society, class and capitalism (new vs old money)

Question 1

‘ i - - up to us, w - - a - - t - - d - - - - - - - r - - - , to w - - - - o - - or t - - - - o - - - - r - - - - w - - - h - - - c - - - - - - of t - - - - - ‘

Answer 1

“It’s up to us, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things” (Tom - C1)

Tom resembles a white supremacist, reflecting the existing racial tensions in the 1920s.

(LINK: Attitudes to the Joads as ‘Okies’, as they are similarly viewed as threats to social stability.)

Question 2

‘ b - - - - , s - - - - - - - - - m - - , a - - - - - - a - - f - - - - - - h - - - - - - - ‘

Answer 2

“blond, spiritless man, anaemic and faintly handsome” (George - C2)

George is immediately introduced as weak and suffering, a reflection of the working-class - particularly embodying their lack of faith and confinement to their inferior class.

Question 3

‘ n - - - - - of h - - b - - - w - - - c - - - - - - - - - - s - - - - - - - - - - ‘

Answer 3

“Nerves of her body were continually smouldering” (Myrtle - C2)

Contrasting with George’s weakness, Myrtle’s vitality indicates the fulfilling effect that Tom’s generosity has on her. However, this is another illusion, as she still cannot escape her class restrictions.

Question 4

‘ r - - - - - - - - - - - t - - s - - - - n - - - - - - - of t - - c - - - - - - - - - - — e - - - e - - c - - - - - - - - - - - - to w - - - e - - ‘

Answer 4

“Representing the staid nobility of the countryside - East Egg condescending to West Egg” (Eggs - C3)

East Egg acts as superior to West Egg, as it is the more conservative and respectable of the two, and is established through its aristocratic inheritance.

Question 5

‘ i w - - s - - - t - - - t - - - w - - - s - - - - - - s - - - - - - - - ; b - - - - or i - - - - - - - - or a - - - - - - - - - - ‘

Answer 5

“I was sure that they were selling something; bonds or insurance or automobiles.” (Nick - C3)

The fact that Nick presumes that the young Englishmen and Americans are discussing business and commerce signifies society’s predominant preoccupation with capitalism.

(LINK: Reminiscent of the car salesman’s capitalist-centred monologue as he sells ‘jalopies’)

Question 6

‘ s - - w - - a - - - - - - - by W - - - E - - , t - - - u - - - - - - - - - - - - ‘ p - - - - ‘ t - - - B - - - - - - - h - - b - - - - - - - u - - - a L - - - I - - - - - f - - - - - - v - - - - - - ‘

Answer 6

“She was appalled by West Egg, this unprecedented ‘place’ that Broadway had begotten upon a Long Island fishing village” (Daisy - C6)

Illustrates the aristocracy’s reluctance to accept anything outside of their class and symbolises the transformation of America in the 1920s. It could also condemn America’s departure from its traditional ideals and its preoccupation with capitalism/commerce.

Question 7

‘ i s - - - - - - y - - - - g - - to m - - - y - - - h - - - - i - - - a p - - - - - in o - - - - to h - - - a - - f - - - - - - — in t - - m - - - - - w - - - - ‘

Answer 7

“I suppose you’ve got to make your house into a pigsty in order to have any friends - in the modern world” (Tom - C7)

Tom openly criticises Gatsby and the modern world as, for the ‘old money’ aristocracy, they represent the disorder and immorality of the ‘new money’ which may threaten the latter’s existence.

Question 8

‘h - - l - - - v - - - - - - - - e - - - - - - - - - - - , k - - - - in t - - r - - - a - - m - - - - - - h - - t - - - - d - - - b - - - - w - - - t - - d - - - ‘

Answer 8

“Her life violently extinguished, knelt in the road and mingled her thick dark blood with the dust” (Myrtle - C7)

The description of Myrtle’s body contrasts with her earlier vitality; the allusion to dust indicates that, despite the hope that she had of Tom saving her, she is condemned to her working-class origins, much like Gatsby and George.

Question 9

‘ t - - - w - - - c - - - - - - - p - - - - - , T - - a - - D - - - - — t - - - s - - - - - - up t - - - - - a - - c - - - - - - - - a - - t - - - r - - - - - - - - b - - - i - - - t - - - - m - - - - or t - - - - v - - - c - - - - - - - - - - - - ‘

Answer 9

“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness” (Tom/Daisy - C9)

Tom and Daisy are irredeemable characters, spoiled with money and doing what they please for their pleasure, letting others clean up after them.

(LINK: In both novels, the rich people’s crimes do not count as much as the poor people’s.)