Final Exam Study Guide Part One 1
Since You Asked…Gatsby Questions Raised by Your Class
April 26, 2011 Many of these same questions will appear on your final examination. If you need further
clarification on these answers, speak now or forever hold your peace.
#1 question asked:
Q. Why are the actors so sweaty? : (
A. There wasn’t air conditioning in the 1920s. The sweating is realistic.
#2 question asked:
Q. Why does Jay Gatsby leave the restaurant when he runs into Tom Buchanan?
A. There are many possibilities. 1) He feels self-conscious meeting the “winner” (Tom) of the “trophy”
(Daisy); he probably hates Tom for “replacing” him when he was in the service, so perhaps he leaves
so he doesn’t end doing something he will later regret (like punching Tom in the nose, or asking
Wolfsheim to “rub him out”.
2) He does not know yet what to say to Tom. After all, what WOULD he say? “Hey, Old Sport, I’m in
love with your wife and I want her back”?
3) He is afraid that Daisy might be not far behind her husband, and, after all, Jay has the perfect plan
for the first meeting; the restaurant is neither the time nor the place.
Best question asked by any student (Javier’s question):
Q. Is there any real love in this novel/movie?
A. Love is the controversial issue of the novel, and all of the relationships in the novel are failed. Jay’s
dream is to win back Daisy; all that he accomplishes is done in the name of love. But is it love? Is it
obsession? Does he merely want to possess her? If you can argue with clear support that Jay truly
loves Daisy, I’ll accept that he does love her. On the other hand, it is fairly obvious that he wants to
possess her, and possession isn’t love.
Conversely, one clear example of a character showing unconditional love is Henry C. Gatz.
Unfortunately, even that father-son relationship is failed, underlined by the fact that Jay leaves his past
behind, including his own father.
Q. Why does Daisy joke about Nick loving her?
A. She is stating the obvious. Nick asked her to meet at his house, but to come alone. She knows he
doesn’t love her romantically (after all, they are cousins), but she says this to be witty/clever, and in fun.
Q. Why does the narrator allow Jay and Daisy to meet in his (Nick’s) house?
A. Jordan reassures Nick, adding that Daisy will say, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Even though
Nick has doubts about allowing the meeting, Jordan convinces him. Here’s an even better question:
Why does Gatsby choose Jordan as the go-between to ask Nick to arrange the meeting? A: He
chooses Jordan because he sees Nick with Jordan at one of the parties. He probably believes it will be
easier to ask Jordan for the favor, rather than asking Nick directly for the favor. Perhaps Gatsby feels
guilty about imposing on his neighbor, but not so guilty imposing upon a beautiful female stranger.
Don’t forget that Nick admires Jay Gatsby, and, just like Jay, Nick is eager to make a good impression.
Q. Who bought Nick the flowers? Wasn’t Nick embarrassed or worried? : (
A. NO ONE bought flowers for Nick. The flowers were part of Gatsby’s elaborate plan to impress and
win back Daisy. In the movie, Jay has flowers sent over, sends over the silver tea service, and has
Nick’s lawn mowed. Jay wants everything to be “picture perfect” – just like the reunion picture that has
probably been playing over and over again in his mind ever since he initiated the plan to win Daisy
back. If anything, Nick should be overwhelmed by the elaborate details of Jay’s plan. In fact, he is.
On another level, he flowers, the tea service, the grass – give Gatsby an inch and he takes a yard. So,
yes, Jay, you can meet your old girlfriend at my house. Then suddenly, the troops storm in and
redecorate the entire house. This is proof positive that Jay is a manipulator. He has learned that, in
Final Exam Study Guide Part One 2
order to be a success , one has to have total control of every detail, down to a blade of grass. This
same strategy has worked for Jay in all aspects of business, enabling him to make millions of dollars.
Why wouldn’t he use the same strategy for making the girl of his dreams his wife?
Q: Why doesn’t Daisy think that Gatsby is stalking her?
A. She is probably flattered by his revelations. After all, we know she had many admirers when she was
18, so she is used to attention. Also, Daisy still has a flame in her heart for Jay, so she wouldn’t think
his scrapbook is suspicious at all.
Q. Why does Gatsby call everyone, “Old Sport”?
A. Yeah – it gets pretty annoying, doesn’t it? In the 1920s, “Old Sport” was probably the cool thing for the
“in crowd” to say to one another, just like “Bro” was twenty years ago. Experiment: Try substituting
every “Old Sport” with “Dude.” Does it work?
