The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Fiction
150 Pages; pub 1925
The story is narrated by Nick Carraway, who after serving in World War I moves from the
midwest to New York's Long Island. There he picks up with a college friend Tom Buchanan and
his wife Daisy, Caraway's second cousin—a feckless, self-indulgent couple of privilege.
He also befriends his mysterious neighbour Jay Gatsby, whose mansion is the scene of lavish
nightly parties. Gatsby reveals to Caraway that, as a young man without wealth, he had met
and fallen in love with Daisy during the war. Now moneyed, Gatsby is obsessed with winning
her back.
What follows are the tragic consequences of his pursuit—and Carraway's return to his roots in
the midwest to contemplate, with new found cynicism, the moral decay and carelessness of
privileged.
REVIEWS
The new American humor [is] a conflict of spirituality caught fast in the web of our
commercial life. Both boisterous and tragic, it animates this new novel by Mr. Fitzgerald with
whimsical magic and simple pathos that is realized with economy and restraint.... A curious
book, a mystical and glamorous story of today. It takes a deeper cut at American life than
hitherto has been essayed by Mr. Fitzgerald.
The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald
DISCUSSION STARTERS
1. The Great Gatsby features an epigraph by “Thomas Parke D’Invilliers” (a writer
invented by Fitzgerald) about winning a lover by any means. How does this short
poem set the scene for the novel to come? Why do you think Fitzgerald would
open The Great Gatsby with a fictional epigraph, rather than a real quote or
poem?
2. Compare East Egg and West Egg. What kinds of people settle on each side of
the bay? Why would a couple like the Buchanans reside in East Egg, and men
like Nick and Gatsby on the other side? How does the division between these two
villages compare to differences between the American East and West?
3. Discuss the role of honesty in The Great Gatsby. Which characters pride
themselves on telling the truth? How does duplicity affect the relationship between
Nick and Jordan, and the marriage of Tom and Daisy? What falsehoods has
Gatsby relied upon to advance in society?
4. Compare two classic party scenes in the novel: the first party at Gatsby’s house
that Nick attends, and the impromptu gathering at Tom and Myrtle’s apartment in
New York City. How is each party enlivened by booze, romance, and chaos? How
are the guests at each party similar, and how are they different? How does Nick’s
drunken perspective color each scene?
5. Consider the role of gossip in the novel. What kinds of rumors do Gatsby’s
guests spread about their host, and why? Why does public opinion have such a
strong hold over the characters in the novel?
6. In Chapter VI, just after Daisy and Gatsby reunite at Nick’s house, Nick reveals
the story of his friend’s transition from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby. Why does Nick
choose this point in the story to tell Gatsby’s history? How does this chapter serve
as a turning point in the novel?
7. Compare James Gatz to the man he became: Jay Gatsby. What do we learn
about Gatz’s ambition as a youth? How did he make his transition to Gatsby?
What elements from his past did he retain, even as he left his identity behind?
DISCUSSION STARTERS (CONTINUED)
8. Eyes are a prominent feature throughout the novel – T. J. Ecklesburg’s spectacles
watch over the “valley of ashes,” “Owl-eyes” attends Gatsby’s parties and funeral, and
Nick senses Myrtle’s jealous gaze upon Tom and Jordan when they stop at Wilson’s
gas station. What is the significance of this theme of surveillance? Who is being
watched throughout the novel?
9. “‘Can’t repeat the past?’ [Gatsby] cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!’”
(page 110). Discuss Gatsby’s attempts to recreate history. Why is he so eager to go
back to life before he went to war, when he was a young officer in love with Daisy?
What has Gatsby lost and gained since those days in Louisville?
10. At the moment of the accident that killed Myrtle Wilson, “first Daisy turned away
from the woman toward the other car, and then she lost her nerve and turned back”
(page 143). How else does Daisy lose her nerve on that drive from New York City to
East Egg? Why does she turn back to Tom, instead of choosing a life with Gatsby?
11. Gatsby says about Daisy, “Her voice is full of money.” (page 120). Discuss how
class and affects the romances in the novel. Would Daisy be just as alluring without
her status? Would Gatsby or Tom be attractive without their fortunes?
12. Nick observes, “I see now that this has been a story of the West, after all,” (page
176) since none of its characters are from the East. How have ideas about the “West”
changed since Fitzgerald’s day? What is particularly “Western” about each of these
characters: Nick, Tom, Gatsby, Daisy, and Jordan? Do you agree with Nick that they
are “unadaptable to Eastern life”? Why or why not?
13. Consider the setting of the novel: 1922 Long Island. Can you imagine this story
within another time or place? Do you consider The Great Gatsby timeless, or do you
think its characters and themes are deeply rooted in the postwar prosperity of the
Roaring Twenties?
14. The novel ends with Nick thinking about “Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked
out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock” (page 180). Consider the symbol of the
green light. What dreams and hopes does the light stand for? Is Gatsby’s
“extraordinary gift for hope” an asset or a hindrance to his ambition, in the end?
15. If this was your first time reading The Great Gatsby, discuss what you knew about
this American classic before you began reading, and how it met or defied your
expectations. If you’ve read the novel before, think back to the first time you read it,
and discuss how the novel has changed for you over time. Do you understand it
differently today than you did in the past?
Reverence: http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Great-Gatsby/F-ScottFitzgerald/9780743273565/reading_group_guide