Great Gatsby Timeline

Chapter 6

Major Events

Great Gatsby Timeline

Chapter 4

Major Events

Cultural References

Symbols

• Find out that Gatsby's real name is James Gatz and that he comes from a poor family in North Dakota.

• Saved a wealthy alcoholic named Dan Cody from crashing his boat during a storm.

• Daisy and Tom go to one of Gatsby's parties

• Gatsby and Nick went to lunch in New York
• Gatsby got out of a ticket
• Nick went to meet Jordan for tea, where she told him about Gatsby's request to invite Daisy over for tea.

World War I - In chapter 4 there is a reference to World War I when Gatsby says, "Then came the war, old sport. It was a great relief, and I tried very hard to die, but I seemed to bear an enchanted life." During the 1920's men were being drafted for the war to fight against the Axis powers.

Prohibition - In chapter 6 there was a reference to the prohibition when people were giving their opinions on how Gatsby became so wealthy. Alcohol was illegal so many people became bootleggers which could make them a lot of money.

• Meyer Wolfsheim's cuffs - "'I see you're looking at my cuff buttons' ... 'Finest specimens of human molars...'" (Fitzgerald, 72)
• Symbolizes how he treats people and doesn't care about others as he makes his money.

• Gray - "...But I can still read the gray names, and they will give you a better impression than my generalities of those who accepted Gatsby's hospitality and paid him the subtle tribute of knowing nothing whatever about him" (Fitzgerald, 61)
• People described as gray are associated with lifelessness and barrenness.

Chapter 8

Symbols

Major Events

Cultural Reference

http://maarachot.idf.il/PDF/FILES/9/113539.pdf

Cultural References

1919 World Series - In chapter 4 there is a reference to the 1919 World Series when Nick meets Meyer Wolfsheim who's a gambler who supposedly fixed the World Series. A man named Rothstein who lived in the 1920's was the man who allegedly fixed the World Series.

• Learn that Daisy couldn't wait for Gatsby any longer because she felt the pressure of the world outside and needed to find a man to take care of her

• George talks about how he confronted Myrtle about the dog collar she bought with Tom ... but he is unaware that Tom was the man she was having an affair with

• Gatsby gets killed by George Wilson

• Gatsby's Parties - "Tom was evidently perturbed at Daisy's running around alone, for on the following Saturday night he came with her to Gatsby's party." (Fitzgerald, 104)
• His parties are symbols of desperation since he is throwing them all for Daisy in hopes that she will show up.

• West Egg - "The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself." (Fitzgerald, 98)
• West Egg is representing new money

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-prohibition-days-gallery-1.51845

Prohibition - In chapter 8 there is a reference to prohibition when Catherine is located after Myrtles death. "She (Catherine) must have broken her rule against drinking that night, for when she arrived she was stupid with liquor..." (Fitzgerald, 156) Although alcohol was illegal, there were many ways to get it. People during the 1920's made alcohol illegally, and found speakeasies to go to in order to get drunk.

http://athlonsports.com/nfl/5-conspiracy-theories-changed-sports-history

Symbols

• Weather - "The night had made a sharp difference in the weather and there was an autumn flavor in the air." (Fitzgerald, 153)
• Weather symbolizes Gatsby's attempts to stop time and go back to how things were with Daisy.

• Silver - "She had caught a cold, and it made her voice huskier and more charming than ever, and Gatsby was overwhelmingly aware of the youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves, of the freshness of many clothes, and of Daisy, gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor." (Fitzgerald, 150)
• Silver represents jewelery and richness

http://weburbanist.com/2015/05/14/secret-speakeasies-6-bars-clubs-hidden-in-plain-sight/

Chapter 5

Chapter 1

Major Events

Chapter 3

Major Events

Cultural References

• Daisy goes to Nick's for tea where she meets Gatsby

• Gatsby gives Daisy a tour of his house

• Daisy cries while Gatsby is throwing his shirts

Cultural References

Symbols

• Nick is formally invited to one of Gatsby's parties

• Gatsby introduces himself to Nick

• Gatsby talks to Jordan

Jazz Age - In chapter 5 there is a reference to music, and jazz in the 1920's was becoming very popular. Many older people did not like jazz because they thought it was immoral and threatened their values.

• Nick moves to the East
• Nick goes over to the Buchanan's house to catch up with Daisy and Tom
• We learn that Tom has a mistress up in New York

1920's Cars - In chapter 3 Nick mentions Gatsby's Rolls-Royce which is referencing the car industry and how it was booming in this time period. Cars were not only for the rich anymore, many people had them, changing the way of life in the 1920's.

Symbols

Symbols

• Red and Gold - "I bought dozens of banking and credit and investment securities, and they stood on my shelf in red and gold like new money from the mint..." (Fitzgerald, 4)
• Gold is representing money
• White - "Our white girlhood was passed together there. Our beautiful white----" (Fitzgerald, 19)
• White is representing innocence and femininity
• Green - "I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward---and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock..." (Fitzgerald, 21)
• Green represents Gatsby's love for Daisy as well as the American Dream.

