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The Great Gatsby

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About the author

F. Scott Fitzgerald was a so-called ‘Jazz Age’ novelist

and short-story writer who is considered to be one of

the greatest American writers of the twentieth century.

His most famous and respected novel, The Great Gatsby

(1925), is one of the most penetrating descriptions of

American life in the 1920s.

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on 24 September 1896,

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was named after his ancestor

Francis Scott Key, the writer of the American national

anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner. Fitzgerald grew up

in Minnesota and enrolled at Princeton University in

1913. Although he became a prominent figure in the

literary life of the university, he struggled academically

and never graduated. He joined the army in November

1917. While stationed in Montgomery, Alabama, he

met and fell in love with Zelda Sayre, the daughter of an

Alabama Supreme Court judge. Zelda agreed to marry

him, but she broke off the engagement because of her

overpowering desire for wealth and leisure. With the

publication of This Side of Paradise (1920), Fitzgerald

became a celebrity. He finally convinced Zelda to marry

him. With his new wealth and fame, Fitzgerald fell into a

lavish lifestyle of parties and decadence. At the same time,

he was desperate to write something ‘serious’. He moved

to France with Zelda and their daughter Frances, in 1924,

and he completed The Great Gatsby. In the 1930s, they

tried to save their marriage unsuccessfully: Fitzgerald

constantly had money worries and became alcoholic, and

Zelda suffered a nervous breakdown. In 1937, however, he

managed to acquire work as a script-writer in Hollywood.

There he met and fell in love with Sheilah Graham, a

Hollywood columnist. For the rest of his life, Fitzgerald

lived quietly with Ms. Graham. Occasionally he went

East to visit Zelda and Frances. On December 21, 1940,

Fitzgerald died of a heart attack at the age of forty-four,

leaving his last novel The Last Tycoon unfinished.

Many of these events in the real life of Fitzgerald appear in

The Great Gatsby, published in 1925. Like Fitzgerald, Nick

Carraway is a thoughtful young man from Minnesota,

educated at an Ivy League school, who moves to New York

after the war. Also similar to Fitzgerald is Jay Gatsby, a

sensitive young man who idolises wealth and luxury and

who falls in love with the daughter of a wealthy family

while stationed at a military camp in the South.

Summary

The narrator, Nick Carraway, lives in the West Egg district

of Long Island. His next-door neighbour is a mysterious

man called Jay Gatsby. Nick is a young man from a

prominent Midwestern family. In some sense, the novel

is Nick’s memoir, his unique view of the events of the

summer of 1922.

Chapter 1: Soon after arriving in New York, Nick visits

his relative, Daisy Buchanan, and her husband, Tom.

The Buchanans live in the posh Long Island district of

East Egg. Tom is obsessed with the preservation of class

boundaries. At the Buchanans’s, Nick meets Jordan Baker,

a professional golf player. Hints are given about problems

in Tom and Daisy’s marriage: Tom has been having an

affair. After visiting Tom and Daisy, Nick goes home to

West Egg; there, he sees Gatsby gazing at a mysterious

green light across the bay. Gatsby stretches his arms out

towards the light, as though to catch and hold it.

Chapter 2: Tom Buchanan takes Nick into New York

City, and on the way they stop at the garage owned by

George Wilson. Wilson is the husband of Myrtle, with

whom Tom has been having an affair. Tom tells Myrtle to

join them later. In the city, they have a vulgar party in the

flat that Tom keeps for the affair. The more she drinks, the

more aggressive Myrtle becomes; she begins to taunt Tom

about Daisy, and Tom strikes her and breaks her nose.

