S. Fitzgerald (1896-1940)

“The Great Gatsby”

Discussion guide.
First reading.
Understanding the plot.
• Give a short outline of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s biography.
• Talk about the time depicted in the novel and its peculiarities. (What is “the Jazz Age”? What do you know about Prohibition? The “Roaring Twenties”?)
• Retell briefly the events of the novel “The Great Gatsby”.

Answer the questions:
1. Where did the events described in the novel take place? What was so peculiar about the place and people described?
2. How did Nick Carraway meet Daisy and Tom?
3. Was Daisy happy living with Tom?
4. What was the relationship between Tom and Mrs. Wilson?
5. Who is James Gatz? What is his real story of life?
6. What was Gatsby’s social status? How did he achieve this social standing?
7. Why did Gatsby want to see Daisy? Were they happy together?
8. What was Myrtle’s fatal mistake? (See the 3d part of Ch.VII p.143, and Ch.VIII p.165, “Michaelis had seen this too...”)
9. What do readers get to know about Gatsby after his death?
10. What happened to Tom and Daisy afterwards?
11. Knowing the plot, try to discern:
the exposition;
the complication;
the climax (Ch.VII) – (do you agree that this is the climax?);
the resolution.

Second reading.
Narration.
1. What type (or types) of narration is (are) used in the novel? What are special devices used in the narration? How do they contribute to revealing the theme? Comment upon the chronological set of events and peculiarities of the plot.
Foreshadowing: see the first passage of Ch.VII p.85; two last passages in Ch.VII p.100 “Some drove on toward death...”; the opening part of the novel.
Flashback: see Ch.IV from the point of view of J.Baker; Ch.VI “One autumn night...”; Ch.VIII p.107-109. Find some more examples. What is the main function of flashbacks and foreshadowing?
Suspense: see Ch.VII a dialogue between T. Buchanan and Gatsby; the last part of Ch.VII starting from: “... I hadn’t gone twenty yards...” Can we say that the whole scene helps to create suspense? Pay attention to details. Justify your point of view with examples from the novel.
2. Who is the narrator in the novel? Characterize the narrator quoting the text. Describe his appearance (is it possible to do so? Ch.III p.65, Ch.I p.23 Daisy about him)
• Social background. What did he come to East for? (See the 1st chapter.)
• How old is Nick Carraway? (Ch.VII.) How does the author manage to show Nick’s emotional state?
• What is his attitude towards what is happening. Close analysis: the beginning of Ch.VIII p.111 “I’ve always been glad...”; Ch.VIII p.116 “No telephone massage...”; Ch.VII “the Plaza Hotel scene”; Ch.VI p.79 the passage starting with: “Tom was evidently perturbed...”; Ch.IX p.118 “I wanted to get somebody for him.” (his emotional state); Ch.IV p.55 his attitude to Gatsby’s story. Do the narrator’s comments on characters and events seem to you pointed and revealing, or are they platitudes? Give examples from the description of the second party at Gatsby’s (Ch.VI).
3. Can we feel that the narrator of the novel is superior to others? To whom? See the first part of chapter IV. What makes you think that the tone is ironic here? Give other examples.
4. By what means does Fitzgerald convey Nick’s irony?
• His speech? (See Ch.I - p.19 “...You make me feel...”)
• Actions? (What is Nick doing at the parties that might express or prove his ironic attitude?)
• Something else?
5. How does irony work in chapter III?
• Look for all signs of an ironic view of the author.
• Pay special attention to the wording of the party’s description.
• What is the significance of the scene in Gatsby’s library?
• Note some stylistic peculiarities of the passage. (Close analysis from the beginning of the chapter - p.46 “The large room was full of people.”)
6. Is it difficult / easy to sympathize with the attitudes of the narrator? Why? Is Nick’s account unreliable or wholly trustworthy?
7. Has the narrator been changing throughout the novel? If so, how? When he looks back upon his life, is there any difference between the judgements he passes now, as opposed to when the events took place? (See Ch.VI p.79 “...Tom was evidently perturbed...”; Ch.VI p.77 “He told me...”; Ch.IX p.128 “I couldn’t forgive him...”) Give your examples.
8. The narrator has a privileged insight into the minds of all his characters in this novel. Is this true? (See Ch.III p.44 “He smiled...”; Ch.VII p.92; Ch.V p.74-75 “As I went over to say good-bye...”; the end of Ch.VI; Ch.VIII p.112 “The lawn...”) Give your examples.

Characters in “The Great Gatsby”.
1. In what way are the characters of the novel presented by the author?
• by telling? (the narrator directly informs the reader about the character);
• by showing? (the reader is left to gather what the character is like from what he / she sees). See chapter IX. Give your examples.
2 Give the descriptions of the character from the point of their appearance, clothes, actions, names, thoughts.

