How we cite the quotes:
Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
| Quote #1 In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.
"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."
He didn’t say any more, but we’ve always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. In consequence, I’m inclined to reserve all judgments […]. (1.1-3) |
The very opening of The Great Gatsby sets the tone for a book about society and class. We know immediately that our narrator is privileged, and that he is painfully conscious of it.
| Quote #2 "About Gatsby! No, I haven’t. I said I’d been making a small investigation of his past."
"And you found he was an Oxford man," said Jordan helpfully.
"An Oxford man!" He was incredulous. "Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit."
"Nevertheless he’s an Oxford man."
"Oxford, New Mexico," snorted Tom contemptuously, "or something like that."
"Listen, Tom. If you’re such a snob, why did you invite him to lunch?" demanded Jordan crossly.
"Daisy invited him; she knew him before we were married – God knows where!" (7.130-136) |
Tom demonstrates that wealth alone cannot win a man entrance to the upper echelons of society. They must be educated as well.
| Quote #3 I called up Daisy half an hour after we found him, called her instinctively and without hesitation. But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them.
"Left no address?"
"No."
"Say when they’d be back?"
"No."
"Any idea where they are? How I could reach them?"
"I don’t know. Can’t say." (9.4-10) |
Because of their wealth and privilege, Daisy and Tom manage to escape the consequences of their actions.