Chapter 3: Nick is invited to a party at Gatsby’s mansion,

where he runs into Jordan Baker. At the party, few people

know Gatsby; even fewer are formally invited. During

the party, Nick finally meets Gatsby: he has a remarkable

smile, and uses ‘old sport’ as a term of endearment. Later,

Gatsby speaks to Jordan Baker alone, and afterwards she

tells Nick that she has learned something amazing. She

cannot yet share it with him, however. Nick and Jordan

become romantically involved.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby

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Chapter 4: Gatsby takes Nick to lunch. On the way

Gatsby tells Nick that his parents died and left him a

lot of money and that he went to war and later attended

Oxford University. Nick is sceptical of the story. At lunch,

Gatsby introduces Nick to his business associate, Meyer

Wolfsheim. Later, Jordan Baker tells Nick the story of

Gatsby: he had been in love with Daisy when they met

in Louisville before the war. Gatsby’s extravagant lifestyle

and wild parties are simply an attempt to impress Daisy.

Gatsby bought the house to be close to Daisy. This

is where Nick fits in. Gatsby wants Nick to arrange a

meeting between himself and Daisy.

Chapter 5: Nick invites Daisy to tea and tells her not to

bring Tom. Gatsby comes over to inspect everything to

make sure that the tea goes perfectly. After an initially

awkward reunion, Gatsby and Daisy re-establish their

connection. Gatsby has meticulously planned their

meeting: he gives Daisy a carefully rehearsed tour of

his mansion, and is desperate to exhibit his wealth and

possessions. The love between Gatsby and Daisy is revived.

Chapter 6: Nick learns the true story of Gatsby’s past.

He was born James Gatz in North Dakota, but changed

his name at the age of seventeen. The gold baron, Dan

Cody, served as Gatsby’s mentor until his death. Although

Gatsby inherited nothing of Cody’s fortune, Gatsby had

created a persona and found something that he wanted to

achieve at all costs. Gatsby has become wealthy through

illegal activities with the sole intention of winning back

Daisy. He believes that she is the key to perfect happiness.

While out horseback riding, Tom Buchanan happens

upon Gatsby’s mansion. There he meets both Nick and

Gatsby. Tom looks down on the new rich like Gatsby

as he is from an established upper class family. Despite

this, Tom and Daisy come to the next party at Gatsby’s.

There, he is extremely rude and condescending towards

Gatsby. Daisy also seems to be unhappy at the party which

frightens Gatsby. He tells Nick that he will make things

right with her and they will be able to go back to how they

once were.

Chapter 7: Gatsby stops throwing his lavish parties. The

only reason he threw such parties was the chance that

Daisy (or someone who knew her) might attend. On a

hot summer’s day Daisy invites Gatsby, Nick and Jordan

to lunch at her house. Tom figures out what is going

on between Gatsby and Daisy and becomes very upset.

They decided to drive into the city: there, at the Plaza

Hotel, Tom and Gatsby have a bitter confrontation. Tom

denounces Gatsby for his low birth, and reveals to Daisy

that Gatsby’s fortune has been made through being a

bootlegger (illegally selling alcohol during Prohibition).

When Gatsby asks her to say that she never loved Tom,

she can’t say it. Tom scornfully sends her back to East Egg

with Gatsby.

Chapter 8: When Nick, Jordan, and Tom drive through

the valley of ashes, however, they discover that Gatsby’s car

has hit and killed Myrtle, Tom’s lover. They rush back to

Tom’s house in East Egg, where Nick learns from Gatsby

that Daisy was driving the car when it struck Myrtle, but

that Gatsby intends to take the blame. Nick asks Gatsby

to go back with him but Gatsby wants to wait outside the

house to make sure that nothing happens to Daisy.

Chapter 9: Early the next morning Nick goes over to

check up on Gatsby. He has been at Daisy’s all night

just watching to see if she was safe. He and Nick stay up

talking about Gatsby’s past. Nick has to leave Gatsby to

get to work. After Nick leaves, Gatsby decides to go use

his pool and relax. George Wilson was looking for Gatsby.

Someone had told him that Gatsby was involved. George

has leapt to the conclusion that the driver of the car that

killed Myrtle must have been her lover. George, believing

Gatsby to be at fault, decides to avenge her death. He

finds Gatsby in the pool and shoots him dead. He then

kills himself as well.

