Janae’s Blog

“I married him because I thought he was a gentleman,” she said finally. “I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe.” (pg. 39)

Myrtle, Tom’s mistress, married for a dream. She wanted a loving husband, the fairy tale romance. But she realized that it didn’t turn out that way. It’s debatable if she grew tired of the situation and wanted more, or if she walked into her marriage without really knowing him.

Fitzgerald’s re – accruing theme in this novel is how one’s perception of the American dream can change. Myrtle wasn’t happy with her lot on life, but she now enjoys the privileges of being a mistress – the fine clothes, apartment, etc., as well as the thrill of excitement that comes with sneaking around. But neither Tom nor Myrtle are very good at keeping their relationship a secret.

“Instead of being the warm centre of the world, the Middle West now seemed like the ragged edge of the universe-so I decided to go East and learn the bond business. Everybody I knew was in the bond business…”

Nick wants more from life, and back East is where everything happens, or so he implies in later pages. It’s glitzy and glamorous and what every bachelor would want.

But Fitzgerald hints at how the American Dream can alter. The book begins when Nick moved back to the Midwest, and Nick comments on how his year spent out East altered his perceptions. (Page 6)

“When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction-Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn.”

Gatsby represents money, and, we assume, social standing with the Eastern high society. But with this passage we learn that Nick no longer wants that particular American dream, the one he originally sought after.

“The other girl, Daisy, made an attempt to rise-she leaned slightly forward with a conscientious expression-then she laughed, an absurd, charming little laugh, and I laughed too and came forward into the room.

“I’m p-paralyzed with happiness.” She laughed again, as if she said something very witty, and held my hand for a moment, looking up into my face, promising that there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see. That was a way she had. She hinted in a murmur that the surname of the balancing girl was Baker. (I’ve heard it said that Daisy’s murmur was only to make people lean toward her; an irrelevant criticism that made it no less charming.)” (Page 13)

But we learn that Daisy isn’t as content as she appears. Fitzgerald adds another layer to her character with the conversation on page 21.

“It’ll show you how I’ve gotten to feel about-things. Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling, and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. ‘all right,’ I said, ‘I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool-that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”

“You see I think everything’s terrible anyhow,” she went on in a convinced way. “Everybody thinks so-the most advanced people. And I KNOW. I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything.” Her eyes flashed around her in a defiant way, rather like Tom’s, and she laughed with thrilling scorn. “Sophisticated-God, I’m sophisticated!”"

Daisy isn’t as gay as she originally seems – she’s been hardened and has a cynical view on life, which is an extreme contradiction to our first impression of her.

White is typically symbolic of cleanliness, purity, etc. Fitzgerald incorporates white to symbolize the surface of innocence surrounding the two girls.

“Instead of being the warm centre of the world, the Middle West now seemed like the ragged edge of the universe-so I decided to go East and learn the bond business. Everybody I knew was in the bond business…”

Nick wants more from life, and back East is where everything happens, or so he implies in later pages. It’s glitzy and glamorous and what every bachelor would want.

But Fitzgerald hints at how the American Dream can alter. The book begins when Nick moved back to the Midwest, and Nick comments on how his year spent out East altered his perceptions. (Page 6)

“When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction-Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn.”

Gatsby represents money, and, we assume, social standing with the Eastern high society. But with this passage we learn that Nick no longer wants that particular American dream, the one he originally sought after.

“The other girl, Daisy, made an attempt to rise-she leaned slightly forward with a conscientious expression-then she laughed, an absurd, charming little laugh, and I laughed too and came forward into the room.

“I’m p-paralyzed with happiness.” She laughed again, as if she said something very witty, and held my hand for a moment, looking up into my face, promising that there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see. That was a way she had. She hinted in a murmur that the surname of the balancing girl was Baker. (I’ve heard it said that Daisy’s murmur was only to make people lean toward her; an irrelevant criticism that made it no less charming.)” (Page 13)

But we learn that Daisy isn’t as content as she appears. Fitzgerald adds another layer to her character with the conversation on page 21.

“It’ll show you how I’ve gotten to feel about-things. Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling, and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. ‘all right,’ I said, ‘I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool-that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”

“You see I think everything’s terrible anyhow,” she went on in a convinced way. “Everybody thinks so-the most advanced people. And I KNOW. I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything.” Her eyes flashed around her in a defiant way, rather like Tom’s, and she laughed with thrilling scorn. “Sophisticated-God, I’m sophisticated!”"

