great gatsby chapter 7 essay

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Chapter 7 marks the climax of The Great Gatsby . Twice as long as every other chapter, it first ratchets up the tension of the Gatsby-Daisy-Tom triangle to a breaking point in a claustrophobic scene at the Plaza Hotel, and then ends with the grizzly gut punch of Myrtle’s death.

Read our full summary of The Great Gatsby Chapter 7 to see how all dreams die, only to be replaced with a grim and cynical reality.

Image: Helmut Ellgaard /Wikipedia

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The Great Gatsby : Chapter 7 Summary

Suddenly one Saturday, Gatsby doesn't throw a party. When Nick comes over to see why, Gatsby has a new butler who rudely sends Nick away.

It turns out that Gatsby has replaced all of his servants with ones sent over by Wolfshiem. Gatsby explains that this is because Daisy comes over every afternoon to continue their affair—he needs them to be discreet.

Gatsby invites Nick to Daisy's house for lunch. The plan is for Daisy and Gatsby to tell Tom about their relationship, and for Daisy to leave Tom.

The next day it is extremely hot. Nick and Gatsby show up to have lunch with Daisy, Jordan, and Tom. Tom is on the phone, seemingly arguing with someone about the car. Daisy assumes that he is only pretending, and that he is actually talking to Myrtle.

While Tom is out of the room, Daisy kisses Gatsby on the mouth.

The nanny brings Tom and Daisy's daughter into the room and Gatsby is shocked to realize that the child actually exists and is real.

Tom and Gatsby go outside, and Gatsby points out that it's his house is directly across the bay from theirs. Everyone is restless and nervous.

From the way Daisy looks at and talks to Gatsby, Tom suddenly figures out that she and Gatsby are having an affair.

Daisy asks to go into Manhattan and Tom agrees, insisting that they go immediately. He gets a bottle of whiskey to bring with them. There is a short, but crucial, argument about who will take which car. In the end, Tom takes Nick and Jordan in Gatsby's car while Gatsby takes Daisy in Tom's car.

On the drive, Tom explains to Nick and Jordan that he's been investigating Gatsby, which Jordan laughs off. They stop for gas at Wilson's gas station. Tom shows off Gatsby's car, pretending it's his own. Wilson complains about being sick and again asks for Tom’s car because he needs money fast (the assumption is that he will resell it at a profit).

Wilson explains the he's figured out that Myrtle is cheating on him, so he's taking her the way from New York to a different state. Glad that Wilson hasn't figured out who Myrtle is having the affair with, Tom says that he will sell Wilson his car as he promised. As they drive off, Nick sees Myrtle in an upstairs window staring at Tom and Jordan, whom she assumes to be his wife. (It’s critical to realize that Myrtle now also associates Tom with this yellow car.)

It's still crazy hot when they get to Manhattan. Jordan suggests going to the movies, but they end up getting a suite at the Plaza Hotel. The hotel room is stifling, and they can hear the sounds of a wedding going on downstairs.

The conversation is tense. Tom starts picking at Gatsby, but Daisy defends him. Tom accuses Gatsby of not actually being an Oxford man. Gatsby explains that he only went to Oxford for a short time because of a special program for officers after the war. This plausible-sounding explanation fills Nick with confidence about Gatsby.

Suddenly Gatsby decides to tell Tom his version of the truth—that Daisy never loved Tom but has always only loved Gatsby. Tom calls Gatsby crazy and says that of course Daisy loves him—and that he loves her too even if he does cheat on her all the time.

Gatsby demands that Daisy tell Tom that she has never loved him. Daisy can’t bring herself to do this, and instead said that she has loved them both. This crushes Gatsby.

Tom starts revealing what he knows about Gatsby from his investigation. It turns out that Gatsby's money comes from illegal sales of alcohol in drugstores, just as Tom had predicted when he first met him. Tom has a friend who tried to go into business with Gatsby and Wolfshiem. Through him, Tom knows that bootlegging is only part of the criminal activity that Gatsby is involved in.

These revelations cause Daisy to shut down, and no matter how much Gatsby tries to defend himself, she is disillusioned. She asks Tom to take her home. Tom's last power play is to tell Gatsby to take Daisy home instead, knowing that leaving them alone together now does not pose any threat to him or his marriage.

Gatsby and Daisy drive home in Gatsby’s car. Tom, Nick, and Jordan drive home together in Tom's car.

The narration now switches to Nick repeating evidence given at an inquest (a legal proceeding to gather facts surrounding a death) by Michaelis, who runs a coffee shop next to Wilson's garage.

That evening Wilson had explained to Michaelis that he had locked up Myrtle in order to keep an eye on her until they moved away in a couple of days. Michaelis was shocked to hear this, because usually Wilson was a meek man. When Michaelis left, he heard Myrtle and Wilson fighting. Then Myrtle ran out into the street toward a car coming from New York. The car hit her and drove off, and by the time Michaelis reached her on the ground, she was dead.

The narration switches back to Nick's point of view, as Tom, Nick, and Jordan are driving back from Manhattan. They pull up to the accident site. At first, Tom jokes about Wilson getting some business at last, but when he sees the situation is serious, he stops the car and runs over to Myrtle's body.

Tom asks a policeman for details of the accident. When he realizes that witnesses can identify the yellow car that hit Myrtle, he worries that Wilson, who saw him in that car earlier that afternoon, will finger him to the police. Tom grabs Wilson and tells him that the yellow car that hit Myrtle is not Tom's, and that he was only driving it before giving it back to its owner.

As they drive away from the scene, Tom sobs in the car.

Back at his house, Tom invites Nick and Jordan inside. Nick is sickened by the whole thing and turns to go. Jordan also asks Nick to come inside. When he refuses again, she goes in.

As Nick is walking away, he sees Gatsby lurking in the bushes. Nick suddenly sees him as a criminal. As they discuss what happened, Nick realizes that it was actually Daisy who was driving the car, meaning that it was Daisy who killed Myrtle. Gatsby makes it sound like she had to choose between getting into a head-on collision with another car coming the other way on the road or hitting Myrtle, and at the last second chose to hit Myrtle.

Gatsby seems to have no feelings at all about the dead woman, and instead only worries about what Daisy and how she will react. Gatsby says that he will take the blame for driving the car. Gatsby says that he is lurking in the dark to make sure that Daisy is safe from Tom, who he worries might treat her badly when he finds out what happened.

Nick goes back to the house to investigate, and sees Tom and Daisy having an intimate conspiratorial moment together in the kitchen. It's clear that once again Gatsby has fundamentally misunderstood Tom and Daisy's relationship. Nick leaves Gatsby alone.

Key Chapter 7 Quotes

Then she remembered the heat and sat down guiltily on the couch just as a freshly laundered nurse leading a little girl came into the room.

"Bles-sed pre-cious," she crooned, holding out her arms. "Come to your own mother that loves you."

The child, relinquished by the nurse, rushed across the room and rooted shyly into her mother's dress.

"The Bles-sed pre-cious! Did mother get powder on your old yellowy hair? Stand up now, and say How-de-do."

Gatsby and I in turn leaned down and took the small reluctant hand. Afterward he kept looking at the child with surprise. I don't think he had ever really believed in its existence before. (7.48-52)

This is our first and only chance to see Daisy performing motherhood . And "performing" is the right word, since everything about Daisy's actions here rings a little false and her cutesy sing song a little bit like an act. The presence of the nurse makes it clear that, like many upper-class women of the time, Daisy does not actually do any child rearing .

