Summary and Analysis of The Great Gatsby: Based on the Book by F. Scott Fitzgerald

by Worth Books

Overview

So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of The Great Gatsby tells you what you need to know—before or after you read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book.

Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader.
 
This short summary and analysis The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald includes:
 

• Historical context
• Chapter-by-chapter summaries
• Analysis of the main characters
• Themes and symbols
• Important quotes
• Fascinating trivia
• Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work

 
About The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald:
 
Set in the Roaring Twenties—the years of excess just before the Great Depression—F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a remarkable cautionary tale that explores the decline of morality in pursuit of the American Dream, and offerings a memorable social critique of 1920s high society.
 
Though commercially unsuccessful when first published, this Jazz Age–novel of decadence and betrayal endures as one of the most loved works in American literature.
 
The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of fiction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781504043090
Publisher:	Worth Books
Publication date:	11/29/2016
Series:	Smart Summaries
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	30
File size:	2 MB

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Summary and Analysis of The Great Gatsby

Based on the Book by F. Scott Fitzgerald

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By Worth Books

Worth Books

Copyright © 2016 Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-5040-4309-0

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CHAPTER 1

Summary

Chapter One

Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner, has moved to New York to learn the bond business. He rents a house in West Egg, across the bay from his relative Daisy Buchanan — and her mansion — in East Egg. Nick has dinner with Daisy and her husband Tom, where he meets the fashionable sportswoman Jordan Baker. Later on, Nick sees the owner of the enormous mansion next door to his small cottage reaching out toward a green light across the bay. Nick realizes this must be the enigmatic Gatsby Jordan had mentioned at dinner.

Chapter Two

Between Long Island and New York City is a desolate stretch of land dubbed the valley of ashes. Above it all there is an eerie billboard depicting the ever-observant eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. Nick meets Tom's mistress Myrtle Wilson here, as well as her husband George, who runs a garage. They go into the city where Myrtle meets them and hosts a small party in the apartment Tom rents for her. The party quickly becomes sloppy and ends in violence when Tom punches Myrtle in the face after she mentions Daisy's name.

Chapter Three

One weekend, Nick is invited to Gatsby's party. When Nick meets the man, he is immediately taken with him. Nick finds Gatsby to be elegant, charming, and in a class separate from his guests. After his conversation with Nick, Gatsby talks to Jordan in private for a long time. He reveals something shocking to Jordan, but she doesn't tell Nick any details.

Chapter Four

Nick goes to lunch in the city with Gatsby, who tells Nick his life story on the drive there. The tale seems absurd, but then Gatsby hands over tangible pieces of evidence — a photo from his days at Oxford and a military medal — that convince Nick of the story's truth.

Nick meets Gatsby's suspicious business partner, Meyer Wolfsheim, at lunch. Later, Nick has tea with Jordan who relays what Gatsby had said at his party. Daisy and Gatsby had been madly in love when they were young and Gatsby wants Nick to facilitate a meeting for them.

Chapter Five

Nick invites Daisy and Gatsby to his house for tea, which begins with palpable tension. Nick decides to give the couple some time alone, but when he tries to leave, Gatsby follows him in a panic. After years dreaming of this moment, Gatsby's insecurities almost ruin it. It takes Nick telling him to stop acting like a child to convince Gatsby to go back in.

Nick sits in the backyard for an hour, and when he comes back, the two have reconciled. Gatsby is beaming. They take a tour of Gatsby's mansion, during which Daisy is unstable with emotion and Gatsby is bewildered by happiness. Later, looking out onto the grounds, Nick wonders if Gatsby's dream of Daisy might have eclipsed the real person.

Chapter Six

Though Nick says he doesn't learn these facts until later, he reveals the truth of Gatsby's past in this chapter. Jay Gatsby grew up in the Midwest as James Gatz, the son of poor farmers. Gatsby left home to work on Lake Superior because he was unsatisfied with his life. One day, Gatsby warned a yacht owner of an approaching storm. The yacht owner was a copper tycoon named Dan Cody, who hired Gatsby as his personal assistant. Under Cody's guidance, the poor James Gatz transformed himself into the elegant Jay Gatsby.

Nick then describes Gatsby's next party. Both Tom and Daisy attend, and Tom's presence makes the whole thing unpleasant. Afterward, Gatsby tells Nick that Daisy doesn't understand things anymore. Why, he demands, will Daisy not leave Tom when it's Gatsby she loves?

Nick warns that the past cannot be repeated, but Gatsby disagrees; he is convinced that he will be able to recreate the love they shared when they were young.

Chapter Seven

On the hottest day of the season, Daisy invites Nick to lunch. When he arrives, he finds Gatsby is already there. The atmosphere is tense, thanks to the heat and the fact that Tom is on the phone with Myrtle. Things escalate when Tom realizes that Daisy is in love with Gatsby. Manic with confrontational energy, Tom forces them all to go into town.