Daisy isn’t as gay as she originally seems – she’s been hardened and has a cynical view on life, which is an extreme contradiction to our first impression of her.

White is typically symbolic of cleanliness, purity, etc. Fitzgerald incorporates white to symbolize the surface of innocence surrounding the two girls.

“Instead of being the warm centre of the world, the Middle West now seemed like the ragged edge of the universe-so I decided to go East and learn the bond business. Everybody I knew was in the bond business…”

Nick wants more from life, and back East is where everything happens, or so he implies in later pages. It’s glitzy and glamorous and what every bachelor would want.

But Fitzgerald hints at how the American Dream can alter. The book begins when Nick moved back to the Midwest, and Nick comments on how his year spent out East altered his perceptions. (Page 6)

“When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction-Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn.”

Gatsby represents money, and, we assume, social standing with the Eastern high society. But with this passage we learn that Nick no longer wants that particular American dream, the one he originally sought after.

“The other girl, Daisy, made an attempt to rise-she leaned slightly forward with a conscientious expression-then she laughed, an absurd, charming little laugh, and I laughed too and came forward into the room.

“I’m p-paralyzed with happiness.” She laughed again, as if she said something very witty, and held my hand for a moment, looking up into my face, promising that there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see. That was a way she had. She hinted in a murmur that the surname of the balancing girl was Baker. (I’ve heard it said that Daisy’s murmur was only to make people lean toward her; an irrelevant criticism that made it no less charming.)” (Page 13)

But we learn that Daisy isn’t as content as she appears. Fitzgerald adds another layer to her character with the conversation on page 21.

“It’ll show you how I’ve gotten to feel about-things. Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling, and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. ‘all right,’ I said, ‘I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool-that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”

“You see I think everything’s terrible anyhow,” she went on in a convinced way. “Everybody thinks so-the most advanced people. And I KNOW. I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything.” Her eyes flashed around her in a defiant way, rather like Tom’s, and she laughed with thrilling scorn. “Sophisticated-God, I’m sophisticated!”"

Daisy isn’t as gay as she originally seems – she’s been hardened and has a cynical view on life, which is an extreme contradiction to our first impression of her.

White is typically symbolic of cleanliness, purity, etc. Fitzgerald incorporates white to symbolize the surface of innocence surrounding the two girls.

“Instead of being the warm centre of the world, the Middle West now seemed like the ragged edge of the universe-so I decided to go East and learn the bond business. Everybody I knew was in the bond business…”

Nick wants more from life, and back East is where everything happens, or so he implies in later pages. It’s glitzy and glamorous and what every bachelor would want.

But Fitzgerald hints at how the American Dream can alter. The book begins when Nick moved back to the Midwest, and Nick comments on how his year spent out East altered his perceptions. (Page 6)

“When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction-Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn.”

Gatsby represents money, and, we assume, social standing with the Eastern high society. But with this passage we learn that Nick no longer wants that particular American dream, the one he originally sought after.

“The other girl, Daisy, made an attempt to rise-she leaned slightly forward with a conscientious expression-then she laughed, an absurd, charming little laugh, and I laughed too and came forward into the room.

“I’m p-paralyzed with happiness.” She laughed again, as if she said something very witty, and held my hand for a moment, looking up into my face, promising that there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see. That was a way she had. She hinted in a murmur that the surname of the balancing girl was Baker. (I’ve heard it said that Daisy’s murmur was only to make people lean toward her; an irrelevant criticism that made it no less charming.)” (Page 13)

But we learn that Daisy isn’t as content as she appears. Fitzgerald adds another layer to her character with the conversation on page 21.

“It’ll show you how I’ve gotten to feel about-things. Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling, and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. ‘all right,’ I said, ‘I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool-that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”

“You see I think everything’s terrible anyhow,” she went on in a convinced way. “Everybody thinks so-the most advanced people. And I KNOW. I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything.” Her eyes flashed around her in a defiant way, rather like Tom’s, and she laughed with thrilling scorn. “Sophisticated-God, I’m sophisticated!”"

