The Great Gatsby is a novel by Scott Fitzgerald, published in 1925, which has influenced American culture to a massive degree because of its look at the Roaring 20s and its emptiness. The Great Gatsby is an entertaining read with serious implications, as it makes the audience question their own life goals.
The protagonist and narrator of The Great Gatsby is Nick Carraway, who states in the beginning of the book that his father impacted him greatly through the following piece of advice: “‘Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.’” The character then states that after hearing that piece of advice, he learned to “reserve all judgements” when it came to most people, which had the unfortunate side effect of attracting people whose “confidences were unsought” - they sought out Carraway because he was “unusually communicative in a reserved way.” That is, they wanted to vent all their frustrations and problems by making him listen, which he did not appreciate at all. In fact, he became so sick of it that after he returned from service in WW1, he “wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart,” though this hope was completely ruined when he met Gatsby, whom he has “an unaffected scorn.” Gatsby, as Carraway describes, had “something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away.” Carraway, before proceeding, tells the audience that Gatsby had a bad end, as something “preyed” on Gatsby, leading directly to his downfall. Or as Carraway puts it: “what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men.”
Carraway then tells the audience that his family, for three generations, were well-off and lived in the midwest, as his grandfather started a wholesale hardware business during the Civil War (he paid for a substitute), which was followed by his family. Carraway also noted that he actually enjoyed being in WWI, as he “enjoyed the counter-raid so thoroughly that I came back restless,” which made him want to go east. His father, hearing his request, assented, agreeing to finance him for a year. He got to the east in the spring of 1922. He found a house to live in, “a weather beaten cardboard bungalow at eighty a month,” with another young man (who had to leave at the last minute because of his job), along with his dog (who ran away a few days later). There was also a Finnish woman in the house who was the housekeeper, though he doesn’t speak Finnish and subsequently couldn't understand what she was saying.
Carraway, looking back, said that “It was a matter of chance that I should have rented a house in one of the strangest communities in North America,” as his house was on an island in the east of New York. There were two islands, the West and the East Egg, and he lived in the West Egg. The surrounding community was full of mansions, and Carraway’s house “was an eye-sore … and it had been overlooked.” Carraway still feels very grateful for his house, as it provided a commanding view of the water. He then discusses Daisy, his second cousin once removed, who was married to Tom Buchanan, a very wealthy man who played football at New Haven, and was famous. He was so good at football that when he reached “an acute limited excellence at twenty-one,” “that everything afterward savors of anti-climax.” After college, he went back home and lived in extreme luxury before marrying Daisy and travelling for a while. When Carraway visited their house, he remarked that it was “even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red and white Georgian Colonial mansion overlooking the bay.” It also had a lawn, French windows paved with gold, and other things. Carraway, upon seeing Tom, saw his “rather hard mouth,” “supercilious manner,” “two shining, arrogant eyes,” and aggressive mood. Most concerningly, he described Tom’s body as “capable of enormous leverage - a cruel body.” Tom’s voice was gruff and made Carraway feel submissive. They eventually entered the interior of the house, where they saw two young women, Daisy and Miss Baker. Daisy immediately establishes herself as being very petty and immature, as the first thing she asked Carraway was whether people missed her, and when he said they did to appease her, she asked Tom whether they could pay her original home a visit. It also turned out that Daisy and Tom had a baby girl who was two at the time. Miss Baker is then described by Fitzgerald as being thin, with little flesh on her body, as well as possessing a good posture which heavily suggests confidence. Miss Baker also had “grey, sun-strained eyes” that radiated curiosity, which made sense, considering that she was good at golf.
Tom then illustrates that he and Daisy have a very tense relationship, as Daisy intentionally pressured him to be angry by calling him “hulking,” and he also reveals that he is extremely racist - he states that he was “‘a terrible pessimist about things’” after reading The Rise of the Coloured Empires by Goddard because he believes that black people are advancing their own station and improving themselves, which will make whites the minority. Tom is clearly passionate about his racism, as he defends himself logically (though science clearly demonstrates that racism has no biological or genetic evidence): “‘It’s all scientific stuff; it’s been proved.’” Daisy shows her petulant and weak character once again when she remarks about her child - Tom was having an affair, and wasn’t even present when she gave birth to her baby. Furthermore, when Daisy woke from the procedure, she asked the nurse what gender the baby was, and when she was informed it was a girl, she said that she wept and said “‘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.’” Even more ludicrously, Daily entertained the idea that she was sophisticated, remarking that she’s “‘been everywhere and seen everything and done everything,’” though if she truly did, she would be much more mature. Carraway then leaves the mansion for his own house.
