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Introduction

Life in West Egg and East Egg

Resurfacing gatsby’s past, a deadly crash and a shooting, setting and historical context, publication history, legacy, and adaptations, the meaning of the great gatsby.

When did American literature begin?
Who are some important authors of American literature?
What are the periods of American literature?
Who was F. Scott Fitzgerald?
When and where was F. Scott Fitzgerald born?

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The Great Gatsby

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Table Of Contents

The Great Gatsby , novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald , published in 1925 by Charles Scribner’s Sons. Set in Jazz Age New York , it tells the story of Jay Gatsby , a self-made millionaire, and his pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, a wealthy young woman whom he loved in his youth .

Commercially unsuccessful when it was first published, The Great Gatsby —which was Fitzgerald’s third novel—is now considered a classic of American fiction and has often been called the Great American Novel.

Who is Jay Gatsby, and what are the parties like at his house?
How does Tom Buchanan react to the relationship that his wife, Daisy, has with Gatsby?
What shocking event occurs when Daisy, seated beside Gatsby, is driving his car, and how does it affect everyone involved?
How does The Great Gatsby capture the essence of the Jazz Age?
How did The Great Gatsby ’s popularity change over time?
What is the significance of West Egg vs. East Egg, and which wins in the end?

These AI-generated questions have been reviewed by Britannica’s editors.

Plot summary

Young woman with glasses reading a book, student

The Great Gatsby is narrated by Nick Carraway , a Yale University graduate from the Midwest who moves to New York after World War I to pursue a career in bonds . He recounts the events of the summer he spent in the East two years later, reconstructing his story through a series of flashbacks not always told in chronological order.

In the spring of 1922, Nick takes a house in the fictional village of West Egg on Long Island , where he finds himself living among the colossal mansions of the newly rich. Across the water in the more refined village of East Egg live his cousin Daisy and her brutish, absurdly wealthy husband Tom Buchanan. Early in the summer Nick goes over to their house for dinner, where he also meets Jordan Baker, a friend of Daisy’s and a well-known golf champion, who tells him that Tom has a mistress in New York City . In a private conversation, Daisy confesses to Nick that she has been unhappy. Returning to his house in West Egg, he catches sight of his neighbor Jay Gatsby standing alone in the dark and stretching his arms out to a green light burning across the bay at the end of Tom and Daisy’s dock.

Early in July Tom introduces Nick to his mistress, Myrtle Wilson, who lives with her spiritless husband George Wilson in what Nick calls “a valley of ashes”: an industrial wasteland presided over by the bespectacled eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg, which stare down from an advertising billboard. Meeting her at the garage where George works as a repairman, the three of them go to Tom and Myrtle’s apartment in Manhattan. They are joined by Myrtle’s sister and some other friends who live nearby, and the evening ends in heavy drunkenness and Tom punching Myrtle in the nose when she brings up Daisy. Nick wakes up in a train station the morning afterward.

As the summer progresses, Nick grows accustomed to the noises and lights of dazzling parties held at his neighbor’s house, where the famous and newly rich turn up on Saturday nights to enjoy Gatsby’s well-stocked bar and full jazz orchestra. Nick attends one of these parties when personally invited by Gatsby and runs into Jordan, with whom he spends most of the evening. He is struck by the apparent absence of the host and the impression that all of his guests seem to have dark theories about Gatsby’s past. However, Nick meets him at last in a rather quiet encounter later in the evening when the man sitting beside him identifies himself as Gatsby. Gatsby disappears and later asks to speak to Jordan privately. Jordan returns amazed by what he has told her, but she is unable to tell Nick what it is.

Nick begins seeing Jordan Baker as the summer continues, and he also becomes better acquainted with Gatsby. One afternoon in late July when they are driving into Manhattan for lunch, Gatsby tries to dispel the rumors circulating around himself, and he tells Nick that he is the son of very wealthy people who are all dead and that he is an Oxford man and a war hero. Nick is skeptical about this. At lunch he meets Gatsby’s business partner Meyer Wolfsheim, the man who fixed the World Series in 1919 (based on a real person and a real event from Fitzgerald’s day). Later, at tea, Jordan Baker tells Nick the surprising thing that Gatsby had told her in confidence at his party: Gatsby had known Nick’s cousin Daisy almost five years earlier in Louisville and they had been in love, but then he went away to fight in the war and she married Tom Buchanan. Gatsby bought his house on West Egg so he could be across the water from her.

At Gatsby’s request, Nick agrees to invite Daisy to his house, where Gatsby can meet her. A few days later he has them both over for tea, and Daisy is astonished to see Gatsby after nearly five years. The meeting is at first uncomfortable, and Nick steps outside for half an hour to give the two of them privacy. When he returns, they seem fully reconciled , Gatsby glowing with happiness and Daisy in tears. Afterward they go next door to Gatsby’s enormous house, and Gatsby shows off its impressive rooms to Daisy.

As the days pass, Tom becomes aware of Daisy’s association with Gatsby. Disliking it, he shows up at one of Gatsby’s parties with his wife. It becomes clear that Daisy does not like the party and is appalled by the impropriety of the new-money crowd at West Egg. Tom suspects that Gatsby is a bootlegger, and he says so. Voicing his dismay to Nick after the party is over, Gatsby explains that he wants Daisy to tell Tom she never loved him and then marry him as though the years had never passed.

Gatsby’s wild parties cease thereafter, and Daisy goes over to Gatsby’s house in the afternoons. On a boiling hot day near the end of the summer, Nick arrives for lunch at the Buchanans’ house; Gatsby and Jordan have also been invited. In the dining room, Daisy pays Gatsby a compliment that makes clear her love for him, and, when Tom notices this, he insists they drive into town.

Daisy and Gatsby leave in Tom’s blue coupe, while Tom drives Jordan and Nick in Gatsby’s garish yellow car. On the way, Tom stops for gas at George Wilson’s garage in the valley of ashes, and Wilson tells Tom that he is planning to move west with Myrtle as soon as he can raise the money. This news shakes Tom considerably, and he speeds on toward Manhattan, catching up with Daisy and Gatsby.

The whole party ends up in a parlor at the Plaza Hotel, hot and in bad temper . As they are about to drink mint juleps to cool off, Tom confronts Gatsby directly on the subject of his relationship with Daisy. Daisy tries to calm them down, but Gatsby insists that Daisy and he have always been in love and that she has never loved Tom. As the fight escalates and Daisy threatens to leave her husband, Tom reveals what he learned from an investigation into Gatsby’s affairs—that he had earned his money by selling illegal alcohol at drugstores in Chicago with Wolfsheim after Prohibition laws went into effect. Gatsby tries to deny it, but Daisy has lost her resolve, and his cause seems hopeless. As they leave the Plaza, Nick realizes that it is his 30th birthday.

Gatsby and Daisy leave together in Gatsby’s car, with Daisy driving. On the road they hit and kill Myrtle, who, after having a vehement argument with her husband, had run into the street toward Gatsby’s passing car, thinking it was Tom. Terrified, Daisy continues driving, but the car is seen by witnesses. Coming behind them, Tom stops his car when he sees a commotion on the road. He is stunned and devastated when he finds the body of his mistress dead on a table in Wilson’s garage.

Wilson accusingly tells him it was a yellow car that hit her, but Tom insists it was not his and drives on to East Egg in tears. Back at the Buchanans’ house in East Egg, Nick finds Gatsby hiding in the garden and learns that it was Daisy who was driving, though Gatsby insists that he will say it was he if his car is found. He says he will wait outside Daisy’s house in case Tom abuses Daisy.

The next morning Nick goes over to Gatsby’s house, where he has returned, dejected . Nick advises him to go away, afraid that his car will be traced. He refuses, and that night he tells Nick the truth about his past: he had come from a poor farming family and had met Daisy in Louisville while serving in the army, but he was too poor to marry her at the time. He earned his incredible wealth only after the war (by bootlegging , as Tom discovered).

Reluctantly, Nick leaves for work, while Gatsby continues to wait for a call from Daisy. That afternoon, George Wilson arrives in East Egg, where Tom tells him that it was Gatsby who killed his wife. Wilson makes his way to Gatsby’s house, where he finds Gatsby in his pool. Wilson shoots Gatsby and then himself. Afterward the Buchanans leave Long Island. They give no forwarding address. Nick arranges Gatsby’s funeral, although only two people attend , one of whom is Gatsby’s father. Nick moves back to the Midwest, disgusted with life in the East.

Set in the Jazz Age (a term popularized by Fitzgerald), The Great Gatsby vividly captures its historical moment: the economic boom in America after World War I, the new jazz music, the free-flowing illegal liquor. As Fitzgerald later remarked in an essay about the Roaring Twenties , it was “a whole race going hedonistic, deciding on pleasure.”

According to F. Scott Fitzgerald, the 1920s witnessed “a whole race going hedonistic, deciding on pleasure.”

The brazenly lavish culture of West Egg is a reflection of the new prosperity that was possible during Prohibition , when illegal schemes involving the black-market selling of liquor abounded. Such criminal enterprises are the source of Gatsby’s income and finance his incredible parties, which are probably based on parties Fitzgerald himself attended when he lived on Long Island in the early 1920s.

The racial anxieties of the period are also evident in the novel; Tom’s diatribe on The Rise of the Colored Empires —a reference to a real book published in 1920 by the American political scientist Lothrop Stoddard—points to the burgeoning eugenics movement in the United States during the early 20th century.

