The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald

Alex RidleyAndrew Dreelin

Catherine HudsonClaire GalbraithJackson Mansour

Meghan TwiggNeely Kennon

Taylor Timmons

About the Authoro Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author

of numerous novels and short stories usually about the Jazz Age

o Finished four novels: This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, Tender Is the Night, most famously, The Great Gatsby

o Fifth novel, The Love of the Last Tycoon, was left unfinished because of his death

o Wrote many short stories about the themes of youth, along with despair and age

o Lived a short life of parties and careless spending o Died at the age of 44

More about the Authoro While living in Montgomery, Alabama, he fell in love

with Zelda Sayreo Zelda had great influences on his writings and he

sometimes used direct quotes from her writingso After his publication of This Side of Paradise, he

became almost instantly famous. Fitzgerald and Zelda lived an extravagant life as young celebrities.

o Fitzgerald had been an alcoholic since he was in college, leaving him in poor health by the late 1930s

o Fitzgerald suffered two heart attacks in the late 1940s

o His manuscript was edited by his friend, Edmund Wilson, and published in 1941 as The Last Tycoon

Characters

Jay Gatsbyo Around thirty years oldo Protagonist of the storyo Changed his name from James Gratz to Jay Gatsbyo Born in North Dakotao Lives in a mansion in West Eggo Throws parties at his mansion every Saturday night in order to

gain Daisy’s loveo Parties are elaborate and over the top, they do not seem to please

him as he is usually found standing alone, watching the crowdo Met Daisy while training to become a military officer in Louisville,

Kentucky and fell immediately in love with hero Daisy said she would wait on Gatsby to return home, but while he

was at war, Daisy got married Tomo Killed on property by George Wilson because George believes

whoever killed Myrtle in the car accident must have been her lover

Nick Carrawayo Narrator of the storyo Young man originally from Minnesotao Moves to West Egg to learn about the bond business o Lives next door to Gatsby o Daisy’s cousino Nick becomes great friend’s with Gatsbyo As a favor for Gatsby, he invites Daisy over to his

house, so that he can see Daisyo One of the only people who still supported and missed

Gatsby after his deatho Arranged a funeral and no one attended except

Gatsby’s father and himself

Daisy Buchanano Is married to Tom Buchanano Nick’s cousin o Originally from Louisville, Kentucky

but moved to East Egg o Kills Myrtle Wilson in a car accident,

but lets Gatsby take the blame

Tom Buchanano Daisy’s husbando Extremely wealthy and lives in East Eggo Is in love with Myrtle Wilson also o Becomes angry when he begins to think that Daisy is cheating on

himo Tells George Wilson that Gatsby was the owner of the car that killed

his wife so that he could get rid of Gatsbyo Moves away with Daisy in the end of the book without telling where

he is goingo Nick describes Tom and Daisy after Gatsby’s death by saying, “I

couldn’t forgive him or like him, but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused. They were carless people, Tom and Daisy-they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” (179;ch.9)

Jordan BakeroDaisy’s friendoMeets Nick at Daisy’s house one

night while having dinnero Is a competitive golferoSometimes referred to as “a

cheater”oFalls in love with Nick

Nick Describes Jordano Nick describes Jordan by saying, “At first I was flattered to go places with

her, because she was a golf champion, and everyone knew her name. Then it was something more. I wasn’t actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity. The bored haughty face that she turned to the world concealed something and one day I found what it was. When we were on a house-party together up in Warwick, she left a borrowed car out in the rain with the top down, and then lied about it- and suddenly I remembered the story about her that had eluded me that night at Daisy’s. At her first big golf tournament there was a row that nearly reached the newspapers- a suggestion that she had moved her ball from a bad lie in the semi-final round. The things approached the proportions of a scandal- then died away. A caddy retracted his statement, and the only other witness admitted that he might have been mistaken. The incident and the name had remained together in my mind. Jordan Baker instinctively avoided clever, shrewd men, and now I saw that this was because she felt safer on a plane where any divergence from a code would be thought impossible. She was incurably dishonest.” (57;ch.3)

o Nick later describes Jordan again by saying, “She was dressed to play golf, and I remember thinking she looked like a good illustration, her chin raised a little jauntily, her hair the color of an autumn leaf, her face the same brown tint as the fingerless glove on her knee.” (177;ch.9)

Myrtle Wilsono Lives in the Valley of Ashes o Married to George Wilsono Has an affair with Tom Buchanan o Is in a fatal car accident o Nick describes her by saying, “Then I heard

footsteps on a stairs, and in a moment the thickish figure of a woman blocked out the light from the office door. She was in the middle thirties, and faintly stout, but she carried her surplus flesh sensuously as some women can. Her face, above a spotted dress of dark blue crepe-de-chine, contained no facet or gleam of beauty, but there was an immediately perceptible vitality about her as if the nerves of her body were continually smoldering.” (25;ch.2)