Not long after, Tom invited Carraway to have some fun with him, and they went to the “Valley of Ashes,” a part of New York which is full of the waste of the Industrial Age, including the ruins of many buildings and heavy smoke. Tom began a conversation with George B. Wilson, a mechanic, who is obviously cowed by Tom’s presence, seeing his monetary wealth - Tom promised Wilson he would sell him a very good car next week. It also turned out that Tom was having an affair with Wilson’s wife, Mrs. Wilson (though Wilson is ignorant of this, surprisingly), and Wilson’s wife was described as being in her middle thirties, fairly stout, and possessing vitality. She also treated Wilson like a servant, telling him to get some chairs so they can sit down. Wilson obeyed his wife immediately, but by the time he returned, both Tom and his wife were gone. Tom, Mrs. Wilson, and Carraway soon went to an apartment, and threw a party with some other people. Carraway stated that he had been “drunk just twice in my life and the second time was that afternoon.” Despite being drunk, he still remembered an awful lot, as Myrtle showed her ingratitude towards her decent and kind husband, Mr. Wilson, showing that she only married him because she thought he was rich, which turned out to not be the case - he borrowed the suit for his wedding. Eventually, after more bottles of liquor, Mrs. Wilson began talking about Daisy, and Tom told her to stop. Mrs. Wilson refused to, being intoxicated, and Tom broke her nose with his hand in one “short deft movement.”
Some time after the party, Nick is invited to one of Jay Gatsby’s massive parties. Jay Gatsby’s mansion is next door, and Nick has known of the gargantuan opulence and wasteful decadence of the parties, though little of Gatsby himself. He decides to go, seeing nothing against it. During the party he runs into Miss Baker, and soon meets Jay Gatsby himself. Gatsby’s face seems to be familiar to Carraway, and Gatsby claimed to be in the Ninth Machine-Gun Battalion, which appeals to Carraway, as he said that he served in the Seventh Infantry until June 1918. Carraway didn't even know he was talking to Gatsby, remarking that he hasn’t seen the host yet, until Gatsby reveals his identity, then tells Carraway if he would like to have some fun with him in the future. Carraway agrees, and when he leaves the party, he sees that an automobile accident has occurred, as a car was driven into the ditch when one of its wheels dislocated. Fortunately, there were no injuries or fatalities. Carraway also hears rumors that Gatsby got his exorbitant wealth from bootlegging, which casts doubt on his moral character. Gatsby, some time after the party, invited Carraway to meet him at his luxury car at 9:00 AM, and while they’re joyriding across New York, Gatsby explains his life story, though it is definitely exaggerated - he explains that he was from San Francisco, his family died, and he inherited their wealth, used it by adventuring, and fought in WW1 - “‘tried very hard to die but I seemed to bear an enchanted life.’” Gatsby then stated that he was a war hero, as “‘In the Argonne Forest I took two machine-gun detachments so far forward that there was a half mile gap on either side of us where the infantry couldn’t advance. We stayed there two days and two nights, a hundred and thirty men with sixteen Lewis guns, and when the infantry came up at least they found the insignia of three German divisions among the piles of dead.’” Gatsby then claimed that because of his daring deed, he was promoted to a major and was recognized by every Allied government for his heroism. He then took out a medal to prove it, and it looked strangely authentic. Gatsby then proceeds to ask “‘a big favor’” from Carraway, saying that he’ll explain it later. When noon arrived, Gatsby introduced Carraway to Mr. Wolfsheim, who was described as “A small, flat-nosed Jew” with a large head and two growths of hair. Mr. Wolfsheim then accidentally revealed himself to be a crook, as he asked Carraway that he knew he was looking for an advantage over other businesses before being interrupted by Gatsby, who told him he was talking to the wrong person. Gatsby later told that Mr. Wolfsheim (whose first name was “Meyer”), was a gambler who “‘fixed the World’s Series back in 1919,’” but wasn’t sent to jail due to his shrewdness. Carraway spots Tom at the bar, and when he talks to him, he tells Tom that he was accompanied by Gatsby. To his surprise, when he turned to locate Gatsby, he had disappeared entirely.