Fitzgerald finished The Great Gatsby in early 1925 while he was living in France, and Scribner’s published it in April of the same year. Fitzgerald struggled considerably in choosing a title, toying with Trimalchio and Under the Red, White and Blue , among others; he was never satisfied with the title The Great Gatsby , under which it was ultimately published.

The illustration for the novel’s original dust jacket was commissioned by Fitzgerald’s editor Maxwell Perkins seven months before he was in possession of the finished manuscript. It was designed by Francis Cugat, a Spanish-born artist who did Hollywood movie posters, and depicts the eyes of a woman hanging over the carnival lights of Coney Island . The design was well-loved by Fitzgerald, and he claimed in a letter to Perkins that he had written it into the book, though whether this refers to the eyes of Doctor Eckleburg or something else is uncertain. Cugat’s painting is now one of the most well-known and celebrated examples of jacket art in American literature .

While Fitzgerald considered The Great Gatsby to be his greatest achievement at the time it was published, the book was neither a critical nor a commercial success upon publication. Reviews were mixed, and the 20,000 copies of its first printing sold slowly. It was printed one more time during Fitzgerald’s life, and there were still copies unsold from this second printing when he died in 1940.

The Great Gatsby was rediscovered a few years later and enjoyed an exponential growth in popularity in the 1950s, soon becoming a standard text of high-school curricula in the United States. It remains one of Scribner’s best sellers, and it is now considered a masterpiece of American fiction. In 2021 it entered the public domain in the United States.

There have been several film adaptations of the novel, most notably a production directed by Jack Clayton in 1974, starring Robert Redford as Gatsby, and one in 2013 directed by Baz Luhrmann , starring Leonardo DiCaprio .

Above all, The Great Gatsby has been read as a pessimistic examination of the American Dream . At its center is a remarkable rags-to-riches story, of a boy from a poor farming background who has built himself up to fabulous wealth. Jay Gatsby is someone who once had nothing but who now entertains rich and celebrated people in his enormous house on Long Island. However, even though Gatsby’s wealth may be commensurate with the likes of Tom Buchanan’s, he is ultimately unable to break into the “distinguished secret society” of those who were born wealthy. His attempt to win Daisy Buchanan, a woman from a well-established family of the American elite, ends in disaster and his death.

This tension between “new money” and “old money” is represented in the book by the contrast between West Egg and East Egg. West Egg is portrayed as a tawdry, brash society that “chafed under the old euphemisms,” full of people who have made their money in an age of unprecedented materialism. East Egg, in contrast, is a refined society populated by America’s “staid nobility,” those who have inherited their wealth and who frown on the rawness of West Egg. In the end, it is East Egg that might be said to triumph: while Gatsby is shot and his garish parties are dispersed, Tom and Daisy are unharmed by the terrible events of the summer.

The Great Gatsby is memorable for the rich symbolism that underpins its story. Throughout the novel, the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock is a recurrent image that beckons to Gatsby’s sense of ambition. It is a symbol of “the orgastic future” he believes in so intensely, toward which his arms are outstretched when Nick first sees him. It is this “extraordinary gift for hope” that Nick admires so much in Gatsby, his “heightened sensitivity to the promises of life.” Once Daisy is within Gatsby’s reach, however, the “colossal significance” of the green light disappears. In essence, the green light is an unattainable promise, one that Nick understands in universal terms at the end of the novel: a future we never grasp but for which we are always reaching. Nick compares it to the hope the early settlers had in the promise of the New World. Gatsby’s dream fails, then, when he fixates his hope on a real object, Daisy. His once indefinite ambition is thereafter limited to the real world and becomes prey to all of its corruption.

The valley of ashes—an industrial wasteland located between West Egg and Manhattan—serves as a counterpoint to the brilliant future promised by the green light. As a dumping ground for the refuse of nearby factories, it stands as the consequence of America’s postwar economic boom, the ugly truth behind the consumer culture that props up newly rich people like Gatsby. In this valley live men like George Wilson who are “already crumbling.” They are the underclasses that live without hope, all the while bolstering the greed of a thriving economy. Notably, Gatsby does not in the end escape the ash of this economy that built him: it is George Wilson who comes to kill him, described as an “ashen” figure the moment before he shoots Gatsby.

Over the valley of ashes hover the bespectacled eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg, which appear on the advertising billboard of an oculist. These eyes almost become a moral conscience in the morally vacuous world of The Great Gatsby ; to George Wilson they are the eyes of God. They are said to “brood” and “[keep] their vigil” over the valley, and they witness some of the most corrupt moments of the novel: Tom and Myrtle’s affair, Myrtle’s death, and the valley itself, full of America’s industrial waste and the toiling poor. However, in the end they are another product of the materialistic culture of the age, set up by Doctor Eckleburg to “fatten his practice.” Behind them is just one more person trying to get rich. Their function as a divine being who watches and judges is thus ultimately null , and the novel is left without a moral anchor.

A Summary and Analysis of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

The Great Gatsby is the quintessential Jazz Age novel, capturing a mood and a moment in American history in the 1920s, after the end of the First World War. Rather surprisingly, The Great Gatsby sold no more than 25,000 copies in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s lifetime. It has now sold over 25 million copies.

If Fitzgerald had stuck with one of the numerous working titles he considered for the novel, it might have been published as Trimalchio in West Egg (a nod to a comic novel from ancient Rome about a wealthy man who throws lavish parties), Under the Red, White and Blue , or even The High-Bouncing Lover (yes, really).

How did this novel come to be so widely acclaimed and studied, and what does it all mean? Before we proceed to an analysis of Fitzgerald’s novel, here’s a quick summary of the plot.

The Great Gatsby : plot summary

Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, is a young man who has come to New York to work on the stock exchange. He lives on the island of West Egg, where his neighbour is the wealthy Jay Gatsby, who owns a mansion.

One evening, Nick is dining with his neighbours from East Egg, Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Tom is having an affair, and goes to answer the phone at one point; Daisy follows him out of the room, and their fellow guest, a woman named Jordan Baker, explains to Nick about Tom’s mistress.

A short while after this, Nick is with Tom when Tom sets up a meeting with his mistress, Myrtle, the wife of a garage mechanic named Wilson. Nick attends a party with Tom and Myrtle; Tom hits his mistress when she mentions Daisy’s name.

In the summer, Gatsby throws a number of lavish parties at his mansion. He meets Jordan Baker again and the two are drawn to each other. Nobody seems to know the real Gatsby, or to be able to offer much reliable information about his identity. Who is he?

Gatsby befriends Nick and drives him to New York. Gatsby explains that he wants Nick to do him a favour: Jordan Baker tells him that Daisy was Gatsby’s first love and he is still in love with her: it’s the whole reason Gatsby moved to West Egg, so he could be near Daisy, even though she’s married to Tom. Gatsby wants Nick to invite both him and Daisy round for tea.

When they have tea together, Gatsby feels hopeful that he can recover his past life with Daisy before she was married. However, he knows that Daisy is unlikely to leave Tom for him. When she expresses a dislike for his noisy parties, he scales down his serving staff at his house and tones down the partying.

When they are all at lunch together, Tom realises that Daisy still loves Gatsby. Tom goads Gatsby as he realises he’s losing his mistress and, now, his wife. While staying together in a suite at the Plaza Hotel, Daisy tells Tom that she loves both men.

On their way back home, Gatsby’s car accidentally hits and kills Myrtle Wilson, Tom’s mistress, who has rushed out into the road after her husband found out about her affair. Tom finds her body and is distraught. Nick learns that Daisy, not Gatsby, was driving the car when Myrtle was killed.

Gatsby also tells Nick that he had built himself up from nothing: he was a poor man named James Gatz who made himself rich through the help of a corrupt millionaire named Dan Cody.

The next day, Nick finds Gatsby dead in his own swimming pool: Wilson, after his wife was killed by Gatsby’s car, turned up at Gatsby’s mansion to exact his revenge. Wilson’s body is nearby in the grass. The novel ends with Nick winding up Gatsby’s affairs and estate, before learning that Tom told Wilson where he could find Gatsby so he could take revenge.

The Great Gatsby : analysis

The Great Gatsby is the best-known novel of the Jazz Age, that period in American history that had its heyday in the 1920s. Parties, bootleg cocktails (it’s worth remembering that alcohol was illegal in the US at this time, under Prohibition between 1920 and 1933), and jazz music (of course) all characterised a time when Americans were gradually recovering from the First World War and the Spanish flu pandemic (1918-20).

One reason The Great Gatsby continues to invite close analysis is the clever way Fitzgerald casts his novel as neither out-and-out criticism of Jazz Age ‘values’ nor as an unequivocal endorsement of them. Gatsby’s parties may be a mere front, a way of coping with Daisy’s previous rejection of him and of trying to win her back, but Fitzgerald – and his sympathetic narrator, Nick Carraway – do not ridicule Gatsby’s behaviour as wholly shallow or vacuous.

Fitzgerald’s choice to have a first-person narrator, rather than a more detached and impersonal ‘omniscient’ third-person narrator, is also significant. Nick Carraway is closer to Gatsby than an impersonal narrator would be, yet the fact that Nick narrates Gatsby’s story, rather than Gatsby telling his own story, nevertheless provides Nick with some detachment, as well as a degree of innocence and ignorance over Gatsby’s identity and past.

Nick Carraway is both part of Gatsby’s world and yet also, at the same time, an observer from the side-lines, someone who is not rich and extravagant as many in Gatsby’s circle are, yet someone who is ushered into that world by an enthusiastic Jay Gatsby, who sees in Carraway a man in whom he can confide.