At the same time, this is the exact moment when Gatsby is delusional dreams start breaking down . The shock and surprise that he experiences when he realizes that Daisy really does have a daughter with Tom show how little he has thought about the fact the Daisy has had a life of her own outside of him for the last five years. The existence of the child is proof of Daisy's separate life, and Gatsby simply cannot handle then she is not exactly as he has pictured her to be.

Finally, here we can see how Pammy is being bred for her life as a future "beautiful little fool", as Daisy put it . As Daisy’s makeup rubs onto Pammy's hair, Daisy prompts her reluctant daughter to be friendly to two strange men.

"What'll we do with ourselves this afternoon," cried Daisy, "and the day after that, and the next thirty years?"

"Don't be morbid," Jordan said. "Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall."(7.74-75)

Comparing and contrasting Daisy and Jordan ) is one of the most common assignments that you will get when studying this novel. This very famous quotation is a great place to start.

Daisy's attempt at a joke reveals her fundamental boredom and restlessness. Despite the fact that she has social standing, wealth, and whatever material possessions she could want, she is not happy in her endlessly monotonous and repetitive life. This existential ennui goes a long way to helping explain why she seizes on Gatsby as an escape from routine.

On the other hand, Jordan is a pragmatic and realistic person, who grabs opportunities and who sees possibilities and even repetitive cyclical moments of change. For example here, although fall and winter are most often linked to sleep and death, whereas it is spring that is usually seen as the season of rebirth, for Jordan any change brings with it the chance for reinvention and new beginnings.

"She's got an indiscreet voice," I remarked. "It's full of——"

I hesitated.

"Her voice is full of money," he said suddenly.

That was it. I'd never understood before. It was full of money—that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals' song of it. . . . High in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl. . . . (7.103-106)

Here we are getting to the root of what it is really that attracts Gatsby so much to Daisy.

Nick notes that the way Daisy speaks to Gatsby is enough to reveal their relationship to Tom. Once again we see the powerful attraction of Daisy's voice. For Nick, this voice is full of "indiscretion," an interesting word that at the same time brings to mind the revelation of secrets and the disclosure of illicit sexual activity. Nick has used this word in this connotation before—when describing Myrtle in Chapter 2 he uses the word "discreet" several times to explain the precautions she takes to hide her affair with Tom.

But for Gatsby, Daisy's voice does not hold this sexy allure, as much as it does the promise of wealth , which has been his overriding ambition and goal for most of his life. To him, her voice marks her as a prize to be collected. This impression is further underscored by the fairy tale imagery that follows the connection of Daisy's voice to money. Much like princesses who is the end of fairy tales are given as a reward to plucky heroes, so too Daisy is Gatsby's winnings, an indication that he has succeeded.

"You think I'm pretty dumb, don't you?" he suggested. "Perhaps I am, but I have a—almost a second sight, sometimes, that tells me what to do. Maybe you don't believe that, but science——" (7.123)

Nick never sees Tom as anything other than a villain ; however, it is interesting that only Tom immediately sees Gatsby for the fraud that he turns out to be . Almost from the get-go, Tom calls it that Gatsby's money comes from bootlegging or some other criminal activity. It is almost as though Tom's life of lies gives him special insight into detecting the lies of others.

The relentless beating heat was beginning to confuse me and I had a bad moment there before I realized that so far his suspicions hadn't alighted on Tom. He had discovered that Myrtle had some sort of life apart from him in another world and the shock had made him physically sick. I stared at him and then at Tom, who had made a parallel discovery less than an hour before—and it occurred to me that there was no difference between men, in intelligence or race, so profound as the difference between the sick and the well. Wilson was so sick that he looked guilty, unforgivably guilty—as if he had just got some poor girl with child. (7.160)

You will also often be asked to compare Tom and Wilson , two characters who share some plot details in common.This passage, which explicitly contrasts these two men's reactions to finding out their wives are having affairs , is a great place to start.

• Tom’s response to Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship is to immediately do everything to display his power. He forces a trip to Manhattan, demands that Gatsby explain himself, systematically dismantles the careful image and mythology that Gatsby has created, and finally makes Gatsby drive Daisy home to demonstrate how little he has to fear from them being alone together.
• Wilson also tries to display power. But he is so unused to wielding it that his best effort is to lock Myrtle up and then to listen to her emasculating insults and provocations. Moreover, rather than relaxing under this power trip, Wilson becomes physically ill, feeling guilty both about his part in driving his wife away and about manhandling her into submission.
• Finally, it is interesting that Nick renders these reactions as health-related. Whose response does Nick view as "sick" and whose as "well"? It is tempting to connect Wilson’s bodily response to the word "sick," but the ambiguity is purposeful. Is it sicker in this situation to take a power-hungry delight in eviscerating a rival, Tom-style, or to be overcome on a psychosomatic level, like Wilson?

"Self control!" repeated Tom incredulously. "I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife. Well, if that's the idea you can count me out. . . . Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions and next they'll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between black and white."

Flushed with his impassioned gibberish he saw himself standing alone on the last barrier of civilization.

"We're all white here," murmured Jordan.

"I know I'm not very popular. I don't give big parties. I suppose you've got to make your house into a pigsty in order to have any friends—in the modern world."

Angry as I was, as we all were, I was tempted to laugh whenever he opened his mouth. The transition from libertine to prig was so complete. (7.229-233)

Nick is happy whenever he gets to demonstrate how undereducated and dumb Tom actually is . Here, Tom’s anger at Daisy and Gatsby is somehow transformed into a self-pitying and faux righteous rant about miscegenation, loose morals, and the decay of stalwart institutions. We see the connection between Jordan and Nick when both of them puncture Tom’s pompous balloon : Jordan points out that race isn’t really at issue at the moment, and Nick laughs at the hypocrisy of a womanizer like Tom suddenly lamenting his wife’s lack of prim propriety.

"She never loved you, do you hear?" he cried. "She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved any one except me!" (7.241)

Gatsby throws caution to the wind and reveals the story that he has been telling himself about Daisy all this time. In his mind, Daisy has been pining for him as much as he has been longing for her, and he has been able to explain her marriage to himself simply by eliding any notion that she might have her own hopes, dreams, ambitions, and motivations. Gatsby has been propelled for the last five years by the idea that he has access to what is in Daisy's heart. However, we can see that a dream built on this kind of shifting sand is at best wishful thinking and at worst willful self-delusion.

"Daisy, that's all over now," he said earnestly. "It doesn't matter any more. Just tell him the truth—that you never loved him—and it's all wiped out forever." ...

She hesitated. Her eyes fell on Jordan and me with a sort of appeal, as though she realized at last what she was doing—and as though she had never, all along, intended doing anything at all. But it was done now. It was too late….

"Oh, you want too much!" she cried to Gatsby. "I love you now—isn't that enough? I can't help what's past." She began to sob helplessly. "I did love him once—but I loved you too."

Gatsby's eyes opened and closed.

"You loved me too?" he repeated. (7.254-266)

Gatsby wants nothing less than that Daisy erase the last five years of her life. He is unwilling to accept the idea that Daisy has had feelings for someone other than him, that she has had a history that does not involve him, and that she has not spent every single second of every day wondering when he would come back into her life. His absolutism is a form of emotional blackmail.