Gatsby.
1 When does Gatsby appear in the novel? Was it done by the author on purpose? (Ch.III p.44)
• his appearance: Ch.III p.44 “He smiled...”, p.45; Ch.IV p.53-54; Ch.V p.66 ”The flowers were unnecessary...”
2 Do you agree that Gatsby was first mentioned by the author at the end of the first chapter? (p.27) Gatsby’s description is usually given on the background of “the silver pepper of the stars” or the moon (Ch.III p.49; Ch.VII p.104, 106). What is the significance of the setting in these cases?
3 What do people say about Gatsby? Why do they have different opinions about Gatsby and his business? (Ch.IV p.52; Ch.III p.45; Ch.IV - p.58 (Mr. Wolfsheim); Ch.VI p.82(Tom)).
• Describe the clothes Gatsby wears. (Ch.IV p.54) Give your examples.
• Speech portrayal. (Ch.IV p.54 ”Gatsby began living his elegant sentences unfinished...”).
• Name. (Ch.VI p.75; His real story of life - Ch.IV).
• Features of the character (pay special attention to chapter IX).
4 What is the difference between Gatsby and Nick? (See the 1st part of Ch.I; the 2nd part of Ch.III)
5 What is the narrator’s attitude to Gatsby? (Ch.IV p.55 “With an effort I managed...”, Ch.VIII p.111)

Daisy.
• Her appearance (Ch.I p.19-20 “I looked back”; Ch.V p.67 “Under the dripping...”);
• Her clothes;
• Her voice (Ch.I p.19; Ch.V p.67; Ch.VI p.74 “Her voice was a deathless song”; Ch.VII p.88 “Her voice is full of money”; p.97);
• Name;
• Thoughts;
• How does the author reveal the emotional state of characters? (Ch.I p.24-25 conversation at the table; Ch.VII conversation at the Plaza Hotel).

Jordan Baker.
• Appearance (Ch.I p.21 “I looked at Miss Baker”; Ch.IX p.127 “She was dressed...”; Ch.VIII p.112);
• Her voice;
• Dress;
• How do you understand the characteristics given in the 2nd part of Ch.VIII (p.142)?
• Does it have any relation to the theme of the novel?
• Actions. (Ch. I p.26: “I knew now, why her face...”; Ch.III p.46-47).

Tom.
• Appearance. Does his wife reveal true features of his character in Ch.I p.21: “You did it, Tom...”; Ch.I p.27 “his sturdy physical egotism...”? What is the key word for description of his appearance and personality?
• His speech portrayal (Ch.I; Ch.VII p.136);
• Thoughts / Actions (Ch.VII; the beginning of the 2nd part).

Mr.Wilson.
• Why is this character important? What role does he play in the novel?
• Appearance; dress; actions (Ch.VIII p.p.114-115; Ch.II p.29).

Mrs. Wilson.
Compare her appearance with those of Daisy’s and Jordan’s (Ch.11 p.29 “His voice faded off...”; p.33).

The significance of the setting in the novel.
- The social setting: (Ch.III; Ch.V p.69 - the description of Gatsby’s house; Ch.I p.17).
- The nature: pay attention to the beginning of Ch.II - the valley of ashes (p.28); the end of Ch.VIII - p.116 ”No telephone message arrived...”; Ch.I - p.27.
- The colours mentioned in descriptions of different settings, clothes. “A green light on a dock”: the end of Ch.I; Ch.V p.72; the very end of the novel. Yellow: Ch.I - p.13; Ch.VII - p.123,129; Ch.XI - p.184. What do these colours symbolize? Can we say these colours render the dream and the reality?
- How does the setting reveal the emotional state and the feeling of a character? Choose a setting and analyse it. Can the setting you have chosen reveal the personality of a character? Can setting reveal the theme of the novel? (the last passages in Ch.VI - p.84; the end of the novel.)

The theme and the symbols.
- What is the theme of the novel?
- Are there any evident symbols in the novel? If so, do they direct us to the story’s central theme, or do they distract us from it?
- What symbolic meaning do “the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg” have in the novel? (the beginning of Ch.II p.28,30; Ch.II p.30; Ch.VIII p.92,91; Ch.VIII p.115.) Does this symbol help to understand the society described in the novel?
- Gatsby’s description is always given on the background of the star sky or the moon. It becomes symbolic. Why did the author use these symbols? How do they contribute to the revealing of the theme? (Ch.V p.49)
- Don’t you agree that “the ash -gray men” also acquire symbolic connotations in the novel? (Ch.VIII p.116-117)
- How appropriate to the theme of the novel are its tone and style?
- Does our interest in the novel mainly depend on following its plot, on finding out what will happen next? Or does the author go beyond the events to show us what they mean?