Book Summaries help you understand books studied in schools and give you insights that make for great book reports. Gain a new perspective by reading about the author, and learn how settings, characters, and themes help make these books acclaimed works of literature.

Great Gatsby, The

Also on Encarta •  Important Notice: MSN Encarta to be discontinued. Learn more. •  10 tips for building your English vocabulary •  Alternatives to the M.B.A. •  GPS for students •  Making the right college choice •  Presidential Myths Quiz •  Coffee break: Recharge your brain

It is part of the romantic myth of the artist to say that someone was 'born to be a writer,' but in the case of F. Scott Fitzgerald, the myth has been substantiated. From the days of his youth, Fitzgerald seems to have had a natural instinct for expressing his most important thoughts and emotions in written form. As an adult, no aspect of his life seemed real until he had written about it. In addition to his fiction and poetry, Fitzgerald wrote steadily to his mother, his wife, and his daughter whenever they were separated and kept a detailed, systematic ledger of his work and its monetary rewards. He would probably have preferred to achieve distinction as an athlete during his school days, but as soon as he discovered that he did not have the physical gifts to be a successful athlete he began to seek celebrity through his writing. When he realized that he had the ability to attract people's attention and then their admiration through his work, he recast his ambitions for greatness, envisioning himself a great artist rather than a great soldier or sportsman. When he saw the possibility of earning a living with his pen, his destiny was settled.

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota, to the daughter of an Irish immigrant who became a self-made millionaire. His father, a failed businessman, moved the family from town to town in upstate New York and finally back to the security of family money in St. Paul. Fitzgerald attended a private school in New Jersey, then Princeton University. Academic difficulties forced Fitzgerald out of Princeton midway through his junior year; he returned the following fall but left college permanently in 1917 to join the army. While stationed in Montgomery, Alabama, he met and fell in love with the dazzling Zelda Sayre, who refused to marry him until he could prove his ability to support her. When World War I ended in 1918, Fitzgerald returned to New York, worked in an advertising agency, and revised his novel This Side of Paradise. Charles Scribner's Sons agreed to publish it, and Scott and Zelda married in the spring of 1920.

This Side of Paradise became an immediate success. The first printing of three thousand copies sold out in three days. Additional printings of five thousand per month followed through October. During that year Fitzgerald also published eleven stories, earning $4,650. Throughout the 1920s and into the early 1930s, his prolific short story production brought Fitzgerald the cash flow he desperately needed to support his extravagant lifestyle and, later, Zelda's huge hospital bills. His stories not only brought him quick money, but also propelled him into position as the preeminent short story writer—at least in the Saturday Evening Post genre—of the time. Although he publicly disparaged much of his popular work, complaining that he had to mold his writing to fit a mass-market magazine format, he did have high regard for many of his short stories.

Also on MSN •  Peek into the world of parasites on Animal Planet •  Mom's Homeroom: Learn ways to help your kid succeed in school •  MSN Shopping: Best books for the season •  Forum: Who hires online graduates? •  Today's news on MSNBC

In 1922 Fitzgerald coined the term 'the jazz age,' and his stories brought him both fame and wealth. Scott and Zelda were the darlings of the rich; they socialized with the Astors and the Vanderbilts in New York; they lived on the French Riviera; they were the envy of the expatriate writers in Paris during the 1920s. But following the stock market crash in 1929, the lifestyle of the rich fell apart. The world that had given Fitzgerald his literary material, as well as social acceptance, no longer existed. He and Zelda faced personal and professional decline. In 1930 she was institutionalized for insanity, and his alcoholism became acute. Fitzgerald's marketability also suffered; although some Depression literature was escapist, in general Americans were not eager to read magazine fiction about idealistic youths or carefree flappers. Although he adapted the tenor of his work to the spirit of the times, often focusing on the attendant evils of great wealth—Tender Is the Night (1934), Fitzgerald's only novel of the 1930s, chronicles the fall from grace of a glamorous expatriate couple—he found it increasingly difficult to find publishers for his short stories.

Alcoholism and other health problems sapped Fitzgerald's ability to write, and by the late 1930s he had fallen into total obscurity. Some of the twenty-four thousand copies of The Great Gatsby printed in 1925 still remained in the Scribner's warehouse when Fitzgerald died on December 21, 1940, in Hollywood. Although he published some 160 short stories, Fitzgerald completed only four novels during his lifetime and left another, The Last Tycoon (1941), half-written. This Side of Paradise and The Beautiful and Damned (1922) achieved popular success, but those that followed—The Great Gatsby and Tender Is the Night—sold dismally both in terms of Fitzgerald's expectations and in comparison to the great popularity enjoyed by his colleague, rival, and sometime friend Ernest Hemingway. But the critics, including H. L. Mencken, John Dos Passos, John O'Hara, Edmund Wilson, and T. S. Eliot, always admired his work, and in the 1960s Scribner's reprinted all of his works. Today, The Great Gatsby is one of the most widely read and critically admired American novels.