For all Daisy's evident weaknesses, it is a testament to her psychological strength that she is simply unwilling to recreate herself, her memories, and her emotions in Gatsby's image. She could easily at this point say that she has never loved Tom, but this would not be true, and she does not want to give up her independence of mind. Unlike Gatsby, who against all evidence to the contrary believes that you can repeat the past, Daisy wants to know that there is a future. She wants Gatsby to be the solution to her worries about each successive future day, rather than an imprecation about the choices she has made to get to this point.

At the same time, it's key to note Nick’s realization that Daisy "had never intended on doing anything at all." Daisy has never planned to leave Tom. We've known this ever since the first time we saw them at the end of Chapter 1 , when he realized that they were cemented together in their dysfunction.

It passed, and he began to talk excitedly to Daisy, denying everything, defending his name against accusations that had not been made. But with every word she was drawing further and further into herself, so he gave that up and only the dead dream fought on as the afternoon slipped away, trying to touch what was no longer tangible, struggling unhappily, undespairingly, toward that lost voice across the room. (7.292)

The appearance of Daisy's daughter and Daisy’s declaration that at some point in her life she loved Tom have both helped to crush Gatsby's obsession with his dream. In just the same way, Tom's explanations about who Gatsby really is and what is behind his facade have broken Daisy's infatuation. Take note of the language here— as Daisy is withdrawing from Gatsby, we come back to the image of Gatsby with his arms outstretched, trying to grab something that is just out of reach . In this case it's not just Daisy herself, but also his dream of being with her inside his perfect memory.

"Beat me!" he heard her cry. "Throw me down and beat me, you dirty little coward!" (7.314)

Myrtle fights by provoking and taunting . Here, she is pointing out Wilson’s weak and timid nature by egging him on to treat her the way that Tom did when he punched her earlier in the novel.

However, before we draw whatever conclusions we can about Myrtle from this exclamation, it’s worthwhile to think about the context of this remark.

• First, we are getting this speech third-hand. This is Nick telling us what Michaelis described overhearing, so Myrtle’s words have gone through a double male filter.
• Second, Myrtle’s words stand in isolation. We have no idea what Wilson has been saying to her to provoke this attack. What we do know is that however "powerless" Wilson might be, he still has power enough to imprison his wife in their house and to unilaterally uproot and move her several states away against her will. Neither Nick nor Michaelis remarks on whether either of these exercises of unilateral power over Myrtle is appropriate or fair—it is simply expected that this is what a husband can do to a wife.

So what do we make of the fact that Myrtle was trying to verbally emasculate her husband? Maybe yelling at him is her only recourse in a life where she has no actual ability to control her life or bodily integrity.

The "death car" as the newspapers called it, didn't stop; it came out of the gathering darkness, wavered tragically for a moment and then disappeared around the next bend. Michaelis wasn't even sure of its color—he told the first policeman that it was light green. The other car, the one going toward New York, came to rest a hundred yards beyond, and its driver hurried back to where Myrtle Wilson, her life violently extinguished, knelt in the road and mingled her thick, dark blood with the dust.

Michaelis and this man reached her first but when they had torn open her shirtwaist still damp with perspiration, they saw that her left breast was swinging loose like a flap and there was no need to listen for the heart beneath. The mouth was wide open and ripped at the corners as though she had choked a little in giving up the tremendous vitality she had stored so long. (7.316-317)

The stark contrast here between the oddly ghostly nature of the car that hits Myrtle and the visceral, gruesome, explicit imagery of what happens to her body after it is hit is very striking. The car almost doesn’t seem real—it comes out of the darkness like an avenging spirit and disappears, Michaelis cannot tell what color it is. Meanwhile, Myrtle’s corpse is described in detail and is palpably physical and present.

This treatment of Myrtle’s body might be one place to go when you are asked to compare Daisy and Myrtle in class . Daisy’s body is never even described, beyond a gentle indication that she prefers white dresses that are flouncy and loose. On the other hand, every time that we see Myrtle in the novel, her body is physically assaulted or appropriated. Tom initially picks her up by pressing his body inappropriately into hers on the train station platform. Before her party, Tom has sex with her while Nick (a man who is a stranger to Myrtle) waits in the next room, and then Tom ends the night by punching her in the face. Finally, she is restrained by her husband inside her house and then run over.

Daisy and Tom were sitting opposite each other at the kitchen table with a plate of cold fried chicken between them and two bottles of ale. He was talking intently across the table at her and in his earnestness his hand had fallen upon and covered her own. Once in a while she looked up at him and nodded in agreement.

They weren't happy, and neither of them had touched the chicken or the ale—and yet they weren't unhappy either. There was an unmistakable air of natural intimacy about the picture and anybody would have said that they were conspiring together. (7.409-410)

And so, the promise that Daisy and Tom are a dysfunctional couple that somehow makes it work (Nick saw this at the end of Chapter 1 ) is fulfilled. For careful readers of the novel, this conclusion should have been clear from the get-go. Daisy complains about Tom, and Tom serially cheats on Daisy, but at the end of the day, they are unwilling to forgo the privileges their life entitles them to.

This moment of truth has stripped Daisy and Tom down to the basics. They are in the least showy room of their mansion, sitting with simple and unpretentious food, and they have been stripped of their veneer. Their honesty makes what they are doing—conspiring to get away with murder, basically—completely transparent. And it is the fact that they can tolerate this level of honesty in each other besides each being kind of a terrible person that keeps them together.

Compare their readiness to forgive each other anything—even murder!—with Gatsby’s insistence that it’s his way or no way.

The Great Gatsby Chapter 7 Analysis

It's no surprise that this very long, emotional, and shocking chapter is laced through with the themes of The Great Gatsby . Let's take a look.

Overarching Themes

Morality and Ethics. In this chapter, suspicion of crime is everywhere:

• Gatsby’s new butler has a "villainous" (7.2) face
• a woman worries that Nick is out to steal her purse on the train
• Gatsby lurks around outside the Buchanans’ mansion like "he was going to rob the house in a moment" (7.384)
• Daisy and Tom sit and conspire together at the kitchen table

This air of the illegal heightens the actual crimes that take place or are revealed in the chapter:

• Gatsby is a bootlegger (or worse)
• Daisy kills Myrtle
• Gatsby hides the car with its evidence of the accident
• Daisy and Tom decide to get away with murder

This descent into the dark side of the Wild East (contrasted with Nick's version of the calm and strictly above-board Middle West) reveals the novel’s perspective on the excesses of the time period. It is interesting that the vast majority of the crime or near crime that is described is theft—the taking of someone else’s property. The same desires that spur the ambitious to come to Manhattan to try to make something of themselves also incite those who are willing to do the kind of corner-cutting that results in criminality. Only Daisy, who is already so established that theft is unnecessary to her, takes crime to the next level.

Love, Desire, Relationships . Just as crime is everywhere, so too is illicit sexuality. However, the heat and tension seem to reverse the behavioral tendencies of the characters we have come to know over the course of six chapters.

