Welcome back to Virtual Book Club! Thank you for reading this post. While I had actual Zoom meetings with some of the students and faculty from my school, this is an overview of the novel (The Great Gatsby) and the topics we enjoyed discussing in depth. If you are a physical member of the club, and you missed a meeting or two, this is the perfect place to catch up on some of the topics we talked about that you may have missed. Please know, if I continue the book club, I will make sure to post the meeting links on this blog so that I can involve more people through this outlet. First, an introduction to the novel and its author, F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Nick Carraway
As a Narrator
Nick Carraway establishes his accepting and non-judging personality on page one. He says, "In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. 'Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,' he told me, 'just remember that all people haven't had the advantages that you've had.'...In consequence, 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."
He tells the reader the advice his father gave him: don't judge anyone for they may not have had the opportunities you have had. Nick says that this idea stuck with him, and now, he is inclined to not tell his opinion at all and not judge anyone.
Some decided that Nick is in fact the most 'judgy' character in the book. What kind of narrator would he be if he were not constantly sniffing around and describing characters for face-value and deeper while judging their situations? Just after he says he never judges anyone, he spends the next 180 pages judging a man named Gatsby, everyone in Jay's life, and Gatsby's various issues (romantic or otherwise).
We also tossed around thoughts that while he is a careful observer, he doesn't actually judge people that often. He observes people VERY closely. Paying close attention to minuscule details can be misconstrued as judging. We concluded that Nick judges clothing, architecture, cities/neighborhoods, and other material items more than he ever judges people.
Is Nick as honest and bias-less as he claims? Nick says, "Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known." We decided that Fitzgerald is setting up Nick as an honest narrator that the reader can relate to or he is writing a "bias test" into the book. Nick is a generally honest narrator in the novel; however, biases can be detected.
Unlike other characters in the novel, Nick has only really lived in two general areas: the Midwest (Chicago) and the Northeast (New York and in West Egg). He cannot use his "vast experiences" (except for travelling during the war which doesn't really count as cultural education) to apply to describing characters and situations. Also, minor point, he is pretty racist in his accounts of minor characters in the novel (his "Finn" or Finnish maid and black people). While this can be attributed to the time period, he still stereotypes them. Whether that prohibits him from accurately describing the main characters, as he is only mildly racist to the minor characters, we could not decide.
To play devil's advocate, Nick isn't blinded by extreme wealth and destructive personality traits (like Gatsby - his love for Daisy - and Tom - his narcissism). His lack of "distractions", if you will, makes him more observant and have less bias in situations. This makes his narration more reliable.
Whether you air on the side of trusted, reliable narrator or that he "stumbles" into his assumptions, we all agreed that Nick goes from virtual innocence and hope (even though he is around 29 at the novel's opening) to experience and situational sadness (over Gatsby's death and occurrences from the past 3-4 months).
As a Character
Nick Carraway is certainly the most human of the main characters. The people that Nick is around during the novel are the richest and ritz-iest. They throw the most lavish parties, drive the fastest cars, live in the largest houses, and wear the newest fashion. Nick lives in a small bungalow, but in the midst of all the glamour, he is more clearly humanized compared to his wealthy counter parts. Of all the characters, Nick is easiest to learn plot from because he does not have the almost "supernatural" qualities of the others. Even minor characters have quirks and physical characteristics that make them stand out (for example, Owl-Eyes or Wolfsheim). The most stand-out quality that Nick has is his regular, human nature and constant observance.
Nick Remembers Gatsby
We noticed that Nick only ever has celebratory and nice things to say about Gatsby while Jay is not the most upstanding person. Gatsby chases after a married woman, throws all-night, drunk parties, runs and participates in fraudulent businesses and operations, is not the most hospitable host when people come to his house, left his parents in the dust, was involved in a hit and run that killed Myrtle in the street, and lied about his past to Nick and everyone else; yet, both Nick and the members of the Book Club love him. We called this strange and unreasonable attraction the "Gatsby trance". Even though Gatsby proves to be a secretive and manipulative person, Nick still describes him as a "good man". While Gatsby certainly isn't all bad, he certainly does not deserve the status of saint given to him by Nick.
