Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;

If you can bounce high, bounce for her too,

Till she cry ‘Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover,

            I must have you!’

            -Thomas Parke D’Invilliers

This quote by Thomas Parke D’Invilliers not only represents the main character in Fitzgerald’s first book, This Side Of Paradise but it is also a pen name for Fitzgerald himself. This is important to understanding the novel because this quote talks about using material deception in order to win someone’s affection. This is precisely what Gatsby does to try and win over Daisy, he wears a “Gold Hat.” He is desperate for her to claim her unwavering love for him, so much so that he will put on an illusion, do whatever he must if it will make her notice.

One of the reasons why The Great Gatsby is considered to be such a significant American historical novel, I think, is due to the dynamic time period in which it was written. The novel takes place in New York City –– the early melting pot of America –– in the thick of the “Roaring Twenties,” an age characterized by dramatic social and political change. The Roaring Twenties were years of sustained economic prosperity and a growing cultural edge in the United States. Americans were swept into an affluent but unfamiliar “consumer” society; technology in the form of automobiles, telephones, motion pictures, and radio began to play a primary role in American lifestyle; jazz music blossomed during this era; and gender roles and social classes were beginning to adapt to the changing times. Above all, the Twenties were a time of a growing “American” spirit of self-definition and novelty associated with modernity and a break from tradition. Do you think that Fitzgerald’s novel critiques or upholds the values of this time? How do his characters embody the certain attitudes present in this unique period?

Can we talk about Daisy’s daughter, Lily? I completely forgot that she was a character, and I want to delve into the meaning behind her insignificance.

Following the tragedy, Nick concludes that perhaps Westerners, specifically he, Jordan, Gatsby, Tom and Daisy, possessed “some deficiency” that makes them “subtly unadaptable to Eastern life” (176). With this language Nick, portrays Easterners and Westerners as different species. Despite the clear differences in morals and perspectives between these five characters, I do agree with Nick that they are similar in that they all hoped that the East would offer a fresh start similar to the way the frontier did for European immigrants. Ultimately the already-established culture in the East repudiates their ideas of it as a fresh start.

I want to take a moment to talk about Nick’s role as the narrator and question why he chooses not to tell his own story but instead tells us Gatsby’s. It is on p. 135 that he rather abruptly stops the story to tell the reader that it is his birthday. This comes right after the heated argument in the hotel between Gatsby and Tom over Daisy. It’s as though he considers their lives more important than his, and I would like to know why.

An example of this comes in his relationship with Jordan. Throughout the novel, I was curious as to whether or not something romantic was happening between them. They spent a lot of time together with the love triangle (Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom), so it would make sense that they then turned to each other for support. I think I first put two and two together when Nick comments, “I’d  had enough of all of them for one day, and suddenly that included Jordan too” (142). That “Jordan too” made me wonder why Jordan was special enough to get that extra recognition. To my knowledge, Nick only ever confirms their relationship at the end of the novel when he says that was “half in love with her” (177). It seems strange to me for a man to put himself so far on the sidelines when telling his own story. It’s mentioned that he tells this two years after Gatsby’s death (163), so maybe something that time span has something to do with Nick’s narration style? I’m not sure, but I would like to continue talking about his role in the story.

I would like to revisit the last page of The Great Gatsby, specifically the portion when Fitzgerald invokes Nick to end the piece. The phrase before the last sentence is is as follows: “And one fine morning——” (189). The imagery is incredibly strong here and I find it easy to imagine the end of a movie production when the narrator ties up all the loose ends. Moreover, I paid great notice to the fact there are two long dashes, rather than just one. Grammatically, the double dash makes no difference. That said, I think Fitzgerald’s inclusion of the double dash is more stylistic. For a novel that is centered around water (water is what separates, and thus keeps balance between West Egg and East Egg; it is also Gatsby’s mode of death), I think these double dashes lend hand to an aquatic theme. If I remember correctly, Carraway speaks this quotation as he looks over what is described to be the Long Island Sound. I think having two dashes mimics the wave-like quality of the water and how just like time, the waves keep coming and going no matter what. Time goes on forever. This eternal theme appropriately premises the last sentence about humans constantly being “borne back ceaselessly into the past” (189).

Does anyone have a similar interpretation?

Upon my second reading of this book, still I find that one of the most memorable scenes is the exchange in the hotel room where Tom and Gatsby confront each other (beginning on page 126 in my version). What stands out to me the most is really how Fitzgerald framed the scene; continuous references to the extreme heat and the discomfort felt by everyone further emphasized the discomfort, tension and drama of the scene itself. All the characters, as well as the reader, just want the scene to end as soon as possible.

However, I find this same discomfort to be present throughout the book. It seems that in nearly every exchange of dialogue (I think specifically of most involving Tom), Fitzgerald goes out of his way to make them incredibly disjointed and awkward. Very often one character cuts another off, and most every conversation it seems ends with silence, which Fitzgerald seems to emphasize. What is Fitzgerald attempting to convey by doing this? Could he be making commentary about class, as we believe he is doing with other aspects of the narrative, or is it just something to do with his characters’ personalities and how they clash with one another?