• The usually reserved Nick wonders about his train conductor and "whose flushed lips he kissed, whose head made damp the pajama pocket over his heart" (7.23). He also makes a dirty joke about the Buchanans’ butler having to yell over the phone that he simply cannot send Tom’s body to Myrtle in this heat.
• The usually passive Daisy kisses Gatsby on the mouth in front of Nick and Jordan in a display of rebellion. Later she calls Tom out on his euphemistic description of the times he cheated on her right after their honeymoon as a "spree" (7.252), a word that just means "fun good time."
• On the other hand, the womanizing Tom primly and hypocritically rants about the downfall of morality and the possibility that people of different races will be allowed to intermarry.
• Similarly, the normally weak and ineffectual Wilson overpowers his wife enough to lock her up when he finds out about the affair she’s been having. He also feels as bad about the situation as if he had gotten a woman pregnant by accident.
• Everyone’s desire for someone who is not their spouse is underscored by the way that an ongoing wedding is continuously described as deeply unappealing throughout the chapter. Eventually, the wedding music pops up in the middle of the climactic argument like this: "From the ballroom beneath, muffled and suffocating chords were drifting up on hot waves of air" (7.261). Married life is suffocating, and these characters spend significant energies trying to break free.

Motifs: Weather. The overwhelming heat of the day plays a vital role in creating an atmosphere of stifled, sweaty, uncomfortable breathlessness . Each scene’s overwhelming tension and awkwardness are further heightened by the physical discomfort that everyone is experiencing (it’s also key to remember that being hot and slightly dehydrated elevates the level of intoxication that a person feels, these characters pour back whiskey after whiskey). The hot mugginess ratchets up anger and resentment, and also seems to elevate the recklessness with which people are willing to expose and pursue their sexual desires. So crucial is this atmospheric element, that every movie adaptation of this novel makes sure that the actors are covered in sweat during these scenes, making it almost as uncomfortable to watch them as it is to imagine making it through that day. Here’s a quick clip that shows you what I mean.

Mutability of Identity. It is fitting that just as lots of wool is removed from lots of eyes, as Gatsby is source of wealth is revealed, and as Daisy is shown not to be the fairytale figment of Gatsby’s imagination, the idea of façades, false impressions, and mistaken identity is front and center .

• First, on this blisteringly hot day, Daisy is entranced by Gatsby’s projecting an image of looking "so cool" and resembling "the advertisement of the man" (7.81-83). Gatsby’s glossy appearance is perfect but also clearly shallow and fake, like an ad.
• Later, Myrtle seethes with jealousy when she sees Tom driving next to Jordan, and assumes that Jordan is Daisy. This case of mistaken identity contributes to her death, as she assumes that Tom would be driving the same car back from the city that he took there.
• Third, Daisy and Jordan remember a man named Biloxi who talked his way into Daisy and Tom’s wedding, and then talked his way into staying at Jordan’s house for three weeks as he recuperated from a fainting spell. Their memories make clear that his entire story about himself was a sham—a sham that worked, until it didn’t, like the façades of the main characters in the story.
• Fourth, Wilson briefly assumes that Michaelis is Myrtle’s lover. His failure to understand who it is that is a really having an affair with his wife leads to the novel’s second murder.

The Treatment of Women . Also key this chapter are women characters.

First, there is the pairing of Daisy and Jordan , whose outlooks on life are confirmed to be diametrically opposed.

• Daisy is rich, overindulged, and endlessly bored with her monotonously luxurious life . She grabs on to the romance with Gatsby is a possible escape, but is soon confronted with the reality of the perfect, idealized being that he would like her to be. Daisy realizes that she prefers the safe boredom and casual betrayal of Tom to the unrealistic expectations—and thus inevitable disappointment—of being with Gatsby. Her fundamental cowardice is a better fit for Tom, as we find out after the car accident when she kills Myrtle. It’s Tom who offers her complicity, understanding, and a return to stability.
• On the other hand, Jordan is a pragmatist who sees opportunity and possibility everywhere . This makes her attractive to Nick, who likes that she is self-contained, calm, cynical, and unlikely to be overly emotional. However, this approach to life means that Jordan is basically amoral, as revealed in this chapter by her almost complete lack of reaction to Myrtle’s death, and her assumption that life at the Buchanan house will go on as normal. For Nick, who clings to his sense of himself as a deeply decent human being, this is a dealbreaker.

Next, we have the comparison between Daisy and Myrtle , two women whose marriages dissatisfy them enough that they seek out other lovers. There are many ways to compare them, but in this chapter in particular what seems important is whether each woman is able to maintain coherence and integrity.

• What Gatsby wants from Daisy is a complete erasure of her mind, history, and emotions , so that she will match his weirdly flat and idealized notion of her. By demanding that she renounce ever having had feelings for Tom, Gatsby wants to deny her fundamental sense of self-knowledge. Daisy refuses to compromise herself in this way and so is able to maintain psychological integrity.
• On the other hand, Myrtle, whose physicality has always been her most defining feature, ends up losing even the most basic integrity—bodily integrity —as her body is not only ripped open when she is hit by a car, but this mutilation is witnessed by many people and then also graphically described.
• Jordan’s cool aloofness prevents her from being trapped in the same way that Myrtle and Daisy are. Despite even her admission later that breaking up with Nick hurt her feelings, we certainly get the sense that Jordan could take him or leave him. She retains a lot of power in their relationship. For example, when Nick suddenly freaks out about turning 30, she shows him how to be "too wise ever to carry well-forgotten dreams from age to age" (7.308) and by putting her hand over his with "reassuring pressure" (7.308).
• Neither of the other two women is ever on top even in this very mild way. For example, Tom, who is used to putting his hands on people as a way of showing his power over them (in this chapter he does it to the policeman, and then to Wilson), puts his hand over Daisy’s at the end of the chapter to indicate that she is back within his circle of control. But at least Daisy’s escape attempt led her to Gatsby’s presumably gentlemanly treatment.
• The same can’t be said for Myrtle, who goes from bad to worse, as she escapes her marriage to have an affair with Tom , who feels free to beat her, and then is forced to return to her husband, who feels free to imprison and forcibly remove her from her home.

Death and Failure. Death comes in many forms, both metaphorical and horribly real. Of course, the primary death in this chapter is that of Myrtle, gruesomely killed by Daisy. But this is also the chapter where dreams come to die. Gatsby’s fantasy of Daisy undergoes a slow demise when he meets her daughter, and when he learns that she is simply unwilling to renounce her entire history with Tom for Gatsby’s sake. Similarly, any romantic ideas Daisy may have had about Gatsby vanish when she learns that he is a criminal.

Crucial Character Beats

• Gatsby stops throwing parties at his house and instead carries on an affair with Daisy. Nick, Gatsby, Daisy, Jordan, and Tom have lunch together and decide to go to Manhattan for the day to escape the heat.
• Both Tom and Wilson realize that their wives are having affairs; however, only Tom knows who Daisy's affair is with. Wilson decides to take Myrtle to live somewhere else.
• Nick, Gatsby, Daisy, Jordan, and Tom end up in a suite at the Plaza Hotel where everything comes tumbling into the open. Gatsby and Daisy admit that they've been having an affair, Gatsby demands that Daisy tell Tom that she has never loved him. Daisy cannot do this, and Gatsby's dreams are dashed.
• Gatsby and Daisy drive home together. On the way, with Daisy driving the car, they hit and kill Myrtle, who is trying to escape being imprisoned in her house by Wilson.
• Gatsby decides to take the blame for the accident, but doesn’t quite realize that it is all over between him and Daisy.
• Daisy and Tom have an intimate moment together as they figure out what they are going to do next.

What’s Next?

