The Great Gatsby Complete Quote Bank

"revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes"

-Gatsby.

-Values his possessions as a means to an end for achieving love with Daisy, not for their individual value.

'her voice sounds like money'

-Gatsby about Daisy

-Gatsby's metric of success is love with Daisy, in the same way that Tom's metric of success is material wealth.

-Objectifies Daisy in placing her on a pedestal.

'gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor'

-Daisy

-Gatsby objectifying Daisy, viewing her on material terms by placing her on a pedestal.

-Class granting authority over other people.

'Repeat the past? Of course you can'

-Gatsby.

-Aims to bring his past in to the future.

-Fails to recognise that situation has changed over time and youthful first love is no longer possible.

'defunct clock'

-Gatsby leans against clock.

-Symbolic of how he relies on the past to create a future in its image.

-Hands of defunct clock are stuck in the past, like Gatsby. Already flawed by definition, time must pass and cannot be recaptured.

'Gatsby believed in the green light'

-Gatsby's future is hopeful, he stays believing in the American Dream for most of the novel.

-Future is taken away from him by the passage of time.

'admit you never loved him'

-Gatsby tries to get Daisy to deny having ever loved Tom.

-Gatsby's idealism jeopardises his own relationship which he is aiming for, loving and being loved by Daisy is not enough, he must repeat their young love.

'You want too much'

-Daisy, the object of Gatsby's desire, recognises that he is aspiring to something which is impossible.

-Romanticism damages his own work toward his goal.

'Mr Nobody from Nowhere

-Tom dismisses Gatsby for not having enough status.

-Relies on class structure to dismiss Gatsby's wealth.

"They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money of their vast carelessness ... and let other people clean up the mess they had made."

-Nick recognises that Tom and Daisy's status allows them to get away with would could be seen as literal murder.

-Lower classes bear burden of guilt rather than those who are responsible.

'unsuccessful farm people' 'his imagination did not accepted them as his parents'

-Gatsby's background, he has no status to support his wealth (almost the inverse of Jason).

-Gatsby distancing himself from origins, like MS Quentin.

'Rise of the Coloured Empires' 'its up to us, the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things'

-Tom reads this book and promotes it.

-Reveals not only racism but paranoia prompted by perception that previously oppressed groups were given more liberty as part of modernity.

-Tom is not founded in this belief, he stay on top.

'conventionally grotesque ... sparkling coldly with jewels'

-Nick's characterisation of the East.

-East appears to be the centre of progress, but lacks a moral core and facilitates the carelessness of people like Tom and Daisy.

'the ragged edge of the universe'

-Nick is left disillusioned with the West.

-Mindset that American progress exists elsewhere, grass is greener on other side.

-Draws Nick to the East.

'James Gatz' 'I suppose he'd had the name ready for a long time'

-Gatsby's original name.

-Name is changed to progress forward, move away from lower class family tradition.

-However ends up using name as part of façade, ends up regressing back into high status society.

'An Oxford man! Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit'

-Tom about Gatsby.

-Gatsby attempts to emulate tradition by saying he attended Oxford, but fails.

-'Pink', Gatsby doesn't meet Tom's standard of masculinity.

'Either you ought to be more careful or you oughtn't to drive at all'

-Cars as a symbol for moral agency in the Great Gatsby.

'I am one of the few honest people I have ever known'

-Nick.

-Hypocrite, immediately fails to recognise this.

'This shadow of a garage must have been a blind'

-Nick's romantic tendency, refuses to accept reality of Wilson's situation.

-Displays privileged perspective.

'factual imitation of some Hotel De Ville in Normandy

-Gatsby's house

-Borrows authority of European establishment, clings to regressive traditions in attempt to gain status.

'a regular Bellasco'

-Owl Eyes is able to see through Gatsby's facade.

-Bellasco was a famous set designer, in the same why Gatsby designs his house to create an intended effect on its visitors, and most importantly Daisy.

'A sudden emptiness seemed to flow now'

-Gatsby's house when not hosting parties.

-House exists as a means to an end, is soulless without being used as a tool to pursue Daisy.

'Haven't you seen it before'

-Gatsby really obviously draws attention to his possessions.

-Desperate to create impression of wealth almost betrays his lack of status.

'I haven't made use of it all summer

-Gatsby's pool.

-Conspicuous consumption, pool doesn't exist to be used as a pool but only to increase the general perception of Gatsby.

'he kissed her ... and the incarnation was complete'

-Metaphor of Gatsby as a 'son of God'.

-Could have chosen route of wealth or status alone but in pursuing Daisy sacrifices general American Dream of financial stability for his own personal dream.

'I don't think he had ever really believed in its existance before'

-Daisy's daughter, Fanny.

-The past gets in the way of Gatsby's plans so he attempts to bypass it by behaving as it if has not happened.

'she's all excited now'

-Gatsby mimics Tom's behaviour as soon as what Daisy says doesn't meet his agenda.

-Cannot face truth so rejects Daisy's intelligence.

'He looked ... as if he had killed a man'

-Gatsby's facade crumbles to reveal only a criminal.