We realized that Nick is narrating a story that already happened as the book is told in the past tense. Because Gatsby is dead when Nick is describing him, Nick may be picking out the good details about him as a person to remember and relay, as we as human beings often do when family, friends, or acquaintances die. We even have a phrase that goes something along the lines of "Don't speak ill of the dead."
This remembering of Gatsby rather than the telling about Gatsby while he was alive makes the narration of Gatsby and our perception as him a little off.
Relationships/Marriage
Overall Questions
The Club's overall question about marriage in particular was: What is marriage's purpose in the novel/1920s? We also had MANY follow-up questions like, Do people marry for the same reasons people do today? Are there societal pressures to marry in the 1920s? How does gender play into these marital questions? Is it different for women? Men? Does spouse depend on social class?
In discussing the following relationships, we tried to answer the questions above. I will revisit them at the closing of this section to relay our discoveries.
Tom + Daisy
Tom and Daisy's relationship is one of little love. Tom is a narcissist. Daisy is the perfect aristocratic wife. She is beautiful, articulate, and from a 'good' and rich family. They married quickly and had a child - just as everyone expected. Tom is a commodity to Daisy. Daisy is one of Tom's symbols of status.
Jordan + Nick
Jordan and Nick's relationship, while not married, is considered 'one' of the aristocratic ones. Jordan is very masculine. The 1920s woman, while getting more and more independent all the time, is still light, flirty, and very feminine. Jordan, in juxtaposition, is a champion golf player, very competitive, outspoken, and frank.
Gatsby + Daisy
While our group could have taken 100 different approaches to Gatsby and Daisy's relationship. The entire book is about their romance, but we focused on Daisy's effect on Gatsby's life. We took two different sides on this issue: Gatsby airs on the side of narcissism or he airs on the side of co-dependency.
Gatsby treats Daisy as a commodity just as much as Tom does. Jay's desire for Daisy probably started in love. Gatsby thought his way to win Daisy back was to climb the social ladder and obtain a lot of material goods and money. In this pursuit of Daisy, Gatsby's dream changed. His new American dream was to have the perfect, aristocratic life complete with everything he has, but missing one thing: a perfect, articulate, beautiful wife: Daisy.
Gatsby's self worth and self-esteem depends on Daisy's reaction to his every move. After the party Daisy came to and when she toured his house, Gatsby tells Nick and convinces himself that Daisy did not have fun and that Gatsby would have to do bigger, better, and more beautiful things next time she came and next he saw her so that she would be happy and fulfilled. He doesn't care what makes himself happy and fulfilled. He only cares about what Daisy thinks. If she's happy with him and about him, his self-esteem soars. He loves himself. But if she isn't happy with him, he feel terrible about himself because he has built up this image of them together. Her acceptance of him is all that matters. He builds himself up through material goods. What he doesn't realize is that Daisy wants the man she met five years ago that didn't have a dollar to his name. She wants the mysterious, but humble Jay Gatz. She has the fancy house. She has the bright, shining, white, new roadster. She wants Gatsby to be authentically himself, but Gatsby doesn't see it.
Death
Myrtle's Death
Myrtle was hit in the street by Gatsby's iconic yellow car while Gatsby and Daisy were driving home from the upset between Jay and Tom in the city. Gatsby and Daisy don't stay at the scene of Myrtle's death: in the street right in front of Wilson's garage. Wilson and Myrtle had just been fighting over Wilson's accusations of Myrtle cheating. Earlier, Tom had driven Nick and Jordan into the city IN Gatsby's yellow car; therefore, Myrtle thought Tom would drive it back into Long Island, but he didn't. Gatsby did. We later find out it wasn't Gatsby driving. It was Daisy. Myrtle ran out into the street screaming Tom's name to save her from her lower class, fighting relationship, poor life and Daisy hit her with Gatsby's car. Myrtle died trying to achieve a higher social class, Fitzgerald's commentary on the impossibility of "class-hopping".
