The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is considered one of the best American stories ever. It was published in 1925, and set in the summer of 1922 at the North Shore of Manhattan, NY City.
Number 1 - Historical Context: During World War I, people were enjoying economic prosperity. The roaring 20s was a fab time to be alive as the economy was doing great and the outcome of the war was optimistic. And, Prohibition made people who unlawfully sold alcohol millionaires, like Gatsby.
Number 2 - Great American Novel: The Great Gatsby is considered one of the stories that is the epitome of the Great American Novel. The Great American Novel is alleged to capture the American zeitgeist of the time. Other examples of the Great American Novel are The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.
Number 3 - Jay Gatsby: Gatsby is from North Dakota and moved to Long Island with the sustained desire to be rich and sophisticated. When he left for World War I, his love, Daisy Buchanan, promises to wait for him, but rather marries rich millionaire Tom Buchanan. Gatsby is the discussion of the city, modifies his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby after the war to reinvent himself, and throws lavish parties hoping that Daisy will attend. Gatsby is a dependable man with good intentions which is a grave contrast to Daisy's husband, Tom Buchanan. Gatsby is the pinnacle of the falling of the American Dream with his demise at the end of the novel by a mechanic.
Number 4 - Daisy Buchanan: Daisy Buchanan is Gatsby's Love and the cousin of Nick Carraway. She is intensely beautiful, but extremely superficial and cares about money, materialism and what society thinks of her more than love and relations. She chose to marry rich millionaire Tom Buchanan over Jay Gatsby, and chooses Tom over Gatsby again later on in the book when Tom exposes Gatsby's money came from bootlegging alcohol, which Daisy finds embarassing. She is actually capable of love, but it falls short in regards to her priorities. She is the epitome of the East Egg aristocracy.
Number 5 - Nick Carrway: Nick appears out of place in the East Coast. He's from the midwest, like Gatsby, and lives next door to Gatsby in the West Egg. Nick is also the narrator of the novel who points out the "distortion" that occurs in N. Y society. He's young and a good, objective, fair-tempered voice for the entirety of the novel.
Number 6 - The Significance of Location: There are one or two location-based themes that Fitzgerald adds to his novel. One is of the contrast between the midwest and the east coast: the midwest represents the avid yet compassionate people while the east coast represents the harsh, stringent society that banishes people but is also a front for inner chaos. Nick and Gatsby are from the midwest and are viewed as the "good guys" of the novel.
Within Long Island there is the West Egg which represents new wealth, the East Egg which represents old money and aristocracy, and the Valley of the Ashes which represents the absence of morals and society in America and the inhumane search for cash and pleasure. Fitzgerald implies that the West is good (West Egg and midwest) and that the East is corrupt (East Egg and east coast). Unfortunately the characters all yearn to be part of the high society East Coast.
Number 7 - Technology: The Valley of the Ashes, also symbolic for the moral rot of America, is where commercial parts are dumped and left to rot. It lies between the West Egg and the East egg. Fitzgerald is cautioning people that the pursuit of wealth and technology, and indulging in riches may simply be lead to their undoing, like it does with Gatsby. People who are poor like George Wilson, live in the Valley of the Ashes and lose themselves. Fitzgerald is forewarning this obsession with technology and society will turn America into a "moral wasteland."
Number 8 - The Fading of the American Dream: Under the blatant theme of unattained love lies the theme of the failure of the American Dream. Fitzgerald shows the 1920s as a decade of sin, where people luxuriate in pleasure and push to be rich, not to mention the jazz music and wild parties that Gatsby himself throws. The American Dream which once was about working your way to the top to make a decent living, is now a preoccupation with society and materialism which Fitzgerald symbolizes as a failure with the passing of Gatzby.
Number 9 - F. Scott Fitzgerald: Nick Carraway was presumably based off of Fitzgerald himself, and Daisy was supposedly modeled after Fitzgerald's other half, Zelda. Fitzgerald uses characters to describe different parts of his life and his personality. Gatsby is meant to represent the side of him that moved to the city so as to make it big.
Number 10 - Film Adaption: In 1974, the Great Gatsby was turned into a film with Daisy played by Mia Farrow and Gatsby played by Robert Redford. Bruce Dern played Tom Buchanan and Sam Waterston played Nick Carraway. In 2011, another film will also start production in 3D with Daisy played by Carey Mulligan, Gatsby played by Leonardo DiCaprio, and Nick played by Tobey McGuire.
