Chapter 1 - Summary Flashcards
What advice does Nick get from his father?
Don’t criticise others, as “not all the people in the world have had the advantages you’ve had”
How does Nick introduce Gatsby?
“The man who gives his name to this book”
What are the 2 ways in which Nick describes Gatsby?
“An unaffected scorn”, but with a “gorgeous personality”
How does Nick describe Gatsby’s fate?
Victim destroyed by a “foul dust”
Where have Nick’s family lived for 3 generations?
Minnesota
Where did Nick graduate from? What year?
Yale
1915
What did Nick do after Yale?
Join the army in WW1
After the war, where did Nick move to? What time?
NY
Spring 1922
Why did Nick move to NY?
“To learn the bond business”
How does Nick see NY?
An exciting place, where he can reinvent himself
Where does Nick find himself living?
West Egg
How does Nick describe the West Egg?
“The less fashionable of the two”
Who is Nick’s neighbour?
Gatsby
How does Nick describe Gatsby’s mansion?
“A colossal affair by any standard”
What 2 things stick out in Gatsby’s mansion?
“A marble swimming pool”
“Forty acres of lawn and garden”
Where does Nick drive to? Who is he visiting?
East Egg
Daisy and Tom
How are Daisy and Tom related to Nick?
Cousin
Cousin-in-law
What is Tom wearing when he greets Nick? How is he standing?
“Riding clothes”
“Standing with his legs apart on the front porch”
What does Nick recall to Tom at dinner?
How people at Yale “hated his guts”
How does Tom come across at dinner?
Condescending
Who is Jordan Baker?
Professional golfer
How is Jordan described?
A beautiful women who is disinterested with everything around her
In what way does Jordan describe the West Egg?
“Contemptously”
What does Jordan mention to Nick?
She knows Gatsby
What was the name of the book Tom urges everyone to read at dinner?
The Rising of the Coloured Empires
What does The Rising of the Coloured Empires describe? Why does Tom urge the others to read it?
How the white race are at risk of “other races”
To protect “the dominant race”
Why is dinner interrupted?
Tom receives a phone call from his mistress
What does Jordan reveal to Nick?
“Tom’s got some other woman in NY”
What is the atmosphere like when Tom and Daisy return to dinner?
Uncomfortable
What does Tom suggest to Nick after dinner?
He should get romantically involved with Jordan
What does Nick see Gatsby do when he returns from dinner?
Looking towards the bay of East Egg
What does Nick almost do towards Gatsby? Why did he stop?
Calls out to greet him
Stopped because Gatsby “Stretched out his arms towards the dark water in a curious way”
What does Nick try to do to understand Gatsby? What does Nick see?
Looks out to sea
Sees a “single green light” in the distance
