| Title | The Great Gatsby |
| Author | F. Scott Fitzgerald |
| Setting | 1920s, Long Island, New York, USA |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publication Year | 1925 |
| Publisher | Charles Scribner’s Sons |
| Language | English |
| No. of pages | 208 pages |
Characters
The main characters of “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald are:
- Jay Gatsby – A rich man who throws big parties and loves a woman named Daisy.
- Daisy Buchanan – A beautiful woman who is married to Tom and is Gatsby’s love interest.
- Tom Buchanan – Daisy’s husband, who is wealthy and arrogant.
- Nick Carraway – The narrator of the story, he moves to New York and becomes friends with Gatsby.
- Jordan Baker – A golfer and friend of Daisy who becomes friends with Nick.
- Myrtle Wilson – Tom’s mistress, who is married to George Wilson.
- George Wilson – Myrtle’s husband, who runs a garage.
- Meyer Wolfsheim – A gangster and business associate of Gatsby.
- Owl Eyes – A partygoer who is known for his glasses.
- Klipspringer – A piano player at Gatsby’s parties.
Themes
The themes of “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald are:
- Love and Obsession – People in the story are deeply in love, but sometimes it becomes unhealthy obsession.
- Wealth and Class – It shows how rich and poor people are treated differently and how money can change people.
- Illusion vs. Reality – The characters often pretend to be someone they’re not, hiding their true selves.
- Corruption – Many characters in the book are dishonest and do bad things to get ahead.
- The American Dream – It explores the idea that anyone can achieve success in America, but it’s not always true.
- Loneliness – Even in a big party, characters can feel alone and disconnected from others.
- Past and Future – The past haunts some characters, and they struggle to move on to the future.
Synopsis
The Great Gatsby is a story about a man named Jay Gatsby who is very rich and throws big parties. He lives next door to a guy named Nick Carraway. Nick tells the story and he becomes friends with Gatsby.
Gatsby loves a woman named Daisy, who is married to another man named Tom. Gatsby tries to win Daisy back, but it doesn’t work out. There’s a lot of partying and drama, and it all ends tragically. It’s a book about love, money, and the American Dream.
Summary
In the summer of 1922, a young Minnesotan named Nick Carraway relocated to New York to study the bond industry. He leases a home in the affluent but unfashionable West Egg neighborhood of Long Island, which is home to many newly rich people who are prone to ostentatious shows of wealth and who have gained their riches too recently to have developed social networks. The enigmatic Jay Gatsby, who resides in a massive Gothic home and hosts lavish parties every Saturday night, is Nick’s neighbor in West Egg.
Nick stands out from the other residents of West Egg because he attended Yale University and has social ties to the upper class in East Egg, a posh neighborhood on Long Island. One evening, Nick makes the trip to East Egg to see his cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband Tom, a former Yale classmate. Jordan Baker, a stunning and cynical young lady, is introduced to Nick by Daisy and Tom, and Nick soon starts dating her.
Additionally, Nick gains some insight into Daisy and Tom’s relationship through Jordan’s revelation that Tom has a lover named Myrtle Wilson who resides in the Valley of Ashes, a desolate industrial wasteland situated halfway between West Egg and New York City. Shortly after this realization, Nick takes Tom and Myrtle to New York City. Myrtle starts making fun of Tom about Daisy at a vulgar, flashy party in the apartment he rents out for the affair. Tom replies by smashing her nose.
Nick ultimately receives an invitation to one of Gatsby’s fabled parties as the summer goes on. Jordan Baker, whom he meets at the party, introduces him to Gatsby, a remarkably young man who pretends to have an English accent, has an amazing grin, and refers to everyone as “old sport.” Gatsby requests a private conversation with Jordan, and Nick subsequently discovers more about his enigmatic neighbor through Jordan. Jordan is informed by Gatsby that he met Daisy in 1917 in Louisville and is madly in love with her. He spends a lot of evenings gazing across the bay from his mansion at the green light at the end of her pier.
Gatsby is only trying to impress Daisy with his expensive lifestyle and crazy parties. Now that they are back together, Gatsby wants Nick to set up their meeting because he is worried Daisy won’t want to see him if she knows he still loves her. Without letting Daisy know, Nick asks her around for tea at his place along with Gatsby. Gatsby and Daisy rekindle their relationship after their first unpleasant encounter. They start dating after rekindling their love.
After a short while, Tom develops growing doubts about his wife’s friendship with Gatsby. Gatsby’s undisguised desire for Daisy over a luncheon at the Buchanans’ home leads Tom to conclude that he is in love with her. Despite having an extramarital relationship himself, Tom is horrified by the idea that his wife may be disloyal to him. To confront Gatsby in a room at the Plaza Hotel, he compels the gang to travel to New York City. Tom claims that his relationship with Daisy is one that Gatsby would never be able to comprehend, and he tells his wife that Gatsby is a thief who makes his money by smuggling alcohol and engaging in other unlawful actions. Daisy acknowledges that her loyalty is to Tom, and to show that Gatsby cannot harm him, Tom sends her back to East Egg with Gatsby.
But as Nick, Jordan, and Tom pass through the valley of ashes, they find that Myrtle, Tom’s sweetheart, had been murdered by Gatsby’s automobile. They quickly return to Long Island, where Nick learns from Gatsby that Daisy was the driver of the vehicle that hit Myrtle, but Gatsby plans to take the fall for it. The following day, Tom informs Myrtle’s husband George that Gatsby is the car’s driver. George discovers Gatsby in the pool at his estate and shoots him dead after assuming that the person who was driving the automobile that struck and killed Myrtle must have been her boyfriend. Then he shoots himself to death.
To escape the disdain he feels for the individuals who were involved in Gatsby’s death as well as the emptiness and moral corruption of life among the affluent on the East Coast, Nick arranges a tiny burial for Gatsby, breaks his relationship with Jordan, and returns to the Midwest. Nick thinks that the American goal of happiness and autonomy has been replaced by the sheer chase of fortune, just as Gatsby’s dream of Daisy was tainted by money and dishonesty. Even though Gatsby’s ability to make his dreams come true is what makes him “great,” Nick believes that the time of dreaming—both Gatsby’s dream and the American ideal—has passed.
FAQs
What is The Great Gatsby about?
The Great Gatsby is a story about a rich man named Jay Gatsby who loves a lady named Daisy. It’s about their love and the problems it causes.
Where does the story take place?
The story happens in the 1920s in a place called West Egg and East Egg, which are parts of Long Island, New York.
What’s the American Dream in the book?
The American Dream in the book means the idea that anyone can become successful and rich in America. Gatsby is trying to live this dream.
What happens at Gatsby’s parties?
Gatsby’s parties are huge and wild with lots of people, music, and drinks. They’re like big, fancy gatherings.
About the Author-F. Scott Fitzgerald
| Full Name | Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald |
| Birth Date | September 24, 1896 |
| Birthplace | Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA |
| Death Date | December 21, 1940 |
| Death Place | Hollywood, California, USA |
| Famous Works | -The Great Gatsby -The Beautiful and Damned -Tender Is the Night |
| Writing Style | Jazz Age, Roaring Twenties, exploration of the American Dream |
| Literary Era | Modernism |
| Famous Themes | Wealth, decadence, social class, disillusionment, love, and the American Dream |
