Gatsby+5th+Period+Group+4

Past/Future "I don't want you to get a wrong idea of me from all these stories you hear." This quote fallows the theme of the past/future. The quote is said by Gatsby. It reflects his feelings in that Gatsby has past happenings in his life that he has tried to forget about. He also has things he has tried to hold on to even though they are long gone, such as his relationship with Daisy as a young lad. Now, Gatsby is trying to relive this time in his life. There are stories circulating through the town that Gatsby once killed a man and Nick has heard this. Other rumors included that he was a bootlegger and an Oxford man. These are theories as to how he got his money. In the authors writing of this sentence, he uses negative words and is conveying a curious tone. Gatsby's past is a mystery to readers and they are anticipating his future.

Class(old/ new/no money): "There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired." I feel this quote almost reflects the idea of the class theme. This quote is said by Nick and when he said the pursued, I feel it relates to old money. Old money being people who already pursued the American Dream and have all of their riches. This is like Tom or Daisy, they have money and each other. The pursuing are those who are trying to achieve a dream. This is new money, the people trying to get money or are new to the life of wealth. This relates to Gatsby, he has gotten lots of money and is pursuing Daisy. The last part of the quote, the busy and tired, go goes to the people who work hard for their money and the ones they care about. This is the class of no money. People like Myrtle and Wilson relate to this idea. They have no money and Wilson works hard everyday just to get by with his wife.

American Dream:

"That's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool." - Daisy

Daisy tries to tell Nick that she wants her daughter to be naive. This characteristic is important because she believes that is the best thing that can possibly happen for a woman in this time period. This applies to the American dream because of the family aspect. Children comply to the dream of happiness and heightened status.

Moral Decay:

"It's up to us who are the dominant race, to work out or these other races will have control of things." -Tom

Tom states this when talking to Nick about a book he read. He is trying to say that the world is becoming morally decayed. People don't know how to run the government and the smaller races are becoming more in control. Tom is racist against minorities; his morals are different than millions of other people. He doesn't trust the minority, even though they are beginning to gain control of more and more land and property.