"This idea is that we’re Nordics...."See in text(Chapter I)
Though the term “Nordic” usually describes someone who is descended from one of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands), Tom is referring to the specific racist ideology of Madison Grant, in which “Nordics” are credited with all major cultural developments throughout history. Tom’s anxiety about the rising power of people of color reflects his fear that his position of power and security is tenuous.
"The Rise of the Coloured Empires..."See in text(Chapter I)
This is likely an allusion to The Rising Tide of Color: The Threat Against White World-Supremacy, a 1920 book by American white supremacist Lothrop Stoddard. The work argues that the growing world population of people of color threatens “Western civilization” and white supremacy. This concern about losing the societal power conferred by whiteness would not necessarily have been unusual for someone of Tom’s social class; indeed, President Warren G. Harding referred to The Rising Tide in a 1921 speech as an influence on his pro-segregation views.
"the shining secrets that only Midas and Morgan and Mæcenas knew...."See in text(Chapter I)
Nick refers to King Midas, J. P. Morgan, and Gaius Maecenas, three men who are associated with the accumulation of great wealth. In Greek mythology, Midas is a king of Phrygia gifted—or cursed—with a “golden touch,” or the “Midas touch,” meaning anything he touched transformed into gold. J. P. Morgan (1837–1913) was a successful American financier and the head of the banking firm that would become JPMorgan Chase, still a major bank today. Gaius Maecenas, born circa 70 BCE, was a friend and political advisor to the first Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus (63–14 BCE), and famous for his wealth and influence.
"At the newsstand she bought a copy of Town Tattle and a moving-picture magazine, ..."See in text(Chapter II)
“Town Tattle” is based on a New York gossip magazine called Town Topics. It was established in 1879 by Colonel William D’Alton Mann, a Civil War veteran, entrepreneur, and notorious blackmailer. He was known for borrowing—and often never reimbursing—large sums of money from notable people who did not want their secrets disclosed in the magazine. The “Town Tattle” would likely have been instantly recognizable to contemporary New York readers as a criticism not only of Myrtle’s character, but also a symbol of the rise of gossip and celebrity culture. The “moving-picture magazine” is probably the Motion Picture Story Magazine (1911–1977), a monthly periodical that is widely regarded to have been the first fan magazine for everyday filmgoers.
"This fella’s a regular Belasco...."See in text(Chapter III)
David Belasco (1853–1931) was an American playwright, director, and producer with a reputation for realistic stage designs and productions. The spectacled man’s comparison is meant as a slight; he expected that Gatsby’s library is only for show, but was surprised to find that Gatsby has in fact stocked it with real books.
"and shawls beyond the dreams of Castile...."See in text(Chapter III)
Nick alludes to brightly colored Spanish shawls, like those called Manila shawls, which are made of embroidered silk and have long, knotted fringes. They were in vogue during the 1920s, and Nick describes those of Gatsby’s guests as being “beyond the dreams of Castile” in order to convey the extent of the partygoers’ luxury and wealth, as well as their possible distance from their places of origin.
"I’m the Sheik of Araby...."See in text(Chapter IV)
“The Sheik of Araby” is a 1921 song written by Harry B. Smith, Francis Wheeler, and Ted Snyder. It was written in part after the massive success of the feature film The Sheik (1921), starring actor Rudolph Valentino, and quickly became a jazz standard. The chorus that the girls are singing as Nick and Jordan drive through Central Park mirrors Gatsby’s intention to win back Daisy’s love. However, the possessive, potentially violent implications of the song—which ends with the line, “soon he will conquer love by fear”—indicate that Gatsby’s actions pose a threat to Daisy.
"Montenegro’s troubled history..."See in text(Chapter IV)
This is likely an allusion to the Montenegrin campaign of World War I, which took place in 1916 when Austria-Hungary occupied the Kingdom of Montenegro, a now-former monarchy in southeastern Europe on the Balkan peninsula. Montenegro was an ally of Serbia, and thus invited Austria-Hungary’s attention during its Serbian campaign—a series of attempts to punish Serbia. However, the Kingdom of Montenegro was also a site of unrest leading up to the War: It was involved in both the First and the Second Balkan Wars (1912–1913 and 1913, respectively), when its king hoped to claim some of the Ottoman Empire’s territory in Rumelia.
Klipspringer plays two popular songs, “The Love Nest” and “Ain’t We Got Fun,” that would have been recognizable to most 1920s readers. “The Love Nest” was written for the musical Mary and involves a young man who achieves the girl of his dreams after making his fortune. The song describes the merits of a simple home with “warmth and love inside,” elevating it over “a palace with a gilded dome” meant to show off one’s wealth. Klipspringer’s choice of music is inadvertently ironic, given that Gatsby is currently showing off his palatial—and, by implication, emotionally vacant—home to Daisy. “Ain’t We Got Fun” relates the conversations of a poor couple unconcerned by their circumstances: “Times are bum and getting bummer / Still we have fun.” Though musically upbeat and jaunty, the song’s lyrics make it more tonally ambiguous than the sentimental “The Love Nest”—the couple might be cheerfully resilient to the effects of their situation, or they might be sarcastic and bitter about the impossibility of upward mobility. Together, the two songs unsettle the romantic atmosphere Gatsby is trying to create by invoking the shallowness of his material success.
