THE GREAT GATSBY THEMES THAT MAKE THIS WORK

THE GREAT GATSBY THEMES THAT MAKE THIS WORK AN ESSENTIAL READ

THE AMERICAN DREAM • What is the “American Dream”? (Think about our country’s early history) • What comments on this concept are presented by Fitzgerald in this novel? (Look at how people reach their dreams…how noble are they? ) • What is your opinion of “The American Dream” as it stands in our world today? (Is this still a viable concept or is it a thing of the past? )

THOUGHTS TO PONDER… • Does Gatsby ever achieve “The American Dream”? • How would each of our main characters (Daisy, Tom, Myrtle, George Wilson, Jordan, Nick, and Gatsby) respond if asked to define “The American Dream”? How would each respond if asked if they had achieved it? • If we operate under the impression that the American Dream is dead, what could be done to revive it?

WEALTH • Does wealth guarantee you entrance into the upper class in this novel? (Think about how Gatsby is viewed by Tom) • How does poverty impact the lives of people in the novel vs. how it impacts the lives of the wealthy? (Compare the Wilsons with the Buchannans) • Does money bring happiness for the characters in this novel? (Are any of the characters happy? )

THOUGHTS TO PONDER… • Is wealth an ends or a means in this novel? • How does wealth impact the divide between men and women in this novel? • Does wealth still put walls between men and women in our world today? • Does money bring happiness or destroy it in this novel? • How does Fitzgerald portray the wealthy in this novel? How does it change your opinion to know that Fitzgerald himself was wealthy?

MEMORIES OF THE PAST • How does Gatsby view Daisy, as the woman she is, or as the girl he knew when he was younger? (Look at his actions and particularly what he asks of her while their affair is going on) • The final line of the book says that we are constantly borne back to the past…what does that mean? (Look at Gatsby…how much did his past influence his present and future? )

THOUGHTS TO PONDER • How does Fitzgerald portray the future in this novel? Is it something that can ever be reached? • Do the characters in the novel remember the past realistically? Do we remember it realistically ourselves? • How much are we influenced by events that happened in our past? Why does our past seem to follow us around so much, especially the bad things and the missed opportunities?

LOVE AND MARRIAGE • In this novel, how good a representative of love and loyalty is marriage? (You have two couples to look at…the Wilsons and the Buchannans) • The phrase “marriage of convenience”, is one that people throw around sometimes…what does it mean, and is that the case with the two marriages in this novel? (Often this is attached to marriages where money is involved…how does it work when that is not the case? )

THOUGHTS TO PONDER… • How commonplace and acceptable is infidelity in this novel? How common is fidelity? • Does anyone truly love anyone else in this novel? • How do the ideas about love presented in the novel apply to our world today?

MORTALITY • What types of “death” do we see in this novel? (Look past the obvious…think metaphorical as well). • Nick doesn’t die in the novel, but indirectly references it several times…what is “dying” for him? (Think about what he realizes at the end of the novel)

THOUGHTS TO PONDER… • Why does no one show up for Gatsby’s funeral? • Who is to blame for Gatsby’s death? • Is there any mention of life after death in this novel? (For the record, this is intentional…what does that say about the characters and their views? ) • Why is Nick so preoccupied with age?

FORGIVENESS • What is odd about what characters in this novel will forgive and what they in turn refuse to forgive? (Look at Tom and Gatsby particularly) • What is the quality that all of these characters share that prevents them from ever truly forgiving each other? (Okay…there are probably a few traits…)

THOUGHTS TO PONDER • Are we as readers ever manipulated into forgiving the characters for their actions, particularly Wilson’s murder of Gatsby? • Nick opens the story with some advice his father gave him…what was the advice? What does that have to do with forgiveness? • Can we see the advice from the previous question as a way of manipulating how we view the actions of the characters in the novel (Honestly, they are ALL reprehensible people!)?