Eventually, Carraway met with Miss Jordan at the Plaza Hotel, where she tells him that Gatsby told her to explain everything to him: Daisy and Gatsby were in a romantic relationship before she got married to Tom, and when he went to fight in WW1, Daisy felt sad for a little while, but being the immature fool she most certainly is, felt better very quickly and decided to marry Tom Buchanan for his wealth, and he was wealthy indeed - a day before the wedding “he gave her a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars.” Jordan then revealed herself to be the bridesmaid, and when she found Daisy half an hour before the big dinner, she was intoxicated while holding a letter in her hand. In the letter, Gatsby reached out to her, not knowing that she is going to be married. Daisy was so distraught that she wanted to cancel the wedding, but it wasn’t possible, considering that all the arrangements had been made. It also turned out that Tom was having an affair with a chambermaid in the hotel the dinner was hosted right after his wedding, clearly illustrating his lack of responsibility and loyalty. Gatsby, after returning from WW1, upon realizing that Daisy was married and had a child, didn't care, as she represented everything he wanted in life, so he planned to get rich (through bootlegging) and to win her back, which is why his house is right across the lake from hers. Jordan then told Carraway Gatsby’s request - since Carraway is a family member of Daisy and lives right next door to Gatsby, he can ask Daisy to come to his house, where Gatsby will reintroduce himself. Furthermore, Daisy isn’t supposed to know the purpose of the whole arrangement until she has arrived at the house. Carraway assists, and Gatsby, grateful, offers him money, but he refuses, saying that he was only doing it as a favor, not as a result of some bribe. Daisy is successfully reintroduced to Gatsby (though he was terrified beforehand), as Gatsby shows her around his sprawling mansion, making her wishful of a life with him, not Tom. In the end, Daisy’s emotion is summarized in two sentences when she begins crying “stormily” into a bunch of shirts: “‘They’re such beautiful shirts. It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such - such beautiful shirts before.’” Gatsby and Daisy then proceed to have a romantic relationship, and Tom doesn’t find out until later.
A while after Gatsby and Daisy renewed their romantic relationship in an attempt to relive the past, Wilson found out that his wife was having an affair with Tom. Angry and sick of his situation, his feelings were exacerbated when Tom told him that he wasn’t going to sell him the car he promised. Wilson then said about his wife: “‘she’s going whether she wants to or not. I’m going to get her away.’” That is, he wanted to move west to get his wife away from Tom, and Gatsby noticed that Wilson “discovered that Myrtle had some of life apart from him in another world and the shock had made him physically sick.” He could also see in the window that “Myrtle Wilson was peering down at the car. So engrossed was she that she had no consciousness of being observed and one emotion after another crept into her face like objects into a slowly developing picture.” Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the exact emotion Mrs. Wilson was feeling was “jealous terror,” as her eyes were “fixed not on Tom, but on Jordan Baker, whom she took to be his wife,” which is ironic, considering that she had no qualms about cheating on her spouse.
