Great Gatsby Notes ( Chapters 1-9 / Meet Nick / What’s So Great About Gatsby? )
What’s So Great About Gatsby?
1. Is Gatsby great? Is he even good? Why/ why not?
Well, in my opinion, Gatsby is just someone who couldn’t move on from the past or lived in it. He is, therefore, not that good nor great. Gatsby lived his entire life trying to impress a girl he “loved” to the point of dying for her, but Daisy just moved on with her life not even acknowledging his existence and what he has done for her.
2. Nick opens the book by complimenting himself for his honesty. Is Nick honest with himself? Why does he constantly hang out with dishonest people? Why does he respect them and seek out relationships with them?
Nick is an honest person, but towards other characters, he isn’t so honest because he never specified his relationship with Jordan Baker, and continued to be friends with Gatsby although he lies to him. Also, he never told Daisy about Myrtle when he found out. He respects and seeks our relationships with them, probably to feel somewhat superior because he has the personal integrity that the other characters do not have.
Chapter 1:
Who is Nick?
Nick Carraway is introduced as a young man from a village in Minnesota and moves to New York in a village called West Egg District. He also happens to be Gatsby’s neighbour, who lives in a lavish mansion, while he lives in a house he calls an “eyesore”. We also know that he is trustworthy. Also, he is the narrator of the story of Gatsby, and considering that Nick took literary in college lets us know how well of a narrator he may be.
- East Egg vs West Egg - separated by short expanse of water - inheritance vs new money
> Daisy ( Nick’s cousin ) & her husband, Tom ( Old Friend From Yale ) - East Egg
- Jay Gatsby - a “well-rounded man” - a soldier from WWI
- Meets Gatsby outside after the party under the green light
Chapter 2:
- Nick and Tom go to the Valley of Ashes
- Meets Tom’s mistress, Myrtle Wilson, and her husband, George
- Nick describes himself at the party as being “within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.”
- Party disrupted when Tom and Myrtle argue about Daisy ( don’t mention her name )
- Myrtle taunts and Tom punches her face causing her nose to break
- Nick leaves the party drunk
Chapter 3:
- Nick attends a party staged by Gatsby
- Sees Jordan Baker and spends time with her ( listen to guests gossip )
- Nick meets Gatsby for the first time
- Gatsby talk to Jordan privately
- Evening ends with a car accident outside the house by Owl Eyes
- Nick considers himself to be one of the honest people since Jordan is dishonest
Chapter 4:
- Nick travels to New York with Gatsby ( talks about his history )
> went to Oxford and collected precious rocks
- They meet Meyer Wolfsheim ( a successful gambler )
- Wolfsheim Gatsbys relationship makes Nick question how Gatsby really got his money
- Saw Tom, and Gatsby appears to be comfortable, but disappears before getting introduced to Tom
- Jordan tells Nick about Gatsby’s love and infatuation for Daisy and her past relationship.
> asked her to tell Nick to invite Daisy to tea
Chapter 5:
- Nick comes home from the city after a date with Jordan
- Nick saw Gatsby’s mansion lit a brightly but it seems to be empty
- Gatsby startles Nick by approaching him from across the lawn
> Gatsby seems agitated and almost desperate to make Nick happy as if he had an ulterior motive
- Gatsby wants Nick to agree to his plan of inviting Daisy over for tea ( Nick agrees )
- Gatsby becomes terribly nervous and awkward ( the meeting was a mistake )
> Gatsby worries that even if Daisy accepts his advances
- After leaving, Nick returns to find them radiantly happy
- Gatsby invite them over to his house where he shows them his possessions
> shows extensive collection of English shirts, she begins to cry
- Nick realises he is no longer needed and leaves Gatsby and Daisy alone
Chapter 6:
- Tom and Mr and Mrs Sloane talk to Gatsby at his house Gatsby tells Tom that he knows Daisy
- Gatsby accepts Mrs Sloane’s insincere invitation to dinner
> Tom expresses his distaste for Gatsby’s lack of social graces
> Tom criticises Daisy’s tendency to visit Gatsby house alone
- Tom Daisy and Nick go to a party at Gatsby’s
> Tom keeps a careful eye on Daisy and expresses his dislike for Gatsby ( he just jelly )
- Gatsby expresses his love for Daisy to Nick in a detailed way ( almost like it never happened )
Chapter 7:
- The affair between Gatsby and Daisy puts Gatsby in direct conflict with Tom
- The two men have an argument in the Plaza hotel over whom Daisy truly loves
- Gatsby wants Daisy to leave Tom and start a new life with him while Tom senses that his marriage is being threatened and accuses Gatsby of being a liar and criminal exposing the underhand dealings he has made in order to gain the wealth he owns now
- In the end, Tom is confident that he has defeated Gatsby and this is realised when he tells Daisy to ride home with Gatsby
1. Why does Gatsby stop having parties?
He feels that his goal has been accomplished since the parties were to lure Daisy
2. Why does Gatsby fire his staff, and who replaces them? How are these people different, and how do their personalities reflect what we know about Wolfsheim?
