Great Gatsby Dialectical Journal

1. “The flowers were unnecessary, for at two o’clock a green house arrived from Gatsby’s, with innumerable receptacles to contain it. An hour later the front door opened nervously and Gatsby in a white flannel suit, silver shirt and gold colored tie hurried in” (Fitzgerald 89). To prepare for his meeting with Daisy, Gatbsy makes sure that his his house looks grand opulent, and perfect. Then Gatsby sends men to mow Nick Carraways lawn and bring him flowers to his home. Moreover, Gatsby dresses in a very wealthy white suit and golden tie to show Daisy that he is very rich and worthy of her.

2. In his nervousness, Gatsby knocks a clock off the mantle. However, he is able to catch it just before it hits the ground and shatters. This awkward moment

Gatsby is very shocked and nervous to finally see Daisy again. He leaves Daisy alone in the room to go talk to Nick in the kitchen and comes back all wet and sweaty. His behavior is ironic in this seen because the title of the book states The Great Gatsby, however Gatsby seems very shy, and panicky, and uneasy around Daisy while I would expect him to be very excited and bold.

5. Nick thinks that Gatsby inherited all of his money, and catches an inconsistency of Gatsby saying “But I lost most of it in the big panic-the panic of war” ( Fitzgerald 95). Gatsby also tells Nick, “I was in the drug business and then I was in the oil business. But I’m not in either now one” (Fitzgerald 95). Nick is now led to believe that Gatsby had worked for all of his wealth through an oil business and a drug dealing business, but he is not with either one anymore.

6. The light is now gone because Gatsby’s dream and future of finally seeing Daisy has now arrived. The future of being with Daisy is now here. The green light reminds Gatsby of his longing and desire for his true love Daisy. Daisy is an illusion of new beginning, love and desire. Gatsby loved Daisy and longed desperately to be with

Klipspringer is a shallow freeloader who constantly lives at Gatsby’s mansion, taking advantage of his hosts money. Gatsby asks Klipspringer to play the piano while he is showing Daisy and Nick around the mansion, and Klipspringer plays a song called “Ain’t We Got Fun?”

8. James Gatz is really Jay Gatsby’s legal name. He changed a few letters in his full name just before he began his real career as a seventeen year old.

9. Gatsby had changed his name when he was seventeen years old and that is the year he began his new career under his new name. “When he saw Dan Cody’s yacht drop anchors over the most insidious flat on Lake Superior” (Fitzgerald 104).

10. Jay Gatsby, “was employed in a vague personal capacity-while he remained with Cody he was in turn steward, mate, skipper, secretary, and even jailor, for Dan Cody sober knew what lavish doings Dan Cody drunk might soon be about and he provided for such contingencies by reposing more and more trust in Gatsby” (Fitzgerald 106). Gatsby is greatly inspired by Dan Cody to be rich and not to drink. Gatsby even holds a portrait of his inspiration, Dan Cody, in his room.

11. Gatsby never received the money that Cody left for him because Cody’s mistress prevented him from seeing any of it. After Cody’s death, his mistress claimed all of the inheritance and money for