Nevertheless, Fitzgerald deftly sets the world of West Egg, with Gatsby’s mock-chateau and swimming pool, against the rather grittier and grimier reality for most Americans at the time. If Gatsby himself symbolises the American dream – he has made himself a success, absurdly wealthy with a huge house and a whole retinue of servants, having started out in poverty – then there are plenty of reminders in The Great Gatsby that ‘the American dream’ remains just that, a dream, for the majority of Americans:

About half way between West Egg and New York the motor-road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter of a mile, so as to shrink away from a certain desolate area of land. This is a valley of ashes – a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.

This is the grey, bleak, industrial reality for millions of Americans: not for them is the world of parties, quasi-enchanted gardens full of cocktails and exotic foods, hydroplanes, and expensive motorcars.

Yet the two worlds are destined to meet on a personal level: the Valley of Ashes (believed to be modelled on Corona dump in Queens, New York, and inspired by T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land ) is where Wilson’s garage is located. The dual tragedy of Gatsby’s and Wilson’s deaths at the end of the novel symbolises the meeting of these two worlds.

The fact that Gatsby is innocent of the two crimes or sins which motivate Wilson – his wife’s adultery with Tom and Daisy’s killing of Myrtle with Gatsby’s car – hardly matters: it shows the subtle interconnectedness of these people’s lives, despite their socioeconomic differences.

What’s more, as Ian Ousby notes in his Introduction to Fifty American Novels (Reader’s Guides) , there is more than a touch of vulgarity about Gatsby’s lifestyle: his house is a poor imitation of a genuine French chateau, but he is no aristocrat; his car is ‘ridiculous’; and his very nickname, ‘the Great Gatsby’, makes him sound like a circus entertainer (perhaps a magician above all else, which is apt given the magical and enchanted way Carraway describes the atmosphere and detail at Gatsby’s parties).

And ultimately, Gatsby’s lavish lifestyle fails to deliver happiness to him, too: he doesn’t manage to win Daisy back to him, so at the same time Fitzgerald is not holding up Gatsby’s ‘success’ uncritically to us.

Is Gatsby black? Although he is known for having been played in film adaptations by Robert Redford and Leonardo DiCaprio, and the novel does not state that Gatsby is an African American, the scholar Carlyle V. Thompson has suggested that certain clues or codes in the novel strongly hint at Gatsby being a black American who has had to make his own way in the world, rising from a poor socio-economic background, and not fully accepted by other people in his social circle because of racial discrimination.

Whether we accept or reject this theory, it is an intriguing idea that, although Fitzgerald does not support this theory in the novel, that may have been deliberate: to conceal Gatsby’s blackness but, as it were, hide it in plain sight.

In the last analysis, The Great Gatsby sums up the Jazz Age, but through offering a tragedy, Fitzgerald shows that the American dream is founded on ashes – both the industrial dirt and toil of millions of Americans for whom the dream will never materialise, and the ashes of dead love affairs which Gatsby, for all of his quasi-magical properties, will never bring fully back to life.

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10 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby”

I regret the several hours wasted in slogging through this low-prole distraction.

You might want to start with something like Dick and Jane.

One of my favorite novels. I have always loved this book. No matter how may times I read it, more is revealed.

The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite novels. Thank you for the detailed analysis! I can also add that Fitzgerald includes lots of symbols in the novel. To my mind, one of the most vivid symbols is a giant billboard with the face of Doctor TJ Eckleburg which is towering over the Valley of Ashes. These eyes are watching the dismal grey scene of poverty and decay. I guess the billboard symbolizes the eyes of God staring at the Americans and judging them. In case seomeone is interested in symbols in The Great Gatsby, there is a nice article about it. Here: https://custom-writing.org/blog/symbols-in-the-great-gatsby

While I could imagine and accept a modern film version of Gatsby as black, I really can’t espouse the notion that Fitzgerald had that in mind. If you know anything about American society in the 1920s, you’d know that you didn’t have to be black or of some other minority to be outside the winner’s circle. US society may still have tons of problems accepting that all people are created equal, but back then, they weren’t even thinking about blacks et al very much. They were quite happy to ostracize Italians, Irish, Catholics, etc, without batting an eye.

This is such a widely misunderstood book, by scholars as well as regulars.

Daisy was the victim of love. She would’ve married Jay while he was in the army. Also, Jay’s so-called symbolic “reaching” is nothing more than him trying to understand self love, to attain it, to unravel the “mystery! ” of it. But he never realizes he’s totally in love with himself, which is his biggest issue other than preying on Daisy’s real love.

And Nick ” Carraway” …. Care-a-way, care-a-way… What self-appointed moral man witnesses nakedly two married plotters sceam against a neighbor they like, or any person in serious need of legal, emotion aid, AND DOES NOTHING. Yeah, care a way, Nick, just not your way! And Come On!! who the hell doesn’t judge others….that’s the ENTIRE POINT OF EVERY BOOK AND LIFE.

WHAT preyed on Gatsby preys upon every person everywhere. Influences of life and choices we make because if them. Gatsby’s such an interesting, centralized , beloved character because he represents everyone’s apparent embracement of the childhood notion, ” we can have it all and make our own consequences, and if not, let’s see if I can manipulate time successfully. Gatsby’s us the full human demonstration of self love at all costs and quite deliberately finding a way disguise and masquerade and mutate and thus deny this very fact while simultaneously trying to make it MAGICAL AND MYSTICAL.

ARTISTS, from geniuses to so-called laypeople, are all simple people with very basic emotions. That’s where ALL starts. They are not Gods, nor do they desire misunderstanding. Frankly, they just wanna see if you have any common sense. Once you get passed that, all literature resembles EVERY aspect of life.

A terrific novel and not bad adaptation as a movie by DiCaprio, I thought! While some of the comments on here are a little excessive, there is much to be said for the symbolism in the book. I rather like the fact that ‘West Egg’ and ‘East Egg’ surely hints at questioning who is the ‘good egg’ and who is ‘the bad egg’. The place names are so unusual that this must be deliberate (‘bad egg’ has been around since at least 1855) and we’re left to wonder just what is good and bad here. No character comes out smelling of roses in this story, which – for me – makes the novel utterly compelling.

Well said, Ken. It’s the subtlety of the characterisation which makes it for me – I know a lot of critics and readers praise the prose style, but I think it’s the way Fitzgerald uses Carraway’s narration to reveal the multifaceted (and complex) nature of Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, and even himself that is so masterly. I’ve just finished analysing the opening paragraphs of the novel and will post that up soon!

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The Great Gatsby

F. scott fitzgerald, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Great Gatsby: Introduction

The great gatsby: plot summary, the great gatsby: detailed summary & analysis, the great gatsby: themes, the great gatsby: quotes, the great gatsby: characters, the great gatsby: symbols, the great gatsby: literary devices, the great gatsby: quizzes, the great gatsby: theme wheel, brief biography of f. scott fitzgerald.

Historical Context of The Great Gatsby

Other books related to the great gatsby.

Full Title: The Great Gatsby
Where Written: Paris and the US, in 1924
When Published: 1925
Literary Period: Modernism
Genre: Novel
Setting: Long Island, Queens, and Manhattan, New York in the summer of 1922
Climax: The showdown between Gatsby and Tom over Daisy
Point of View: First person

Extra Credit for The Great Gatsby

Puttin' on the Fitz. Fitzgerald spent most of his adult life in debt, often relying on loans from his publisher, and even his editor, Maxwell Perkins, in order to pay the bills. The money he made from his novels could not support the high-flying cosmopolitan life his wife desired, so Fitzgerald turned to more lucrative short story writing for magazines like Esquire. Fitzgerald spent his final three years writing screenplays in Hollywood.

Another Failed Screenwriter. Fitzgerald was an alcoholic and his wife Zelda suffered from serious mental illness. In the final years of their marriage as their debts piled up, Zelda stayed in a series of mental institutions on the East coast while Fitzgerald tried, and largely failed, to make money writing movie scripts in Hollywood.

The Great Gatsby

By f. scott fitzgerald.

'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald is an unforgettable novel of wealth and love. It chronicles the "Jazz Age," post World War I in the United States.

About the Book

Article written by Emma Baldwin

B.A. in English, B.F.A. in Fine Art, and B.A. in Art Histories from East Carolina University.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published in 1925 in New York City. It is considered to be Fitzgerald’s best and most famous novel . It depicts the lives of characters entangled in the New York City social scene , in dangerous love affairs, and endless wealth. Narrated by Nick Carraway, a man whose life mirrored Fitzgerald’s own, he takes the reader into the mysterious world of Jay Gatsby . Gatsby, a new multi-millionaire who seemingly lives the American dream, is consumed with the desire to reclaim a lost relationship.