Gatsby fires his staffs because he can’t afford to have them gossiping about him and Daisy. His staff are replaced with people recommended by Wolfsheim. They can keep secrets.
3. Describe the difference in Daisy's and Gatsby's reactions to Daisy's daughter.
Gatsby was surprised and startled, and according to Nick, he tells us he “kept looking at her in surprise.” Daisy tells Nick that she hopes her daughter will grows up to be a beautiful fool.
4. Describe the "outing" to New York and the confrontation between Tom and Gatsby. Who wins?
Tom agrees to go to the city, and they drive Gatsby’s car ( Jordan, Nick, and Tom ) which is low in gas, while Daisy and Gatsby drives Tom’s. Apparently, Tom’s been suspicious of Gatsby. He confronts Gatsby about his love for Daisy. Gatsby refusing to be intimidated tells Tom, “Your wife doesn’t love you... She’s never loved you. She loves me time.” Tom turns to Daisy for confirmation, but she can’t honestly admit that she never loved Tom, and Gatsby was shocked. Tom wins for me.
5. BAM! What happens on the way back to Long Island? (You have to get this-- it's THE event of the book.)
Daisy rubs over Mrs Wilson!
6. What are Tom and Daisy doing at the end of the chapter? What does this say to you about Daisy's character?
They have reconciled. This tells me that although she seems like a beautiful fool, she can be the devilish smart woman to others when she decides to be because she was able to take out the mistress of Tom and resolve the differences between them.
Chapter 8:
1. What does Gatsby tell Nick about his night when Nick shows up early in the morning? What does Gatsby say about what happened between Tom and Daisy?
Gatsby told him that he waited outside Daisy’s house until 4 o’clock in the morning, and nothing happened between Tom and Daisy.
2. What does Nick suggest that Gatsby do? Why does Gatsby reject Nick's suggestion?
Nick suggested for Gatsby to go away although he knows that it was Daisy who killed Myrtle. However, he wouldn’t leave Daisy because Gatsby continued to hope that Daisy would leave Tom ( obsession ).
3. What does Gatsby say about the way he and Daisy left each other the first time, when he went to war?
Their love lasted one month before Gatsby left for the army, and she actually fell in love with him, too. To Gatsby, Daisy was considered the first “nice” girl he met and that when they were sending each other letters, Daisy sounded lonely and nervous.
4. The gardener interrupts to tell Gatsby he wants to drain the pool. Why, in the middle of all of this drama, do you think the author interrupts the tense relationship dialogue with a secondary character and mention of the pool? Why do you think it's important that Gatsby wants to swim at least once in his own pool?
I believe that the author interrupts the dialogue with a secondary character and mention of the pool as a foreshadowing of what would happen relating to the pool.
5. Nick gets to work-- and the entire narrative shifts. Now we're getting to the climax of the plot, and Fitzgerald goes nearly Shakespeare. Describe the action and what it represents.
George Wilson goes over to Gatsby’s house and finds him lying on an air mattress in the pool, floating in the water, looking up to the sky. At that moment, Wilson shoots Gatsby, and committed suicide by shooting himself right after.
Chapter 9:
- Reporters and gossipers swarm Gatsby’s house
- One car actually drives by the house to see if a party is occurring
- Nick tries to get people to attend Gatsby’s funeral
> “Owl Eyes” attends the funeral ( man who was amazed at Gatsby’s library )
> Tom, Daisy, Klipsrpinger, and Wolfsheim did not attend
> Gatsby’s father attended
- Henry C. Gatz shows Nick a book that Gatsby kept a self-improvement schedule
1. Is Gatsby great? Is he even good? Why/ why not?
Well, in my opinion, Gatsby is just someone who couldn’t move on from the past or lived in it. He is, therefore, not that good nor great. Gatsby lived his entire life trying to impress a girl he “loved” to the point of dying for her, but Daisy just moved on with her life not even acknowledging his existence and what he has done for her.
