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Showing posts with the label The Great Gatsby

CHAPTER V

Nick returns to his house after visiting with Jordan from the city and sees that Gatsby has turned on every light in his house and walking over late at night on his front lawn to visit Nick. Gatsby asks Nick if he would like to take a swim in his pool. Nick realizes that Gatsby's is trying to convince him to set up the meeting with Daisy. Nick tells Gatsby that he will invite Daisy for tea and the two agree on a time. In return, Gatsby offers Nick a business opportunity to "pick up a bit of money," but Nick declines and assures Gatsby he is making the invitation as a favour and wants nothing in return. Nick calls Daisy the next day and asks her to visit, but not to bring Tom. Daisy agrees. Gatsby becomes obsessed (fascinated) with making everything perfect for the meeting. Though it's raining he sends a man to cut Nick's lawn and also makes sure Nick's house is full of flowers. Gatsby arrives at Nick's house an hour before Daisy is expected and Nick

CHAPTER IV

Chapter four opens with Nick attending another of Gatsby's parties. Nick uses this as a starting point and begins recounting some notes he claims to have taken, listing some of the more notable people he encountered that summer. Nick observes some drunken women on Gatsby's lawn discussing Gatsby's mysterious identity, which includes all the usual rumours. Nick then lists a slew (lot/plenty) of the prominent (big/large/superior) guests who attended Gatsby's parties that summer, none of whom knew anything about their host. His point is to prove that Gatsby's party attract the most notable people of the time. He also describes one man, Klipspringer , who never seems to leaves Gatsby's parties and has come to be known as the "boarder," which suggests he is living in the Gatsby's mansion. Nick then describes accompanying Gatsby on a trip into the city for lunch. One morning Gatsby goes to Nick's house and tells him they are having lunch togeth

CHAPTER III

Nick describes watching endless parties going on in Gatsby’s house every weekend. Guests party day and night and then on Monday servants clean up the mess. Every Saturday night, Gatsby throws incredibly luxurious parties at his mansion. After seeing these parties from afar, Nick is invited by Gatsby by a handwritten note to join in the festivities (events). Nick is one of the few to have actually been invited. The others simply arrive, knowing only that there will be a party and they won't be turned away. At the party, Nick tries to find Gatsby, but has no luck. No one can tell him where Gatsby is, suggesting that they, themselves, didn't know the host. The main topic of conversation is rumours about Gatsby. Nick hears from various people that Gatsby is a German spy, an Oxford graduate, and someone even claims Gatsby once killed a man. As Nick mills around the party, he encounters Jordan Baker and the two of them two mingle (socialize/mix) around. While spending time with

CHAPTER II

Whereas Chapter 1 ended with the mysterious Gatsby reaching out to his dream in the night, Chapter 2 opens with a striking contrast. It begins with a description of the valley of ashes. Nick describes a "waste land" between West Egg and New York City where the ashes from the city are dumped (put/left). The ashes (debris/ruins) cover everything, including the men who live there. Above this bleak (depressing) "Valley of Ashes" stares out two huge spectacled eyes from a billboard (advertising board). These haunting (unforgettable), unblinking eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg  (The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg on the billboard overlooking the Valley of Ashes represent many things at once: to Nick they seem to symbolize the recurring waste of the past, which lingers (stays) on though it is permanently vanished, much like Dr Eckleburg's medical practice. The eyes can also be linked to Gatsby, whose own eyes, once described as "vacant (empty/blank)," often

CHAPTER I

Nick Carraway , the novel's narrator and protagonist, begins  The Great Gatsby  by recounting a bit of advice his father taught him: don't criticize others, because most people have not enjoyed the "advantages" that he has. Nick says that as a result of following this advice, he's become a tolerant and forgiving person who resists (opposes) making quick judgments of others. For instance, Nick says that though he scorns (disrespects) everything Gatsby stood for, he withholds judgment entirely regarding him. Nick says Gatsby was a man of "gorgeous" personality and boundless hope. Nick views Gatsby as a victim, a man who fell prey to the "foul (filthy/vulgar) dust" that corrupted his dreams. In the summer of 1922, Nick, a Yale graduate, moves from his hometown in Minnesota, where his family has lived for three generations, to live and work in New York. He has recently returned from military service in World War I , an experience that lef