Compare the novel’s four trips into Manhattan : Nick at Myrtle’s party in Chapter 2 , Nick’s description of what it’s like to be a single guy around town at the end of Chapter 3 , Nick at lunch with Gatsby in Chapter 4 , and insanity at the Plaza in this chapter. Does Manhattan affect the way the characters behave? Does it make them more or less likely to act out to be there? Do they feel comfortable there?

Move on to the summary of Chapter 8 , or revisit the summary of Chapter 6 .

What are some of the overall themes in Gatsby? We dig into money and materialism , the American Dream , and more in our article on the most important Great Gatsby themes .

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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The Great Gatsby

F. scott fitzgerald, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

• The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

• Literature Notes
• The Great Gatsby at a Glance
• Book Summary
• About The Great Gatsby
• Character List
• Summary and Analysis
• Character Analysis
• Nick Carraway
• Daisy Buchanan
• Character Map
• F. Scott Fitzgerald Biography
• Critical Essays
• Social Stratification: The Great Gatsby as Social Commentary
• In Praise of Comfort: Displaced Spirituality in The Great Gatsby
• Famous Quotes from The Great Gatsby
• Film Versions of The Great Gatsby
• Full Glossary for The Great Gatsby
• Essay Questions
• Practice Projects
• Cite this Literature Note

Summary and Analysis Chapter 7

As the curiosity surrounding Gatsby peaks, the routine Saturday parties abruptly cease. When Gatsby comes, at Daisy's request, to invite him to lunch at her house the next day, Nick learns that Gatsby replaced the servants with "some people Wolfshiem wanted to do something for" — he feared they would leak information about he and Daisy. The day, it turns out, is unbearably hot, making all the participants in the luncheon — Daisy, Gatsby, Nick, Jordan, and Tom — even more uncomfortable than expected. While all five are at the Buchanans' house, Tom leaves the room to speak with his mistress on the phone and Daisy boldly kisses Gatsby, declaring her love for him. Later, after Daisy suggests they go to town, Tom witnesses a soft glance that passes between Daisy and Gatsby and can no longer deny the two of them are having an affair.

Enraged by what he has just learned, Tom agrees they should go to the city. He retrieves a bottle of whiskey and the group starts out — Tom, Jordan, and Nick driving Gatsby's car, and Gatsby and Daisy in Tom's. Tom, it turns out, has been suspicious of Gatsby all along and has had him investigated. Noticing the car is low on gas, Tom pulls into Wilson's station where he finds Wilson visibly unwell. Wilson abruptly announces he and Myrtle will be headed West shortly because he has just learned of her secret life, although the identity of Myrtle's lover is yet unknown to him. Tom, doubly enraged at the potential loss of his mistress and his wife, malevolently questions Gatsby after the group assembles at the Plaza Hotel. He confronts Gatsby about his love for Daisy. Gatsby, refusing to be intimidated, tells Tom "Your wife doesn't love you . . . She's never loved you. She loves me." Tom, in disbelief, turns to Daisy for confirmation. Daisy, however, cannot honestly admit she never loved Tom. Gatsby, somewhat shaken by the scene unfolding before him — the collapse of his carefully constructed dream — tries another tactic. He declares: "Daisy's leaving you." Tom assures him Daisy will never leave him for a bootlegger. Tom orders Daisy and Gatsby to head home (in Gatsby's own car this time). Tom, Jordan, and Nick follow in Tom's car.

The narration now skips to George Wilson who has been found ill by his neighbor, Michaelis. Wilson explains he has Myrtle locked inside and she will remain so until they leave in two days' time. Michaelis, astonished, heads back to his restaurant. He returns a few hours later, hears Myrtle's voice, and then sees her break away from her husband and rush into the road. As she enters the highway Myrtle is struck by a passing car that fails to stop, continuing its route out of the city. Nick, Tom, and Jordan arrive on the scene shortly. Excited by the thought of something going on, Tom pulls over to investigate. He is grief-stricken to find Myrtle's lifeless body lying on a worktable. Tom learns the car that struck Myrtle matches Gatsby's in description. Tom, visibly upset by the day's events, can only whimper of his anger toward the man he already hates.

Returning to East Egg, Tom invites Nick inside to wait for a cab to take him home. Nick, seeing clearly the moral and spiritual corruption of Tom, Daisy, and the whole society they represent, declines. Outside the Buchanans', Nick bumps into Gatsby who asks if there was trouble on the road. Nick recounts what he has seen. After asking a few questions, Nick learns Daisy, not Gatsby, was driving at the time. Gatsby, however, in true chivalric fashion, says he'll take the blame. The chapter ends with Gatsby, the paragon of chivalry and lost dreams, remaining on vigil outside Daisy's house, in case she needs assistance dealing with Tom, while Nick heads back to West Egg.

Everything The Great Gatsby has been building toward intersects in this very important chapter. All of the paths, once loosely related at best, now converge — forcefully and fatally. The turbulence of Chapter 7 gives clear indications of what Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, and even Nick are about. Unfortunately, for three of the four, the revelations are complementary. As the weather of the novel becomes increasingly hotter and more oppressive, Fitzgerald finally gets to the heart of the love triangle between Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom, but lets it speak poorly of all the participants. Nick, alone, comes out of this chapter looking stronger. Like all the other characters, he has been tested in this chapter, but much to his credit, he grows and develops in a positive way.

This chapter put Gatsby and Tom side-by-side. While this happened briefly in Chapter 6, here the two men take each other on, head-to-head. Tom can no longer deny that Gatsby and Daisy are having an affair (specifics about that affair are, however, sketchy. The only item of significance is that the affair is an extension of Gatsby's dream and it leads him to the destruction of the dream and of himself). Within hours of learning of his wife's indiscretions, Tom learns that in addition to perhaps losing his wife, he is most certainly losing his mistress. This double loss enrages Tom and he strikes violently at the man he perceives as being responsible — a man who is, in his eyes, a low-class hustler, a bootlegger who will never be able to distance himself from his past. In Tom's elitist mind, Gatsby is common and therefore his existence is meaningless: He comes from ordinary roots and can never change that.

By chapter's end, Gatsby has been fully exposed. Gone are the mysterious rumors and the self-made myth. Stripped of all his illusions, he stands outside Daisy's house, vulnerable and tragically alone. Although he begins the chapter with his customary Gatsby dignity, when he comes up against Tom's hardness, the illusion of Jay Gatsby comes tumbling down. In all of Gatsby's years of dreaming, he never once suspected that he might not have his way (as is the nature of dreaming; one never dreams of having people stand in the way, preventing fantasies from coming true). As soon as Gatsby has to contend with people whose parts he can't script, he's at a loss. Instead, he will try, at all costs, to hold on to his dream. It is, in a sense, the only thing that is real to him. Without it (sadly), he is no longer able to define himself; therefore, the dream must be maintained at all costs (even when the dream has passed its prime). The best example of Gatsby's last-chance efforts to save his dream come after he tries to get Daisy to admit she never loved Tom. When she admits to having actually loved Tom, Gatsby, unwilling to give up, pushes the situation forward, abruptly telling Tom "Daisy's leaving you." Tom laughs off this declaration, dismissing the whole party and ordering Daisy and Gatsby to head back in Gatsby's car. By following Tom's command, the lovers, in effect, admit defeat and Gatsby's dream disintegrates.