-Affects Daisy as it mirrors Tom's capacity for violence, also how Tom is more explicitly misogynistic whereas Gatsby is far more subtle.

'broken up like glass under Tom's hard malice'

-Fragility of Gatsby's facade.

'many men had already loved Daisy - it increased her value in his eyes'

-Gatsby's desire for Daisy is rooted in her perceived social value.

-Dehumanises Daisy, treats her as an object that can be valued rather than a person. Conspicuous consumption.

'Gatsby's eyes opened and closed'

-Gatsby consciously acknowledges the reality of the situation yet makes a deliberate decision to retreat back into a delusional fantasy.

'He had committed himself to the following of a grail'

-Gatsby idolises and places Daisy on a pedestal as part of his chivalrous 'quest'.

-Aspires to the 'grail', something impossible and unattainable, dream is inherently flawed.

'she was the first nice girl he had known'

-Gatsby's is more attracted to Daisy's class than her individual personality.

'One of those men who reached such acute limited excellence at 21 that everything afterwards savours of anti-climax'.

-Tom

-Idea Tom is also clinging onto past.

'Never heard of them, he remarked decisively'

-Tom after Nick names the company he works for.

-Judges Nick based on job and status, not individual merit.

-Everything is relevant to Tom, deems it unimportant because he hasn't heard of it.

'I hate the word 'hulking''

-After Daisy accuses Tom of hitting her.

-Doesn't deny hitting her.

-Ugly word, portrays physical strength (which Tom prides himself on) as something negative.

'me and my wife are moving West' 'startled'

-Tom by Myrtle wanting to go West.

-Sees wealth and progress as things which are limited exclusively to the North.

'the transformation from libertine to prig was complete

-Tom hides behind conservative values to justify his interests despite the fact that it contradicts all his actions.

'next they'll ... have intermarriage between white a black'

-Tom links Gatsby's prominence with that of oppressed minority groups (black people), indicating he feels threatened about forces of social change.

'sometimes she gets foolish ideas in her head'

-Tom doesn't allow Daisy to think.

-Misogynistic, but Gatsby also mimics this behaviour.

'I want to get one of those dogs'

-Myrtle.

-Treats dog like an item of furniture.

-Playing at being upper class, consumption for sake of consumption.

'one slice in a long white cake of apartments'

-Myrtle's house

-Desperate to distinguish herself as upper class yet is indistinguishable from everyone else on an external level.

'regal homecoming glance'

-Myrtle sees herself as superior to those around her.

-Acts like a 'fairy tale jazz princess'.

'scenes of ladies swinging in the gardens of Versaille'

-Myrtle borrows European establishment culture to create impression of status, like Gatsby, but this is constantly underwhelmed by her small house.

'Tom's the first sweetie she ever had'

-Value as a partner is measured in wealth and status, not in actual characteristics (Tom literally breaks Myrtle's nose deliberately and while completely sober).

'I hope she'll be a fool - that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool'

-Daisy about her child.

-Daisy wants to be oblivious to avoid pain of her experiences, is projecting herself on to her child so is more talking about herself than caring for her daughter.

'bent her head into the shirts and cried stormily'

-Daisy on visiting Gatsby's house.

-Regrets decision since she married Tom for wealth and now Gatsby has wealth.

-What has happened in between their two romances has actually helped Gatsby, so he can't escape the past he tries to erase.

'That's because your mother wanted to show you off'

-Daisy's daughter.

-Reduced to a commodity, is not even named by her own mother.

'the first nice girl he had ever known'

-Daisy.

-Means first upper class girl, Gatsby is attracted to her class.

'a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills'

-Valley of Ashes.

-Destruction of the pastoral, industry takes things which were fruitful, turns them into ashes.

-Ash is a by product, so valley is a product of the USA's capitalist and industrial system.

'sank himself down into eternal blindness, or forgot and moved away'

-Dr TJ Eckleberg.

-Advert for improving how people see has fallen into disrepair.

-Symbolic of God abandoning his people to secularisation.

'dust covered wreck of a Ford which crouched in a corner'

-Wilson's car.

-Personification of car, draws parallels between Wilson and Car.

-Nick judges on 'envelope of circumstances' rather than on Wilson himself, opposite of Gatsby's car.

-Gatsby is more enthralling than surroundings and car, so mentioned first, but Wilson comes second.

'Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face'

-Tom's kind of masculinity.

-Commands subservience, similar to Gerald Bland.

-Powerful description even though Nick doesn't like him.

'I've never had a horse. I'll have to follow you in my car'

-Cars as symbol of modernity, Gatsby able to succeed only in new money society.

-Horses symbols of status, comparison to TSATF where Benji's insistence on travelling in the carriage displays a lack of progress and decline.

'I may be old fashioned in my ideas, but women run around too much these days to suit me'

-Tom claiming women should have autonomy but not autonomy to be promiscuous.

-Double standard, runs off with Myrtle.

-Women's freedom as something new (similar to Caddy defying tradition).

'You take Nick and Jordan. We'll follow you in the coup' 'Come on Daisy'

-Daisy is prize of masculinity, doesn't have own car and needs to go with a man.