“Gatsby was overwhelmingly aware of the youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves, of the freshness of many clothes, and of Daisy, gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor” (150).

This quote is interesting because it touches on how wealth can preserve things Gatsby values like youth and mystery but can also trap them in. Gatsby conception of time is not based on reality but instead on his own illusions of grandeur and making sure his love with Daisy is never unchanging. In this way, the promise of wealth and status are a prison that Gatsby cannot escape and because of this, is forever stuck in the past. Daisy’s wealth protects her from the daily struggles of poverty. Fitzgerald alludes to how distinct social classes were in the Roaring Twenties. Though this era is closely associated with wealth and a booming economy, there was still a big part of the population struggling in the ashes not far from the social playing field of the elite. Gatsby himself desires the stability and pride in being “like silver” and not having to struggle to survive. The personification of struggles being “hot” is also a good extension of how everything in the valley of ashes is dark, dirty and burned. The constant grind of living in such a place leaves you with no shine or vitality left.

“He was balancing himself on the dashboard of his car with the resourcefulness of movement that is so peculiarly American- that comes, I suppose, with the absence of lifting work or rigid sitting in youth, and even more, with the formless grace of our nervous, sporadic games. This quality was continually breaking thorugh his punctilious manner in the shape of restlessness He was never quite still; there was always a tapping foot somewhere or the impatient opening and closing of a hand.” pg 64

This passage from the Gatsby reading struck me as strikingly similar to the same nervous energy expressed in the Turner article. Here, we see nervousness as a lack of physically demanding work and a result of ‘our’/American “nervous sporadic games.” In Turner’s piece, this “peculiarly American” quality was attributed to the pioneer mentality, one which is constantly moving, at work. These different interpretations of nervousness, yet both aligning it with American culture, begs the questions of: “What are American attributes?” and “Where do they come from?” 

I think there might be another layer to Gatsby’s character that gets overlooked by most. When he meets Daisy, he gets really flustered and uncomfortable. I just don’t buy it and am wondering if that, too, is an act. My skepticism comes from his interactions with Tom. On p. 103, Tom is surprised and almost abhorred when Gatsby gets ready to leave with the woman who Tom says does not want him. The impression I got was that Gatsby has trouble picking up on social cues. Two pages later, p. 105, Gatsby introduces Tom as the polo player. Tom responds, “‘not me’…but evidently the sound of it pleased Gatsby, for Tom remained ‘the polo player’ for the rest of the evening'”. I interpreted that interaction as Gatsby very much so picking up on the social cue of Tom’s uncomfortableness but calling him the “polo player” anyway just to bother Tom. It then makes me skeptical of situations like p. 103 where Gatsby appears oblivious.

It’s my first time of reading this novel. Even I try to consciusly read the Great Gatsby, I still keep questioning myself in every chapter. From page 1 to 112, I am wondering about what Gatsby’s background is, why Daisy didn’t choose Gatsby but get married with Tom, how this novel relate to American dream, etc. It is really interesting that Fitzgerald shows complicated relations between Tom and Daisy, Gatsby and Daisy, Tom and Myrtle, George and Myrtle. I’m curious how Fitzgerald writes their relationship ending.

For me, one of the most interesting lines of this reading is, “Americans, while occasionally willing to be serfs, have always been obstinate about peasantry.”(88) Coming from a time period of extreme wealth and prosperity, it makes sense that Fitzgerald notices this side of America in which people would rather enslave themselves to their work than live in poverty. Something interesting to consider within this point is how both Gatsby and Nick fit into this novel. For me, Gatsby pretty clearly falls into the archetype of the man who is willing to subvert freedom for money. However, Gatsby seems more nuanced. Although he has mentioned his interest in finance, we seems less caught up in status and money. Does this stem from his honest nature? Something also interesting to consider is Fitzgerald’s connection to France. Would he have found this observation equally valid in France? Did France’s culture allow him to see the flaws in America’s?

Even with Gatsby being a third time read for me, I still cannot get over how hyperbolic Daisy’s descriptions are. Nick himself seems almost embarrassed at how intoxicating he finds her voice. Her voice is “glowing and singing” even in mundane situations (14). Daisy’s description of Nick reminding her of “an absolute rose” also shows how Nick though being mesmerized, is still objective enough to see how ridiculous she can be. The security and pride in her words are products of coming from old money and never having to struggle to be accepted. I think how women were viewed in this era also plays a part in her way of talking because they were seen as still having to maintain a certain level of taste and happy demeanor.

In McKay’s poem, “America”, she personifies the United States as this great, horrible, protecting beast. It is interesting to see the relationship between America and the voice of the poem, as at first it seems that the voice is being abused, but then welcomes this cultured threat as a test of his character. And yet despite all efforts, America’s ‘granite wonders’ sink like ‘priceless treasures sinking in the sand.’ This can be interpreted as the elusive American dream, or trying to attain the unattainable.