The Great Gatsby ~~ Quotes and Annotations
“We’ve always been unusually communicative in a reserved way.” (1)
Nick is longing for the chance to recapture his past with his father.
“I wanted the world to be uniform…Gatsby represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn.” (2)
Gatsby was from an early generation and in the past, the world was full of uniformity. Now, however, there are classes of the classes; no one is really sure where they lie on the social ladder let alone the lack of structure to their lives.
“…drifts on, forever seeking a little wistfully for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game.” (10)
This is a metaphor to a past-time; Nick desires the time when he and his father would have gone to the local football game and enjoyed their time together.
“A single green light, minute and faraway, that might have been the end of a dock.” (22)
Gatsby’s image of the past is portrayed in how he views Daisy. She has been embellished over time to such an extent that there is no way she can live up to Gatsby’s expectations and therefore Gatsby desires to recapture the past.
“Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.” (64)
This suggests that in the past, there were more “honorable” men than there are today and they would have been more selfless.
“‘Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.’” (1)
This quote reveals the depth of Nick’s judgement; he reserves it until his beliefs are proven founded, even if he originally believed wrong and based it on a false pretense. Later on, Nick judges Gatsby by his past.
“I found myself on Gatsby’s side, and alone.” (155)
The time is past of which Gatsby’s military friends urged him on to get to know Daisy and now, without the support,...