Key Facts about The Great Gatsby

Title: The Great Gatsby
When/where written: Paris and the US in 1924
Published: 1925
Literary Period: Modernism
Genre: Novel
Point-of-View: First-person
Setting: New York City in 1922
Climax: Gatsby and Tom fight over Daisy
Antagonist: Tom Buchanan, Greed

F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby

Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a modernist masterpiece . But, when it was published the author had no idea of its importance or how tied it would become to his own literary legacy. Fitzgerald, like the novel’s narrator, Nick, was born in Minnesota. He moved to New York to pursue fame and fortune, like Jay Gatsby. Perhaps also seeking inspiration in his personal experiences, Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda, refused to marry him unless he could support her. This mirrors Gatsby’s experience with Daisy in the novel, ending in her marrying Tom Buchanan, a cruel man but one with more than enough money for her to live the kind of life she wanted. The Fitzgeralds were wealthy, but as debt crept upon them, Fitzgerald’s health worsened, and he suffered from mental illness. He died from a heart attack in 1940, with his wife passing away a few years later. Today, scholars consider The Great Gatsby, as well as Fitzgerald’s other novels, as a means for the writer to confront his feelings about (what he coined as) “The Jazz Age.” The period after World War I is well documented in The Great Gatsby . Fitzgerald was initially interested in the outrageous lifestyles of the wealthy in New York City, engaging in such a lifestyle himself. But, just as Nick Carraway discovered, things weren’t quite as bright and shining as they seemed.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Digital Art

Books Related to The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is one of the best representatives of modernist fiction after the First World War. It was a period of emptiness and disillusionment that was for many such as the characters in this novel , filled with irrelevancies. He depicted lost people, depression, reality, and various types of corruption. As did other writers like James Joyce with his masterpiece Ulysses. Hemingway’s works are also often compared to Fitzgerald’s. These include books like The Sun Also Rises. Other books readers might find comparable to The Great Gatsby include The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and Fitzgerlad’s 1922 novel, The Beautiful and the Damned. The latter was published right before The Great Gatsby and tells the story of a socialite and heir to a massive fortune. Fitzgerald explores his marriage, military service, and the couple’s troubles. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald is another novel in which readers can find themes comparable to those in The Great Gatsby. It was Fitzgerald’s first novel and follows several American youths after World War I.

The Lasting Impact of The Great Gatsby

When The Great Gatsby was published in 1925, it sold around 21,000 copies, a number far lower than Fitzgerald’s previous novels. Today, the novel has sold over 25 million copies and has been translated into numerous languages. It’s a staple of classrooms all over the world. Today, the novel is said to embody the American spirit and convey the atmosphere of an incredibly important time in the history of the country . For some, this novel is the best representative of the American spirit and Fitzgerald’s “Jazz Age .” Despite the decades that have passed, the novel is still relevant today. It features complex characters with problems school-age readers and those simply reading for pleasure can relate to.

The Great Gatsby Review ⭐

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Scott Fitzgerald — The Great Gatsby Book Review and Summary

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Book Review

Categories: Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby Symbolism

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Words: 1956 |

10 min read

Published: Jun 5, 2019

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Words: 1956 | Pages: 4 | 10 min read

"The Great Gatsby" is a testament to the enduring power of hope. Throughout the novel, Jay Gatsby remains unwavering in his pursuit of his dreams, even when they lead him into disaster. His unyielding belief that Daisy will call him again, even after his tragic death, serves as a poignant symbol of his enduring hope.

As Nick concludes the novel, he reflects on Gatsby's faith in the green light, representing his yearning for an idealized future that always seems just out of reach. This green light is not only a connection to the book's opening scene, where Gatsby reaches out toward it at the end of Daisy's dock, but also a profound symbol of his hope, desires, and dreams—a reflection of our own aspirations.

The closing lines, "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past," resonate deeply. They remind us that hope is our driving force, compelling us to reach for a better future even as the current of time tries to pull us back into the past. Gatsby's greatness lies in his enduring hope, which shines brightly despite the adversities he faced in life. His story inspires us to persevere, to chase our dreams, and to keep moving forward, even when the odds seem insurmountable.

Works Cited

Bruccoli, M. J. (Ed.). (2000). New essays on The Great Gatsby. Cambridge University Press.
Bryer, J. R. (Ed.). (1997). F. Scott Fitzgerald: Novels and stories 1920-1922: This side of paradise / Flappers and philosophers / The beautiful and the damned / Tales of the jazz age (Vol. 1). Library of America.
Fitzgerald, F. S. (1925). The Great Gatsby. Charles Scribner’s Sons.
Fitzgerald, F. S. (2000). The Great Gatsby (Scribner classics edition). Scribner.
Goldsmith, A. (Ed.). (2016). The Cambridge companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Cambridge University Press.
Lehan, R. (2006). F. Scott Fitzgerald and the craft of fiction. University of Illinois Press.
Mizener, A. (Ed.). (2000). F. Scott Fitzgerald: A collection of critical essays. Prentice Hall.
Prigozy, R. (Ed.). (2002). The Cambridge companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Cambridge University Press.
Ruderman, A. (2018). F. Scott Fitzgerald: An introduction and interpretation. Humanities-Ebooks.
Tanner, T. L. (Ed.). (2003). The great Gatsby: A reader's guide to essential criticism. Icon Books.

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The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Book Review Essay

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Why Is The Great Gatsby A Great Read? A Detailed Analysis of the Book

If you need a book to spark an informative discussion during your book clubs, you could try out The Great Gatsby. It is such an interesting read. The plot-line is so fascinating, however, with great attention being placed on each character. It, in turn, piques the reader’s interests and leaves them thirsting for more.

Reading a book takes time, and you might want to know beforehand if it will be a good read for you or not. For this, there are so many essays on The Great Gatsby that can give you analysis report on what the book is about. These essay examples would give you detailed analysis on The Great Gatsby, explain the plot, each character and cast, and their part in the entire storyline.

Beginning/Foreword

The Great Gatsby, written by F.Scott Fitzgerald and published in 1925 by Charles Scribner’s Sons, tells the story of Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, and the continuous pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, a woman who he loved during his youth. Although the main plot is simplified, it encapsulates thought-provoking themes ranging from appearance vs. reality, social inequality, and yearning to relive the past. For these few reasons, respective of the date of publication and era, The Great Gatsby remains relevant in our society.

The Great Gatsby was written during the age of Jazz or the Roaring Twenties. The classical story vividly portrays post-war America, jazz music, free-flowing illegal liquor, and most importantly, the pessimistic examination of the American Dream. Although it did not sell many copies during the first publication, it could be perfectly described as a massive flop.

However, it was revived during World War II. It became one of the books selected to be shipped to the American soldiers during the war. By 1945, 155,000 copies had been shipped to the American soldiers.

This is because the story motivated and resonated with the young men fighting during World War II. Due to the massive audience and lovers of the books, it garnered the attention of literary critics. Not long after this breakthrough, The Great Gatsby was referred to as a classical story and accepted into the literary canon, with several documentaries and free essays and analysis showing a perfect retelling of the plot. Over the years, professors and literary critics have also given analysis of The Great Gatsby from different perspectives.

It Is One Of The Most Popular American Stories

Having explained the breakthrough and boundaries surpassed by The Great Gatsby, there is no doubt that it is one of the most popular American stories, irrespective of the era and date of publication. There are certain reasons why the book and essay appeal to young readers hence making it a good American story. The novel captures the essence of the American Dream.

Everyone loves a good self-success story ; imagine the story of Mark Zuckerberg. Stories like this give hope and education to the younger generation because somehow, they love to believe all dreams are attainable. Basically, “if you work hard enough, you can succeed.” However, it also deconstructs the ideology through the demise of Jay Gatsby. Also, it portrays the romance of the 20th century and shows the importance of power, how corrupted and useful it could be.

Remains Relevant

Apart from being a great American story, it still retains its relevance as a modernist novel. Many literary critics and university professors often wonder why it has never lost its essence over the years. Due to the depth of ideas and wisdom embedded in the book, there is always a new perspective or angle whenever critiqued or taught.

Story About Crazy Love

An alluring point about The Great Gatsby book is the idea of love. From the simplified plot, one could imagine that love revolves around Jay Gatsby trying to win over the girl of his dreams. While, on the surface, the love Jay Gatsby had for Daisy Buchanan could be described as an obsession, something somewhat impure. Regardless of the wealth and riches made through gambling and bootlegging, his life still has dissatisfaction.

The author uses Daisy to represent the past; by portraying Daisy as Jay’s love interest, a woman he could not get before, we observe the same optimistic view towards life.

Irrespective of her being married, he still views her as an object, hoping that he can get the girl if he tries hard enough. This belief guarded his actions towards the whole novel, like buying a mansion just to see the girl.

Immortal Prose

Immortal prose that must be commended, The Great Gatsby is a novel that uses great style and techniques of writing. Apart from the literary critics and scholars, fans of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s work and book lovers have praised the work over the centuries.

Each character, scene, and statement play an important role in creating a good literary text. Literary and English students must learn Gatsby for this very purpose.

The book would forever remain one of the greatest American stories because it is extremely relatable to every college student and adult. Through the lens of each character, we can find a bit of ourselves. So next time you’re in a book club, try to read The Great Gatsby.

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157 The Great Gatsby : Best Topics and Examples

Looking for some creative titles for The Great Gatsby essay? There are many themes to explore about this novel. We offer you The Great Gatsby essay examples about symbolism, character analysis, the style of the novel, and many other topics.

📙 The Great Gatsby – Essay Writing Tips

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The Great Gatsby, the masterpiece written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, will help you dive into the Roaring Twenties’ wealth atmosphere. This is a story of a millionaire Jay Gatsby and his passion for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan

Your professor may ask you to analyze topics such as decadence, money, American Dream, or symbolism in your The Great Gatsby Essay. But what if you have no idea what to write? Well, below, you can find some tips and essay samples that you may use to compose your papers

Tip #1. Analyze symbolism in The Great Gatsby

First, let’s define what symbolism is. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, symbolism is “practice of using symbols, especially by investing things with a symbolic meaning or by expressing the invisible or intangible using visible or sensuous representations.” The Great Gatsby story is full of symbols. And here are just two examples of them:

The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg painted on a billboard in the Valley of Ashes. You can find a lot of The Great Gatsby essay samples that draw the conclusion that Eckleburg represents God. However, let’s ask a few more questions. Why do these eyes have no mouth or arms, or legs? Does this mean that Eckleburg can only watch people transgressions without any ability to punish them as a God-like entity? Does this billboard mean anything?
Use of color in Fitzgerald’s story. If you carefully read the novel, you might notice the use of a few colors throughout the book. They are green, gray, gold, and yellow. Think, what do these colors can symbolize and represent these ideas in your paper.