In addition to getting the real scoop on Gatsby, one also sees the real Daisy. She has relatively few lines, but what she utters, and later what she does, changes her persona forever. Whereas in the previous chapters she has come off as shy and sweet, a little vapid, but decidedly charming, here, there is a bit more depth to her — but what lies beneath the surface isn't necessarily good. Daisy's reasons for having an affair with Gatsby aren't at all the same reasons he is in love with her. By boldly kissing Gatsby when Tom leaves the room early in Chapter 7, then declaring "You know I love you" loudly enough for all to hear (much to Jordan and Nick's discomfiture) Daisy has, in effect, shown that to her, loving Gatsby is a game whose sole purpose is to try and get back at Tom. She's playing the game on her own terms, trying to prove something to her husband (her response to Tom's rough questioning later at the hotel also supports this idea).

The other early vision of Daisy is of the peacekeeper (although one wonders why she would want Tom and Gatsby both at the same outing). On the hot summer day, it is Daisy who suggests they move the party to town (largely in an attempt to keep everyone happy). Strange things, however, always happen in the city — in the land of infinite possibilities. By changing the location, the action also shifts.

As the chapter continues and the party moves to the neutral, yet magical, land of the city, the real Daisy begins to emerge, culminating in her fateful refusal to be part of Gatsby's vision. In a sense, she betrays him, leaving him to flounder helplessly against Tom's spite and anger. Finally, by the end of the chapter, the mask of innocence has come off and Daisy is exposed. Her recklessness has resulted in Myrtle's brutal death. To make matters worse, one even senses that Daisy, in fact, tried to kill Myrtle. Gatsby has a hard time admitting that the object of his love has, in fact, not merely hit and killed another person, but has fled the scene as well.

Myrtle's death by Gatsby's great car is certainly no accident. The details are sketchy, but in having Myrtle run down by Gatsby's roadster, Fitzgerald is sending a clear message. Gatsby's car, the "death car," assumes a symbolic significance as a clear and obvious manifestation of American materialism. What more obvious way to put one's wealth and means on display than through the biggest, fanciest car around. Yes, it is tragic that Myrtle dies so brutally, but her death takes on greater meaning when one realizes that it is materialism that brought about her end. Looking back to Chapter 2, it is clear that Myrtle aspires to wealth and privilege. She wants all the material comforts money can provide — and isn't at all above lording her wealth over others (such as her sister, or Nick, or the McKees). Her desire for money (which allows access to all things material) led her to have an affair with Tom (she got involved with him initially because of the fashionable way he was dressed). Myrtle's death is sadly poetic; a woman who spent her life acquiring material possessions by whatever means possible has been, in effect, killed by her own desires. Dwelling too much on material things, Fitzgerald says, can not bring a positive resolution. Materialism can only bring misery, as seen through Myrtle.

Wilson, too, becomes more dimensional in the chapter, which is necessary in order to prepare adequately for the chapter to follow. While Wilson isn't necessarily good, he is pure. His distress at finding out about his wife's secret life is genuine but, being a man of little means and few wits, he doesn't know what to do about it. Clearly he loves Myrtle deeply — so deeply, in fact, that he would lock her in a room to prevent her running away (he plans to take her West in a few day's time, showing once again that in Fitzgerald's mind, there is something more pure, more sensible, about the West). Wilson is meant to stand opposite Tom, and the way the two men respond first to their wives' infidelities, and later to Myrtle's death, show that although one man is rich and the other poor, they still have much in common. In the end, however, the poor man comes off as the more passionate and heartfelt in his grief.

Nick is the only character to make it out of this chapter in better shape than when he went in. He has, of course, remembered that it was his thirtieth birthday during this chapter (remember, Fitzgerald himself was only 29 when this book was published so it is likely he saw thirty as a milestone for his narrator, as well as himself). For Nick, the change marks a passage away from youthful idealism (even ignorance). Although Nick begins the chapter much as in prior chapters (a bit uncomfortable with the Buchanans and what they represent, but not at all willing to take a stand against them), by the end he has seen quite clearly what Daisy, Tom, and Jordan are about.

After Myrtle's death, Nick is plainly shaken and as a man of moral conscience, he has looked at his life and those around him. When Tom, Jordan, and Nick return home after the accident, Tom invites Nick in. This is where Nick shows what he's really made of. Rather than accept Tom's invitation, as expected, he tells the reader "I'd be damned if I'd go in; I'd had enough of all of them for one day." Gone is the fellow who walked the line between the working class and the upper class. Gone is the fellow who withheld judgment because not everyone "had the advantages that [he's] had." Finally, Nick has grown up enough to take a clear moral stand. His opinion of the Buchanans becomes clear and continues to ripen until he finally can stand it no longer and heads back to the Midwest at the end of the book (again, Fitzgerald is showing the Midwest as a Utopia).

The final image in the chapter is perhaps the most pathetic in the whole book. For some readers it will tug on their heartstrings, for others it will be a defining moment, showing the true Jay Gatsby. After Jay and Daisy return to East Egg, Gatsby waits outside her house, calling to Nick as he passes. He makes a strikingly odd figure with his pink suit glowing luminously in the moonlight. When Nick inquires as to what he's doing, Gatsby, ever the dreamer, replies he is keeping watch, in case Daisy should need his help. Although Gatsby has assumed the guise of a knight-errant before, nowhere does he seem so clearly on a quest (and a quest doomed to failure) than right here, willing to sacrifice his own life for Daisy's. (Besides, what good is a dream that has been destroyed? What's worth living for?) What escapes Gatsby, but is perfectly clear to Nick, is that his surveillance is unnecessary; there is no chance of Daisy having trouble with Tom. Both Tom and Daisy's actions at the hotel have shown just how alike they are and in a time of crisis, there is no question they will join together. Daisy is likely unaware (or at least unconcerned) with Gatsby's feelings; Tom, while perhaps sad about Myrtle's death, likely sees her as he sees everyone who isn't of his social class — an expendable object. And so Gatsby, utterly lost now that his dream has died, holds on to the last piece of all he's ever known as an adult by standing guard at Daisy's. Unfortunately for him, it will be a long night.

Trimalchio wealthy character who lavishly feasts guests at a banquet in Petronius' Satyricon , a satire on Roman life in the first century A.D.

caravansary in the Near and Middle East, a kind of inn with a large central court, where caravans stop for the night.

medium a person through whom communications are thought to be sent to the living from spirits of the dead.

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The Great Gatsby

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Chapter 7 Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 7 summary.

Gatsby stops throwing lavish parties. Occasionally, automobiles pull up to the house only to realize that there is nothing there for them.

Concerned that Gatsby may be sick, Nick goes over to visit. He encounters an unfamiliar servant and learns that Gatsby replaced all of his servants with people who are rumored not to be servants at all. They are relatives who used to run a hotel, whom Wolfsheim wanted to help for some mysterious reason.

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Soon after Nick’s attempted visit, Gatsby calls and asks him to lunch at Daisy’s house along with Jordan. Gatsby and Nick arrive to find Daisy and Jordan lying motionless on a couch. Meanwhile, Tom is on the phone with someone in front of Daisy. Jordan mentions that it is probably “Tom’s girl.”

Daisy’s young daughter appears briefly, but the nanny quickly escorts her away.

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Later, when Tom isn’t looking, Gatsby and Daisy kiss in front of Jordan and Nick.

