TGG: Class

Question 1

The hollowness of the upper class

Answer 1

• Newly wealthy of west egg vs old aristocracy of east egg
• Newly wealthy are presented as as ostentatious and lacking in social decorum and subtlety
• Whilst the aristocracy have more social grace and taste they lack empathy and are presented as cruel and heartless who use money to ease themselves of any moral guilt

Question 2

Class and love

Answer 2

• Myrtle married George because she mistakes him as someone who ‘knew something about breeding’
• Class dynamics dictate which couple survives at the end of the novel Tom and Daisy stay together, Myrtle dies separating her and George and Gatsby and Daisy never even get a chance because they never stood one in the first place

Question 3

‘Careless people who smashed up things and […] let other people clean up the mess they had made’

Answer 3

Because of their class Tom and Daisy believe they are immune to the consequences of their actions - microcosmic of the upper class in the 1920s

Question 4

‘Factual initiation of some Hotel du Ville in Normandy/Georgian colonial mansion’

Answer 4

Oxymoron suggesting Gatsby is imitating history of another country whilst extremely accurately, it doesn’t have the notoriety of an actual historical building, like the one inhabited by the Buchanan’s

Question 5

‘colossal affair’

Answer 5

Impact of the size of Gatsby’s house, it appears too big, almost excessive much like many of Gatsby’s possessions

Question 6

‘reflected gold’

Answer 6

Suggestion of material wealth but also how it is reflecting onto its inhabitants

Question 7

Tredell - ‘Money can’t buy Gatsby access to the class that Tom Buchanan inhabits’

Answer 7

Highlights the distinction between old and new money illustrating that wealth alone is insufficient to gain acceptance into the established upper class