Q. What does Gatsby see in Daisy?
A. Gatsby sees “the past” in Daisy. Sure, Jay Gatsby is an unbeatable superstar in the “now.” He is a selfmade millionaire. He got there through obsessive attention to details – details which were traceable
even to a journal he kept when he was a young boy. Daisy is the trophy he could not win in the past
because of his financial circumstances at the time. Subsequently, Gatsby re-invents himself in order to
be able to re-live the past and win what was previously unattainable. These are the actions of an
obsessive perfectionist.
Q. Could we correctly call Gatsby a con artist?
A. What is a con artist? “con artist - a swindler who exploits the confidence of his victim”
(Freedictionary.com). With regard to Gatsby’s relationship with Nick, we would have to determine if
Nick is “swindled” or not. Perhaps Gatsby does not swindle money from Carraway, but he does seem to
swindle, or take advantage of, the growing friendship.
Q. If Daisy loves Jay so much, why doesn’t she break the rules? Doesn’t true love mean taking risks?
A. Daisy DOES break the rules. She meets with Jay so frequently that he ends up firing all his servants
in order to have true privacy. It s fair to assume they are doing more than just talking during these
meetings. WARNING: True love does NOT mean taking unwarranted risks. Keep in mind that Daisy is
a mother, and her selfish actions will ultimately affect her child (even though we don’t hear about her
child for the rest of the novel).
Q. Why does Jay lie about his past to Nick?
A. Jay is a manipulator. He lies because he is trying to win Nick’s trust. In effect, Jay is setting up his
new-found friend – using him- with the intention of using him as the facilitator that will ultimately bring
about a romantic meeting with Daisy. (And you thought Jay Gatsby was a charming, ambitious, admirable
young man!)
Q. Why does Jay have such a large home when he lives alone?
A. Did you read the novel, old sport? Gatsby is trying to catch Daisy’s attention. Remember, he lives
across the bay from her, and he is hoping his loud parties will cause her to drift over one evening to see
what is going on. (Remember the symbolism of the green light?) Here’s another way to look at the bighouse: If the house is a spider web, what little “bug” does JaySpider hope to snag?
Q. According to the novel, isn’t it raining when Daisy first arrives? : (
A. Yes. In the movie, it begins to rain after she arrives. This detail is minutia.
Final Exam Study Guide Part One 3
Q. What is the significance of the phone call Gatsby makes during lunch with Wolfsheim and
Carraway?
A. This is significant. Once we know for sure that Gatsby is involved with illegal activities, we
understand that all the phone calls promote his crooked business dealings. A deeper question is this:
what does the illegal business say about pursuit of the “American Dream”? Does Gatsby achieve the
dream? IS the novel telling us that you have to pursue the “Dream” illegally?
Q. Why does Gatsby allow unknown people to come to his parties and live in is house?
A. For the parties, the more, the merrier, and louder, too. As stated before, Gatsby is trying to attract
Daisy’s attention. Nick comments, in the beginning of Chapter 5, that the house is “lit up like the World’s
Fair.” During class we discussed why Gatsby allows Ewing Klipspringer to live in the Gatsby mansion.
The only possible answer is that Gatsby simply doesn’t care who lives in his house. Gatsby does not
have time to be concerned with borders who are taking advantage of him because 1) Gatsby is too busy
with his illegal business dealings, and 2) he is too busy being obsessed with his plan to win Daisy back
3) He has so much money that it doesn’t make any difference to him if someone is freeloading.
Klipspringer is part of the symbol of Gatsby’s house – a symbol that changes once Daisy starts visiting it
on a regular basis:
BEFORE DAISY’S REGULAR VISITS the house + wild parties + Klipspringer = a vehicle for attracting
Daisy.
ONCE DAISY’S REGULAR VISIT BEGIN, the parties stop, Klipspringer is not mentioned again until
after Jay’s death, and even the servants in the house have been removed. The house at this point =
symbol of Gatsby’s achievements. He admires his own house from Nick’s place. Once Daisy enters the
house, she is overwhelmed by its size and beauty. Ultimately, Jay takes her to his room where he
throws an array of expensive shirts at her – an action which is akin to that of people who are suddenly
wealthy and literally burn money, simply because they have it to burn.
Q. OK so Daisy and Jay finally meet at Nick’s place. Why doesn’t Gatsby sit near, touch, or try to kiss
Daisy?
A. Nervousness? Fear? Romantic tension? Disbelief? The need to catch one’s breath after
culmination of years of that upward battle to win the fair lady?
Q. What goes though Daisy’s mind as she first sets eyes on Jay?
Shock and awe…sadness and happiness…memory and regret…hope and despair…disbelief and
reality…self-consciousness and self-confidence…love…etc.
Generally, I was a little disappointed in many of the questions. Students focused on insignificant details of the
movie. However, I am hopeful that these same questions show that you did not need to ask other questions,
indicating a sincere understanding of the novel. Perhaps your higher-level questions have already been
answered.