Article: J.P. Morgan and Gatsby's name. (Notes)

When Fitzgerald has young James Gatz christen himself "Gatsby," he gives his readers a riddle to ponder. Although the names of Gatsby's cohorts have been duly analyzed, Gatsby's name has proven "a difficult puzzle to solve."(1) Several authors have attempted to discover its origins. One theory suggests Fitzgerald based the name on "gat," a slang expression for a gatling gun..(2) Another proposes that it comes from a German form of derision.(3) Still another suggests Fitzgerald developed it from the phrase "God's boy."(4) In addition, the name's similarity to the surname "Gadsby" used by Mark Twain in A Tramp Abroad(5) and by George Eliot in The Mill on the Floss(6) has ...

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