-Myrtle runs toward symbol of money and old wealth (Daisy driving), symbolically killed by it.

-Compared to TSATF and Caddy driving

'as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of fundamental decencies is passed out unequally at birth'

-Nick being mouthpiece for ideas inherited by his father (similar to Quentin acting on his fathers ideas)

'we have a tradition we are descended from the Dukes of Buccleuch'

-Lineage is a positive to Nick, lends social status.

-Inverse of unrealistic expectations set up by lineage for Compson children.

'bundled up in a long cheap ulster'

-Gatsby's father.

-Clothing used to represent character.

-Uncomfortable in clothes, like with place in society, but does not pretend to be someone else.

-Comparison to Deacon in TSATF with clothes.

'He'd of helped build up the country'

-Gatsby's father thinks Gatsby achieved American dream.

-Lower classes see wealth as unequivocally good for the nation. Fails to see corruption of wealth.

'His pride in his son and his son's possessions was continually increasing'

-Gatsby becomes synonymous with his wealth to his father.

-Similar to 'her voice is like money', although in this case Gatsby is being reduced to material objects.

-Link to conspicuous consumption and Jason.

'He told me I et like a hog once, and I beat him for it' 'we was broke up when he run away'

-Father did probably not back Gatsby when he was younger.

-Opinion only changes due to wealth

-Comparison to Quentin, Gatsby runs away to achieve an internally imposed dream of his own creation in spite of his parents wishes.

'A universe of ineffable gaudiness spun itself out in his brain while the clock ticked'

-Gatsby's idealism only exists in his mind.

-Similar to Quentin's idealism.

'the rock of the world was founded securely on a fairies wing'

-Paradise in TSATF is equally fake but seems more real/

-Nick makes fun of Gatsby but kind of likes the idea.

'a secret place above the trees - he could climb to it, if he climbed alone'

-Tree symbolises American dream, similar to tree in TSATF.

-If Gatsby commits himself to human relationship idealism will decline.

-Gatsby as Christ figure, Caddy as Eve.

-Quentin thinks same way about Caddy leaving Paradise'

'his mind would never again romp like the mind of God'

-Nick about Gatsby's dream.

-In tying himself up with Daisy Gatsby commits himself to a human relationship which will not allow his idealism to flourish.

'an utterly abandoned feeling'

-Daisy

-The modern world does not lead to happiness for women who aren't fools.

-Link to Caddy feeling she can't even cry and Ms Quentin wanting to die.

"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."

-Daisy being cynical for the feminine experience for women who engage directly with reality.

-Better to be unaware of lack of agency women have.

-Similar to Caroline wanting Caddy to be a stereotypical woman, although Caroline's motive is entirely different and to uphold social custom rather than for lack of awareness.

'pulled out the string of pearls'

-Daisy needs comforting at her wedding, whereas Caddy needs to comfort Benji.

-Both of them have mercenary marriages for money and respectability (although Caddy's is to basically not get socially ostracized.

'her artificial world was redolent of orchids'

-Caddy's dream is romantic but more based in reality. Caddy's paradise symbolises the lost ideal of the South.

-Loss of real beauty and romance with artificial romance of the jazz age.

'the hot whips of panic'

-Tom feels as if he has lost control of women in his life.

-Example of Tom failing to maintain his masculine image of dominance and strength.

'Thats my middle West ... 'the thrilling returning trains of my youth'

-Nick's nostalgia for the West.

-Notably nostalgic for his home in the same way that Quentin is, although in this instance he isn't nostalgic for a place with as much racism embedded in its culture.

'what a grotesque thing a rose is'

-Gatsby disenchanted with the object of his idealism, similar way to how Quentin describes Caddy with roses.

'business gonnegtion' 'small flat nosed jew'

-Nick's antisemitism is rooted in his aversion to the 'otherness' of Jewish people.

'Whenever you feel like criticising anyone, just remember that all the people in the world haven't had the advantages you've had'

-Nick's moral standard which he fails to meet.

'freshness of many clothes'

-Gatsby being attracted to Daisy's wealth more than here.

-Influence of material goods on the perceptions of people.

'she had a little white roadster, and the telephone rang all day'

-Daisy's affinity for modern society and technological progress as a woman.

'he wasn't fit to lick my shoe'

-Harmful impact of conspicuous consumption on Myrtle, partners are judged by wealth rather than individual characteristics.

'Deficiency in common which made us subtly unadaptable to Eastern life'

-Nick and other Westerners being unsuitable for Western life.

'all dead now'

-Gatsby completely rejects his origins to achieve his dream.

'I was both within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life'

-Nick as an external observer who passes impartial judgements, similar to Dilsey.

'Gatsby's splendid car was included in their sombre holiday'

-Lack of sympathy in Northern environment to immigrants (compare to Quentin)

'packing one night to go to New York ... she was effectively prevented'

-Daisy lacking agency to do what she wants, unlike Caddy.

'she wanted her life shaped immediately - and the decision must be made with some force'

-Daisy lacking agency, way too passive and wants to be governed by external forces than own will.