Tip #2. Think about point of view in The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is written in the first-person point of view. Nick Carraway, one of the main characters, tells us about the life and thoughts of Gatsby. In your writing, you can imagine how different the novel would be if it were told in the third-person point of view.

You also can provide some examples if the story was told from Gatsby’s perspective.

Tip #3. Assess how the book relates to the American Dream

If you look through the vast majority The Great Gatsby essay titles, you can find out plenty of samples that address the validity of high society or the social class divide. Gatsby had achieved the American Dream by building his wealth. However, he’s still not satisfied with the shallowness of the upper class and wants something more.

In your paper, you can argue why does one can never attain the American Dream, and why dreamers always want more.

Tip #4. Analyze the characters and their relations

Fitzgerald put each character into the novel for a particular reason. And your job is to analyze what they represent and why they are in the story. For example, Tom represents evil, while Daisy represents innocence. Another aspect you should examine is relationships between Daisy and Gatsby, Tom and Daisy, Nick and Gatsby.

Tip #5. Examine the tone of the novel

When we talk about the tone of the story, we mean how the author describes the events and characters. In your paper, decide what the tone of the novel is and analyze how it affects the readers’ attitude to characters and events.

Now, check The Great Gatsby essay examples below and use the acquired ideas to write your own paper!

Analysis of the Shirt Scene in “The Great Gatsby” Film Although the shirts mean nothing to Gatsby without Daisy, the audience watches Gatsby’s facial expression display a great deal of empathy and love whenever Daisy seems distressed, especially in this scene when she begins to […]
Daisy Buchanan: “I Did Love Him Once, but I Loved You, Too” Another scene shows Daisy’s immoral behavior when she is in the room with Gatsby, Jordan, and Nick. This view shows Daisy’s lustful side in that she pushes Jordan to do the same and is out […]
Tom and Gatsby: Compare and Contrast Essay In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald pays attention to the relationships between both Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan and Daisy Buchanan. Scott Fitzgerald’s book is mainly focused on the relationship of Daisy with Gatsby and Tom, […]
The Great Gatsby Reflection Paper Throughout the novel the major character Nick who was the narrator managed to bring out the main themes of the novel as well as developing other characters.
The Clock as a Symbol in “The Great Gatsby” By incorporating metaphorical elements that allude to the fleeting nature of time, “the Great Gatsby” emphasizes the idea of the futility of life and the inescapability of the past and its mistakes.
Autobiographical Elements in “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The story is set during the roaring twenties, a period of significant social and cultural change, and it incorporates many of the author’s personal experiences, feelings, and perceptions of the time.
Silver & Gold: Color Symbolism in The Great Gatsby Although the color palette presented in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is rich, the problem of differing social status is most vividly described in the novel through the use of golden and silver colors that stand […]
Nick as the Narrator in The Great Gatsby Therefore, his connection with the Gatsby’s story is that he is depended upon to serve as the mouthpiece of the older generation as he metaphorically transcends through time to retell the Great Gatsby tale accurately […]
American Culture in the Novel “The Great Gatsby” In The Great Gatsby, Scott Fitzgerald documents these changes through an in-depth exploration of cultural changes such as the rise in consumerism, materialism, greed for wealth, and the culture of loosening morals in the 1920s […]
The Great Gatsby: Analysis and Feminist Critique The feminist critique is an aspect that seeks to explore the topic of men domination in the social, economic, and political sectors.
The Great Gatsby All these characteristics of America during 1920 are evident and inherent in the main character, Jay Gatsby, in the novel The Great Gatsby. This is one of the themes in the novel The Great Gatsby.
Daisy’s Character Study in “The Great Gatsby” The argument is that the author attempts to describe her as a pure and innocent female to ensure that the reader understands the perspective of Jay, but particular aspects of her true identity are revealed […]
The Great Gatsby and Winter Dreams by Scott Fitzgerald In this analysis, the researcher will try to confirm the argument that the Great Gatsby was a continuation of the Winter Dreams.
The American Dream in The Great Gatsby After spending some time in this neighborhood, Nick finally attends Gatsby’s exuberant parties only to realize that Gatsby organizes these parties to impress Daisy, Nick’s cousin, and wife to Tom.
Fairy Tale Traits in The Great Gatsby Basing on the several evident parameters, for instance, the character traits, the behavior of prince and princess, and gender distinctions amongst others, Fitzgerald’s masterwork stands out as a variation and sophisticated version of the fairy […]
“The Great Gatsby” Film by Baz Luhrmann The Great Gatsby is a film that stars Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway, Tom Buchanan, and the Southern Belle Daisy. The influence of the past comes out throughout the course of the film.
Time as a Theme in The Great Gatsby The embodiment of these negative aspects comes in the form of Gatsby and his life, which in the end is seen as hollow and empty, just as the morals and values of the characters seen […]
‘The Great Gatsby’ and ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ Literature Comparison Stella is a devoted wife struggling to make her marriage work, even though her husband Stanley, subjects her to a lot of pain and suffering.
Gatsby & Nick in The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby is a novel of vibrant characters, and paradox is one of the main themes of the book. Even though Daisy and Tom are married, Nick agrees to help Gatsby be with the […]
Babylon Revisited & The Great Gatsby: Motifs & Themes When he pleads his case to the guardians of Honoria, his sister-in-law Marion, and her husband, he continually evades his escapades of the past and recounts his hard work and sincerity of the present.
Why is Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby a Satire? Another aspect of satire in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is the wealth associated with Gatsby, as the reader observes in chapter two.
Female Characters in A Streetcar Named Desire & The Great Gatsby: Comparative It can be seen in the case of Stella and Daisy wherein in their pursuit of what they think is their “ideal” love, they are, in fact, pursuing nothing more than a false ideal that […]
Women’s Role in “The Great Gatsby” by Fitzgerald Though the women in the novel are depicted as careless, treacherous, and selfish, the author uses them to underscore the power of the will to rebel against societal norms in pursuit of happiness.
Jay Gatsby: The Great Fool or the Unfortunate Genius The main idea of the work is to show the unfairness of the fate of a poor young man who cannot marry the girl he loves.
The Corrupted American Dream and Its Significance in “The Great Gatsby” The development of the American dream and its impact on the society of the United States is a pertinent topic of discussion for various authors.
Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’, Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ and the American Dream “The America Dream’ is a longstanding common belief of the American population that in the United States, people are free to realize the full potential of their labor and their talents and every person in […]
Tom and George in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby At the same time, the motives of Tom and George’s behavior differ due to their backgrounds, origins, and belonging to different social classes.
“The Great Gatsby” by Scott Fitzgerald Who will take care of the dead creatures seems not to be in Tom’s order of what to bother him and together with the wife is comfortable enjoying their wealth while the creatures are rotting […]
Characters in Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” and Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” The author presents challenges faced in the society as a result of the mixture racial and gender discrimination that a young black girl goes through in search of her dream and personal identity.
The Idea of Love in The Great Gatsby and the Parallels or Contrasts That Can Be Drawn With the Presentation of Love in The Catcher in the Rye Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Jerome Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, it is possible to state that the notion of love is presented there similarly even though the texts are absolutely different and […]
Fitzgerald’s American Dream in The Great Gatsby & Winter Dreams To my mind, Winter Dream is a perfect example of the American Dream, since the main hero, Dexter, implemented each point of it, he was persistent and very hard-working, he was a very sensible and […]
Architecture in “The Great Gatsby” by Fitzgerald From this perspective, the case of Gatsby’s mansion is a symbolic call for leaving behind the anachronistic ideas of aristocracy and embracing American ideals.
The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald Review Gatsby’s dream to become wealthy to gain Daisy’s attention “is simply believable and is still a common dream of the current time”. However, Gatsby is the story’s main character and is a “personification” of the […]
Fertile Questions: “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald The two fertile questions arising from the novel are: what are political and economic impacts of the World War I? and what are the challenges faced by American students born from poor families post-World War […]
“The Great Gatsby”: The American Dream in the Jazz Age The Jazz Age is a period in the history of the United States of America from the end of World War I to the beginning of the Great Depression due to the remarkable popularity of […]
“The Great Gatsby Directed” by Baz Luhrmann This is due to the fact that the film is an indirect adaptation of Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald’s book “The Great Gatsby”.
Novel Analysis: The Great Gatsby and Siddhartha Hesse’s Siddhartha seems complementary to The Great Gatsby as Brahman, the main role in Siddhartha, finds contentment in self-realization and not in money, sensuality, and love.
Greene’s “Our Man in Havana” and “The Great Gatsby” by Fitzgerald It is imperative to realize that the purpose of the paper is not to carry out a critical analysis of the plays but to carry out a comparison of the attributes in which they relate […]
What Money Cannot Buy: ‘The Great Gatsby’ Book by F. S. Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby is a book that unveils the instrumental role of the social aspect of life among people; which not only concentrates on the economic part of it.
“The Great Gatsby” by Baz Luhrmann The filmmakers never stop depicting Gatsby’s wealth and his otherness. He throws money around and he is a topic of heated debates in the society.
First-Person Narrative in Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” Joyce’s “The Boarding House,” Bowen’s “The Demon Lover” In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Joyce’s short story “The Boarding House,” and the Scottish poem The Demon Lover, the first-person narrative is used differently to achieve the authors’ objectives and create a comprehensive picture of […]
First-Person Narrative in Bowen’s ”The Demon Lover,” Updike’s ”A&P,” Fitzgerald’s ”The Great Gatsby” In this work, the unworked, repressed experience of the First World War is personified and embodied in the image of the ghost of a person who died in this war.
“The Great Gatsby” by Fitzgerald: Betrayal, Romance, Social Politics and Feminism This work seeks to outline the role of women in the development of the plot of the book and in relation to the social issues affecting women in contemporary society.
Jay Gatsby, Jean Valjean and Henry Fleming: The Compare and Contrast Analyses of the Characters The way the characters of the main protagonists are revealed in the novel is one of the most important things in every piece of literature.
Alvarez’ “In the Time of the Butterflies” & Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” The shallowness, the injustice, the strive for wealth and power, brutality, and greed are the common themes, developed and explored in the books by Julia Alvarez “In the Time of The Butterflies” and by F.
“The Great Gatsby” Novel by Francis Scott Fitzgerald However, what the reader should acknowledge is that the author manages to present a wholesome and clear image of the issues and occurrences that defined the United States throughout the 1920s.
The Great Gatsby’ by Scott Fitzgerald Literature Analysis This is one of the details that can be identified. This is one of the issues that can be singled out.
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Could the Story Have Been Set in Other Places, Like Chicago or Los Angeles, or Were New York City and Long Island Absolutely Necessary?
Look at the Novel’s Opening Lines. If We Accept Nick’s Advice When We Read the Story, Will Our Views of It Change? Or, in Other Words, Does Refraining From Criticism Promote Compassion?
Is There a Hidden Meaning of the Title of the Great Gatsby? What Is It?
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What Is the Real Meaning of ‘Great’ in the Title of the Great Gatsby?
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Elaborate on the Green Light as the Symbol of the American Dream
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Discuss Female Characters and Their Significance in the Great Gatsby
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Why Do Tom and Daisy Stay Together at the End of the Novel?
Does Gatsby’s Money Bring Him Real Happiness?
Can Jay’s Feelings for Daisy in the Great Gatsby Be Considered Love?
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Can We Call Jay Gatsby a Romantic Hero or a Villain?
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Elaborate on How Both Tom and Gatsby Want to Change Not Only the Future, but the Past in Chapter 7.
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Is Anyone to Blame for Gatsby’s Death?
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Can Jordan and Daisy Be Considered Perfect Role Models for the Upper Class in America? Why or Why Not?
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Best Great Gatsby Character Analysis