George Wilsono Myrtle’s husbando Owns a old auto shop in the Valley of

Asheso Shoots Gatsby after he finds out that

Gatsby killed Myrtle and then shoots himself

Important Facts o Narrator: Nick Carraway o Setting: Summer of 1922 in New

Yorko Point of View: Nick tells the story

from the first and third person point of view

Plot Summary o Nick Carraway moves beside Jay Gatsbyo Nick travels to New York City with Tom and Myrtleo Nick attends Gatsby’s partyo Gatsby and Daisy have an affairo Tom finds out about the affair between Gatsby

and Daisyo Daisy kills Myrtleo Gatsby is murderedo Nick holds a funeral and ends his relations with

Jordan

Symbols

The Green Lighto Situated on Daisy’s dock in East Eggo Represents Gatsby’s hopes and dreamso First associated with Daisy in chapter

oneo Gatsby’s desire for Daisy is associated

with the American Dream o Chapter 9 Nick compares the light to

how America looked to settlers

The Valley of Ashes o Between West Egg and New York Cityo Desolate land created by dumping of

industrial asheso Moral and social decay resulted from

pursuit of wealtho Poverty: living among ashes

Eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg o Pair of eyes painted on an old

billboard over Valley of Asheso Suggested to be God looking down

upon American societyo Fitzgerald suggest characters instill

the meaningso Symbol of God exists in George

Wilson

East Egg and West Egg o Two imaginary communities on Long

Islando East Egg is the posh, wealthy, “old

money” communityo West Egg is the extravagantly

wasteful “new money” community o Both show class levels

Themeso Prevailing theme of loveo Decline of the American Dream in the

1920s-Over shadowed by greed and pursuit of pleasure-Declining social and moral values i.e. Gatsby’s opulent parties

o Shallowness of the Upper class-New money vs. old money

Important Quotes Explainedo “I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing

a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool”

-Daisy says this while talking to Jordan and Nick about how she hopes her daughter will grow up to be. This comment shows a little bit of who Daisy is, a woman in a society where woman’s intelligence is insignificant. Daisy says this in a tone of sadness because she conformed to societies expectations, so that she would be more appreciated and her hopes is that her daughter will be the same.

Continued “About half way between West Egg and New York the motor

road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter of a mile, so as to shrink away from a certain desolate area of land. This is a valley of ashes- a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air. Occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to a rest, and immediately the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud, which screens their obscure operations from your sight.” (23;ch. 2)

-Nick describes the Valley of Ashes as a dark and empty place between two big cities. The quote also describes the demeanor of one of the characters who lives there, George Wilson.

Continuedo “He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of

eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced, or seemed to face, the whole external world for an instant and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself.”

- Nick describes Gatsby’s character after getting his first close look. It shows the way Gatsby looks to everyone in the outside world. His smile is an important part because it acts as a characteristic of the life Gatsby has planned for himself. Additionally, Nick talks about how Gatsby has the power to make anyone feel important just by his smile or a compliment.

Continuedo “The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long

Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that—and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end.”(98;ch.6)

-After just describing Gatsby’s early life, Nick continues in describing the invention of the Gatsby name. The comparison of Gatsby and Jesus illustrates Gatsby’s formation of his life of luxury.

Continuedo “That’s my Middle West . . . the street lamps and

sleigh bells in the frosty dark. . . . I see now that this has been a story of the West, after all—Tom and Gatsby, Daisy and Jordan and I, were all Westerners, and perhaps we possessed some deficiency in common which made us subtly unadaptable to Eastern life.”(176;ch.9)

-Nick concludes the geography theme. When Nick says this, he realizes that although he lives on the east coast, he has an acquaintance with Midwestern values and morals, and this person is the one causing all the tension and drama in his life. Nick also blames people’s attitudes on the New York desire for wealth and a good name. This quote offers insight as to why Nick left The East Coast and went to Minnesota.

Continuedo “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic

future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And then one fine morning—So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”(180;ch.9)

-This concludes the novel. It shows Nick returning back to his old ways and dreams. There is a focus on the determination of people to reach their goals by reverting to the past. However, it shows that people cannot move along from the past, being illustrated with “boats against the current…”

Important Question for the Readero Is Nick a reliable narrator? Why or why not?-Yes-Says he is the most trustworthy person he knows “Every one suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues,

and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.” (59;ch.3)

-He says that he is not judgmental or prejudiced-He does not stop arguments or interrupt (in this sense, he is

removed)

-No-He has physical interactions with the characters (biased towards

some)-He is human (innate prejudices of the time)-Relationship with Jordan Baker-Alcohol

Citationso http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090509211839AAnRqWX

o www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._Scott_Fitzgerald (About the author)

o www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/biography.html (About the author)