Number 1 - Historical Context: During World War I, people were enjoying economic prosperity. The roaring 20s was a fab time to be alive as the economy was doing great and the outcome of the war was optimistic. And, Prohibition made people who unlawfully sold alcohol millionaires, like Gatsby.
Number 2 - Great American Novel: The Great Gatsby is considered one of the stories that is the epitome of the Great American Novel. The Great American Novel is alleged to capture the American zeitgeist of the time. Other examples of the Great American Novel are The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.
Number 3 - Jay Gatsby: Gatsby is from North Dakota and moved to Long Island with the sustained desire to be rich and sophisticated. When he left for World War I, his love, Daisy Buchanan, promises to wait for him, but rather marries rich millionaire Tom Buchanan. Gatsby is the discussion of the city, modifies his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby after the war to reinvent himself, and throws lavish parties hoping that Daisy will attend. Gatsby is a dependable man with good intentions which is a grave contrast to Daisy's husband, Tom Buchanan. Gatsby is the pinnacle of the falling of the American Dream with his demise at the end of the novel by a mechanic.
Number 4 - Daisy Buchanan: Daisy Buchanan is Gatsby's Love and the cousin of Nick Carraway. She is intensely beautiful, but extremely superficial and cares about money, materialism and what society thinks of her more than love and relations. She chose to marry rich millionaire Tom Buchanan over Jay Gatsby, and chooses Tom over Gatsby again later on in the book when Tom exposes Gatsby's money came from bootlegging alcohol, which Daisy finds embarassing. She is actually capable of love, but it falls short in regards to her priorities. She is the epitome of the East Egg aristocracy.
Number 5 - Nick Carrway: Nick appears out of place in the East Coast. He's from the midwest, like Gatsby, and lives next door to Gatsby in the West Egg. Nick is also the narrator of the novel who points out the "distortion" that occurs in N. Y society. He's young and a good, objective, fair-tempered voice for the entirety of the novel.
Number 6 - The Significance of Location: There are one or two location-based themes that Fitzgerald adds to his novel. One is of the contrast between the midwest and the east coast: the midwest represents the avid yet compassionate people while the east coast represents the harsh, stringent society that banishes people but is also a front for inner chaos. Nick and Gatsby are from the midwest and are viewed as the "good guys" of the novel.
Within Long Island there is the West Egg which represents new wealth, the East Egg which represents old money and aristocracy, and the Valley of the Ashes which represents the absence of morals and society in America and the inhumane search for cash and pleasure. Fitzgerald implies that the West is good (West Egg and midwest) and that the East is corrupt (East Egg and east coast). Unfortunately the characters all yearn to be part of the high society East Coast.
Number 7 - Technology: The Valley of the Ashes, also symbolic for the moral rot of America, is where commercial parts are dumped and left to rot. It lies between the West Egg and the East egg. Fitzgerald is cautioning people that the pursuit of wealth and technology, and indulging in riches may simply be lead to their undoing, like it does with Gatsby. People who are poor like George Wilson, live in the Valley of the Ashes and lose themselves. Fitzgerald is forewarning this obsession with technology and society will turn America into a "moral wasteland."
Number 8 - The Fading of the American Dream: Under the blatant theme of unattained love lies the theme of the failure of the American Dream. Fitzgerald shows the 1920s as a decade of sin, where people luxuriate in pleasure and push to be rich, not to mention the jazz music and wild parties that Gatsby himself throws. The American Dream which once was about working your way to the top to make a decent living, is now a preoccupation with society and materialism which Fitzgerald symbolizes as a failure with the passing of Gatzby.
Number 9 - F. Scott Fitzgerald: Nick Carraway was presumably based off of Fitzgerald himself, and Daisy was supposedly modeled after Fitzgerald's other half, Zelda. Fitzgerald uses characters to describe different parts of his life and his personality. Gatsby is meant to represent the side of him that moved to the city so as to make it big.
Number 10 - Film Adaption: In 1974, the Great Gatsby was turned into a film with Daisy played by Mia Farrow and Gatsby played by Robert Redford. Bruce Dern played Tom Buchanan and Sam Waterston played Nick Carraway. In 2011, another film will also start production in 3D with Daisy played by Carey Mulligan, Gatsby played by Leonardo DiCaprio, and Nick played by Tobey McGuire.
About the Author:
Amy Turman studied American literature in college. The Great Gatsby is her favorite book, and she reviews this and other novels and movies for Experts123.
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