In accordance with Fitzgerald's epic ambitions to write a novel that expressed the vital spirit of his country, The Great Gatsby attempts to explain and evoke the essence of the fundamental myth at the heart of the American experience. Even in the high times of the wild 1920s, Fitzgerald perceptively sensed that the original energy of the American dream was irrevocably vanishing, and he wanted to record its power before it faded into memory and fable.

Fitzgerald explores the American dream through two characters: Nick Carraway, the narrator, and Gatsby himself, both young men born in the heartland of the Midwest at the dawn of the twentieth century. Like Fitzgerald, they arrive in New York with some of the innocence characteristic of middle America, lured to the great wicked city by its promise of glamour and success, vulnerable to its dangers and its corruptions. They bring some of the classic virtues of the heartland with them—simplicity, determination, loyalty, and perhaps most of all an innate sense of honesty and decency. For Gatsby, beguiled and practically enslaved by love, these virtues have been driven into the deeper recesses of his character. For Nick, the temptations of city life are also quite strong, but he is able to turn back before he is consumed. A sense of the American dream's possibilities animates both men, but Gatsby has allowed the realities of contemporary American life to distort the parameters of his romantic vision.

Set in the summer of 1922, most of the story takes place in the fictitious New York towns of East and West Egg, Long Island, and in New York City. Nick Carraway, who has rented a cottage in West Egg next door to the rented estate where the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby lives, renews his acquaintance with his cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband Tom, who live in East Egg. When Gatsby wishes to meet the charming Daisy, whose voice rings like the sound of money, he selects Nick as his confidant. The glitter and intrigue of the 1920s permeate the story, and the details of the setting are important to the development of the theme.

Jay Gatsby, the title character of The Great Gatsby, was born Jimmy Gatz, a poor boy from an undistinguished family. Dazzled by Daisy Fay at a party when he was a young soldier on his way overseas, he is determined to win her love by accumulating enormous wealth and by developing a personal style of such glowing force that she will be unable to resist his courtship. Gatsby's efforts in a way dramatize the myth, popularized in Horatio Alger's stories of the late nineteenth century, of self-improvement through hard work and fortunate circumstances. But Gatsby overcomes the limits of his origins only to eventually succumb to greater limits. A natural leader of men, he is extremely poised, physically gifted, understated about his accomplishments but riveting in terms of his presence. At the age of thirty-two, having accumulated his wealth through shady enterprises connected with major-league criminality, he is a bizarre combination of an elegant, gallant man and a love-struck youth. At the heart of his character is the conviction that his love can rescue Daisy from a bad marriage and redeem his own life, which has been sliding further into corruption. His willingness to commit himself totally to his vision of a bright future makes his death tragic.

Part of the tragic essence of Gatsby's life is that the object of his quest is not entirely worthy of his commitment. Daisy is extremely attractive, her allure projected by her voice, which Fitzgerald describes as 'the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down, as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again.' She has a radiance that Nick sees as 'a wild tonic in the rain,' and she communicates her sense of love with extraordinary intensity. But she sees everything from the perspective of her own happiness and well-being, and without being cruel or evil, she is a little bit too careless. In fact, her carelessness leads to the death of Myrtle Wilson, the woman her husband has been seeing. Daisy's faults are minor, though, in comparison with those of her husband, Tom Buchanan. Very rich and privileged, he is also physically imposing, a star athlete used to having his way. He is a thug and a bully, full of self-importance and unjustified self-regard. But inside the 'cruel body' he remains a coward with no moral courage, a quitter with no sense of perseverance, a man of average intelligence that he has never developed, and a man concerned with appearances who, as Nick observes, has no real reason for doing anything. He competes with Gatsby through deception and treachery. It is a mark of Fitzgerald's achievement that one actually feels sorry for him at times.

Jordan Baker, a golf champion Nick almost falls in love with, is lively and attractive in a kind of brittle, ultramodern way. Her apparent spontaneity masks a careful and calculating nature. She fascinates Nick because she seems so much the exciting woman of the city, but he describes her as 'incurably dishonest' and unable to 'endure being at a disadvantage.' Her controlled aloofness convinces many people of her 'breeding,' but Nick sees past her charming availability.

Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby, is a version of Fitzgerald's ideal self-image. A thirty-year-old Yale graduate, his integrity intact, Nick rightly wins the admiration of everyone he meets because of the obviously substantial nature of his character. Low-key but caring, introspective, an idealist with few illusions, he can look into the abyss without plunging to his doom. As Fitzgerald describes him, he is 'simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.' Unafraid to commit himself to what he believes in, he becomes Gatsby's only friend in a world where friendship is rare. He admits without displeasure that he is 'on Gatsby's side and alone.'

Fitzgerald's ambitions as a writer paralleled those of his spiritual ancestors of the nineteenth century—Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau—who rendered in imaginative literature the emergence of America as a nation. Like them, he believed in the capacity of the American people to perpetually rediscover the promise of their country. Like them, he recognized a continuous clash between the reality of life in the United States and a mythic vision of what it might be. But unlike his forebears, he felt that he was living in the twilight of a golden era. Still, he believed that he could share their vocation; that he, too, could serve as a witness to the struggle, an artistic conscience reminding Americans of near-forgotten dreams. He considered the artist's role primarily one of inspiration, and felt an obligation to help people recover their vision and continue the quest.

Fitzgerald was also a thoroughly romantic artist in the most traditional sense, and for him, women like Daisy represented the deepest seductive power of the American dream as well as its greatest dangers. Even if pursuing the dream—or the woman—doomed a man, the undertaking was worth the risk; indeed, the pursuit was essential for the exceptional man who wished to fully realize his character. Thus, Gatsby's (and possibly America's) greatness lay in the ability to put aside the lessons of bitter experience. As Gatsby says when Nick tells him he cannot recapture the past, 'Of course you can, old sport.' Gatsby's full participation and heedless pursuit make him the quintessential American hero. His death, in a sense, serves as a warning, but it also ennobles him. Fitzgerald hoped that there would always be men such as Gatsby whose nature it was to 'beat on, boats against the current,' to make the gorgeous gesture that animates existence.

Nick, the observer and artistic conscience, serves as a necessary counterweight to Gatsby's wild extravagance. His support of Gatsby, his participation to some extent in Gatsby's heart-driven surge toward romantic beauty, and his ability to judge other people's actions with compassion exemplify fundamental decency carried beyond complacency. As Gatsby reanimates the dream, Nick conserves it. His appreciation of beauty is as vital to its existence as is Gatsby's immediate celebration. 'Reserving judgment,' he says, 'is a matter of infinite hope.' That is what The Great Gatsby is ultimately about.

Fitzgerald has been justly praised for the narrative structure of The Great Gatsby. As critic Matthew Bruccoli points out, his 'narrative control solved the problem of making the mysterious—almost preposterous—Jay Gatsby convincing by letting the truth about him emerge gradually during the course of the novel.' Fitzgerald greatly admired novelist Joseph Conrad's employment of a partially involved narrator, and everything that occurs in the novel is presented through Nick's perceptions, thus combining, as Bruccoli puts it, 'the effect of a first-person immediacy with authorial perspective.'

Nick's tempered approach to life and his undeniable honesty lend an authenticity to his observations. In Nick's narration, Fitzgerald skillfully merges the language of the lyric poet with subjects not traditionally associated with a lyrical sensibility. Gatsby's car is not just an ostentatious display of wealth, it is a mobile realm; his drawer of unusual shirts is more than a display of buying power, it suggests the generosity of abundance; the Buchanans' mansion is not just an example of conspicuous consumption, it is a symbol of a limitless power, almost a natural force; Gatsby's gestures are not just calculated effects, they are manifestations of genuine aristocracy; Daisy's voice is not just 'full of money,' it is an expression of the magic that stirs the senses.

One of Fitzgerald's greatest strengths is his ability to animate the vision of the American dream even as he reveals the forces that have tainted, if not destroyed, that idyll. Nick's list of 'guests' at one of Gatsby's parties hints at the ugliness of the 'high' society that beckons to and often swallows those who see in its glitter the realization of their dreams and desires. Predatory names such as Leeche, Civet, Ferret, and Blackbuck evoke these people's voracious bestial habits; the suspect quality of 'fishy' people like Whitebait, Hammerhead, Fishguard, and Beluga is suggested by their surnames, as is the murky, swamp-like aspect of Catlip, Duckweed, and Beaver. These people's lives are based on an extravagant, tasteless display of cash, unmerited status, or power gained through criminal activity. They are people for whom the American dream has lost its meaning, or for whom it never held meaning. They live in a hollow world that reflects the surface dazzle of advanced technology but lacks any connection to the natural world or to a sense of morality. Perhaps most significantly, these people have no culture; nothing to revive their souls and nothing to replace their desperate groping for diversion and stimulation. This is the world where the dream has died.