Cultural References

• Gray - "Her gray, sun-strained eyes stared straight ahead, but she had deliberately shifted our relations, and for a moment, I thought I truly loved her." (Fitzgerald, 58)
• Refers to lifelessness and barrenness.
• Owl Eyes - "A stout middle-aged man, with enormous owl-eyed spectacles, was sitting somewhat drunk on the edge of a great table, staring with unsteady concentration at the shelves of books." (Fitzgerald, 45)
• Like the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg, Owl Eyes also represents a God like symbol.
• Gatsby's Library - "'See!' he cried triumphantly. 'It's a bona-fide piece of printed matter. It fooled me. This fella's a regular Belasco. It's a triumph. What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop, too---didn't cut the pages. But what do you want? What do you expect?'" (Fitzgerald, 45-46)
• The uncut books is a symbol of Gatsby being a fraud and lying about his education and his life.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1920s_in_jazz

• Weather - "The day agreed upon was pouring rain." (Fitzgerald, 83)
• "'Oh hello old sport,' he said, as if he hadn't seen me for years... 'It's stopped raining.'" (Fitzgerald 89)
• The weather represents the differing in Gatsby's moods. It is pouring when he is freaking out about Daisy, and then it stops when he becomes more relaxed.
• Green - "'If it wasn't for the mist we could see your home across the bay,' said Gatsby. 'You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock.'" (Fitzgerald, 92)
• Symbolizes Gatsby's love for Daisy and the American Dream.

• World War I - In Chapter 1 there was a cultural allusion about World War I. World War I was happening during the 1920's and many men went to go help fight for the country.

http://www.scoop.it/t/ford-motor-company-in-the-1920-s-by-elizabeth-norris/p/3635153261/2012/12/07/ford-crises-of-1920-1921-strategos

http://thediplomat.com/2014/10/wwi-analogies-missing-the-role-of-culture/

Chapter 2

Major Events

• We meet Tom's mistress, Myrtle Wilson.

• Tom Breaks Myrtle's nose while she is speaking about Daisy.

Cultural References

Chapter 9

Chapter 7

Major Events

Cultural References

• Rockefeller - In chapter 2 page 27, there was a reference to a man who looked a lot like John D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller was a wealthy man in the 1920's who dominated the oil industry.

Major Events

Symbols

Cultural References

• Daisy and Tom left town

• Gatsby's father, Henry C. Gatz arrived for his sons funeral

• No one besides Nick, Gatsby's father, and Owl Eyes showed up for Gatsby's funeral

• The Valley of Ashes - "This is the valley of ashes---a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills ..." (Fitzgerald, 23)
• Represents the moral and social decay resulting from not having great wealth.

• The Eyes of T.J. Eckleburg - "The eyes of T.J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic--their retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a non-existent nose." (Fitzgerald, 23)
• Represent God staring down and judging American society as well as all of the characters who are committing immoral acts.

• Gatsby stopped having his parties
• Gatsby fired all of his staff and hired new people because Daisy was over and thought his staff would tell the press
• Gatsby and Nick went to the Buchanan's for lunch and ended up going to the city
• Daisy tells Tom that she is leaving him for Gatsby
• Daisy kills Tom's mistress Myrtle while she's driving Gatsby's car

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Rockefeller

1919 World Series - In chapter 9 there was a reference to the 1919 World Series. During the 1919 World Series, the Chicago White Sox lost the series to the Cincinnati Reds, and eight White Sox players were later accused for intentionally losing the game in exchange for money.

Race Relations - In chapter 7, Tom references the separation between whites and African Americans when he says, "...Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions, and next they'll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between black and white." In this time period groups such as the KKK were forming in order to prevent African American's from having a say and becoming equals. The movement for equality had not quite begun.

Symbols

• Weather - "About 5 o'clock our procession of three cars reached the cemetery and stopped in a thick drizzle beside the gate ..." (Fitzgerald 174)
• Rain is symbolic because it occurs at the beginning of Daisy and Gatsby's relationship, and then again at the end at his funeral.
• Owl Eyes - "'Blessed are the dead that the rain falls on' and then the owl-eyed man said 'Amen to that' in a brave voice." (Fitzgerald, 175)
• Not only is rain again brought up in this quote, but Owl Eyes is at Gatsby's funeral, still symbolizing God.

http://sportstatricity.com/2013/08/19/the-1919-world-series-scandal/

• Gold and White - "That was it. I'd never understood it before. It was full of money---that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals' song of it... High in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl." (Fitzgerald, 120)
• White is referring to femininity and innocence, and the gold is referring to real, authentic, traditional money
• Automobiles - "'Shall we all go in my car?' suggested Gatsby ... 'well you take my my coupe and let me drive your car into town.'" (Fitzgerald 120-121)
• Cars symbolize wealth, although many people could now afford cars, if you have top of the line cars you can show the wealth you have

http://crooksandliars.com/2015/02/no-go-zones-were-first-made-america