F. Scott Fitzgerald
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“I am inclined to reserve all judgements.”
“When I came back from the East last autumn I
felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and
a sort of moral attention for ever.”
“the less fashionable of the two.”
“To a certain temperament the situation might
have seemed intriguing – my own instinct was to
telephone immediately for the police.”
“I was confused and a little disgusted as I drove
away. It seemed to me that the thing for Daisy to
do was to rush out of the house, child in arms –
but apparently there were no such intentions in
her head.”
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“I have been drunk just twice in my life, and
the second time was that afternoon.”
“They’re a rotten crowd. You’re worth the
whole damn bunch put together.
“I found myself on Gatsby’s side, and alone.”
“After Gatsby’s death the East was haunted
for me.”
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“An extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness
such as I have never found in any other person.”
Jordan to Nick at the Buchanan’s house - “You must
know Gatsby.”
“He stretched out his arms towards the dark water in
a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could
have sworn he was trembling.”
“When I had looked once more for Gatsby he had
vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet
darkness.”
Catherine on Gatsby - “Well, they say he’s a nephew
or cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm’s. That’s where all his
money comes from.”
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“I’m scared of him. I’d hate to have him get
anything on me.”
Nick on the guests at Gatsby’s parties - “they
conducted themselves according to the rules of
behaviour associated with an amusement park.”
“Somebody told me they though he killed a man
once.”
“He was a German spy during the war.”
“It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of
eternal reassurance in it, that you may come
across four of five times in life.”
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Jordan on Gatsby’s alleged stint at Oxford - “I
just don’t think he went there.”
“young men don’t drift coolly out of nowhere
and buy a palace on Long Island Sound.
“He’s a bootlegger” – rumours about the
source of Gatsby’s wealth at the start of
Chapter 4.
“I am the son of some wealthy people in the
Middle West – all dead now.”
“I wondered if there wasn’t something a little
sinister about him, after all.”
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On Wolfsheim – “He’s the man who fixed the
World’s Series back in 1919.”
“Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would
be just across the bay.”
“Five years next November.”
His reunion with Daisy – “He literally glowed;
without a word or gesture of exultation a new
well being radiated from him and filled the little
room.”
Lies about his inherited wealth – “It took me just
three years to earn the money that bought it.”
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His true origins - “His parents were shiftless
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On Daisy attending one of his parties – “She
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and unsuccessful farm people.”
didn’t like it. She didn’t have a good time.”
“Can’t repeat the past?” He cried
incredulously. Why of course you can!”
“I’m going to fix everything just the way it
was before.”
“I wanted somebody who wouldn’t gossip –
Daisy comes over quite often – in the
afternoons.”
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On Daisy’s child – “I don’t think he had ever really
believed in its existence before.”
“Why not let her alone, old sport? You’re the one
that wanted to come to town.
“Your wife doesn’t love you. She’s never loved
you. She loves me.”
“I used to laugh sometimes to think that you
didn’t know.”
Nick on Gatsby’s demeanour during the
confrontation with Tom – “Then I turned back to
Gatsby and was startled by his expression. He
looked as if he had ‘killed a man’ ”.
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You loved me too?
“He rose up to his position in the East.”
Gatsby’s father- “Do you notice what he’s got
about improving his mind? He was always
great for that.”
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“It was a body capable of enormous leverage – a
cruel body.”
On Nick’s employers – “Never heard of them.”
“a brute of a man, a great, big, hulking physical
specimen.”
“Tom’s got some woman in New York.”
“she was less than an hour old and Tom was God
knows where.”
“I think he tanked up a good deal at luncheon,
and his determination to have my company
bordered on violence.”
“And if you feel that way about it, maybe I’d
better sell it somewhere else after all.”
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“It’s really his wife that’s keeping them apart.
She’s a Catholic, and they don’t believe in
divorce.”
“Making a short deft movement, Tom
Buchanan broke her nose with his open
hand.”
“I wonder where in the world he met Daisy. By
God, I may be old-fashioned in my ideas, but
women run around too much to suit me. They
meet all kinds of crazy fish.”
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“I was just thinking I don’t know a soul here.”
“A lot of theses newly rich people are just big
bootleggers, you know.”
“I’d like to know who he is and what he does.
And I think I’ll make a point of finding out.”
“She had told him that she loved him, and
Tom Buchanan saw. He was astounded.”
“An Oxford man! Like hell he is! He wears a
pink suit.”
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Prelude to the argument with Gatsby in the
Plaza Hotel – “The thing to do is to forget
about the heat. You make it ten times worse
by crabbing about it.”
“That’s a great expression of yours, isn’t it?”
“I understand you’re an Oxford man.”
“What kind of row are you trying to cause in
my house anyway?”
Daisy tries to calm Tom down – “You’re
causing a row. Please have a little selfcontrol.
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“I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and
let Mr Nobody from Nowhere make love to
your wife.”
“I can’t speak about what happened five years
ago because I didn’t know Daisy then – and
I’ll be damned if I see how you got within a
mile of her unless you brought the groceries
to the back door.”
“Daisy loved me when she married me and
she loves me now.”
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Attempting to convince Daisy she loved him –
“Not that day I carried you down from the Punch
Bowl to keep your shoes dry?”
“They’re things between Daisy and me that you’ll
never know, things that neither of us can ever
forget.”
“She’s not leaving me! Certainly not for a
common swindler who’d have to steal the ring he
put on her finger.”
“He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of sidestreet drugstores here and in Chicago and sold
grain alcohol over the counter.”
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“He won’t annoy you. I think he realises that
his presumptuous little flirtation is over.”
“What if I did tell him? That fellow had it
coming to him.”
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy –
they smashed up things and creatures and
then retreated back into their money.”
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“I’m p-paralysed with happiness.”
“You remind me of a – of a rose, an absolute
rose.”
“I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing
a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little
fool.”
They’re such beautiful shirts. It makes me sad
because I’ve never seen such beautiful shirts
before.”
Nick on Daisy’s reaction to Gatsby’s party –
“She was appalled by West Egg.”
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To Gatsby, before going to the Plaza Hotel –
“You know I love you.”
“You always look so cool.”
“Her voice is full of money.”
To Tom, regarding his attitude towards
Gatsby - “If you’re going to make personal
remarks I won’t stay here a minute.”
“Oh, you want too much! I love you now –
isn’t that enough?”
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“Even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom. It
wouldn’t be true.”
“But with every word she was drawing further
and further into herself.”
“When the phone rang that afternoon and
Long Distance said Chicago was calling I
thought this would be Daisy at last.”
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“I’ve been lying on that sofa for as long as I can
remember.”
“You live in West Egg,” she remarked
contemptuously.”
“Don’t talk. I want to hear what happens.”
“She left a borrowed car out in the rain with the
top down, and lied about it.”
“I had heard some story of her too, a critical,
unpleasant story.”
“bored haughty face.”
“A suggestion that she had moved her ball from a
bad lie in the semi-final round.”
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“She was incurably dishonest.”
“She told me without comment that she was
engaged to another man.”
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The impossibility of the American Dream
The corruption of the American Dream
The immorality of the wealthy elite
Social class
The deceptiveness of appearances
The complexity of love
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East v West Egg
Eastern seaboard v Mid West
The Valley of Ashes
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East and West Egg
Green light
The eyes of Dr T.J. Eckleburg
The Valley of Ashes
Weather