moral emptiness of upper class

Question 1

‘ h - - f - - - - - w - - - e - - - - - - - - - w - - - - - - — e - - - in c - - - - - - h - - f - - - - - - w - - - m - - - - w - - a m - - - - - f - - r - - - - - - - ‘

Answer 1

“His family were enormously wealthy - even in college his freedom with money was a matter for reproach.” (Tom - C1)

Tom is immediately established as a scion of the traditional aristocracy who has always extravagantly exploited his inherited financial prosperity.

Question 2

‘ a - - g - - - m - - f - - - - - - - - f - - - w - - - - a - - - - g - - - l - - - w - - - - ‘

Answer 2

“ash-grey men… fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat” (Valley of Ashes - C2)

Fitzgerald juxtaposes America’s traditional rural agriculture with the grim urban industrialisation, which is explicitly affiliated with the working-class.

(LINK: Mechanisation replacing traditional agricultural farming.)

Question 3

‘ b - - - a - - g - - - - - - - s - - - w - - - w - - of an o - - - - - - t - - - s - - - d - - - h - - - - - - i - - - e - - - - - - b - - - - - - - - ‘

Answer 3

“Blue and gigantic… Some wild wag of an oculist.. then sank down himself into eternal blindness” (Eckleburg - C2)

Eckleburg’s eyes are not the eyes of God, but another example of capitalism; it illustrates that even religious purity has been corrupted by industry/commerce.

(LINK: The ‘handbills’ also symbolise the fallibility of the working-class’ faith.)

Question 4

‘i f - - - a h - - - - - - - l - - - - - - - - - s - - - - - - - - , a - - f - - - it in o - - - - - ‘

Answer 4

“I felt a haunting loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others” (Nick - C3)

Fitzgerald uses Nick’s loneliness to illustrate that the cities are similar to Gatsby’s parties; despite their glamour and extravagance, all of the people there are lonely and without purpose.

(LINK: The Joads’ inability to integrate themselves into Californian society in Steinbeck’s novel.)

Question 5

‘l - - - - - - - - … t - - - - m - - - - - n - - - - - - , t - - b - - - - a - - a g - - - . i l - - - - - - a - - - - ‘

Answer 5

“limousine… three modish negroes, two bucks and a girl. I laughed aloud” (Nick - C4)

Nick is surprised that African-Americans can be successful and well-assimilated with the wealthy.

(LINK: Racist and discriminatory attitudes in ‘The Grapes of Wrath’.

Question 6

‘it m - - - - me s - - b - - - - - - i - - n - - - - s - - - s - - - — s - - - b - - - - - - - - s - - - - - b - - - - - ‘

Answer 6

“It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such - such beautiful shirts before.” (Daisy - C5)

Exemplifies the superficiality of Daisy and aristocratic society as, now that he has wealth, she now regrets rejecting Gatsby when they were younger due to his lack of wealth.

Question 7

‘ y - - - m - - - - - w - - - - - to s - - - y - - o - - … y - - a - - - - - - - l - - - - - d - - - - ‘

Answer 7

“Your mother wanted to show you off… You absolute little dream.” (Daisy - C7)

Daisy’s daughter is an indication of Daisy’s choice to exist in a superficial dream, rather than accept the disappointment of a meaningless life.

(LINK: Pammy symbolises the shallowness of the aristocracy, whereas Rose’s stillborn baby symbolises the remaining hope of the poor migrants.)

Question 8

‘ y - - r - - - - - - - t - - a - - - - - - - - - - - - of t - - m - - ‘

Answer 8

“You resemble the advertisement of the man” (Daisy - C7)

Daisy’s description of Gatsby as an ‘advertisement’ reflects her utter superficiality, and Gatsby’s embodiment of 1920s consumerist culture.