56 pages • 1-hour read
The Great Gatsby
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Essay Topics
At the beginning, Nick explains his father’s attitude toward judging the morals of others, which specifically suggests that immoral acts are committed by those with fewer social advantages. By the end of the novel, he has become so disgusted with the East Coast world he’s inhabited that he returns to the Midwest. Do you think his attitude toward moral judgment has changed? Or does he retain the same class-based system of judgment that he began with?
What is the significance of the valley of ashes? How does the divide between the valley and East and West Egg reflect broader socioeconomic divides in the United States, both in the 1920s and today?
Discuss gender roles in the novel. How do Jordan, Myrtle, and Daisy challenge longstanding gender roles? How do they conform to those same roles in other ways?
What is your interpretation of the novel’s final few paragraphs? What does Fitzgerald mean when he says we move toward the past, despite striving forward? Does he mean “we” as a nation, or as individuals? Or both?
What is your interpretation of the Eckleburg billboard? What do you make of the fact that Wilson references God’s omniscience while staring at it? What does the billboard symbolize to different characters, and what does that say about Fitzgerald’s broader approach toward symbolism?
What role does war, or specifically World War I, play in this book? How has war shaped Gatsby and others such as Nick, or even Daisy?
Ethically speaking, discuss your thoughts about Jay Gatsby (James Gatz). Do you view him as a villain? If so, why does Nick tell him that Gatsby is better than the others?
What narrative and stylistic techniques does Fitzgerald use to communicate Nick’s unreliability as a narrator?
Explain the meaning of the green light. Why does Fitzgerald choose that image? What does the light mean to Gatsby, other than representing Daisy? And what does the light mean to Nick?
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