The reader is indeed beholden on Nick Carraway for information, interpretation and accuracy, and from page one, the reader is in good hands. Nick Carraway was once Jay Gatsby’s neighbor and we are told the tale we are hearing occurred after 1922. When the story begins, Nick has moved to West Egg, Long Island—the more new money end of the two eggs. He’s started a job as a bond salesman and he’s picked a place to live that is near his cousin Daisy (Fay) Buchanan who lives in East Egg with her husband, Tom Buchanan. East Egg is more fashionable and considered to contain more “old money” than the West Egg. This is where he meets Jordan Baker, the professional golfer, who becomes a romantic interest of his. Spending time with the Buchanan’s and Jordan brings his attention to fact that they both live a life of great privilege and comfort. This is in drastic contrast to his own middle class, more modest and more grounded lifestyle. When Nick returns from visiting his cousin, he catches sight of his neighbor (Gatsby) stretching his arms out towards the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock.
Nick then spends time with Tom, who takes him into the city and introduces him to his mistress, Myrtle Wilson. Nick and Tom spend time drinking with Myrtle and her friends, though at the end of the evening, Tom gives Myrtle a bloody nose for repeatedly mentioning his wife. Nick then shifts his attention to his neighbor, Jay Gatsby, who up until this point, the reader hasn’t really seen. Gatsby throws parties every week for the wealthy jet set and Nick receives an invitation. This is noteworthy as invitations for Gatsby’s parties really weren’t ever sent out: people showed up in droves, knowing they would be granted access. Nick attends the brilliant gathering and actually runs into Jordan Baker there. Gatsby speaks with Jordan alone and she returns to the party, shocked at what she’s learned.
Nick and Gatsby begin to spend more time together, and Nick even meets one of Gatsby’s colleagues, Meyer Wolfshiem. This is someone that the reader is ultimately able to infer as being one of Gatsby’s associates in organized crime. Late that day, Nick has tea with Jordan Baker who tells him about that talk she had with Gatsby at the party. She explains that Gatsby is in love with Daisy Buchanan and that they had been sweethearts, but that since he wasn’t financially stable, they were unable to be together. Gatsby accumulated his wealth and bought a mansion across the sound from hers with the intention of throwing these parties in the hopes that she might wander in one night. Later we learn that such a plan would never have happened as Daisy is an old money girl, and would be unlikely to fraternize at such a “new money” party. A plan is cooked up where Nick will ask Daisy over to his house for tea, asking her to come alone, and then Jay will stop by unannounced. The meeting goes as planned, and even though Jay and Daisy are awkward upon their reunion, they soon become comfortable with one another again. Jay then takes the party of three over to his mansion, taking great delight in showing Daisy the extreme splendor of his wealth.
Eventually Nick relays to us how Gatsby accumulated his wealth and how he went from James Gatz, born to modest farm people, reinventing himself as Jay Gatsby. He describes his mentor, Dan Cody, who takes him under his wing, and influences him to envision the person he would ultimately want to become, never acknowledging his impoverished past.
Tom and Daisy actually make it to one of Gatsby’s parties, and Jay and Daisy sneak off alone. It is at the end of this night that Gatsby actually verbalizes to Nick his desire to “repeat the past” seeing it as something that can be recaptured. As the summer months continue on, Daisy and Jay culminate a full-fledged affair. On a particularly doomed day in the summer, one that feels particularly hot, humid and generally unbearable, Jay and Nick drive to have lunch at the Buchanan residence. They all decide to travel into the city, getting a suite at the Plaza Hotel and making mint juleps. Things become increasingly awkward as Daisy is doing very little to hide her affection for Jay, and Tom is becoming increasingly agitated about the whole situation. This is in part because on the way into the city, Tom stops at Wilson’s garage, which is owned by Myrtle’s husband. He has learned of his wife’s affair (despite not knowing who the man involved is) and the knowledge is taking a toll on him, inhibiting his ability to function. Westward is where Wilson declares he will take his wife, much to Tom’s consternation.
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However, his single focus on getting Daisy's green light, something he cannot have, creates a motive of greed in Gatsby that he is unable to control and eventually destroys him. For example, Nick talks of Gatsby's idealization of Daisy by saying: "There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams -- not through her own fault but because of the colossal vitality of his
He half-admires Gatsby, and gradually as the story wears on he begins to admire Gatsby uncritically and becomes overly credulous: at one point he actually believes that Jay is an Oxford man. Gatsby did serve in World War I, but the most significant aspect of his service manifests itself in meeting Daisy -- Gatsby vowed to be worthy of Daisy by any means necessary, even if he had to
Great Gatsby The iconic novel The Great Gatsby is set in the "Roaring Twenties" in New York City. Author F. Scott Fitzgerald used the setting and the cultural era to great effect, as his characters, their parties and extravagant lifestyles -- and conversations -- offer readers a good glimpse into the American that existed during those years. This paper points to the details of the period, and this paper agrees with
Even after Daisy commits murder, Gatsby remains unmoved in his emotions towards her. What's more, he assumes responsibility for her actions. Or consider the statement: ' Of course she might have loved him, just for a minute, when they were first married -- and loved me more even then, do you see?' (Fitzgerald, p. 133). Gatsby clings to this hope despite Daisy's professed loved her husband. Such explanations indicate
Gatsby loved Daisy when the two of them were very young, but believed that the only reason she rejected him was because he was poor. Unlike Nick and Daisy, however, all of Gatsby's wealth is new, won by ill-gotten gains. His recent status as a man of great social standing is only an appearance of reality, not reality itself and the 'old money' of West Egg will not accept
He is so enraged by the way she died, with the driver not even stopping to try to help her, that he determines that God wants him to kill the driver. If this event had not happened, George would have known that murder for any reason was wrong. George, however, has been blinded by grief. In the end, all the characters have demonstrated moral ambiguity. Gatsby has made his money