Chapter 9
How does Fitzgerald continue his use of
weather to reinforce tone, mood and thematic
elements?
Do you believe that Daisy ever really
loved Gatsby? When? Why?
Motifs – How are these concepts
used? What themes can be developed
from them?
▫ Appearance vs. Reality
▫ Time
▫ Love and Relationships
▫ Isolation
▫ Education
The novel was published in 1925. Revisit his
statement: “An author ought to write for the youth
of his generation, the critics of the next, and the
schoolmasters ever afterward” (Gatsby xi). Does
his message resonate today or is it simply a period
piece?
How does the fact that Wilson “was reduced to a
man ‘deranged by grief’” consistent with the
picture painted of him throughout Fitzgerald’s
narrative?
What thematic implications does it have?
Do you agree with Wolfshiem’s sentiments that we
should “learn to show our friendship for a man
when he is alive and not after he is dead”
(Fitzgerald 180)? Why or why not?
How does it reflect on Nick’s attempts to “get
somebody” for Gatsby? How about the attendance
at Gatsby’s funeral?
Who does show up? What is the significance of
their presence?
• Does Gatsby’s schedule and “General Resolves”
look like anything else we have read this year?
(It does). Why do you think Fitzgerald chooses
to make this allusion?
• How is the Midwest employed as the fifth setting
of the novel? Who is from there? Who goes
there? What is the significance of their origins
and/or their travels?
Do you agree with Jordan’s assessment of Nick as
“another bad driver” (186)? Why or Why not?
What does Nick mean when he says that he is “five
years too old to lie to [himself] and call it honor”
(186)? Is he accurate in his assessment of
himself?
Does your view of Tom or Daisy change at all
when it is revealed that Tom believes that Gatsby
“ran over Myrtle like you’d run over a dog” (187)?
What about Nick’s decision not to set him straight
on the matter?
How does this idea connect to Jordan’s comments
about bad drivers?
What message does Fitzgerald send in the closing
lines of the novel? How does it connect to the plot
itself?
“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic
future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded
us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run
faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine
morning—
So we beat on, boats against the current,
borne back ceaselessly into the past” (189).
Does the revision, “orgastic” used over “orgiastic”
change the meaning of those lines? How?
The following quote come from a letter Fitzgerald
wrote to a friend:
“The worst fault in it [Chapter 6], I think is a BIG
FAULT: I gave no account (and had no feeling
about or knowledge of) the emotional relationship
between Gatsby and Daisy.”
Is this a fault? Why? Why not? What purpose
might this omission have served?
Who is most responsible for the novel’s outcome? Support
your answer with specifics from the text.
Tom
Daisy
Gatsby
Nick
Jordan
Myrtle
George
Dr. Eckleburg
Klipspringer
Wolfsheim
What effect does Gatsby’s mob
connection have on you as the reader?
Does it make him more or less
admirable? Why? Why would
Fitzgerald have him make his money
this way instead of the various other
possibilities?
• Symbols – Reinforce Themes
▫ Dan Cody
▫ Windows
▫ Weather
▫ Clothing
▫ Cars and Driving
▫ Green Light
▫ Alcohol
▫ Glasses/Eyes
▫ Gas Station
▫ Wolfsheim