Questions tagged [the-great-gatsby]
Questions related to F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby (1925). Use this tag with the [f-scott-fitzgerald] tag.
38
questions
8
votes
1
answer
992
views
Does Nick love Gatsby?
I recently asked this question: What is the significance of Nick being gay in the Great Gatsby?
In the time before I got an answer I arrived to a conclusion similar to what answerer (@Peter Shor) did. ...
- 429
15
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Jordan's line about intimate parties in The Great Gatsby?
“And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.”
When I read this quote from Jordan Baker I was (and am) puzzled as to the meaning. It seems like ...
- 429
5
votes
1
answer
669
views
What is the significance of Nick being gay in The Great Gatsby?
On Literature SE there seems to be a general consensus that in the Great Gatsby the narrator, Nick Carraway, is gay (or at the very least sexually ambiguous).
What does "the master's body&...
- 429
4
votes
1
answer
142
views
In the Great Gatsby does Gatsby want Daisy because he is obsessed with wealth/prestige or does he want wealth because he is obsessed with Daisy?
At some points throughout the novel Daisy is objectified or otherwise synonymized with money (such as when her voice was described to be full of money). This, coupled with Gatsby's clear ambition from ...
- 429
1
vote
1
answer
147
views
Meaning of "through the smoky air."
I'm currently reading The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. He has a sentence describing the situation and character of Mrs. Wilson:
she seemed to be revolving on a noisy, creaking pivot through ...
- 479
8
votes
1
answer
186
views
Source of the 1953 revisions to "The Great Gatsby"
The 1953 Scribner’s edition of The Great Gatsby has many minor differences in wording from the first (1925) edition by the same publisher. I’ve collected some of the differences from the first fifty ...
- 51.8k
2
votes
1
answer
432
views
Purpose of the "How do you get to West Egg village?" scene in "The Great Gatsby"
In The Great Gatsby, Nick is asked by a traveller, "How do you get to West Egg village?" and then Nick writes that after that moment he felt like an original settler of West Egg.
It was ...
- 193
6
votes
1
answer
228
views
What do critics mean by "corruption of the American dream" in relation to "The Great Gatsby"?
Critics say that The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald symbolises the corruption of the American dream. For example, Charles R. Hearn:
Fitzgerald emphasizes the fact that the content of Gatsby’s ...
- 193
2
votes
1
answer
897
views
What is it that Miss Baker "got done" in the chapter one in 'The Great Gatsby'?
The Great Gatsby, Chapter 1:
“No, thanks,” said Miss Baker to the four cocktails just in from the pantry, “I’m absolutely in training.”
Her host looked at her incredulously. “You are!” He took down ...
- 173
5
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Why did Gatsby say "This is a terrible mistake" in "The Great Gatsby"?
In chapter 5 of The Great Gatsby, when Gatsby reunited with Daisy, he (Gatsby) followed Nick into the kitchen:
“Where are you going?” demanded Gatsby in immediate alarm.
“I’ll be back.”
“I’ve got to ...
- 173
3
votes
1
answer
9k
views
What happens at the end of Chapter 2 of The Great Gatsby?
At the end of Chapter 2 of The Great Gatsby, Nick leaves the party with Mr McKee. While they are in the elevator, Mr McKee invites him to come to lunch some day, and Nick agrees.
And then, after a ...
- 191
1
vote
0
answers
288
views
Was Ewing Klipspringer supposed to be a gay character in "The Great Gatsby"?
Was Ewing Klipspringer supposed to be a gay character in "The Great Gatsby"? My theory is that he is gay, considering there is textual evidence, and that he lives in Gatsby's home.
Here are ...
2
votes
0
answers
536
views
In The Great Gatsby, is Nick Carraway's name intentional?
Nick's surname sounds a lot like care-away, and I've seen a number of online sources that state that this Fitzgerald intended for this to be so. I find this hard to believe, considering that Nick isn'...
- 121
8
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Bad Grammar in The Great Gatsby?
I'm sure many here have encountered a common error in written English, whereby 'have' is substituted by 'of'; 'should of', 'would of', 'could of', etc. It's my understanding that this is always ...
- 159
7
votes
1
answer
6k
views
What are "abortive sorrows" and "short-winded elations" in "The Great Gatsby"?
From chapter 1 of The Great Gatsby:
No — Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my ...
- 73
1
vote
1
answer
408
views
How do I tie the different parts of this question together? [closed]
Compare Tom and George (Wilson). What attributes does each possess?
Would George have been able to transcend his class circumstances to
rise above the ashes? What is class structure like in ...
7
votes
1
answer
534
views
How is Daisy Buchanan from "The Great Gatsby" a controversial character?
I have to gather a list of some controversial characters in English Literature. As a result, I came up with a small list. A few characters were suggested by my friends, but one I found a bit confusing....
- 179
3
votes
1
answer
2k
views
In the renowned book The Great Gatsby, how, where and why did Tom meet Daisy?
I know why Daisy met Tom and that was because of her impatience and her affection with Tom's money but I would like to know Tom's side of the story!
4
votes
1
answer
3k
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 ...
- 2,177
3
votes
1
answer
768
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 ...
- 2,177
4
votes
1
answer
4k
views
What does "The none too savory ramifications by which" mean in "The Great Gatsby"?
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 ...
- 2,177
5
votes
2
answers
15k
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 ...
- 2,177
7
votes
2
answers
5k
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 ...
- 2,177
4
votes
1
answer
2k
views
What does "snapped out, made accidental, isolated, like ghosts" mean in "The Great Gatsby"?
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,
...
- 2,177
5
votes
1
answer
3k
views
What does "if we had room for him" mean in "The Great Gatsby"?
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 ...
- 2,177
2
votes
1
answer
161
views
What did the oil tank in Wilson's garage look like in "The Great Gatsby"?
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 the ...
- 2,177
9
votes
2
answers
2k
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 ...
- 2,177
4
votes
1
answer
5k
views
What does "the master's body" mean in "The Great Gatsby"?
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, ...
- 2,177
5
votes
1
answer
3k
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, ...
- 2,177
3
votes
2
answers
2k
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 ...
- 2,177
8
votes
2
answers
3k
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 ...
- 2,177
3
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Foreshadowing in The Great Gatsby [closed]
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 ...
- 131
3
votes
1
answer
144
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:
...
- 183
4
votes
1
answer
4k
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 ...
- 183
16
votes
4
answers
7k
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 ...
- 263
8
votes
3
answers
41k
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 ...
20
votes
4
answers
7k
views
Why is Gatsby great?
Jay Gatsby in Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby is no doubt smart, talented, and brave. But he only pursues his own egoistic desires, is quite delusional in his love affairs, does not hesitate to ...
19
votes
2
answers
10k
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 ...