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88 Perfect Essay Topics on The Great Gatsby

Welcome to The Great Gatsby Essay Topics page prepared by our editorial team! Here you’ll find a large collection of essay ideas on the novel! Literary analysis, themes, characters, & more. Get inspired to write your own paper!

• 🔬 Literary Analysis
• 🎭 Characters
• 📊 Compare & Contrast
• 🗺️ Navigation

🎓 References

🔬 literary analysis of the great gatsby: essay topics.

• What are the literary devices used to create the image of Jay Gatsby?
• Analyze how Fitzgerald uses imagery in The Great Gatsby.
• The Great Gatsby: analysis and feminist critique
• What do colors symbolize in The Great Gatsby?
• How does Fitzgerald use geographical setting to show the contrast between social classes in the novel?
• How does Fitzgerald convey a notion of the American Dream through metaphors and symbols?
• What does the green light in Daisy’s window represent in The Great Gatsby?
• What does the Valley of Ashes symbolize in The Great Gatsby?
• What role does Nick Carraway’s narration play in the story? If we got it through an omniscient third-person narrator, what would we gain or lose?
• Could the story have been set in other places, like Chicago or Los Angeles, or were New York City and Long Island absolutely necessary?
• Look at the novel’s opening lines. If we accept Nick’s advice when we read the story, will our views of it change? Or, in other words, does refraining from criticism promote compassion?
• Is there a hidden meaning of the title of The Great Gatsby? What is it?
• How is the color white used within the novel? When does it make a false representation of innocence? When does it truly represent innocence?
• Color symbolism in The Great Gatsby
• What is the role of a New York setting in the novel’s storyline?
• What is the real meaning of ‘great’ in the title of The Great Gatsby?
• What significance do colors have in the party’s descriptions in chapter 3?
• Why is Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby a satire?
• Elaborate on the green light as the symbol of the American dream.
• What is the meaning of the phrase “Can’t repeat the past?.. Why of course you can!” What does Gatsby really want from Daisy?
• What role do the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg play in The Great Gatsby?
• How is The Great Gatsby a satirical representation of the society?
• Are the rich in the novel really so careless as everyone believes them to be?
• Create an alternative ending for The Great Gatsby. Justify your choice.
• What is the relationship between those born rich and those who became rich in the novel?
• Fairy tale traits in The Great Gatsby

🎭 Essay Topics on The Great Gatsby’s Characters

• Discuss female characters and their significance in The Great Gatsby.
• Compare Gatsby and Wilson. In what ways are they similar?
• Gatsby & Nick in The Great Gatsby
• Who is the most responsible for Gatsby’s death? Why is it so?
• Why do Tom and Daisy stay together at the end of the novel?
• Does Gatsby’s money bring him real happiness?
• Can Jay’s feelings for Daisy in The Great Gatsby be considered love?
• How do secondary characters affect the story?
• Daisy Buchanan: quotes analysis
• Who is the real hero in The Great Gatsby?
• Can we call Jay Gatsby a romantic hero or a villain?
• What does Jay Gatsby really live for in the novel: the present or the past?
• Compare Myrtle and Daisy.
• Jay Gatsby & Tom Buchanan: compare & contrast
• What does Tom’s quarrel with Myrtle in chapter 2 tell us about his personality?
• Elaborate on how both Tom and Gatsby want to change not only the future, but the past in chapter 7.
• What was Gatsby’s power of dreaming like? Was Daisy a worth object?
• Is anyone to blame for Gatsby’s death?
• Nick as the narrator in The Great Gatsby
• Are there any moral characters in the novel?
• Can Jordan and Daisy be considered perfect role models for the upper class in America? Why or why not?
• Is Gatsby really great? In what way? How does his greatness evolve as the plot unfolds?
• How does Nick’s character change over the course of The Great Gatsby?
• Does Gatsby deserve the definition of a self-made man? Why or why not?
• What role does Daisy play in the conflict between Gatsby & Tom?

🌻 Essay Topics on The Great Gatsby’s Themes

• What are the central themes in The Great Gatsby?
• What roles do fidelity and infidelity play in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby?
• What importance does sex have in the story?
• What role does alcohol play in The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald?
• Did Fitzgerald really criticize the idea of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby?
• Does love play have any importance in The Great Gatsby?
• What role does the relationship between geography and social values play in the novel?
• Francis Scott Fitzgerald & his American Dream
• What is the meaning of time in The Great Gatsby?
• How do the aristocratic East Eggers, Tom and the Sloanes, regard Gatsby in chapter 6? How is their contempt connected to the theme of social class in the novel?
• Analyze The Great Gatsby through the prism of feminist theory.
• How are the themes of kindness and compassion presented in The Great Gatsby?
• Describe how the theme of ambition is presented in the novel.
• Elaborate on how Fitzgerald contrasts education and experience in The Great Gatsby.

⌛ Essay Topics on the Context of The Great Gatsby

• Describe how F.S. Fitzgerald’s life experiences influenced The Great Gatsby.
• What are the examples of modernism in The Great Gatsby?
• How does Fitzgerald represent the society of his time in the novel? Would you like to live in the Jazz era? Why or why not?
• How is America shown in The Great Gatsby? What values do the East and the West represent?
• How does Fitzgerald provide a critical social history of Prohibition-era America in his novel?
• How is the economic boom of postwar America shown in The Great Gatsby?
• Why did The Great Gatsby was neither a critical nor commercial success just after its publication? Why did its popularity grow exponentially several decades after?
• How are racial anxieties of the time shown in the novel?

📊 The Great Gatsby: Compare & Contrast Essay Topics

• Make a critical comparison of the novel with the 2013 movie.
• Make a comparison of the novel with the 1949 movie.
• Compare The Great Gatsby movies of 1949 and 2013.
• Compare and contrast two classic American novels: The Great Gatsbyand The Grapes of Wrath.
• Female characters in The Streetcar Named Desire & The Great Gatsby .
• How are Donald Trump and The Great Gatsby’s Tom Buchanan alike?
• Compare Miller’s Death of a Salesman and The Great Gatsby.
• What other fictional or non-fictional character from a book or movie can Nick Carraway be compared to?
• Jay Gatsby & Eponine from Les Miserables .
• Make a critical comparison of The Sun Also Rises and The Great Gatsby.
• Compare The Great Gatsby with A Farewell to Arms.
• Make a comparison of Daisy from The Great Gatsby with Henrietta Bingham from Irresistible.
• Love in The Great Gatsby & The Catcher in The Rye .
• What pop stars of nowadays Daisy can be compared to?
• Macbeth vs. Jay Gatsby: make a character comparison.
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Study Guide Menu

• Short Summary
• Summary (Chapter 1)
• Summary (Chapter 2)
• Summary (Chapter 3)
• Summary (Chapter 4)
• Summary (Chapter 5)
• Summary (Chapter 6)
• Summary (Chapter 7)
• Summary (Chapter 8)
• Summary (Chapter 9)
• Symbolism & Style
• Quotes Explained
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• Essay Samples
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IvyPanda. (2024, May 21). 88 Perfect Essay Topics on The Great Gatsby. https://ivypanda.com/lit/the-great-gatsby-study-guide/perfect-essay-topics/

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The Great Gatsby

By f. scott fitzgerald, the great gatsby essay questions.

Analyze Fitzgerald's conception of the American Dream. Does he view it as totally dead, or is it possible to revive it?

Is Nick a reliable narrator? How does his point of view color the reality of the novel, and what facts or occurences would he have a vested interest in obscuring?