2. Nick opens the book by complimenting himself for his honesty. Is Nick honest with himself? Why does he constantly hang out with dishonest people? Why does he respect them and seek out relationships with them?
Nick is an honest person, but towards other characters, he isn’t so honest because he never specified his relationship with Jordan Baker, and continued to be friends with Gatsby although he lies to him. Also, he never told Daisy about Myrtle when he found out. He respects and seeks our relationships with them, probably to feel somewhat superior because he has the personal integrity that the other characters do not have.
3. Fitzgerald describes Daisy and Tom this way: “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” What does this mean? Do you agree?
They are being described as people who are insensitive and thoughtless, and left their mess for someone else to clean up. I agree with that because Tom’s lie is the reason why Gatsby gets killed, and Daisy is the one who was driving the yellow car, but she, of course, never admitted to her guilt.
4. Do you understand Daisy's behavior? Do you agree with her choices? Is she a person you would let your brother/son/friend date?
I somewhat do not understand her behaviour because she is being too much of a fool as a beautiful and charming girl. Her choices, I definitely do not agree with. Therefore, I wouldn’t want my brother, son, or friend to date such a shallow girl.
5. The last line of the book: "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." What does this mean? How does it relate to the theme/s of the book?
This is saying that Nick, if he could, would get in one of Gatsby’s boat sailing backwards, towards the past, wanting to relive it.Chapter 1:
Who is Nick?
Nick Carraway is introduced as a young man from a village in Minnesota and moves to New York in a village called West Egg District. He also happens to be Gatsby’s neighbour, who lives in a lavish mansion, while he lives in a house he calls an “eyesore”. We also know that he is trustworthy. Also, he is the narrator of the story of Gatsby, and considering that Nick took literary in college lets us know how well of a narrator he may be.
- East Egg vs West Egg - separated by short expanse of water - inheritance vs new money
> Daisy ( Nick’s cousin ) & her husband, Tom ( Old Friend From Yale ) - East Egg
- Jay Gatsby - a “well-rounded man” - a soldier from WWI
- Meets Gatsby outside after the party under the green light
Chapter 2:
- Nick and Tom go to the Valley of Ashes
- Meets Tom’s mistress, Myrtle Wilson, and her husband, George
- Nick describes himself at the party as being “within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.”
- Party disrupted when Tom and Myrtle argue about Daisy ( don’t mention her name )
- Myrtle taunts and Tom punches her face causing her nose to break
- Nick leaves the party drunk
Chapter 3:
- Nick attends a party staged by Gatsby
- Sees Jordan Baker and spends time with her ( listen to guests gossip )
- Nick meets Gatsby for the first time
- Gatsby talk to Jordan privately
- Evening ends with a car accident outside the house by Owl Eyes
- Nick considers himself to be one of the honest people since Jordan is dishonest
Chapter 4:
- Nick travels to New York with Gatsby ( talks about his history )
> went to Oxford and collected precious rocks
- They meet Meyer Wolfsheim ( a successful gambler )
- Wolfsheim Gatsbys relationship makes Nick question how Gatsby really got his money
- Saw Tom, and Gatsby appears to be comfortable, but disappears before getting introduced to Tom
- Jordan tells Nick about Gatsby’s love and infatuation for Daisy and her past relationship.
> asked her to tell Nick to invite Daisy to tea
Chapter 5:
- Nick comes home from the city after a date with Jordan
- Nick saw Gatsby’s mansion lit a brightly but it seems to be empty
- Gatsby startles Nick by approaching him from across the lawn
> Gatsby seems agitated and almost desperate to make Nick happy as if he had an ulterior motive
- Gatsby wants Nick to agree to his plan of inviting Daisy over for tea ( Nick agrees )
- Gatsby becomes terribly nervous and awkward ( the meeting was a mistake )
> Gatsby worries that even if Daisy accepts his advances
- After leaving, Nick returns to find them radiantly happy
- Gatsby invite them over to his house where he shows them his possessions
> shows extensive collection of English shirts, she begins to cry
- Nick realises he is no longer needed and leaves Gatsby and Daisy alone
Chapter 6:
- Tom and Mr and Mrs Sloane talk to Gatsby at his house Gatsby tells Tom that he knows Daisy
- Gatsby accepts Mrs Sloane’s insincere invitation to dinner
> Tom expresses his distaste for Gatsby’s lack of social graces
> Tom criticises Daisy’s tendency to visit Gatsby house alone
- Tom Daisy and Nick go to a party at Gatsby’s
> Tom keeps a careful eye on Daisy and expresses his dislike for Gatsby ( he just jelly )
- Gatsby expresses his love for Daisy to Nick in a detailed way ( almost like it never happened )
Chapter 7:
- The affair between Gatsby and Daisy puts Gatsby in direct conflict with Tom
- The two men have an argument in the Plaza hotel over whom Daisy truly loves
- Gatsby wants Daisy to leave Tom and start a new life with him while Tom senses that his marriage is being threatened and accuses Gatsby of being a liar and criminal exposing the underhand dealings he has made in order to gain the wealth he owns now
- In the end, Tom is confident that he has defeated Gatsby and this is realised when he tells Daisy to ride home with Gatsby
