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The Great Gatsby

How does Fitzgerald achieve a melancholic mood in the beginning of this chapter?

Fitzgerald uses the traditional artistic device of contrast to help evoke the mood of melancholy in

this chapter.

Why does Nick suggest Gatsby go away and why does Gatsby refuse? a. Do you think his

decision is wise?

Nick knows they will find that it was Gatsby's car so he ask him to go. The decision turns out to

be a wise one.

Nick says, “I’ve always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave him,

because I disapproved of him from beginning to end.” Why would Nick give someone he

disapproves of such a compliment as “You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together”?

The paragraph in Chapter 8 that begins with, "I’ve always been glad … from beginning to end"

extends the paradox of Nick's feelings about Gatsby following Daisy's murder of Myrtle. Gatsby

confesses to Nick that Daisy was driving and that he, himself, will take the blame for being at the

wheel when the police trace his rather unmistakable car.

What has changed about Nick’s feelings for Jordan?

He no longer feels strongly for her.

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What happened at the garage the night before? i.e. how did Wilson respond to his wife’s

death?

Another flashback takes place at the valley of ashes.

What do the eyes of T.J. Eckleberg symbolize? How do they affect George Wilson?

He believes that the eyes on the advertisement are the eyes of God. He thinks of eyes as of some

divine being.

When Nick says, “I see now that this has been a story of the West, after all—Tom and

Gatsby, Daisy and Jordan and I, were all Westerners, and perhaps we possessed some

deficiency in common which made us subtly unadaptable to Eastern life.” What does Nick

mean by this observation? a. Why does Nick decide to come back home, to the West?

Nick realizes that the East is connected with a fast-paced lifestyle, immoral parties, and bad

moral values, while the West is associated with a more traditional moral system. Nick then

decides to move back to the West. The difference between Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby

arrives when Nick realizes his moral failures and did something to help them.

What did Gatsby believe in according to Nick?

The green light at the end of the dock symbolizes Daisy. Gatsby's desire, in turn, symbolizes the

American Dream: the desire to start over in a new, green, Edenic place and get the story right

this time around. The light is important to Nick because it universalizes all our desires to remake

the past.
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Explain what Nick means by his closing statement: “So we beat on, boats against the

current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

Fitzgerald is making an ironic comment on the uniquely American faith in progress, individually

and collectively.