Chapter 1 Answers Acute (adj): present or experienced to a severe or intense degree Aimless (adj): having no purpose Complacent (adj): contentment, often self‐satisfaction or smugness Content (adj): happy with one’s lot; satisfied Cynical (adj): 1denying the sincerity of people’s motives and actions; 2sarcastic; sneering Disillusionment (noun): 1to free from illusion; 2to take away the idealism of and make bitter Idle (adj): 1useless; futile; 2not busy; inactive Malaise (noun): a vague feeling of discomfort or uneasiness whose exact cause is difficult to identify Morale (noun):the confidence, enthusiasm, or discipline of a person or group at a particular time Morality (noun): moral principles; rightness and wrongness, as of an action Mundane (adj): common; ordinary; banal; unimaginative Opulent (adj): ostentatiously rich and luxurious or lavish Restless (adj): 1unable to relax; uneasy; 2discontented Sedentary (adj): tending to spend much time seated; somewhat inactive In the aftermath of the Great War (WWI), there was feeling of disillusionment throughout American society. The war, which had been tremendously costly in terms of lives, had not achieved any measurable objective and had left behind a restless generation. This generation, termed the Lost Generation by Gertrude Stein, was marked by great genius (Fitzgerald, Hemingway, etc.), but also by something darker. The Roaring Twenties was not only “roaring” because of raging speakeasies and the advent of widely available credit; the roar was also the sound of barely suppressed desperation hidden behind an alcoholic haze. This is, of course, a generalization, however it is an important generalization to keep in mind while exploring Fitzgerald’s interpretation of what this time period did to the morale and morality of the Lost Generation. Nick, our narrator, identifies himself as one who “came back restless” (7) from the war. Having experienced a world more exciting and varied than the Midwest, Nick is no longer content to live at home, marry, and follow the path blazed by the previous three generations of Carraways, and instead he strikes out on his own for New York and the bond business. Nick left the Midwest in part because there were rumors that he was going to marry a female friend. He liked the friend, however he refused to be “rumored into marriage,” and felt that the easiest escape from such a matrimony would be to head East. Conversely, the root cause for Tom and Daisy Buchanan’s move east is not immediately clear. Nick writes, “Why they came east I don’t know. They had spent a year in France, for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together” (10). Tom Buchanan’s individual restlessness is apparent almost immediately. His wealth kept him from the war, however his college football career left him with “such an acute limited excellence at twenty‐one that everything afterwards savours of anti‐climax” (10). As Nick puts it, “Tom would drift on forever seeking a little wistfully for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game” (10) and never quite be satisfied with life at hand. Tom is an example of someone for whom wealth does not buy contentment. Explain what the following examples of Tom’s restlessness indicate about his character: o When showing Nick the grounds to his new house, Tom says: “ ‘I’ve got a nice place here,’ he said, his eyes flashing about restlessly” (12). How do his eyes diminish the meaning of the words he utters? Tom’s house is a mansion; it is an absolutely fabulous estate. His “restless” eyes have nothing to do with self‐consciousness. Tom is a man of ego and pride. No, his restless eyes indicate that he is already tired of this place and eager to be elsewhere. He is always looking for the next big excitement, the next thing that might make him happy. Tom is a difficult man to satisfy. o While Daisy is discussing their young daughter with Nick: “Tom Buchanan who had been hovering restlessly about the room stopped and rested his hand on my shoulder” (14) and changes the direction of the conversation. How does Tom’s behavior reflect on his level of contentment with his domestic life? Like the house, his daughter does not bring Tom the pleasure that one might hope for. He quickly changes the subject from domestic matters, suggesting that he is discontent at home. Additionally, he is preventing Daisy and Nick from discussing personal matters, perhaps because he does not want Daisy to confide in Nick about troubles on the home front. o In mid‐conversation about Nick’s new neighborhood of West Egg: “Before I could reply that he [Gatsby] was my neighbor dinner was announced; wedging his tense arm imperatively under mine Tom Buchanan compelled me from the room as though he were moving a checker to another square” (16). This example does not have the word “restless,” however examine the words that have been bolded. What do these words suggest about the way in which Tom behaves in life? Many students mentioned that Tom is “tense” and that is a good observation. He “compelled” which means “forced” Nick to move along to dinner. Tom is rigidly following a schedule, but not for any obvious reason. What difference would it make if they arrived at dinner five minutes late? Tom is precisely following the rules of etiquette, “moving a checker to another square,” but his adherence to these rules is robotic and forced. He is not getting any pleasure out of the evening; he is simply following protocol. o Examine the conversation Tom initiates during dinner about the book, The Rise of the Coloured Empires, (don’t just focus on the inherent racism of the topic) and notice the words used to describe Tom: “…broke out Tom violently” (17), “…insisted Tom, glancing at her [Daisy] impatiently” (17), “…but Tom interrupted her by shifting heavily in his chair” (18), and finally Nick’s assessment of the situation: “There was something pathetic in his concentration as if his complacency, more acute than of old, was not enough to him any more” (18). What does all of this suggest about Tom’s character? How