1. Why does Gatsby stop having parties?
He feels that his goal has been accomplished since the parties were to lure Daisy
2. Why does Gatsby fire his staff, and who replaces them? How are these people different, and how do their personalities reflect what we know about Wolfsheim?
Gatsby fires his staffs because he can’t afford to have them gossiping about him and Daisy. His staff are replaced with people recommended by Wolfsheim. They can keep secrets.
3. Describe the difference in Daisy's and Gatsby's reactions to Daisy's daughter.
Gatsby was surprised and startled, and according to Nick, he tells us he “kept looking at her in surprise.” Daisy tells Nick that she hopes her daughter will grows up to be a beautiful fool.
4. Describe the "outing" to New York and the confrontation between Tom and Gatsby. Who wins?
Tom agrees to go to the city, and they drive Gatsby’s car ( Jordan, Nick, and Tom ) which is low in gas, while Daisy and Gatsby drives Tom’s. Apparently, Tom’s been suspicious of Gatsby. He confronts Gatsby about his love for Daisy. Gatsby refusing to be intimidated tells Tom, “Your wife doesn’t love you... She’s never loved you. She loves me time.” Tom turns to Daisy for confirmation, but she can’t honestly admit that she never loved Tom, and Gatsby was shocked. Tom wins for me.
5. BAM! What happens on the way back to Long Island? (You have to get this-- it's THE event of the book.)
Daisy rubs over Mrs Wilson!
6. What are Tom and Daisy doing at the end of the chapter? What does this say to you about Daisy's character?
They have reconciled. This tells me that although she seems like a beautiful fool, she can be the devilish smart woman to others when she decides to be because she was able to take out the mistress of Tom and resolve the differences between them.
Chapter 8:
1. What does Gatsby tell Nick about his night when Nick shows up early in the morning? What does Gatsby say about what happened between Tom and Daisy?
Gatsby told him that he waited outside Daisy’s house until 4 o’clock in the morning, and nothing happened between Tom and Daisy.
2. What does Nick suggest that Gatsby do? Why does Gatsby reject Nick's suggestion?
Nick suggested for Gatsby to go away although he knows that it was Daisy who killed Myrtle. However, he wouldn’t leave Daisy because Gatsby continued to hope that Daisy would leave Tom ( obsession ).
3. What does Gatsby say about the way he and Daisy left each other the first time, when he went to war?
Their love lasted one month before Gatsby left for the army, and she actually fell in love with him, too. To Gatsby, Daisy was considered the first “nice” girl he met and that when they were sending each other letters, Daisy sounded lonely and nervous.
4. The gardener interrupts to tell Gatsby he wants to drain the pool. Why, in the middle of all of this drama, do you think the author interrupts the tense relationship dialogue with a secondary character and mention of the pool? Why do you think it's important that Gatsby wants to swim at least once in his own pool?
I believe that the author interrupts the dialogue with a secondary character and mention of the pool as a foreshadowing of what would happen relating to the pool.
5. Nick gets to work-- and the entire narrative shifts. Now we're getting to the climax of the plot, and Fitzgerald goes nearly Shakespeare. Describe the action and what it represents.
George Wilson goes over to Gatsby’s house and finds him lying on an air mattress in the pool, floating in the water, looking up to the sky. At that moment, Wilson shoots Gatsby, and committed suicide by shooting himself right after.
Chapter 9:
- Reporters and gossipers swarm Gatsby’s house
- One car actually drives by the house to see if a party is occurring
- Nick tries to get people to attend Gatsby’s funeral
> “Owl Eyes” attends the funeral ( man who was amazed at Gatsby’s library )
> Tom, Daisy, Klipsrpinger, and Wolfsheim did not attend
> Gatsby’s father attended
- Henry C. Gatz shows Nick a book that Gatsby kept a self-improvement schedule
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