Chapter 10: After the murder, Daisy and Tom leave town

without leaving any means of being contacted. Nick is

left to organise Gatsby’s funeral, but few people attend

the funeral. Nick ends his relationship with Jordan and

decides to move back to the Midwest. He has figured out

that Tom was the one who told Wilson that it was Gatsby

who ran over Myrtle. Nick thinks of Gatsby, and the role

of the past in dreams of the future.

Background and themes

The Jazz Age (the Roaring Twenties): The Jazz Age

began soon after World War I and ended with the stock

market crash of 1929. Prohibition, the ban on the sale

and consumption of alcohol, made millionaires out of

bootleggers. The period saw the beginning of a new

style of music which combined ragtime and blues. It

was an exciting time, but its basis was money and the

extravagances that money could buy. This emptiness was

in sharp contrast to the purity of the American Dream

The Great Gatsby

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which held that anyone could succeed if they strove to

improve themselves and anyone could get wealthy through

hard work and perseverance.

The American Dream: The American Dream was

originally about discovery and the pursuit of happiness.

The 1920s, however, was an era of decayed social and

moral values, when prosperity and material excess have

corrupted this dream, especially on the East Coast. The

unrestrained desire for money and pleasure surpassed more

noble goals. In the novel, Nick thinks of the disintegration

of the American Dream as Gatsby’s dream crumbles.

Class: During the Roaring Twenties anyone from any

social background could make a fortune, but there was a

class structure. Fitzgerald uses a geographical motif. West

Egg represents the newly self-made millionaires, East Egg

the American aristocracy, i.e. families with old wealth. The

East Egg crowd scorned the new rich in West Egg. Tom’s

attitude towards Gatsby is typical of this class. Ultimately

this wide class gulf is the reason why Daisy chooses to stay

with her husband, who is from the same class as she is.

Irresponsibility: Fitzgerald portrays how people could use

their position to look down on others and live their lives

not caring about other people. Tom and Daisy exemplify

this stereotype. Tom cheats on Daisy, Daisy often goes

over to Gatsby’s, and they run away from the scene of

Myrtle’s death. Despite their respectable social status,

their actions are, selfish and inconsiderate. They live their

irresponsible lives thinking only of themselves because

they think they are in a class above other people. They

can use their wealth and position to escape whatever they

choose.

Discussion activities

Chapter 1

Before reading

1 Discuss: Talk about the title.

Start a whole-class discussion by asking the following

questions: Why do you think the novel is called The

Great Gatsby? In what ways can a person be great?

2 Guess:

Have students look through the book at the

titles of the chapters. Put students into pairs to guess

and discuss what kind of story they think this will be.

After reading

3 Role play: Ask students to work in pairs. They role

play the telephone conversation between Tom and

Myrtle while Nick is having dinner at the Buchanans’s

house.

4 Discuss:

Have students re-read page 8 where Daisy

tells Nick what she said when her daughter was born.

Ask them the following question: Daisy says, ‘I’m glad

it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best

thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.’

Why do you think she says that? Students could discuss

in pairs or small groups. Ask them to share their

opinions with the class later on.

Chapter 2

Before reading

5 Discuss: Talk about the characters.

Put students into small groups. Ask them to list the

names of the characters from Chapter 1. Have them

remind each other what each character is like. Later,

ask some students to report to the class.

After reading

6 Discuss: Put students into small groups to discuss

why Fitzgerald brings in the following points:

• the piles of ash

• the eyes of Dr Eckleburg

Chapter 3

Before reading

7 Discuss: Talk about Gatsby.

Have a whole class discussion on Gatsby:

In this

chapter, Nick finally meets Mr. Gatsby. What kind of

information on him have you got so far?

After reading

8 Discuss: Talk about Gatsby.

Ask students to work in pairs. They make two lists:

• facts they know about Gatsby

• rumours about Gatsby

Then ask students to work in bigger groups to

compare their lists. Tell students to complete their

final lists of facts and rumours because the will need

them later (activity 20).

9 Discuss:

Put students into pairs or small groups.

Elicit the answers to the following question: Gatsby

finally appears in a speaking role in this chapter. Why do

you think Fitzgerald delays Gatsby’s appearance?

10 Discuss:

Talk about Nick and Jordan.