"like Kant at his church steeple..."See in text(Chapter V)
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) was a prominent German philosopher who would become a central figure in both modern Western philosophy and Enlightenment thinking. He made great strides in the areas of empiricism and rationalism and argued that human reason guides moral law and that anything built upon the foundation of human understanding is true—even science and religion, which often contradict each other. Nick’s likening himself to “Kant at his church steeple” alludes to the rumor that Kant developed his philosophies while staring at the church steeple outside his window; Fitzgerald perhaps means to show the degree to which Nick is being philosophically influenced by Gatsby or to remind readers of Kant’s belief that a person (here, Nick) can only know that which he himself experiences.
The name of Dan Cody’s yacht is likely a reference to Tuolumne County, California, a popular site during the California Gold Rush that lasted from 1848 to 1855. Approximately 300,000 people flocked to California after gold was discovered in Coloma, California, by James W. Marshall, building boomtowns that quickly became cities and fast-tracking Californian statehood. The subsequent injection of gold into the American economy led to an economic boom in both California and the United States as a whole, but it had a catastrophic effect on indigenous Americans and the Californian environment. Cody’s yacht therefore symbolizes his membership in a class of wealthy people whose success was made possible through lawlessness and the suffering of others.
Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, also known as Madame Scarron and Madame de Maintenon, was a French noblewoman who married King Louis XIV in secret. Because of her perceived influence over the king, Madame de Maintenon has often been portrayed as greedy, dishonest, and ambitious. Therefore, Nick means that similarly greedy and ambitious women attempted “to separate [Cody] from his money”; Ella Kaye, however, is successful in truly embodying Madame de Maintenon. Crucially, Cody is portrayed as having been made vulnerable, as opposed to powerful, by his wealth.
"his Platonic conception of himself..."See in text(Chapter VI)
Nick refers to the philosopher Plato’s theory of Forms, which posits that everything in the world is an imperfect representation of a true, ideal essence, or Form. Notably, these Forms are inaccessible—the nature of their perfection is such that they cannot be actually realized. Therefore, in describing the inhabited persona of Jay Gatsby as Gatz’s attempt to live as the most perfect form of himself, Nick is possibly implying that Gatz attempted the impossible and, necessarily, failed. It is also important to note that Platonic Forms as philosophically discussed apply to universally recognizable concepts such as “tree” or “love”; the “Platonic conception” of Gatsby was invented by and exists only for Gatz, rendering it subjective and therefore imperfect.
"underground pipe-line to Canada..."See in text(Chapter VI)
Nick here alludes to a rumor that, during Prohibition, illegal alcohol was transported from Canada into the United States through a pipeline. Given that Gatsby is rumored to be a bootlegger, it is perhaps unsurprising that other uncorroborated stories about illicit alcohol sales and distribution “attached themselves to him.”
"his career as Trimalchio was over..."See in text(Chapter VII)
Nick’s reference to the fictional character Trimalchio is an allusion to the play Satyricon, which was written by Roman courtier Petronius in the late 1st century CE. Trimalchio is a former slave who has since made himself rich and whose dinner party is a tasteless and vulgar display of extravagance. By the 1920s, the label “Trimalchio” would have been recognized as a derogatory way to refer to the excessive spending of the newly rich, like Gatsby. The allusion here also serves as ironic foreshadowing: obsessed with the idea of mortality, Trimalchio transforms his dinner party into a rehearsal for his own lavish funeral.
"he had committed himself to the following of a grail...."See in text(Chapter VIII)
Nick alludes to the cup called the Holy Grail, which is often synonymous with the Holy Chalice. According to Christian tradition, the Holy Chalice is the cup from which Jesus Christ served wine during the Last Supper (Matthew 28:27-28) before he was crucified. He is also believed to have drank from the cup himself. The Holy Grail originates as an elusive quest object in Arthurian literature, in which it came to be attainable only by the spiritually pure. In saying that Gatsby had “committed himself to the following of a grail,” Nick indicates that his ambition was both idealistic and unlikely to be successful. However, he also indicates a shift in how Gatsby has perceived Daisy. Despite Gatsby’s feeling of having “taken” her, she “vanished...into her rich, full life.” This act of agency and independence on her part unsettled Gatsby. While he still saw her as an object, she was now a powerful object, imbued with spiritual significance as well as material value, of which he felt compelled to prove himself worthy.
Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy created in 1904 by Clarence E. Mulford and featured in numerous short stories and novels. He was rude, rough, and dangerous, and his adventures were frequently violent. Hopalong became immensely popular—sixty-six movies were made about him between 1935 and 1948. That Gatsby owned one of the Cassidy books indicates his early tendency to fantasize about adventure and greatness. It also indicates the lack of positive role models available to the young Gatsby.
