Characters in the Great Gatsby -- the American Dream
A. Nick Carraway is the narrator in this novel and plays a very important role
1) Nick is the readers' source of description and information about the other characters, especially Gatsby, Daisy,
2) Nick is an honest person in the beginning of the novel, but the more he becomes involved in the relationships with Tom, Daisy and Gatsby, and through his romantic relationship with Jordan, his honesty and credibility breaks down;
B. Daisy was the subject of Gatsby's desire, and Gatsby made up things about her to place her on a pedestal where she really didn't deserve to be placed
1) Gatsby was fascinated with Daisy; Gatsby loved Daisy's voice, and when she
sang it brought out meaning to all the words that Gatsby had never thought of
2) Gatsby threw himself after Daisy and eventually...
Gatsby himself was rumored to be a nephew of cousin of Kaiser Wilhem, but that was just a fib he made up; he also claimed to be a member of a wealthy English-educated family.
1) the truth that the reader finally realizes (thanks to Nick's narrator narrative) is that Gatsby was really a man named James Gatz
2) James Gatz had parents who were "shiftless and unsuccessful farm people" from North Dakota (which is right next to Minnesota, where Fitzgerald was raised
VI. Fitzgerald's final demise
A. It is well-known that Fitzgerald was an alcoholic and that he drank to excess at parties, at home, and that he was a slave to booze
1) a man of extraordinary literary gifts, he died of a heart attack in 1940; he believed himself to be a failure at the time of his death in Hollywood.