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Familiar with the characters of The Great Gatsby , but need to analyze one or more of them for an essay or class assignment? This article has got your back! In it, we'll discuss what the point of analyzing a book character is. We'll also talk about the dos and donts of writing a character analysis, essay, explaining how to go from an argument to finding evidence. Finally, we'll give you an example of how to develop an essay of this type by constructing one around the old money characters (Tom, Daisy, and Jordan).

You'll also find links to our in-depth articles on each of The Great Gatsby 's main characters, explaining their role and significance in the novel, key quotes for each, and some ideas for essay topics, really helping you pull together your thoughts about these characters!

Why Write a The Great Gatsby Character Analysis Essay?

By assigning a character analysis, your teacher is giving you the chance to practice many different writing and analysis skills, including:

close reading
incorporating evidence from the novel into an essay
building a larger argument
tying small details you notice while reading into one of the book’s larger themes

The Great Gatsby is the perfect book for character analysis since it features seven major characters that interact in interesting ways across gender and class lines. Since this novel has so many beautiful and fascinating bits of character description, it will also get you to practice using evidence from the text in an argument.

So make sure that any character analysis you write builds on the skills you are learning in class! We will go over some do’s and don’t of character analysis below.

Character Analysis Do's

Here are some tips for constructing an excellent The Great Gatsby character analysis essay.

Create an Argument, Not Just a Topic

There is a big difference between an essay topic and an essay argument.

Most of the time, your teacher will give you an essay topic - in other words, what your essay should be about generally . Normally a topic will involve connecting the character to one of the novel’s larger themes, especially money and materialism , the American Dream , love and desire , or the relationship between upper and lower classes in society. If you design your own topic, you could explain how your chosen character illuminates one of the novel's symbols motifs.

For our example, let's take the common prompt, “Write an essay about how either Tom, Daisy, or Jordan represents old money.” This essay assignment has the topic built in: it wants you to take one of those characters and explain how their individual qualities tie them to the bigger abstract idea of the old money class.

But you still have to come up with the argument yourself. An argument is exactly what it sounds like - it's a point that you're trying to make by using reasons and evidence. There's an easy test for figuring out whether you're working with an argument. Could someone argue the opposite of what you're saying? Then yes, that's an argument. Otherwise, it's just a statement of fact. Plus, an essay anchored by a surprising assertion will immediately seem more interesting - how on earth are you going to prove this, your reader will be wondering.

In our example essay, let's say that we've decided to analyze Tom. It's tempting to use something like this as the "argument":

Tom's wealth and privilege show that he is part of the old money class.

But could anyone argue the opposite? Not at all - because this is a factual description, not a contentious statement.

Instead, an argument should make some kind of provocative, challengeable point:

Tom Buchanan is an example of Nick’s scathing depiction of the old money class as fearful and insecure despite enormous privilege.

Now, that someone could argue with! After all, Tom doesn't at first glance seem like someone who is fearful or insecure.

Outline How You Will Prove Your Argument

Make sure each paragraph is anchored by a thesis statement - a one-sentence summary of what part of your argument this particular paragraph is going to prove. Also, loosely plan out what evidence you will use to back up each paragraph's thesis statement.

It can be helpful to create a simple outline before hand to guide how you’ll go about your essay. This will keep your essay clearly organized, and make writing easier.

In our example essay, an outline could look like:

Argument: Tom Buchanan is an example of Nick’s scathing depiction of the old money class as fearful and insecure despite enormous privilege.

Paragraph 1: The trappings of Tom’s life show his privilege and his insecurity. Evidence:

fancy house
polo horses
enormous wealth
year in France

Paragraph 2: Tom actions constantly hint at his insecurity about his status. Evidence:

depressed that his football glory days are behind him
racist tirade shows he thinks the elite is about to be swept off the map
has affairs only with lower-class women he can dominate

Paragraph 3: Tom's constant policing of other people's behavior shows how much he wants to reinforce class divisions in the face of them eroding. Evidence:

throwing money at Myrtle to buy ten dogs
grousing about Gatsby misinterpreting the invitation from the Sloanes and mocking the pink suit
investigating Gatsby's criminal dealings even when already pretty sure Gatsby is a bootlegger

Paragraph 4: Tom decisions around Myrtle's murder show that he is more cowardly than his intimidating physical presence leads us to believe. Evidence:

manipulating George to kill Gatsby rather because he was scared of George's gun
running away with Daisy rather than sticking around to face consequences

Conclusion: Tom's privilege only heightens his sense of himself as a victim whose status is in danger of being usurped. Tom is a scathing portrait of old money royalty.

Use and Analyze Evidence to Support Your Argument

Bold arguments depend on a solid use of evidence to back them up. That means you can't just throw a quote into your writing and move on! Instead, use this rule of thumb: for each line of quoted text you insert, make sure you have 2-4 lines of your own explaining and interpreting the meaning of the quote as it relates to your argument .

To back up our example argument, we would now scour the book to find evidence of Tom being insecure or fearful. Once we've got something, though, it can't just be thrown into the essay willy nilly like this:

Nick says that Tom was "one of those men who reach such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one that everything afterward savors of anti-climax" (1.16).

Instead, we have to connect this description to the larger argument, using close reading to really get at the meaning of the words Nick is choosing:

Nick is pointing out that Tom's athletic achievements happened too long ago to keep feeding Tom's ego, Instead, because nothing has ever lived up to his football glory days, Tom is spending his time trying to avoid the depressing feeling of "anti-climax."

Use Evidence to Address Counterarguments

Because you've created an actually disputable argument, you can take the time to swat away the opposite position .

In the example essay we've been constructing, we're arguing that Tom Buchanan represents Fitzgerald’s critique of old money and is essentially an antagonist. We should address the idea that Tom is the novel's sharpest observer of people. (After all, unlike Nick, Tom immediately pegs Gatsby as a bootlegger.) This seemingly positive quality could be spun to be yet another example of Tom's insecurity - he is very quick to leap to judgment rather than giving people the benefit of the doubt.

Character Analysis Don'ts

Now that we've covered what you should do in a Gatsby character analysis essay, let's go over some mistakes you should avoid.

Avoid Stating the Obvious

Don’t just say what the character is like, list descriptions from the book, or summarize what the character did without adding any analysis. For example, don’t just say “Gatsby is flamboyant, throws big parties, and even wears a pink suit sometimes. He does all of this to try and win back Daisy, the love of his life.” All that does is summarize something that is obvious from the book.

Instead, tie those observations to a larger idea. For example, “the extravagance of Jay’s parties and dress marks him as a member of the newly rich, allowing Fitzgerald to satirize the newly rich in America as he also critiques the cruelty of old money” or “Jay’s obsessive pursuit of Daisy reveals an unrealistic obsession with reliving the past.”

Don’t Make All or Nothing Claims About a Character

The beauty of this novel is that the statements “Daisy is a horrible person” or “Daisy is a misunderstood martyr” are both wrong.

Instead, try and find the nuances, the good and the bad points of each character, and make them work for your bigger argument. For example, if you’re writing an essay about how Daisy represents the limited options available to women in the 1920s, you would likely be more sympathetic to some of her behavior, but you still shouldn’t excuse her hit-and-run!