After splitting up into two cars, Tom, Nick, and Jordan stop at Wilson's garage for gas. George says he's found out Myrtle has been cheating on him and they are moving west. This infuriates Tom further. Yesterday his wife and his mistress had been firmly in his possession and now both seem lost.

In the city, they rent a suite at the Plaza Hotel. Tension mounts as Tom attacks the truth of Gatsby's past, calling into question his Oxford days and how he acquired his wealth. Gatsby counters by telling Tom that Daisy never loved him. He tries to get Daisy to admit this, but she can't lie. She had, in fact, once loved Tom.

When they decide to return to Long Island, Daisy and Gatsby go ahead of the others in Gatsby's yellow car. Driving through the valley of ashes, Nick sees a crowd in front of Wilson's garage and Tom pulls over. They find out that Myrtle has been hit by a car — a yellow car, according to a witness — and killed.

Stricken, they go back to Daisy's, where Nick finds Gatsby standing in the bushes. Gatsby says that Daisy had been the one driving, but he will take the blame. He's told her he will wait outside in case Tom gets violent. But when Nick goes to check on the couple, he sees Tom and Daisy sitting together and sharing a snack, seemingly reconciled. Gatsby is watching over nothing.

Chapter Eight

The next day, Nick goes to Gatsby's house and tells him he should leave town because his yellow car is so easily traceable. Gatsby refuses, still clinging to his dream of a future with Daisy. He tells Nick everything about his past with Daisy. He idolized her from the start because of her social standing, her family's wealth, and how other men desired her. She had everything James Gatz had dreamed of back in the Midwest.

Before Nick leaves for work, he tells Gatsby he's worth more than all of his peers combined. It is the first and only compliment Nick ever gives him. After Nick leaves, George Wilson arrives. He has been driven out of his mind with grief and rage, and believes the T. J. Eckleburg billboard is God watching and waiting for him to administer justice. George shoots Gatsby and then commits suicide.

Chapter Nine

Nick takes care of Gatsby's affairs and tries to find anyone who will be able to come to the funeral. Not one of the hundreds of people who used Gatsby for his parties agrees to go. Gatsby's greatness that characterized his life proves to be nonexistent in death.

Disillusioned with the East, Nick makes plans to go home. But before he leaves, he sees Tom by chance. Tom tells Nick he set George onto Gatsby because he deserved to die. Nick is furious, but realizes nothing he says will make a difference. Both Tom and Daisy are careless people and incapable of compassion.

The night before Nick leaves, he looks out at the green light. He thinks of how each person must have a dream they are constantly reaching for, like how Gatsby reached for Daisy and how the first settlers reached for America. Life, he imagines, is full of this push and pull between the realities of the past and our dreams of the future.

Character Analysis

Nick Carraway: Nick is an observer and a listener, two qualities that make him an excellent narrator. He claims to be an honest person, someone who people confide in easily. These traits separate him from the people of East and West Egg, but Nick is not without his own flaws. Even his honesty, the one trait he claims for himself several times over, is called into question by Jordan at the end of the novel.

Jay Gatsby: The titular character, Jay Gatsby at first appears to be above the chaos and frivolity of those who attend his parties. Representative of "new money," he is elegant and attentive. Gatsby has the sort of charisma that makes a person feel wanted. Yet he also covets things to a fault. He wants a new life, a new identity, and a Daisy that matches the one he's constructed in his mind. His illusions of grandeur are so great that reality disappoints.

Daisy Buchanan: The golden girl with the voice full of money, Daisy represents everything beautiful and lovely about excessive wealth. This is what attracts Gatsby to her in the first place. She is winsome and has a way of making a person feel wanted. But in the end, Daisy is just as hollow and uncaring as her husband.

Tom Buchanan: Tom represents "old money" in many ways. There is an attitude of entitlement in this social standing that makes him better than Jay Gatsby, someone who only recently acquired his vast wealth. He also feels entitled to George B. Wilson's wife, Myrtle, whom he whisks away to New York City while his wife, Daisy, sits at home briefly appeased by some piece of jewelry.

Myrtle Wilson: Myrtle represents those "reaching" for a better life. She hoped to improve her social standing through her relationship with Tom. She didn't hide her adultery from her friends, who also benefited from her lavish "secret" apartment in New York City.

(Continues...)

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Table of Contents

Contents

Context,
Overview,
Cast of Characters,
Summary,
Character Analysis,
Themes and Symbols,
Direct Quotes and Analysis,
Trivia,
What's That Word?,
Critical Response,
About F. Scott Fitzgerald,
For Your Information,
Bibliography,
Copyright,