Tom later confronted Gatsby about having an affair with his wife, mocking Gatsby’s frequent use of the phrase “old sport,” and went so far as to say, “‘I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife … Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions and next they’ll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between black and white.’” Tom, like Myrtle, is behaving like a child and is a complete hypocrite, for he is playing the victim once he realized that his wife was cheating on him, despite having cheated with other women on his wife many times throughout a very short marriage. Fitzgerald described Tom as being “Flushed with his impassioned gibberish” whilst seeing “himself standing alone on the last barrier of civilization,” which can be interpreted as hypocrisy on the part of people who have no right to be saying their words when their actions are examined. Gatsby, angry at Tom, tells him brusquely that Daisy never loved him, and that she never will, seeing that she loves him. He also accurately said that “‘She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me.’” Tom, in response, said foolishly that he loves Daisy, even though she has “foolish ideas” sometimes, which he can understand, considering that, “‘Once in a while I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all the time.’” An understatement can be noted here, as Tom isn’t unfaithful to his wife “once in a while,” but probably on a fairly regular basis. Tom then made an emotional appeal to Daisy, telling her to tell Gatsby that she never loved him, and while she hesitated, she still went through with it, saying that she never loved Gatsby. Gatsby, terribly devastated, was further verbally attacked by Tom. Gatsby, as Fitzgerald describes, reacted to every one of Tom’s words as if he was being physically wounded. In one last final, futile attempt, Gatsby tells Daisy to leave with him, but she is indecisive, and nothing important is done. Tom, knowing that he has won, tells Daisy to go home in Gatsby’s car, and she does. Tom then states that Gatsby “‘realizes that his presumptuous little flirtation is over’” before leaving himself. When Tom was driving back with Carraway, they noticed an automobile accident, and found out that the victim was Myrtle Wilson - she had been struck and killed by Gatsby’s car. Tom interpreted Gatsby as the murderer, but when Carraway talked to Gatsby, Gatsby stated that Daisy was the driver, and when “‘we left New York she was very nervous and she thought it would steady her to drive - and this woman rushed out at us just as we were passing a car coming the other way. It also happened in a minute.’” Gatsby then described the scenario, saying that Myrtle appeared to want to talk to someone in the car (Daisy), and Daisy first “turned away from the woman toward the other car, and then she lost her nerve and turned back. The second my hand reached the wheel I felt the shock - it must have killed her instantly.’” Gatsby then reveals that he plans to take the blame for Daisy, and Carraway uses his father’s advice, thinking about what life may seem like from Gatsby’s perspective. Not long after, when Gatsby went to swim in his pool, Wilson, mentally devastated from the death of his wife, and believing Gatsby as the driver who killed her, murdered him with a gun before turning it on himself.
When Gatsby’s funeral took place, very few attended, showing that many were friends with him only for his wealth and parties. One of the few people who attended Gatsby’s funeral was his own father, “a solemn old man very helpless and dismayed, bundled up … against the warm September day. His eyes leaked continuously with excitement.” He was also on the point of collapse, saying that Wilson was insane for killing his son, as he believed his son to be a noble man who deserved admiration - “‘If he’d of lived he’d of been a great man. A man like James J. Hill. He’d of helped build up the country.’” It becomes clear to Carraway that Gatsby’s father is completely ignorant of Gatsby’s actual life, and Carraway decides to indulge his father’s illusions, as the truth would crush him. At the funeral, Wolfsheim surprisingly showed up, telling Carraway that when he first met Gatsby, Gatsby was starving but showed much promise. Wolfsheim also said that he did feel sorry for Gatsby, for they were very close. Furthermore, Gatsby’s father’s “pride in his son and in his son’s possessions was continually increasing and now he had something to show me.” What he wanted to show Carraway was Gatsby’s schedule. His father then remarked that he knew his son had resolve, and Carraway agrees, which shows that Gatsby could have done great things, but squandered a large portion of his life chasing something - Daisy - which was worthless to him in the end, for at his funeral, “Nobody came.” An afternoon in October, Carraway coincidentally met with Tom on Fifth Avenue. Tom showed absolutely no remorse for his past behavior, and revealed defiantly to Carraway than when Wilson went to his house with a revolver, he told him that Gatsby was the one who ran over Myrtle, even though it was a lie. He then stated that Gatsby deserved his death, and even said that he himself had “suffered” - “‘when I went to give up that flat and saw that damn box of dog biscuits sitting there on the sideboard I sat down and cried like a baby. By God it was awful.’” Carraway remarks accurately that “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money on their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” Carraway then went back to his house and thought of the American Dream, that “orgastic future that year by year recedes before us” but will never be experienced firsthand. “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
Personal thoughts:
The Great Gatsby clearly demonstrated that America’s prosperity in the Roaring Twenties was to a large extent an empty one, as beneath all the wealth was stupidity, hypocrisy, and ignorance. Fitzgerald does a fantastic job characterizing people like Tom and Daisy who view themselves as victims of whatever situation they may find themselves in, even if they were the ones who were responsible for their predicament. I also appreciated the symbolism of Gatsby, as Gatsby could have done great things - after all, he showed in WW1 he was very brave - but instead of doing anything inherently worthwhile or meaningful, he squandered much of his life pursuing Daisy (representing his American Dream). Daisy is a waste of time, for she, after all, is ignorant, petty, annoying, spoiled, and stupid. If she wasn’t any of those things, she would never have married Tom to begin with. The Great Gatsby is a great book to read for those with an interest in America during the 1920s, the role of wealth in society, human relationships, as well as the power of individual choice.
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