Questions related to F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby (1925). Use this tag with the [f-scott-fitzgerald] tag.
3
votes
1answer
57 views
What does “our identity with this country” mean here?
Reading The Great Gatsby, I encountered these sentences and came to be curious as to what "our identity with this country" means in this context:
When we pulled out into the winter night and the ...
3
votes
1answer
47 views
What does “the protecting canvas unrolled from Gatsby’s grave” mean?
I am reading The Great Gatsby, and came to be curious as to what "the protecting canvas unrolled from Gatsby’s grave" means in the following sentences:
As we started through the gate into the ...
4
votes
1answer
59 views
What does “The none too savory ramifications by which” mean here?
I am reading The Great Gatsby, and came to be curious as to the meaning of "ramifications" and "by which" in these sentences:
Cody was fifty years old then, a product of the Nevada silver fields,
...
4
votes
1answer
266 views
What does “the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty” mean here?
I am reading The Great Gatsby, and came to be curious as to what "the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty" means in the following sentences:
His parents were shiftless and ...
5
votes
2answers
174 views
What does “that most limited of all specialists” mean here?
I am reading The Great Gatsby, and encountered these sentences:
There was so much to read, for one thing, and so much fine health to
be pulled down out of the young breath-giving air. I bought a ...
3
votes
1answer
119 views
What does “snapped out, made accidental, isolated, like ghosts” mean here?
I am reading The Great Gatsby, and encountered these sentences:
The voice begged again to go. "Please, Tom! I can't stand this
any more." Her frightened eyes told that whatever intentions,
...
3
votes
1answer
66 views
What does “if we had room for him” mean here?
I am reading The Great Gatsby, and would like to know what "if we had room for him" means in the following sentences:
"Biloxi?" He concentrated with an effort. "I didn't know him. He was a
friend ...
2
votes
1answer
39 views
How did the oil tank look like in Wilson's garage?
I am reading The Great Gatsby, and came to wonder how the oil tank looked like in Wilson's garage.
With an effort Wilson left the shade and support of the doorway and,
breathing hard, unscrewed ...
5
votes
1answer
99 views
What was “standard shift” in the 1920's?
I am reading The Great Gatsby, and encountered these sentences:
"Shall we all go in my car?" suggested Gatsby. He felt the hot, green
leather of the seat. "I ought to have left it in the shade." ...
2
votes
1answer
196 views
What does “the master's body” mean here?
I am reading The Great Gatsby, and finding it difficult to grasp what "The master's body" means in the following sentences:
...Through the hall of Buchanans' house blew a faint wind, carrying
the ...
5
votes
1answer
94 views
What does “an affront to the common store of life” mean here?
I am reading The Great Gatsby, and would very much like to know what "an affront to the common store of life" means in the following sentences:
He set down the receiver and came toward us, ...
2
votes
2answers
154 views
What does “which comes at the two changes of the year” mean here?
I am reading The Great Gatsby, and finding it difficult to grasp the meaning of "which comes at the two changes of the year" in the following sentences:
...One autumn night, five years before, they ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
What does “chafed” mean here?
I would like to know what "chafed" means in the following sentences:
"I like her," said Daisy, "I think she's lovely."
But the rest offended her—and inarguably, because it wasn't a gesture but ...
2
votes
0answers
293 views
Foreshadowing in The Great Gatsby
How does the one writer you have studied foreshadow events or ideas to come later in their works, and what is the effect of such foreshadowing?
This was one of the questions which I have been ...
3
votes
1answer
66 views
Analyzing the end of Gatsby
I'm trying to understand the end of Gatsby, and my friend told me that the end of Gatsby relates to the American dream. Can someone help me the analyze the end of Gatsby? What I have analyzed so far:
...
3
votes
1answer
303 views
Tom and Nick's meeting in the Great Gatsby
At the end of Gatsby when Tom and Nick meet, after their conversation Nick states that Tom:
"went into the jewelry store to buy a pearl necklace — or perhaps only a pair of cuff buttons — rid of ...
11
votes
3answers
1k views
What does this quote from The Great Gatsby mean?
Here's the quote:
My commutation ticket came back to me with a dark stain from his hand.
That any one should care in this heat whose flushed lips he kissed,
whose head made damp the pajama ...
6
votes
2answers
2k views
What is the purpose of Owl Eyes in Great Gatsby?
Scott Fitzgerald rarely puts characters or events that have do not either have an underlying message or support in the character development of the lead characters. Therefore I was confused as to what ...
12
votes
2answers
505 views
Why is Gatsby great?
Jay Gatsby in famous Fitzgerald's novel is no doubt smart, talented, brave. But he only pursues his own egoistic desires, quite delusional in his love affairs, does not hesitate to destroy a family, ...
17
votes
1answer
1k views
What are the “old euphemisms” in The Great Gatsby?
In chapter 6 of The Great Gatsby, Nick describes Daisy's reaction to the people of West Egg:
But the rest offended her—and inarguably, because it wasn’t a gesture but an emotion. She was appalled ...
