The Great Gatsby
Directions:
Because you are not going to be here tomorrow, take this worksheet to guide you through the reading
and make sure you highlight the passages it references and that you take notes in your notebook or in
your book (with post-its if you did not buy your own copy).
Notes on Chapters 7-8
1. In Chapter 7, Nick starts to describe Daisy’s voice. When he is stuck for a word, Gatsby says, "Her
voice is full of money."
a. Nick agrees; and in doing so, lets us know that Daisy does not love
, but
what he stands for:
,
and
.
b. This is similar to what we learn about Gatsby’s feelings for Daisy in Chapter 6 when we
realize that Gatsby does not love Daisy, but his memory of her.
2. Notice how Jordan Baker’s remarks in Chapter 7 that it is too hot to get married in June. This
reminds Daisy of her own wedding and a mysterious guest named Biloxi. Both Tom and Daisy
deny having invited Mr. Biloxi, which suggests that they had a very careless approach to their
marriage. Notice how this carelessness is affecting their marriage.
3. In Chapter 4 we saw that Gatsby’s off-white car suggested that his dream of success was more
pure than the reality of it. Now, in Chapter 7, we see Gatsby’s car described as yellow. Yellow,
as you know, is a symbol of decay in this novel.
a. What does it mean?
4. Remember the conversation Nick and Jordan had about driving back in Chapter 3. At the end
of Chapter 3, Nick also describes an automobile accident involving the "owl eyed" man.
5. Again in Chapter 4, Nick learns of an automobile accident where Tom Buchanan “ran into a
wagon on the Ventura road one night, and ripped a front wheel off his car.” Notice how often
Fitzgerald describes accounts of accidents caused by careless driving.
a. The automobile is a symbol of American
and
.
(Remember, in the twenties a car was a luxury and something that very few Europeans
owned).
b. In The Great Gatsby, however, it is a symbol of the destruction that is caused when
people became reckless as a result of too much
and
.
Although Gatsby has destroyed his dream by making it a reality, it is the car that shatters
Gatsby’s life.
6. Early in Chapter 8, Nick talks about Gatsby’s dream. Here we see the destruction of Gatsby’s
illusions. Notice the simile that describes this destruction. “ ‘Jay Gatsby’ had broken up like glass
against Tom’s hard malice.”
a. Gatsby’s name appears in quotation marks in this sentence because Nick is not talking
about Gatsby, but Gatsby’s image.
b. Remember the mysterious Gatsby whose guests thought he killed a man or spied for the
Germans during the war? This image, this illusion has now been destroyed.
7. At the end of Chapter 8, Mr. Wilson thinks the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg are the eyes of God.
These are the same eyes discussed in Chapter 2, the eyes that look through "a pair of enormous
yellow spectacles" at the "valley of ashes."
a. Once again we are talking about
. This time, however, even God has begun
to
and, as far as Mr. Wilson is concerned, there is no hope left anywhere.
8. As Chapter 8 closes, Daisy has not called Gatsby, and Nick imagines that Gatsby must be
realizing “what a grotesque thing a rose is.” Why is the rose grotesque? Why does Gatsby see
Daisy as also a grotesque rose?
In Chapter 9, Mr. Gatz says that if Gatsby had lived, "he’d of been a great man. A man like James J. Hill.
He’d of helped build up the country." This is a very ironic statement. Gatsby was the exact opposite of
James J. Hill.
 James J. Hill was an American railroad man who, in a struggle for control of the Northern Pacific
Railroad with E. H. Harriman, caused the Wall Street panic of 1901.
 As you know, a panic at the stock exchange does not build up the country. Hill was like Tom
Buchannan; he wanted only power and money.
 Gatsby, on the other hand, made his fortune in the hopes of winning Daisy.
Look at the schedule in Chapter 9. Compare it with the schedule on the following page that is taken
from the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
The Morning
Question:
What shall I do this day?
5
6
7
Rise, wash and address Powerful Goodness! Contrive day’s business, and take the
resolution of the day; prosecute the present study, and breakfast
8
9
10
11
Work
12
1
Read, or overlook my accounts, and dine.
2
3
4
5
Work
Evening
Question:
What good have I done to-day?
6
7
8
9
Put things in their places.
Supper. Music or diversion, or conversation. Examination of the day.
Night
10
11
12
1
2
3
4
Sleep
Noon
Benjamin Franklin was once engaged to be married. When he found that the woman’s dowry was not
large enough to set him up in the printing business, however, he promptly broke off the engagement
and married a woman who had enough money to get his printing shop started.
This is the exact opposite of what Gatsby does. He follows the Franklinian philosophy in order to make
enough money to win his dream girl.
It is important that the "owl-eyed" man comes to Gatsby’s funeral because other than Nick, the "owleyed" man is the only one who sees through Gatsby.
 Remember that in Chapter 3, the "owl-eyed" man is shocked to see that the books in Gatsby’s
library are real. They are not an illusion.
 He suspects, then, that Gatsby’s world is one of illusion and this is why he is surprised to find
anything real in it.
 You should also note that throughout the novel, he is referred to only as the "owl-eyed" man, a
man who can see clearly through the darkness.
"And as the moon rose higher, the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became
aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailor’s eyes -- a fresh, green breast of the
new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby’s house, had once pondered in
whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must
have held his breath in the presence of this continent. Compelled into an aesthetic contemplation, he
neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to
his capacity for wonder."
 Basically, what Nick is telling us is that "the American Dream" died as soon as the first white
settlers tried to make it a reality. This is why Gatsby was great; he made "the American Dream"
live again and showed us how shabby it had become through people like the Buchannans.