Gatsby

2. We learn in the flashbacks how Gatsby and Daisy knew each other and that Gatsby indulges himself
in his past fantasies of Daisy, wishing to have her, now that he has enough money to impress her and
feel worthy of her. He played off the illusion of having money to her when they first met and he was
in uniform. Showing the theme of Appearance vs Reality.

3. We learn about the society he's in by the fact that Gatsby is new money, meaning he went from a
poor life to a one filled with wealth. He uses his newfound power to indulge himself and pursue
interests. The society he lives in now is filled with people who want to use his money and gives it to
them to falsify an image of opulent extravagance, showing a shallow materialistic society during this
time. He values his image and Daisy above all else. This shows that society at this time valued
appearances and wealth, showing lack of morality and values. But once people find out that his
money is made corruptly he is seen as less, even though those born into old money still indulge in
corrupt, illegal activities, showing hypocrisy and judgement.

4. Jay Gatsby is a very mysterious character he is known for throwing lavish parties but the people
who attend them don't know anything about him. Further into the novel we learn that he was born
on a farm to the name James Gatsby and gained his wealth through bootlegging. He is head over
heels for Daisy and would do anything for her even take the blame for the murder of Myrtle.

The houses depicted in The Great Gatsby are perhaps the most obvious indicator of the
relentless competition to declare ones status, as all of the new rich attempted to outdo one
another when it came to the size and amenities of their homes. Gatsby has achieved from
the outside what looked like the American Dream, however although he had obtained the
material status necessary to give that impression, it still wasnt enough for him and had to
seek reassurance that he in fact was impressive. For example, in Chapter Five, Gatsby says
to Nick, My house looks well doesnt it? See how the whole front of it catches the light.
(Fitzgerald) In Scott Donaldsons article, Possessions in the Great Gatsby he writes, The
culture of consumption on exhibit in The Great Gatsby was made possible by the growth of a
leisure class in early-twentieth-century America.

4. "Meyer Wolfshiem? No, he's a gambler." Gatsby hesitated, then added coolly: "He's the man who
fixed the World's Series back in 1919."
"Fixed the World's Series?" I repeated. [] "Why isn't he in jail?"
"They can't get him, old sport. He's a smart man."
The fact that one man could fix the world series and get away with it shows how corrupt America was
in the 1920s.

"I thought you inherited your money."

"I did, old sport," he said automatically, "but I lost most of it in the big panic the panic of the war."
I think he hardly knew what he was saying, for when I asked him what business he was in he
answered, "That's my affair," before he realized that it wasn't the appropriate reply.
"Oh, I've been in several things," he corrected himself. "I was in the drug business and then I was in
the oil business. But I'm not in either one now."
He's told so many lies about how he gets his money that sometimes he gets confused, doesn't want
people to know that he got it illegally.

"I don't think she ever loved him." Gatsby turned around from a window and looked at me
challengingly. "You must remember, old sport, she was very excited this afternoon. He told her those
things in a way that frightened her that made it look as if I was some kind of cheap sharper. And the
result was she hardly knew what she was saying."
Gatsby rewrites the past to fit the way he would want it to be and that's his side of the story, this
teaches us that he thinks about Daisy so much that he even changes the story in his head to make
himself happy.

"See!" he cried triumphantly. "It's a bona-fide piece of printed matter. It fooled me. This fella's a
regular Belasco. It's a triumph. What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop, too - didn't cut
the pages. But what do you want? What do you expect?"
This speaks about how Gatsby may have the money so he can buy whatever he wants but he will never
have the education or the experience all though he is rich he will never be equal to the old money.

Jay Z and Gatsby are actually very similar both born into poor families. They are both known better by
alternative names rather than their birth name both have a net worth of about 500 million, both
dropped out and worked a crappy low paid job before they started working with their mentors who
motivated them to go into their current lines of work.

5. People treat him as a great figure of their world view just in order to make him believe he is so that
they can benefit from him. He is a never ending source of money to the people who attended his
parties and yet they never even meet him. This again shows how materialistic and shallow 1920s
society was and that no one is really connecting with one another, they are just obsessed with money
and social class status and appearance.
The above answer teaches us that 1920s america is filled with frauds and leeches. The people that
can't afford to reach their higher classes, will never be able to escape the world their forced into. A
dream that symbolises success and capitalism, devolved into aristocracy and slaves to money.

7. I think Gatsby was put in the novel because Gatsby is the true main character and all other
characters serve as subplots leading to a climatic ending. He was included by the author because he
was a representation of the author and his life struggles. Gatsby helps develop the reader's
understanding of the underlying values of 1920s American society. It also helps develop the love
story between Gatsby and Daisy which leads to the ending of the story and to explain a parallel image
of his forbidden love and forbidden wealth.

8. His association with his social status is represented by his parties, his car, the things he buys etc. His
car for example, is coloured yellow (symbolic of fake or new money) in comparison to the colour gold
which is used throughout the story to represent the old money class as a way of symbolising how
inferior he is as new money, to old money. A strong motive of his is Daisy and what she represents
(symbolised through the green light).