Big Books of 2026
Aldwin Aguilar asked this question about The Great Gatsby:
My teacher keeps on insisting that Jay Gatsby is black. Is he?
Lily Tittle It is highly plausible. The text Tom references in Chapter 1 about the Rising Tide of the Colored Empire by "some guy named Goddard," IS actually a bo…moreIt is highly plausible. The text Tom references in Chapter 1 about the Rising Tide of the Colored Empire by "some guy named Goddard," IS actually a book by a race eugenicist by the name of Lothrop Stoddard. The book by Stoddard was published by the same company that published Gatsby. Was this a way for Fitzgerald to mock the idea of white supremacy? Who knows, but to ignore so many allusions to race, skin color, and color symbolism would be folly. Writers are ALWAYS intentional with their words.
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The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
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