Wilson, while jealous and angry at Myrtle just before her tragic death, was in a horrible state, mental health wise. His neighbor stayed with him for a while, but after taking his eyes off Wilson for one moment, Wilson was gone.
Gatsby's Death
Gatsby's ultimate demise is an after effect of Myrtle's death. Wilson left his garage with a gun, went from house to house on Long Island looking for the yellow roadster, arrived at the Buchanan Mansion, questioned Tom about the car - as Tom was driving it the night of but before the accident, and Tom tells Wilson the yellow car belongs to Gatsby across the Sound (but is careful not to say Gatsby killed Myrtle - Daisy did that). With the owner of the car on the brain, Wilson reaches the Gatsby mansion, finds Jay swimming in the marble pool out back, shoots Gatsby, then, in one last insane act, shoots himself.
After all the secrets are out, after everything Gatsby has gone through from June to September to finally regain Daisy, after the anger and disappointment of those five years, after cheating and lying to work his way to the top to see Daisy again and to win her heart, he dies from one shot. His story is revealed by Tom during the fight between them in the city. It's all out. It's all over. He realized the night before that Daisy didn't just love him all these years. She loves Gatsby - and Tom. Gatsby's problem is with that 'and'. Gatsby's entire dream was shut down the night before. A dream he had since he was small, but was heightened over the past five years, over a war, over climbing the social ladder. Even after his entire life's mission was crushed, Gatsby died protecting Daisy from the scrutiny and trial of killing Myrtle. It would be assumed he did it. Wilson did kill him after all.
Parallels
As a club, we believed the main message of the novel came from the parallels between these two deaths. Myrtle was tragically hit and killed by a car she believed to be driven by Tom coming to carry her away - to the upper class. Gatsby died protecting Daisy - the last piece of his aristocratic, American dream puzzle. Both characters died tragically (one a hit and run and one a gun shot in the back).
Both characters died trying to reach the upper class. While these two characters' lives were cut short, we firmly believed that if they had continued to live, they would have kept reaching and hoping and trying to obtain the upper class of which they were not born into. We were all cheering for them, especially Gatsby, to get the spouse of their dreams and to fulfill their vision, but that didn't happen. A lot of literature before, after, and during the 1920s explores the idea of the American Dream, but mostly has positive things to say. Expatriate authors like Fitzgerald and Hemingway debunked the "class-hopping is a dream and easy if you just work hard" and the "you can make it just like the rest of us" myths. Fitzgerald's main message is one that warns the dangers of not being happy with yourself. He doesn't say that you shouldn't work hard and try to better yourself; however, never being happy with your class (especially), morals, or even occupation can lead to manic behavior like Gatsby and Myrtle.
The Green Light
The green light at the end of Daisy's dock/pier is an iconic symbol from The Great Gatsby. Before reading the book and from never having seen the movie, I knew the green light was important. I was confused about its meaning, but we decided on some ideas as a group. After some research and discussion I think we have come up with some pretty good guesses and insights into Fitzgerald's mind.
New Money vs Old Money & Gatsby's American Dream
Since the green light is across the Sound from Gatsby, we believe it could represent Gatsby's mission to reach old money status (aristocratic status) and achieve his true American dream. The green light is on the Buchanan property in East Egg. Gatsby can see the green glow from his house in West Egg. We see Gatsby checking, looking, and striving for that green light, and metaphorically, his finishing piece to the American dream: the perfect, aristocratic wife - Daisy.
The Color Green's Affiliations
Often green means 'go'; therefore, the green light is egging him on to go get Daisy and to go for his dreams.
Green is associated with wealth, as it is the color of money. Gatsby's pursuit of old money and any money at all backs up this claim.
We all know the saying "green with envy". Gatsby is jealous of the people across the Bay in East Egg and of their status and how it came so easily (For most, the "old money" status came with birth - like Tom, Daisy, and even Nick.) Gatsby is also jealous of Tom because he is Daisy's husband and has control over her.
Please enjoy The Great Gatsby and read along with these thoughts in mind. After finishing, check back here and see if you agree with our club's opinions. Comment your ideas below. Happy Reading!!
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