Question 1

Q3 'You can't repeat the past,' Nick tells Gatsby. How far is Nick correct, given the events in the novel?

Accepted Answer

Effective answers will clarify what is meant by 'the past' and by 'repeat'. In a sense, Gatsby's past is not repeatable, simply because it involves his having been poor and in love with Daisy. In the narrative present, however, he is rich, and so it seems highly improbable that he will repeat his earlier poverty. Another sense of repeating, though, is ironic: it is tragic that Gatsby is destined to fail for a second time to possess Daisy as his wife. In this sense it seems that the past does repeat itself.

Nick's remark to Gatsby may well mean that he cannot go back to a world where Gatsby and Daisy are only in love with each other and committed to marriage. The events of the novel, especially from the time that Gatsby resumes his personal meetings with Daisy (Chapters 5-8), suggest that Gatsby cannot gain what he wants from his loved one.

The essential tragedy is Gatsby's naïve desire to repeat the past but lack of ability o do so, despite his wealth.

The following points suggest that Gatsby would like to repeat the past:
➤ Gatsby tries to communicate to Daisy the depths of his passion. He sends huge numbers of flowers to Nick's house for her (Chapter 5). He wants to restore their original romance.
➤ In his house, Gatsby draws Daisy's attention to a lot of clippings about herself, collected since their parting. He has no doubt kept her obsessively in mind all the time they have been apart (Chapter 5).
➤ It looks as if the past can be repeated when Daisy and Tom visit him at home (Chapter 6):later Nick observes that Daisy had only felt happy in the time she has spent with Gatsby alone.
➤ Daisy's tensions with Tom and the fact that Tom is known to be having an affair, give a brief hope that the two might come together again.
➤ Chapter 6 depicts the possibilities that Daisy might come back to Gatsby; Nick tells us of Gatsby's plan to tell Tom his wife never loved him and the original plan to marry in Louisville.
➤ Gatsby announces that he is going to fix everything as it was before(Chapter 6).

The following points suggest that the past cannot be repeated:
➤ In Chapter 6,Nick strongly suggests to Gatsby, who has confided his plan to marry in Louisville, that things cannot happen exactly as if it were five years before.
➤ In Chapter 5, when Gatsby has seen Daisy, there are indications that his feelings for her were exhausted. He does not quite know what to do: Daisy was going to marry him and is happy to see him,but things have changed due to her marriage to Tom.
➤ In the Plaza Hotel, Tom becomes aggressive and rude to Gatsby (Chapter 7). Gatsby tells Tom his wife never loved him and an argument starts. Daisy is persuaded to tell Tom she never loved him, but she gives in to Tom: it is not true that she never loved Tom, she says. She tells Gatsby that he wants too much, though she loved them both.
➤ Nick speculates that the likelihood of their reuniting is gone forever, as he says the green light on the dock where Daisy lives seems much more distant than before. Symbolically, the reality of their reunion is remote (Chapter 5).
➤ Daisy is a passive figure, dominated by Tom and his materialism, whereas before she and Gatsby had a romantic affair. Chapter 8 goes back to Daisy's past. She decided on her own agenda after Gatsby lost touch with her, had affairs and eventually decided to marry Tom. This suggests that Daisy made an understandable decision. Gatsby could not realistically expect her to leave her rich husband and their child.

Question 2

Q4 To what extent is Gatsby a likeable character in The Great Gatsby?

Accepted Answer

Gatsby's personal attributes are mediated by what Nick the narrator tells us about his past and about his present behaviour, so any judgements made will be on the basis of how reliable we find Nick. There seems to be no obvious reason why Nick would be an untrustworthy narrator. There are a number of desirable and undesirable qualities in Gatsby so it is not a clear-cut issue as to whether Gatsby is likeable.

Likeable aspects of Jay Gatsby's character and actions
➤ He is romantic, especially in comparison to Tom. He is also pleasant.
➤ Gatsby is only partly truthful to Nick about his Oxford education (Chapter 4) but later concedes to Tom that he only visited Oxford for five months after the war (Chapter 7). This admission restores Nick's belief in Gatsby.
➤ He shows his military awards to Nick and they seem to be genuine (Chapter 4), so we may admire his bravery.
➤ Nick is struck by the modesty of Gatsby's request to him to invite Daisy to his home so he can meet her again (Chapter 4).
➤ He is a good host even to strangers: he allows strangers to stay in his house (e.g. the 'owl-eyed man'), and accepts the majority of uninvited guests at his parties (Chapter 3), although he can be rude with some (e.g. Klipspringer in Chapter 6). He also politely hosts Tom in his house and tells Nick he cannot confront him in Tom's own house (Chapter 7).
➤ Gatsby is not overtly aggressive, unlike his rival Tom, and Tom begins the open quarrel that leads to Daisy leaving with Gatsby in the latter's car (Chapter 7).
➤ After the accident in which Myrtle dies, Gatsby tells Nick he will take responsibility even though Daisy was driving: we probably admire this as an extreme act of love (Chapter 7).
➤ We may well understand Nick's final words to Gatsby that he was fine to others even though they all took advantage of him (Chapter 8).
➤ At the end of the novel, we might like Gatsby more as Nick believes in him and is upset that almost no-one attends his funeral (Chapter 9).
➤ We probably believe Gatsby's father, who said he was very kind to him after he became rich (Chapter 9).

Dislikeable aspects of Jay Gatsby's character and actions
➤ He is focused on the futile pursuit of Daisy.
➤ Nick's first impressions of Gatsby are that he is polite but appears sometimes to be a rough person (Chapter 3).
➤ While Wolfshiem tells Nick that Gatsby is a 'perfect gentleman' (Chapter 4), we learn that Wolfshiem himself is corrupt and so may not trust his opinion.
➤ In Chapter 6 Nick tells us that Gatsby felt contempt for the women who spoiled him or were virgins. This is probably an unpleasant aspect of his character.
➤ As Tom credibly points out, Gatsby's wealth is probably founded on law-breaking and corruption - bootlegging- which may lead some readers to dislike him.
➤ We might see Gatsby as a dislikeable opportunist who had had sex with Daisy while she believed he was rich like her (Chapter 8).

Debatable aspects of Jay Gatsby's character and actions
➤ How much sympathy (and so liking) we have for Gatsby's passion for Daisy will depend on whether we find his behaviour understandable, endearing etc. Gatsby behaves weirdly when Daisy visits and Nick tells him off about acting like a child (Chapter 5); one might understand and like him for his weakness, or one might side with Nick over this issue - he leaves Daisy by herself briefly and this is not good manners.
➤ It is suggested (Chapter 5) that Gatsby's passion went so far as to make him lose track of reality. Again, we might have mixed reactions to this, identifying him as a man of passion (understandable and likeable), but finding he is out of touch with the real world (less likeable).

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