does his character reflect on the ideals represented in the American Dream? Tom’s dissatisfaction is evident in almost all of his movements and words. He interrupts the conversation, bored by the mundane subjects. He only becomes animated and “alive” when discussing the racist book that he recently finished. He is upset because life has been unsatisfying for him. He has money, a beautiful wife, a healthy daughter, a gorgeous home, yet he is unhappy. Here is a book that gives him a reason (albeit a racist one) for his unhappiness—another group of people may come along and take from him all that he has (the “coloured empires” may replace the white race as dominant in “civilized” society). Here is something Tom can be angry and upset about, something tangible, whereas his dissatisfaction with his “perfect” life is not something that he can really complain about. Daisy, contrastingly, displays idleness rather than restlessness (whether they are really opposing responses to a similar inner turmoil remains to be seen). Daisy is first glimpsed in a room where everything is in motion except for the two women in it: “A breeze blew through the room, blew curtains in at one end and out the other like pale flags, twisting them up toward the frosted wedding cake of the ceiling—and then rippled over the wine‐colored rug, making a shadow on it as wind does on the sea” (12). This opulent display is paired with the imagery of two sedentary women: “The only completely stationary object in the room was an enormous couch on which two young women were buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon. They were both in white and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight… Then there was a boom as Tom Buchanan shut the rear windows and the caught wind died out about the room and the curtains and the rugs and the two young women ballooned slowly to the floor” (12). What does this description suggest about these two women? Why does Fitzgerald choose to introduce them in this manner? Also, notice how Tom’s action is abrupt; he is restless, not sedentary. Daisy, unlike her companion, “made an attempt to rise” (13) and bestir herself however unsuccessfully. Daisy’s personality is going to be expressed less through her actions and more through her womanly charms. Examine her gestures and traits: “…she laughed, an absurd, charming little laugh” (13), “She laughed again, as if she said something very witty, and held my hand for a moment, looking up into my face, promising that there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see” (13). Does she say something witty? Is she excited to see Nick? What evidence does the book supply about her eagerness to greet him? More gestures and personality: “…I’ve heard it said that Daisy’s murmur was only to make people lean toward her; an irrelevant criticism that made it no less charming” (13). Does Nick agree with this criticism? Explain. o “…My cousin… began to ask me questions in her low, thrilling voice. It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will be played again. Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth—but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget; a singing compulsion, a whispered ‘Listen,’ a promise that she had done gay, exciting things just a while since and that there were gay, exciting things hovering in the next hour” (13‐
14). What impressions of Daisy does this description offer the reader? What is she like? How do people perceive her? Compare and contrast Daisy with her husband. o Reflect on how Daisy fits (or doesn’t fit) the profile provided about the Lost Generation when she declares sentiments like: “ ‘Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it’ ” (16). What does this suggest about Daisy’s complacency with life? Jordan Baker, Daisy’s “completely motionless” (13) friend, fits in perfectly with the Buchanans. Jordan’s level of disinterest even seems to surpass Daisy’s, “If she saw me out of the corner of her eyes she gave no hint of it—indeed I was almost surprised into murmuring an apology for having disturbed her by coming in” (13). Nick, in facts, describes the unmarried Miss Baker as exhibiting “complete self sufficiency” (13). Perhaps this self sufficiency stems from her position of independence in the world, as her only family is an elderly aunt and she is constantly on the move playing in tennis tournaments. Miss Baker’s seems even more lifeless than Daisy. She is reported to have yawned twice by Nick, once on page 15 as she stirs from the couch and again when she sits down to dinner: “ ‘We out to plan something,’ yawned Miss Baker, sitting down at the table as if she were getting into bed” (16). The formal dinner conversation fails to rouse Jordan any further: “Sometimes she [Daisy] and Miss Baker talked at once, unobtrusively and with a bantering inconsequence that was never quite chatter, that was as cool as their white dresses and their impersonal eyes in the absence of all desire. They were here—and they accepted Tom and me, making only a polite pleasant effort to entertain or to be entertained” (17). What does this behavior suggest about how Jordan and Daisy see and interact with the world? The dinner conversation is mundane; Daisy gossips about the utterly uninteresting topic of the butler’s nose which has been affected by silver polish, with only two interesting digressions. Jordan speaks “contemptuously” (15) of the less fashionable West Egg, but excitedly about Nick’s neighbor Gatsby (Daisy seems interested in Gatsby, too) and Jordan blatantly eavesdrops “unashamed, trying to hear” (19) on the domestic discord caused by the “fifth guest’s shrill metallic urgency” (20) as the telephone interrupts dinner. What exactly causes the disturbance at dinner? How does this new development change your perception on the characters? What does Daisy say about women? About her daughter? Do you believe she is sincere? Why or why not? How does Nick react to the dinnertime disturbance? Why? Describe Nick’s first encounter with Gatsby. What is Gatsby looking at?