Themes Flashcards
What term did F. Scott Fitzgerald coin?
The term “Jazz Age”.
What did the US and much of the rest of world experience after World War One ended?
An enormous economic expansion.
Though the 1920s were a time of great optimism, what did Fitzgerald portray?
The much bleaker side of the revelry by focusing on its indulgence, hypocrisy, shallow recklessness, and its perilous - even fatal - consequences.
What shift does The Great Gatsby portray?
The tide turning east, as hordes flock to New York City seeking stock market fortunes. It’s a symbol of of the American Dream’s corruption. Its no longer a vision of building life; it’s just about getting rich.
What does Gatsby see wealth as?
A solution to his problems.
Gatsby reinvents himself so much that…?
He becomes hollow and disconnected from his past.
What does Gatsby’s failure prove?
It proves foolishness of short-cutting the American Dream by allowing corruption and materialism to prevail over hard-work, integrity, and real love.
What three different social classes does The Great Gatsby portray?
“Old money” (Tom and Daisy), “new money” (Gatsby) and “no money” (George and Myrtle).
What does The Great Gatsby show in terms of class?
The newly developing class rivalry between “old” and “new” money in the struggle between Gatsby and Tom over Daisy.
Nick and Gatsby are both troubled by what?
Time. The past haunts Gatsby and the future weighs down on Nick.
What does Gatsby say to Nick when he tells him that you can’t repeat the past?
“Why of course you can!”
What does Gatsby mix up?
“Youth and mystery” with history. He thinks a single glorious month of love with Daisy can compete with the years and experiences she has shared with Tom.
What does Nick’s fear of the future foreshadow?
The economic bust that plunged the country into depression and ended the Roaring Twenties in 1929.
When Nick realises it is his 30th birthday at the Plaza Hotel, what does he think of the new decade before him?
He thinks of it as a “portentous menacing road,” and clearly sees int he struggle between old and new money, the end of an era, and the destruction of both types of wealth.