Daisy isn’t as gay as she originally seems – she’s been hardened and has a cynical view on life, which is an extreme contradiction to our first impression of her.

White is typically symbolic of cleanliness, purity, etc. Fitzgerald incorporates white to symbolize the surface of innocence surrounding the two girls.

“Instead of being the warm centre of the world, the Middle West now seemed like the ragged edge of the universe-so I decided to go East and learn the bond business. Everybody I knew was in the bond business…”

Nick wants more from life, and back East is where everything happens, or so he implies in later pages. It’s glitzy and glamorous and what every bachelor would want.

But Fitzgerald hints at how the American Dream can alter. The book begins when Nick moved back to the Midwest, and Nick comments on how his year spent out East altered his perceptions. (Page 6)

“When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction-Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn.”

Gatsby represents money, and, we assume, social standing with the Eastern high society. But with this passage we learn that Nick no longer wants that particular American dream, the one he originally sought after.

“The other girl, Daisy, made an attempt to rise-she leaned slightly forward with a conscientious expression-then she laughed, an absurd, charming little laugh, and I laughed too and came forward into the room.

“I’m p-paralyzed with happiness.” She laughed again, as if she said something very witty, and held my hand for a moment, looking up into my face, promising that there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see. That was a way she had. She hinted in a murmur that the surname of the balancing girl was Baker. (I’ve heard it said that Daisy’s murmur was only to make people lean toward her; an irrelevant criticism that made it no less charming.)” (Page 13)

But we learn that Daisy isn’t as content as she appears. Fitzgerald adds another layer to her character with the conversation on page 21.

“It’ll show you how I’ve gotten to feel about-things. Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling, and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. ‘all right,’ I said, ‘I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool-that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”

“You see I think everything’s terrible anyhow,” she went on in a convinced way. “Everybody thinks so-the most advanced people. And I KNOW. I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything.” Her eyes flashed around her in a defiant way, rather like Tom’s, and she laughed with thrilling scorn. “Sophisticated-God, I’m sophisticated!”"

Daisy isn’t as gay as she originally seems – she’s been hardened and has a cynical view on life, which is an extreme contradiction to our first impression of her.

White is typically symbolic of cleanliness, purity, etc. Fitzgerald incorporates white to symbolize the surface of innocence surrounding the two girls.

“Instead of being the warm centre of the world, the Middle West now seemed like the ragged edge of the universe-so I decided to go East and learn the bond business. Everybody I knew was in the bond business…”

Nick wants more from life, and back East is where everything happens, or so he implies in later pages. It’s glitzy and glamorous and what every bachelor would want.

But Fitzgerald hints at how the American Dream can alter. The book begins when Nick moved back to the Midwest, and Nick comments on how his year spent out East altered his perceptions. (Page 6)

“When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction-Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn.”

Gatsby represents money, and, we assume, social standing with the Eastern high society. But with this passage we learn that Nick no longer wants that particular American dream, the one he originally sought after.

“The other girl, Daisy, made an attempt to rise-she leaned slightly forward with a conscientious expression-then she laughed, an absurd, charming little laugh, and I laughed too and came forward into the room.

“I’m p-paralyzed with happiness.” She laughed again, as if she said something very witty, and held my hand for a moment, looking up into my face, promising that there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see. That was a way she had. She hinted in a murmur that the surname of the balancing girl was Baker. (I’ve heard it said that Daisy’s murmur was only to make people lean toward her; an irrelevant criticism that made it no less charming.)” (Page 13)

But we learn that Daisy isn’t as content as she appears. Fitzgerald adds another layer to her character with the conversation on page 21.

“It’ll show you how I’ve gotten to feel about-things. Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling, and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. ‘all right,’ I said, ‘I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool-that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”

“You see I think everything’s terrible anyhow,” she went on in a convinced way. “Everybody thinks so-the most advanced people. And I KNOW. I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything.” Her eyes flashed around her in a defiant way, rather like Tom’s, and she laughed with thrilling scorn. “Sophisticated-God, I’m sophisticated!”"

Daisy isn’t as gay as she originally seems – she’s been hardened and has a cynical view on life, which is an extreme contradiction to our first impression of her.

White is typically symbolic of cleanliness, purity, etc. Fitzgerald incorporates white to symbolize the surface of innocence surrounding the two girls.