A STEP BEYOND
GLOSSARY
The Glossary is limited to proper nouns, the meaning of which might not be
clear in the context of the novel. Symbolic terms such as grail or incarnation
are explained in the chapter-by-chapter analysis.
- "AIN'T WE GOT FUN"
- A very popular song of the day, Klipspringer sings it to Gatsby and Daisy
in Chapter VI.
- BELASCO
- David Belasco (1853-1931) was a very successful American actor, producer,
playwright, and theater manager. Owl Eyes thinks of Gatsby as a "regular
Belasco," because of his magnificent library and real books. -
- JAMES J. HILL
- American railroad tycoon and financier (1838-1916); one of many rich
Americans referred to in the novel.
- KAISER WILHELM
- The Emperor of Germany in 1914 at the outbreak of World War I. Gatsby
is suspected of being a nephew of Kaiser Wilhelm. -
- KANT
- Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was famous German philosopher who stared at
a church steeple to help his concentration. Nick, in Chapter V, stares at
Gatsby's house, "like Kant at his church steeple."
- LAKE FOREST
- A suburb of Chicago where very rich and socially prestigious families
live. Tom Buchanan comes East with a string of polo ponies from Lake Forest.
- MIDAS... MORGAN... MAECENAS
- The first was the legendary king who was granted his wish that everything
he touch change to gold. "Morgan" refers to J. Pierpont Morgan
(1837-1913), the famous New York financier. "Maecenas" was a wealthy
Etruscan patron of the Roman poets Horace and Virgil. All three are examples
of Fitzgerald's fascination with wealth and the very wealthy.
- MONTENEGRO
- Once a small country on the Adriatic Sea, now part of Yugoslavia. Gatsby
says he has a medal from "little Montenegro."
- NEW HAVEN
- The city in Connecticut where Yale University is located. "New Haven"
in this novel means Yale, where Tom and Nick went to college.
- OXFORD
- Oxford University in England. Meyer Wolfsheim refers to it mistakenly
as "Oggsford College." Oxford is not a college, but a university,
made up of a collection of colleges.
- PLAZA HOTEL
- The famous hotel in New York City at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Central
Park South. You can still take carriage rides from the Plaza today. (see
Chapter IV).
- ROCKEFELLER
- John D. Rockefeller (1839 1939) was an industrialist and philanthropist
who founded the Standard Oil Company. He was perhaps the ultimate symbol
of wealth in the United States.
- "SHEIK OF ARABY"
- Another popular song of the day. overheard by Nick and Jordan in New
York.
- TOSTOFF
- Vladimir Tostoff's Jazz History of the World is an imaginary composition
by an imaginary composer. The jazz orchestra plays it for the guests at
Gatsby's party in Chapter III. It's self-important title is Fitzgerald's
cynical comment on how jazz tried to present itself as a serious rival to
classical music during the '20s.
- TRIMALCHIO
- Central character of the Satyricon by Petronius. Trimalchio is a vulgar,
self-made millionaire whose brief and meteoric rise to the top parallels
Gatsby's brief career. Fitzgerald thought of calling the novel, "Trimalchio
in West Egg." -
- VON HINDENBURG
- German general, chief of staff in World War I, later president of the
Weimar Republic. Some say Gatsby worked for von Hindenberg- another example
of the Gatsby myth.
- WORLD SERIES OF 1919
- The famous "Black Sox" scandal in which the Chicago White Sox
deliberately lost the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds, a much weaker
team, in order to make money for themselves. The arrangements were made
through a group of gamblers, the key figure of which was Arnold Rothstein,
the model for Meyer Wolfsheim in Gatsby. (See Chapter IV.)
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