Remind students of a conversation between Nick and

Jordan about driving a car. Have students work in

pairs or small groups to discuss the following

questions:

• Why did they start this conversation?

• Do you think Jordan is safe as long as she doesn’t

meet another bad driver?

• What changed their relationship?

• What is Nick going to do?

Overview

The Great Gatsby Chapters Summary

The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, explores themes of wealth, class, and the American Dream through the eyes of narrator Nick Carraway. This summary provides detailed chapter breakdowns, highlighting key events and character developments throughout the novel. Readers will gain insights into the lives of Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, and Tom Buchanan, as well as the social dynamics of the 1920s. Ideal for students and literature enthusiasts, this summary aids in understanding the complex narrative and its historical context. Key Points Summarizes each chapter of The Great Gatsby, focusing on character arcs and themes Explains the significance of the American Dream as depicted in the novel Highlights the social class distinctions between East Egg and West Egg Discusses t…

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FAQs

What is the significance of the green light in The Great Gatsby?

The green light symbolizes Gatsby's hopes and dreams for the future, particularly his desire to reunite with Daisy Buchanan. In Chapter 1, Gatsby is seen reaching out towards this mysterious light across the bay, representing his longing for a life he has idealized. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that this light represents not only his love for Daisy but also the elusive nature of the American Dream, highlighting the gap between aspiration and reality.

How does Tom Buchanan's character influence the plot of The Great Gatsby?

Tom Buchanan is a pivotal character whose actions drive much of the conflict in the novel. He is portrayed as arrogant and racist, obsessed with maintaining class boundaries. His affair with Myrtle Wilson and his confrontational nature lead to significant events, including the confrontation at the Plaza Hotel in Chapter 7, where he exposes Gatsby's past and wealth. Tom's disdain for Gatsby and the new rich ultimately contributes to the tragic outcomes of the story, showcasing the theme of class struggle.

What are the main themes explored in The Great Gatsby?

The Great Gatsby explores several key themes, including the American Dream, class disparity, and irresponsibility. The American Dream is depicted as corrupted by materialism and the pursuit of wealth, particularly during the Jazz Age. Class differences are illustrated through the geographical divide between East Egg and West Egg, representing old money versus new money. Irresponsibility is exemplified by characters like Tom and Daisy Buchanan, who act selfishly without regard for the consequences of their actions, leading to tragic results.

How does Nick Carraway serve as a narrator in The Great Gatsby?

Nick Carraway serves as the novel's narrator and provides a unique perspective on the events and characters. Coming from a prominent Midwestern family and educated at an Ivy League school, he moves to West Egg and becomes entangled in the lives of Gatsby and the Buchanans. Nick's reflective and observant nature allows readers to see the complexities of the other characters, particularly Gatsby, while also revealing his own moral judgments. His role as both participant and observer highlights the themes of disillusionment and the quest for identity.

What events lead to Myrtle Wilson's death in The Great Gatsby?

Myrtle Wilson's death occurs in Chapter 8 after she is struck by Gatsby's car, which Daisy is driving. The events leading up to this tragic incident involve a series of confrontations and tensions between Tom Buchanan, Gatsby, and Daisy. Tom discovers the affair between Gatsby and Daisy and becomes increasingly aggressive. During a drive, Myrtle, believing Gatsby is in the car, rushes into the road, resulting in her being hit. This incident underscores the recklessness of the characters and the consequences of their actions.

What is the outcome of Jay Gatsby's pursuit of Daisy Buchanan?

Jay Gatsby's pursuit of Daisy Buchanan ultimately ends in tragedy. Despite his lavish parties and wealth, which he amassed in hopes of rekindling their past romance, Gatsby's dream is unattainable. In Chapter 7, during a confrontation with Tom, Daisy is unable to fully commit to Gatsby, revealing the complexities of her feelings. After Myrtle's death, Gatsby takes the blame for the accident, showcasing his devotion to Daisy. However, his life ends abruptly when George Wilson, seeking revenge for Myrtle's death, kills him, highlighting the futility of his dreams.