The theme of The Great Gatsby is decadence and the decline of society. Although the story is told with grace and beauty, its events are intended to be shocking. True to the spirit of the times, the story involves marital infidelity, murder, and wealth earned through racketeering. Many of the characters thrive on emotional dishonesty, and live for appearance rather than substance of character. But the novel is also a moral tale in which the characters get their 'just deserts.' Ultimately Nick understands the meaning of their lives and the sadness of their worlds.

1. What is the American dream? Does it mean the same thing for different characters in the book? Has Jay Gatsby attained what he believes the dream promises?

2. Why does Daisy temporarily leave her husband for Gatsby? Why doesn't she stay with Gatsby?

3. Why does Gatsby love Daisy? How does he demonstrate his love for her? What is the meaning of the green light?

4. What does Nick think about Gatsby? How does his view of Gatsby change?

5. A recurring motif is the bad driver. List the occasions of reckless driving. What does bad driving symbolize?

6. What is the significance of Myrtle Wilson's death? Why does Daisy let Gatsby take the blame for her death?

7. What is the symbolic meaning of the billboard displaying Dr. T. J. Eckleburg's eyes, overlooking the valley of ashes?

8. Why does only one of Gatsby's former guests show up for his funeral?

1. Research and report on the social history of 'the jazz age,' the period in America between 1919 and 1929.

2. Research and report on the expatriate literary scene in Paris during the same period, 1919-1929. One good source is Ernest Hemingway's collection of autobiographical vignettes, A Moveable Feast, in which such writers as Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein appear as characters.

3. Read a story or novel by Ernest Hemingway and compare it to a Fitzgerald story or novel written at the same time. What are the stylistic differences? How does each author's style reflect his choice of subject material?

4. Honesty is an important theme in The Great Gatsby. At the end of chapter 3, Nick says of himself, 'I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.' Can you cite examples from the text to support his self-assessment? How would Nick define honesty? Do any of the other characters live up to Nick's ideals of honesty? Choose three characters whom Nick considers dishonest and describe how their dishonesty manifests itself.

5. Nick generally portrays himself as an objective observer of Gatsby's final summer. Is there any evidence that he is more dazzled by Gatsby's way of life than he pretends? Consider his infatuation with Jordan, the seemingly inordinate amount of time he spends with Gatsby and the Buchanans, and the fact that he is writing about the summer's events after they have ended in tragedy.

6. The plot of The Great Gatsby is structured around Gatsby's pursuit of Daisy Buchanan. While well-rounded as characters, the women in the novel (Daisy, Jordan, Myrtle Wilson) serve primarily as romantic foils for the male characters (Gatsby, Nick, Tom Buchanan), as flesh-and-blood incarnations—or distortions—of each man's concept of the American dream. In general, however, Fitzgerald was a pioneer at portraying independent, intelligent female characters, and he is often credited with inventing the 'flapper' of the 1920s. Read some of his early short stories in Flappers and Philosophers or The Basil and Josephine Stories, and examine the role of women in these stories.

7. The Great Gatsby is a book about images; Gatsby conceptualizes the perfect man and sets about molding himself into this ideal form. Late in his career, Fitzgerald worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood—capital of an industry whose images were targeted for mass consumption and whose stars often served as models for the American public. Read Fitzgerald's unfinished novel, The Last Tycoon, or his Pat Hobby Stories, and compare their Hollywood setting to the setting of The Great Gatsby. How does a character's environment help shape his or her self-image?

There have been three films made from The Great Gatsby. The silent version of 1926, starring Warner Baxter as Gatsby and Lois Wilson as Daisy, has been lost, but critics generally agree that the direction by Herbert Brenon was competent but uninspired. In addition, the film's subtitles were often wordy and inappropriate.

The 1949 production featured an interesting cast, including Alan Ladd as Gatsby, Barry Sullivan as Tom, Betty Field as Daisy, MacDonald Carey as Nick, and Shelley Winters as Myrtle Wilson. The film presents many powerful visual correlatives for Fitzgerald's prose but lacks the authority of a profound directorial vision.

The 1974 production of The Great Gatsby was an ambitious and expensive effort. Francis Ford Coppola wrote the screenplay and Jack Clayton directed, and the cast included Robert Redford as Gatsby, Mia Farrow as Daisy, Bruce Dern as Tom, Sam Waterston as Nick, and Karen Black as Myrtle. Despite some excellent moments, the film is too slow paced and too long, and much of the production looks overwrought.

Contributed by: Leon Lewis, Appalachian State University

Source: Beacham’s Guide to Literature for Young Adults. Copyright by Gale Group, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

Appears in

The Great Gatsby (motion picture); American Literature: Prose; Fitzgerald, F(rancis) Scott (Key)

Search for more books by this author