The Great Gatsby

Question

1. What does this quote tell you about the narrator Nick and how this personality trait might impact the rest of the story?

“I'm inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores.”

1.  What is Nick’s opinion of Jay Gatsby (since the book is a flashback after chapter 1)? – Put the description in your own words.

“Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction--Gatsby who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn. If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away.”

1. What does this quote tell you about life in the 1920s and Nick’s relationship to it?

 “I bought a dozen volumes on banking and credit and investment securities and they stood on my shelf in red and gold like new money from the mint, promising to unfold the shining secrets that only Midas and Morgan and Maecenas knew.”

1. List adjectives that Nick uses to describe Tom

1. How does this quote summarize Nick’s view of Tom’s personality? List adjectives that describe Jordan.

 “I had no sight into Daisy's heart but I felt that Tom would drift on forever seeking a little wistfully for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game.”

Answer 1

1. Nick is a very open-minded individual. We know this because he reserves judgement when encountering new people.
2. Nick's opinion of Jay Gatsby is one of pure dislike. Gatsby represents everything that Nick hates This is made clear in the quote, "Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction--Gatsby who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn." There is also something about Gatsby that Nick appears to envy. That something is Gatsby's penchant for success, specifically his "heightened sensitivity to the promises of life".
3. This quote tells us that successful life in the 1920's, or financial security during that time, was dependent upon banking, credit and investment securities. Nick believes this because he compares the volumes he bought to "new money from the mint" and "shining secrets". He sees fortune and respect in his future if he is successful in these fields, much as Midas, Morgan and Maecenas found fortune and success in their ventures.
4. Provide me a passage with both of the characters and I can complete this question.
5. Nick's view of Tom's personality is that he is stuck reminiscing in his past victories. His description of Tom as a drifter who seeks nothing more than the brutality/drama of a football game paints Tom as a man with no real aspirations. He is content to be entertained by the most common of entertainments.

I hope this helps!