The Great Gatsby Chapter 1 Questions and Answers
by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Study Questions
1. Who is the narrator of the story?

2. What is the significance of the white space between paragraphs 4 and 5?

3. From what part of the country does Nick originally come?

4. Why has Nick moved to New York?

5. How does Nick come to live next door to Jay Gatsby?

6. Where had Nick known Tom Buchanan before?

7. What is Jordan Baker’s relationship to Daisy Buchanan?

8. What does Nick learn from Jordan when Tom is called to the phone?

9. What is the “secret society”?

10. What does Nick see Gatsby doing at the end of the chapter?

Answers
1. Nick Carraway tells the story as he learns it from various sources.

2. The white space indicates where the flashback to Nick’s experience in New York begins.

3. The Midwest is the home of Nick and his ancestors, a part of the country in touch with the soil and wholesome American values.

4. After the war, he is looking for a better job than the Midwest provides.

5. He rents a bungalow with a friend who subsequently transfers to Washington, leaving Nick without a roommate.

6. They had been in school together at Yale.

7. The two had been friends in Louisville, Kentucky. Daisy is two years older than Jordan.

8. Tom has “a woman” in New York. Jordan enjoys eavesdropping.

9. The “secret society” consists of distinguished people who, seemingly, are above the law; their social standing is power.

10. Gatsby is stretching out his arms toward a green light at the end of a dock across the water in a worshipful stance.