Trace the use of the color white in the novel. When does it falsify a sense of innocence? When does it symbolize true innocence?

Do a close reading of the description of the "valley of ashes." How does Fitzgerald use religious imagery in this section of the novel?

What does the green light symbolize to Gatsby? To Nick?

How does Fitzgerald juxtapose the different regions of America? Does he write more positively about the East or the Midwest?

What is the distinction between East and West Egg? How does one bridge the gap between the two?

In what ways are Wilson and Gatsby similar? Disimilar? Who is Nick more sympathetic to?

How does Fitzgerald treat New York City? What is permissable in the urban space that is taboo on the Eggs?

Is Tom most responsible for Gatsby's death? Daisy? Myrtle? Gatsby himself? Give reasons why or why not each character is implicated in the murder.

The Great Gatsby Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Great Gatsby is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

describe daisy and gatsby's new relationship

There are two points at which Daisy and Gatsby's relationship could be considered "new". First, it seems that their "new" relationship occurs as Tom has become enlightened about their affair. It seems as if they are happy...

Describe Daisy and Gatsby new relationship?

http://www.gradesaver.com/the-great-gatsby/q-and-a/describe-daisy-and-gatsbys-new-relationship-70077/

What are some quotes in chapter 1 of the great gatsby that show the theme of violence?

I don't recall any violence in in chapter 1.

Study Guide for The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is typically considered F. Scott Fitzgerald's greatest novel. The Great Gatsby study guide contains a biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Great Gatsby
• The Great Gatsby Summary
• The Great Gatsby Video
• Character List

Essays for The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

• Foreshadowing Destiny
• The Eulogy of a Dream
• Materialism Portrayed By Cars in The Great Gatsby
• Role of Narration in The Great Gatsby
• A Great American Dream

Lesson Plan for The Great Gatsby

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to The Great Gatsby
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• The Great Gatsby Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for The Great Gatsby

• Introduction
• Historical and biographical context
• Plot summary
• Major characters
• Writing and production

Decoding the Genre of the Great Gatsby: a Multifaceted Approach

This essay about “The Great Gatsby” examines the novel’s genre, highlighting its blend of modernist literature, romance, and tragedy. It explores how Fitzgerald’s use of a first-person narrator and fragmented timeline aligns with modernist conventions. The romantic element is evident in Gatsby’s idealized love for Daisy and his pursuit of unattainable dreams, symbolized by the green light. The tragic dimension is portrayed through Gatsby’s downfall, driven by his flawed belief in recapturing the past. Additionally, the essay touches on the novel’s social commentary, critiquing the American Dream and exposing moral decay and socio-economic disparities of the 1920s.

How it works

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” is often lauded as one of the quintessential novels of the Jazz Age, capturing the spirit of the 1920s with its vivid portrayal of the American Dream. However, the novel’s genre is a topic of rich debate, as it encompasses elements that transcend simple categorization. To fully appreciate “The Great Gatsby,” it is crucial to understand its complex genre, which blends aspects of modernist literature, romance, and tragedy.

At its core, “The Great Gatsby” is a modernist work.

Written in the aftermath of World War I, the novel reflects the disillusionment and moral ambiguity that characterized the period. Modernist literature often breaks away from traditional narrative structures, favoring fragmented, subjective experiences over linear storytelling. Fitzgerald employs a first-person narrator, Nick Carraway, whose perspective shapes the reader’s understanding of events and characters. This narrative style, combined with Fitzgerald’s lyrical prose, underscores the modernist focus on internal states and personal perceptions. The novel’s fragmented timeline, with its frequent flashbacks and shifting points of view, further reinforces its modernist credentials.

In addition to its modernist elements, “The Great Gatsby” can be viewed as a romance. This aspect is most evident in the relationship between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby’s idealized love for Daisy drives much of the novel’s plot, and his efforts to recreate the past epitomize the romantic notion of the unattainable ideal. The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock symbolizes Gatsby’s dreams and the broader theme of aspiration that permeates the novel. However, Fitzgerald complicates this romantic vision by highlighting the illusions and deceptions that underpin Gatsby’s pursuit. The romance in “The Great Gatsby” is thus tinged with a sense of longing and loss, capturing the bittersweet nature of unattainable dreams.

Moreover, “The Great Gatsby” is undeniably a tragedy. The novel adheres to the classical structure of a tragic narrative, with Gatsby as the tragic hero whose flaws lead to his downfall. Gatsby’s relentless ambition and his refusal to acknowledge the passage of time ultimately result in his demise. His tragic flaw, or hamartia, is his unwavering belief in the possibility of recapturing the past and transforming his dreams into reality. The novel’s conclusion, with Gatsby’s death and the subsequent disintegration of his carefully constructed world, resonates with the tragic themes of fate, loss, and the inevitability of suffering. Fitzgerald’s depiction of the American Dream as a flawed and ultimately destructive ideal further cements the novel’s tragic dimension.

The novel’s genre is further enriched by its social commentary. “The Great Gatsby” provides a critique of the American Dream, exposing the moral decay beneath the glittering surface of wealth and success. Through characters like Tom and Daisy Buchanan, Fitzgerald portrays the emptiness and recklessness of the elite, contrasting sharply with Gatsby’s idealism and Nick’s ambivalence. The Valley of Ashes, a desolate wasteland between West Egg and New York City, symbolizes the stark divide between the rich and the poor, highlighting the socio-economic disparities of the era. This critique aligns the novel with social realism, adding another layer to its multifaceted genre.

In conclusion, “The Great Gatsby” defies easy categorization, embodying elements of modernist literature, romance, and tragedy, while also serving as a poignant social critique. This genre-blending is part of what makes the novel a timeless classic, inviting readers to explore its rich layers of meaning and its enduring relevance. Fitzgerald’s masterful fusion of these elements creates a narrative that is as complex and multifaceted as the characters and themes it portrays. Understanding the genre of “The Great Gatsby” not only enhances our appreciation of the novel but also provides deeper insights into the literary innovations and cultural context of the Jazz Age.

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Decoding the Genre of The Great Gatsby: A Multifaceted Approach. (2024, Jun 01). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/decoding-the-genre-of-the-great-gatsby-a-multifaceted-approach/

"Decoding the Genre of The Great Gatsby: A Multifaceted Approach." PapersOwl.com , 1 Jun 2024, https://papersowl.com/examples/decoding-the-genre-of-the-great-gatsby-a-multifaceted-approach/

PapersOwl.com. (2024). Decoding the Genre of The Great Gatsby: A Multifaceted Approach . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/decoding-the-genre-of-the-great-gatsby-a-multifaceted-approach/ [Accessed: 5 Jun. 2024]

"Decoding the Genre of The Great Gatsby: A Multifaceted Approach." PapersOwl.com, Jun 01, 2024. Accessed June 5, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/decoding-the-genre-of-the-great-gatsby-a-multifaceted-approach/

"Decoding the Genre of The Great Gatsby: A Multifaceted Approach," PapersOwl.com , 01-Jun-2024. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/decoding-the-genre-of-the-great-gatsby-a-multifaceted-approach/. [Accessed: 5-Jun-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2024). Decoding the Genre of The Great Gatsby: A Multifaceted Approach . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/decoding-the-genre-of-the-great-gatsby-a-multifaceted-approach/ [Accessed: 5-Jun-2024]

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