Gatsby+5th+Period+Group+5

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.

Past/Future:

"I belong to another generation...as for me, I am 50 years old, and I won't impose myself on you any longer." -Gatsby

In this quote, Gatsby is talking to Nick. He tries to tell him to go home instead of visiting with him. This quote relates to the theme of past and future because he feels he is too old for Nick to have a friendship with him. He doesn't want to cause any grief. He has already gone through this point in his life and realizes that Nick probably doesn't want to be bothered by an "old man".

Class:

"I married him because I thought he was a gentleman, I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn't fit to lick my shoe." -Myrtle

Myrtle is talking about her husband, Wilson. She believes that he is of a lower class than herself. This is ironic because both Wilson and Myrtle are of the lowest class in the city. Myrtle decides to have an affair with Tom, as Tom is of a higher class than her. This theme relates to the book because all of the main characters are of different classes and this affects their relations with one another.