Don’t Focus on Including Every Single Scene or Line That Features Your Character

Even for a short novel, Gatsby is jam-packed with meaningful dialogue, imagery, and plot events, and you couldn’t possibly analyze every single key moment for each character in one essay! (You could – and people have – write whole books on the subject!) Instead, focus on finding a few moments and analyzing them in detail, then tying them to your main point. Remember that the quality of analysis is worth more than the quantity of evidence!

Character Analysis Links

Each of our character pages has a detailed section with analysis of each character.

You can also get some helpful background information, a summary of the character’s actions in the book, and important quotes by and about them:

Nick Carraway

Daisy Buchanan

Tom Buchanan

Jordan Baker

Myrtle Wilson

George Wilson

The Bottom Line on The Great Gatsby Character Analysis

Character analysis is a chance to practice many different writing and analysis skills.
Create an argument - a debatable, provocative point that you're trying to make by using reasons and evidence.
Anchor each paragraph by a thesis statement - a one-sentence summary of what part of your argument this particular paragraph is going to prove.
Loosely plan out what evidence you will use to back up each paragraph's thesis statement.
For each line of quoted text, have 2-4 lines of your own explanation relating to your argument.
Take the time to swat away the counterarguments.
Avoid stating the obvious. Instead, tie observations to a larger idea.
Don’t make all or nothing claims about a character. Instead, find the nuances in each character, and make them work for your bigger argument.
Don’t feel like you have to include every single scene or line that features your character.

What’s Next?

Want to get advice about comparing and contrasting characters? Head on over to our Compare/Contrast post to learn how to best write about common character pairings.

Need a little more background on novel’s plot? Check out our Great Gatsby summary , or look at a timeline of all of the events in chronological order .

Interested in getting help analyzing important symbols and motifs? Get an introduction to symbols in The Great Gatsby and an overview of the novel's motifs to get started.

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download them for free now:

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Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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The Wonderful World of the Great Gatsby - Summary, Analysis, Symbolism

Francis Scott Fitzgerald is the American writer that managed to describe the richness and carelessness of the 1920s in the USA in bright colors. The author himself was the child of the golden period, known as the “Jazz Age”. While those eccentric and lavish times are gone now, readers can still enjoy the heritage of his books that bring about the spirit of freedom, joy, and selfishness. “The Great Gatsby” is the most well-known of his novels. It was written in 1925 – the time of Dry Law, gangster wars, impressive parties, and spectacular lifestyles.

The life path of the protagonist of this book, Jay Gatsby, slightly resembles Fitzgerald himself. In his writing career, Fitzgerald has seen everything – from admiration and acclaim for his first novel “This Side of Paradise” in 1920, to destructive indifference and cruel critique for a number of his other works. Similarly, for Jay Gatsby, the achievement of the American dream turned out to be a devastating life tragedy – his way towards the top of the societal ladder, despite the fame and wealth it brought him, led to disappointment and loss. After reading the book the reader is able to understand that what people want deep inside are not material goods, but emotional ones – sincere, reciprocal, and eternal love.

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But for now, let’s forget about the shadows and transport ourselves into the American life of the 1920s: imagine yourself being surrounded by beautiful women, endless joy, sweet jazz music, people having fun, and the waves breaking on the shore next to the lavish mansion of the famous Jay Gatsby, the king of all party hosts.

Main Characters of the Book

The book is way more complicated than relationships between two persons — protagonist Jay Gatsby and his beloved Daisy Buchanan.

Who is Jay Gatsby? Is he a mystery, a fraud, a murderer, a rich man, or a poor man? He is all of those things to some extent, and at the same time he is none of those things. This man represents the collective image of a society where everybody can pick traits that they can relate to. Gatsby is a romantic man, a dreamer who enjoys beauty and kindness. He lives with the fantasy of being together with his beloved, Daisy. But at the same time, he is the product of his consumerist society; he defines his worth by the tribute other people pay to him.

Fitzgerald devotes the most attention to the first aspect of Jay’s personality – his romantic side. He spends a lot of time looking for past ideals and dreams, which in reality turn out to be lost and phony. Daisy is the dream, but also is the death of Gatsby. The fact that his image of her doesn’t hold true portrays the key message of the book – a civilization whose morals can be manipulated by the desire for material goods cannot be humane, nor happy.

Throughout the whole book, Gatsby’s image remains a bit blurry and undefined, partly because his story is told through the eyes of another person – Nick Carraway. The two opposite aspects of his personality that live side by side in Gatsby’s character are represented by the people he surrounds himself by. Nick represents the bright side.

Nick Carraway

Nick is the personification of human kindness, the beauty of a man’s soul, honesty, and internal courage. The fact that he narrates the story defines its tone—despite showing both sides of the “lost generation”, the book still reads in a positive and pleasant way. Nick’s story unfolds together with that of Jay Gatsby: for example, he falls in love with Jordan while telling how Jay fell for Daisy. Nick and Gatsby share many traits: courage, dignity, and sincere benevolence. However, unlike Gatsby, Nick can resist the temptations and dark sides. After realizing the shallowness of his beloved Jordan, he finds the strength to eventually break up their relationship, while Gatsby continues his relationship with Daisy—trying to live the false dream he had created in his head.

Nick sees the real intentions of Jay Gatsby, and what is even more important, he foresees how they could play out. He is a good friend, essentially he is the only person that stays by his friend’s side towards the end of the novel once everybody else has turned their backs on him. It’s ironic how Nick is one of the few people to show up at the funeral, while hundreds had enjoyed Gatsby’s parties. Mr Carraway is a responsible man who is not afraid to stand up to society. He is able to make a moral choice in circumstances that dictate otherwise. It is because of people like Nick that the author believed his society would be able to find moral grounds in the complex American reality of those times.

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On the other side, the topic of the wicked American dream is centered in the novel around several characters with a big “commercial” emphasis – in particular, they are Daisy Buchanan, her husband Tom Buchanan, and her friend Jordan.

Daisy Buchanan

Daisy Buchanan is a woman that was born into wealth. She is a beautiful woman with a melodious voice. She is fun, easygoing, but hard to reach. Her inaccessibility turns her into an objective for Gatsby. But after all, there has always been a distance between them: when Gatsby finally became rich, Daisy had already married and had a child. When Daisy left her husband for Gatsby, the differences in values among them still kept the lovebirds apart. Daisy’s initial image as a beautiful woman, a wife and a mother crashed with every next chapter of the book.

Daisy is a woman born into her times, she is frivolous and featherbrained. For example, she is easily excited by the luxurious interior design of Gatsby’s mansion, the large wardrobe he possesses, and his perceived greatness in the eyes of her surroundings. Gatsby admits that the sound of her voice sounds like money. She is also a woman of great tragedy, as she is not able to live the life she truly wants. She first turns down Gatsby when they were young (and thus she betrays her true feelings, in fact), then she wants to be with him (because of his riches), but is too scared to leave her husband (where she betrays her feelings again).

Read our article about DAISY FROM THE GREAT GATSBY to see how her character unfolds in the novel

Tom Buchanan

If Jay Gatsby balances a constant battle between his two different personas, Tom is a personification of one set of them. He is overly selfish, confident in his uniqueness, projects physical strength, holds on steadily to his individualistic views, and is not shy in demonstrating his ignorance and limited mindset. Just like his wife, from his birth, Tom enjoyed being of high status and substantially benefiting from his family’s financial position. That’s why his morals and ideas about humanity are largely defined by being wealthy. For him, the horrors of other social classes and even death (like the death of Myrtle Wilson) are secondary concepts not worthy of his attention.

The external beauty of the Buchanan couple is contrasted with the ugliness inside of them, their emptiness, and their selfishness. Tom can spend long hours watching the shop windows, fascinated by the sparkles from the diamonds. Yet, he can’t hold a serious thought, even for a minute. Tom’s lack of development and personal progress throughout the pages of the book are set from the very first chapter, where the author presents him as: “…one of those men who reach such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one that everything afterward savors of anti-climax”.

Jordan Baker

Jordan is described in the novel as a dishonest, selfish, overly ambitious, and even cruel woman. She is undeniably pretty and devotes a lot of effort into her looks. But once the reader gets past her looks, she is empty. The romantic involvement between her and Nick ends once the young man is able to see into her soul and discover her emptiness. The couple has a completely different approach to life. Nick is careful when thinking about how his actions might affect the people that surround him. At the same time Jordan couldn’t care less about how she might influence other people; she only cares about what others think of her.

Jordan is cynical and overly self-opinionated. She wants to win and doesn’t always play fair. The young lady is not as rich as her friend Daisy, and that’s why she is determined to do whatever it takes to make her way into the world of the rich and famous. The author stresses the dishonesty of Jordan – that she is willing to do whatever it takes to mold reality to the way she wants it to be.

Meyer Wolfsheim

Mr. Wolfsheim is a secondary character in the novel who is not described in depth by the author. On the contrary, through his lines, Meyer Wolfsheim delivers some valuable information about the past and present of other characters in the novel, like Nick Carraway. Meyer knows Gatsby through business ventures. Meyer is even assumed to play a great role in the 1919 World Series. The dealings of Mr. Wolfsheim are clearly shady, which also casts doubt about the legitimacy of Gatsby’s wealth.

