Page 108 - The Great Gatsby

98 ACTIVITIES: After Reading 99

5 Think about these questions and give your answers. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
1 Why did Nick's relationship with Jordan Baker fail? Whose
fault was it? Coulcl the)' have been happ)' together?
2 What rnistakes do you think Gatshy macle in his life? Woulcl Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (1896-1940) was born in Saint
he and Dais)' have had a happy rnarriage, if they had married Paul, Minnesora. His mother adored him, macle sure he hacl the
when thc )' fi rst fcll in !ove? best possible education, and cncouraged him to write. His first
3 Wh )' did Gatsb )' have so few real friends? Was it beca use of story was published when he was thirteen. After a short time at
Princeton Universit)', he left to join rhe US Army during World
a weakncss in his character, or che result of his difficult early War I, but the war ended befare he could take any active part.
life, or was there some other reason? How clid he feel about this?
4 Should Gatsb )' have told the poi ice that it was Dais)' who was In 1918 he met and proposed to the beautiful Zdda Sayre,
clriving when his car hit M)'rtle Wilson? Wh )' do )'OU think he but she refused him; she had no desire to become the wife of
a penniless writer. However, when his first novel, This Side of
didn't tell them?
Paradise (1920), became a success, Zelda agreed to marry him.
5 Afrer Gatsb ) "s death, only Nick and Daisy knew the truth Their relationship was passionate and at times very difficult,
abouc the accidcnt. Should Nick have told someone? Who
should he have told? Why do you think he kept it a secret? but it was the basis for much of Fitzgerald's writing. He once
said: 'Sometimes I don't know whether Zelda and I are real or
whether we are characters in onc of my novels.'
6 Imagine that Nick Carraway went to the police and told them that
it was Daisy who drove the car that killed Myrtle. What do you In the 1920s Fitzgerald made severa! trips to Europe. His
think happened next? Writc a paragraph, giving a new ending to second novel, The Beautiful and the Damned, was published in
the story. Use any of the ideas below, if you like. 1922 and his third, The Great Gatsby, in 1925. He also wrote
shon stories such as The Diamond as Big as the Ritz and The
• The poi ice believed Nick, and interviewed Daisy. Curious Case of Benjamín Button. Bue it was his novels which
• At first Dais)' pretended she was innocent. made him famous, especially The Great Gatsby, now generally
• Tom paid the policc to forgct ali about it. considered his finest work. As a detailed portrayal of che Jazz
• Gatsby tried to take the blame. Agc (a term invented by Fitzgerald) and a powerful criticism of
• Gcorgc Wilson committed suicide. materialism and 'the American Dream', ir has bccome required
• Daisy was sent to prison, and Tom divorced her. reading for most American high school students, and has given
• Nick and Jordan got married. enjoyment to generations of readers worldwide.
• Gatsby waited for Dais)', and rnarried her later. Inspiration for his work carne directly from his own lifc,
his marriage to Zelda, and his observations of contemporary