, for the eggs are “identical in contour” (5) and have great “physical resemblance” (5). However, from assertions made by West Egger and narrator Nick Carraway, readers can discern the “sinister contrast” between the two areas. The major difference is simple: East Eggers are “old money” and they make up the most exclusive section of the upper-class; West Eggers are “new money” and are looked slightly down upon by the most elite East Eggers. East Eggers have inherited their fortune and have had to work very little for anything their entire lives, a luxurious reality that is represented by the color white (“white palaces” (5), the white dress of Daisy). On the other hand, West Eggers have had to work for their fortune (although not all of them of earned their fortune through legal means) and they look to mimic the extravagant and sophisticated lifestyle of East Egg residents. Carraway describes West Egg as “the less fashionable of the two” and its residents are merely gaudy imitators of East Egg customs. For instance, Jay Gatsby is a West Egger who is the owner of a lavish mansion and an imitation within himself, with his huge parties and ever-changing, unnatural demeanor (his “elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd”—48)—he even changes his name to something more glamorous to try and fit in with the “old money” crowd. His yellow car is a symbol itself, representing Gatsby’s desire to join the ranks of “old money,” as well as the materialistic ideals of East Eggers. While the color yellow gives Gatsby confidence, it also can represent the failure of his American Dream, as the yellow car hitting and killing Mrs. Wilson eventually would lead to Gatsby’s death. The green light symbolizes Gatsby’s unattainable goals: he works so hard all of his life to become like the East Eggers and impress Daisy, yet in the end, he cannot obtain this desire. Gatsby became corrupted and tried to become something he was not, leading to his failure in the end.
5. The Valley of Ashes is the stretch of desolate land half way between West Egg and New York. It is an area that is filled with industrial ash (“ashes grow like wheat”--23, “ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys”—23) and it is home to poor, lower working class Americans. The Valley of Ashes is as bleak as its name implies, for its inhabitants “move dimly” and appear to be withering away in the “powdery” and “gray” atmosphere. The town is rundown and insignificant; many of the wealthy try to avoid passing through this neglected and “dismal scene” (24) but are forced to ride through the valley on their way to New York. The valley is home to George B. Wilson, a car repairman who is repeatedly taken advantage of by arrogant upperclassman Tom Buchanan. A single exchange between these two characters exemplifies the relationship between the rich and the impoverished: the rich exploit the poor because they view the poor as unimportant and, simply, they have the power to do so. So not only are the “ash-gray men” of this valley stuck living in such a grim place, they are also forced to service their condescending “betters.” Yet in such a ghastly valley, there is one hint of color—the billboard of the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. These eyes are “blue and gigantic” (23) look out of a pair of “enormous yellow spectacles” (23). Nick Carraway explains that the billboard was placed in the valley to “fatten” the practice of an oculist, but soon became forgotten and neglected, much like the rest of the Valley of Ashes. As the valley’s residents came to America with success in mind, their dreams fell short and they ended up not among the wealthy, but instead among the lower class; as the billboard was originally placed in hopes of success, it too felt short in a capitalistic America. Nonetheless, the eyes tower over the “solemn dumping ground” (24), silently judging the valley’s happenings, kind of like an ever-present, godlike figure.
6. Jay Gatsby is a romantic dreamer who spends his entire life gathering riches in hopes of eventually winning back the love of his life, Daisy. He allows the American Dream to alienate him as he continually pursues Daisy, convinced that the only way he can win her back was through material items. He believes that if he can turn himself into a cultured man, he can fit in to “old money” society and be good enough for Daisy. However, Gatsby is naïve; he wishes to create a version of himself that would fulfill the version in his dreams. He was lost in an illusion of what he thought Daisy should have been, but she could not live up to his expectations and “tumbled short.” It his Gatsby’s unwillingness to look past his illusion that leads to his eventual downfall. But unlike a classical tragedy, Gatsby’s death does not provoke sympathy; in fact, only two people showed up to his funeral. Also, while Gatsby was prominent in society, he lacked power; he was merely a name that threw great parties for the wealthy, few actually cared about him. His death was caused as a result of his tragic flaw—Tom told George a lie because Gatsby had cheated with Daisy, leading to Gatsby getting shot. In a way, Gatsby had two chances with Daisy: the first try, he went off to war and returned to see she had married; the second try, he tried to make her into something she was not, and once again, lost her. These variations in tragedy exhibit how modernist writers wanted to point out the ills in society as well as in the human conscience. People could no longer live by a romantic storyline, and by making Gatsby into a naïve character, blindsided by the capitalistic American Dream, Fitzgerald was able use irony and comparisons between the West and East Eggers to illustrate that wealth is not quick fix to every problem, especially when it comes to human emotion.
7.

At the beginning of Chapter 4, Nick Carraway lists the guests that appeared one night at Gatsby’s party. The catalog from East Egg contains names that are of Anglo-Saxon origin, suggesting that these people have been in America for a long time, like Chester Beckers. Strange animal and plant names are also featured (Hornbeams, Blackbuck, Endive, Whitebait, Hammerhead, Beluga, Leeches, and Civet), and the name “Stonewall Jackson Abrams,” which is named after a confederate general during the Civil War, possibly implying that most of the “old money” in East Egg was made off of slave labor. The catalog from West Egg is much more ethnic, like the last name “Mulreadys,” indicating that they might have recently immigrated to America. The West Eggers also feature an interesting assortment of last names, like Catlips, Duckweed, and Bull. There is also a character referred to as “Rot Gut,” which perhaps is a name given to him by a gang or the mafia, demonstrating that “new money” can come from illegal acts. Also many of the guests are in the movie business, which is a very new business at this period of time. In a New England society, a name equals power; the “old money” therefore has more power than the “new money” because their name has been around longer in America. The catalog exhibits how Gatsby’s parties can draw attention from both the elite East Eggers and the West Eggers; however, it is said in the novel that not many people at the party actually know Gatsby, apart from

the various rumors they circulate about him, so named respectively after animals, the guests trample into Gatsby’s house and leech off of what he has to offer. Personally, I think that this catalog is pretty amazing much like Hemmingway; every name in this catalog has a purpose towards the main point Fitzgerald is trying to prove about the guests and overall, it is an extremely creative list.

Extra Credit Question:
The Dutch were a group of people who came to the “New World” in search of a better life, or in other words, a fresh start. They saw the “fresh, green breast of the new world” (180) as a sign of hope. In Gatsby’s case, the green light on Daisy’s dock is his hope. It represents his desire to impress and to obtain a clean slate with Daisy. At the same time, both America and Daisy are goals are unattainable: the Dutch lost their settlements to the British and Gatsby never rekindled his relationship with Daisy. Since the Dutch first sailed to the “New World” in the 1600s, a lot of America has changed. The Dutch were the people to begin the colonization of the new land and saw the land at its most advantageous state. As soon as colonization commenced, so did destruction (destroying America’s natural beauty) and corruption (exterminating the land’s native people). Now, America’s dream revolves around wealth and capitalism whereas in the past, America promised endless opportunities and an overall better life. It is this capitalistic American Dream that corrupts the people who are born into it (Tom and Daisy) as well as the people who struggle to become wealthy (Gatsby).