The Great Gatsby

"Civilization's going to pieces. I've gotten to be a terrible pessimist about things... The idea is if we don't look out the white race will be--will be utterly submerged. It's all scientific stuff; it's been proved ... It's up to us, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things."

This quote was said by Tom in chapter one. It was said when Daisy was talking about books that Tom has read. He believed that the book "The Rise of the Colored Empires" by Goddard was proof that minor races are going to rise up. Tom seems to be a white supremacist and would do pretty much anything to have the white race stay at the top. I thought his character represented a lot of the white people and their opinions towards other races during this time. Most of them didn't like African Americans and other minorities, therefore being racist. By including people like this in "The Great Gatsby", Fitzgerald makes his story seem more realistic to how the world is.


"I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby's house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited--they went there. They got into automobiles which bore them out to Long Island, and somehow they ended up at Gatsby's door. Once there they were introduced by somebody who knew Gatsby, and after that they conducted themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with an amusement park. Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all, came for the party with a simplicity of heart that was its own ticket of admission."

This scene was in the third chapter as Nick was describing how he felt about the people at Gatsby's party. He knew that he was the only few people who were invited while a lot of others just crashed the party for fun and enjoyment. Nick's thoughts really stuck out to me because it's still true today. Many people randomly go to parties that they weren't invited to and usually wreck the place up. These people usually have their "party attitudes" as they are doing whatever they do at parties and have bad manners. They do not clean after their messes and definitely do not conduct themselves properly. Some people do actually go to the person who made the party and introduce themselves, but it rarely happens. After this little section, I liked how Nick also described how he was invited. I guess it was a really big honor for him to be invited to a rich person's party. Is there another purpose or reason for Gatsby's parties or are they just created so people could socialize?


"It takes two to make an accident."

This quote was said by Jordan Baker in chapter three as she was arguing with Nick in the car. In this scene, they were talking about how bad her driving skills were because as she was driving, her car came so close to a man that it took off a button from his jacket. She said that as long as no one is in her way, she'll be fine. After all, it takes two things to cause an accident. I feel that this quote is very true because it does take two things to cause something like an accident. One could not happen without the other. Later on the page, it was interesting to see that Baker said that she hates careless people, while she is one. She did point out, however, that Nick isn't a careless person and she likes him for that.