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Short Summary of The Great Gatsby Plot

The story is narrated by Nick Carraway, who is 30 years old and comes from a wealthy family. Chapter 1 tells us how he starts his business in credit dealings after returning from the war. He rented a house in West Egg across the bay from the house of his second cousin Daisy. Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan. Nick knows Tom from college, he spent some time with the couple in the past in Chicago. Tom is well-build physically and loaded financially to the point that “… he left Chicago and came east in a fashion that rather took your breath away: for instance he'd brought down a string of polo ponies from Lake Forest. It was hard to realize that a man in my own generation was wealthy enough to do that” (Chapter 1). Tom started cheating on his wife right after the engagement, she knows about it, but they both seem to ignore it. Tom even introduces Nick to his lover Myrtle Wilson, who also happens to be the wife of Tom’s friend Wilson. In chapter 2 Tom explains the ignorance of Wilson:

"Wilson? He thinks she goes to see her sister in New York. He's so dumb he doesn't know he's alive."

Next to Nick lives Jay Gatsby. His house is a huge villa that becomes flooded with people and parties every weekend. One day Nick gets an invitation to one of these parties. This is strange – usually people don’t wait for an invitation, they just show up. Not many of the people who attend the parties have seen the host, he remains a mystery to most of them. However, over time Nick becomes friends with Gatsby, and one day Jay asks Nick to set up an “accidental” meeting with his cousin Daisy.

Turns out Gatsby met Daisy five years ago when he was a lieutenant. The two fell in love, but the circumstances didn’t allow for them to be together. Right before marriage Daisy received a letter that almost made her call off the engagement. As one of her bridesmaids recalls in chapter 4:

“She wouldn't let go of the letter... she didn't say another word. We gave her spirits of ammonia and put ice on her forehead and hooked her back into her dress and half an hour later when we walked out of the room the pearls were around her neck and the incident was over. Next day at five o'clock she married Tom Buchanan without so much as a shiver and started off on a three months' trip to the South Seas”.

When the old love birds meet for the first time after so many years, both are very emotional. Jay shows Daisy his house, they throw a couple of memories about, and the feelings ignite once again. Daisy begins to frequently attend Gatsby’s parties. He wants her to leave her husband and run away with him. Tom enters into a battle for his wife. One day his friend Wilson finds out that Myrtle is unfaithful, but he doesn’t know that she is cheating on him with Tom. When Wilson tells Tom that he wants to take Myrtle away from this city, Tom realizes that he is losing not only his wife, but also his mistress:

Chapter 7 “Tom was feeling the hot whips of panic. His wife and his mistress, until an hour ago secure and inviolate, were slipping precipitately from his control”

Gatsby confronts Tom, telling him that Daisy has always loved him but only married Tom because Gatsby was poor when the two met. Trying to save his marriage, Tom tells Daisy that Jay’s income comes from a shady source to make her think twice before leaving her husband. Later, they take a trip. On their way home Daisy rides in a car with Gatsby, while everybody else is with Tom. At the same time, Myrtle argues with her husband and runs into the beige Rolls-Royce—thinking that it was Tom riding there. As a result, she gets run over and dies—the car doesn’t even stop. Afterwards, Jay tells Nick that it was Daisy driving the car.

Gatsby spends the whole following day next to Daisy’s mansion wanting to talk to her. Instead, Daisy packs her things and runs away with her husband, without leaving any address. In chapter 6 the reader finds out more about Gatsby’s life story: his real name is James Gatz. He changed his name at the age of 17 since “he had the name ready for a long time... The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself” (Chapter 6). Jay tells Nick about all the hardships he had to go through to become rich to finally be together with Daisy.

Tom tells Wilson that the car that killed his wife belongs to Gatsby. Having no hope for justice, he comes to Gatsby’s mansion, kills him, and then shoots himself as well. Nick calls all of the people who frequented Gatsby’s parties, but only three come to the funeral: Jay’s father, Nick, and one other party visitor. Everybody else ignores the funeral, as it is not as fun to attend them.

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The Great Gatsby Essay Sample

Explore a crafted example of literary analysis in our sample essay, offering new perspectives on The Great Gatsby.

Analysis of the Great Gatsby

Historical context.

Understanding the historical context helps us see how Fitzgerald was commenting on the society of his time. He shows us the dark side of the American Dream, where success often comes at a cost.

During the time when "The Great Gatsby" was written, the United States was going through a period called the Roaring Twenties. This was a time of economic prosperity, jazz music, and changing social norms. The economy was booming, and many people were getting rich quickly.

But underneath the glitz and glamour, there were some deep-rooted issues. The 1920s also saw a lot of social tensions, like racism, sexism, and the divide between the rich and the poor.

One important event during this time was Prohibition, which banned the sale and consumption of alcohol. This led to the rise of illegal bars called speakeasies and a surge in organized crime.

"The Great Gatsby" is set in this period, and it explores themes of wealth, power, and the American Dream. The characters in the novel are often chasing after wealth and status, but they also struggle with loneliness and emptiness.

Reception of the Book

The book wasn't an instant hit when it was first published in 1925. In fact, it didn't sell very well during author F. Scott Fitzgerald's lifetime. Critics at the time had mixed feelings about it. Some praised its lyrical prose and exploration of the American Dream, while others found its characters shallow and its themes bleak.

However, after Fitzgerald's death in 1940, there was a resurgence of interest in his work, and "The Great Gatsby" began to be seen as one of the greatest American novels. It became required reading in many schools and universities, and its reputation continued to grow over the years.

Today, "The Great Gatsby" is considered a classic of American literature. It's praised for its vivid depiction of the Jazz Age, its complex characters, and its exploration of themes like the corruption of the American Dream and the emptiness of wealth and privilege. It's been adapted into numerous films, stage productions, and even video games, further solidifying its place in the literary canon.

What Does The Great Gatsby Teach Us about Love?

The novel offers a complex perspective on love. On one hand, it portrays love as something idealistic and aspirational, particularly through the character of Jay Gatsby and his pursuit of Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby's love for Daisy is all-consuming and drives much of the plot. He sees her as the embodiment of his dreams and is willing to go to great lengths to win her back, even if it means compromising his morals and engaging in illegal activities.

However, beneath the glamour lies a stark truth: Daisy's heart is torn between past affection and present duty. This clash exposes the harsh reality of societal pressures, where wealth and status often overshadow genuine emotion.

Additionally, the novel hints at love's fleeting nature. Gatsby's romantic idealization of Daisy is based on his memories of their past together, but these memories are distorted and unreliable. Gatsby's inability to see Daisy as she truly is leads to his downfall, as he becomes fixated on an idealized version of her rather than the reality.

Themes in the Great Gatsby

The roaring twenties.

After World War 1, 1919-1929 were years of rapid economic growth for the United States which ended in the Great Depression in the 1930s. To some extent, the consequences of such rapid growth and the sudden fall that happened afterwards are pictured in “The Great Gatsby”. The book demonstrates how easily people forget the past and become careless. For example, the people that took advantage of Gatsby’s hospitality repaid their host by not bothering to get to know him. And everybody was fine with that, there was no demand or value in being sincere, attentive, or honest.

The American Dream

Jay Gatsby represents the icon of the American dream concept – he is a self-made man who went from being extremely poor to becoming unbelievably rich.

Chapter 6 “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people — his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all”

Yet through his hard work, he made it into high-class. But did the achievement of materialistic things really make him happy? The novel ends with a philosophical quote that once again reiterates the transience of life:

Chapter 9 “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”

Gatsby is not the last person to be swallowed and forgotten by a society of quick results and massive consumption, but maybe he was one of the better examples for teaching others to appreciate people for who they truly are.

Love is something that many books/movies/poems and other art creations praise. Love is what motivates Gatsby to achieve the wealth and high-status he enjoys when the reader meets him for the first time. But there is another side to the theme of love in “The Great Gatsby” – as it turns out, love can be true or fake. A person can fall in love with another person, but very often we fall in love with an image or ideal of the person that we want to believe in. While Jay has real feelings for Daisy, he admits that she loves money and comfort more than she loves him. Daisy thinks she loves Jay, but in fact, she is so overwhelmed by the artificial standards set by the society that she can’t even love herself.

Class (Old Money, New Money, No Money)

The novel demonstrates how much class influences one’s position in society. Tom and Daisy are both born into wealth, and their characters are formed by the benefits that their wealth produces. They are extremely reckless people that ruin people’s lives and then hide behind the wall of their wealth. Moreover, there is a distinction between people born into wealth and those who have earned it. First of all, the author manages to demonstrate a lot of positive traits in Gatsby’s character (exactly because he is of the “new money generation”). He knows the value of money and he has the goodness in him that helped him achieve his accomplishments. On the other hand, there is a prejudice of old money towards the new wealthy generation: Tom rushes to point out to Daisy that Jay is rich, but the origins of his wealth are different, and it rids Daisy of the little courage she had collected to leave her husband for Gatsby.

Past and Future

“The Great Gatsby” describes a happy time in American history that is distinctively different from the past (when there was war and horror) and the future of that time (when the Great Depression hit). This theme is reflected in characters that enjoy the present, without thinking about the future or any consequences their actions might take. Yet, some characters are stuck in the past—like Gatsby, who loves the Daisy he met years ago yet refuses to notice how she’s changed. The novel also sends a message to not judge people too quickly—all of us have some hidden truth that shaped the way we behave today.

Symbolism in the Great Gatsby

The Green Light and the Color Green

The green light, in “The Great Gatsby”, is associated with happiness, prosperity, and abundance. Traditionally, it is regarded as Gatsby’s desire to be with Daisy. But, there are other ways to interpret this symbol. The visitors would follow the flashing green light when coming to Gatsby’s lavish parties. Daisy often watched and listened to those parties while seeing the green glow on the dock across the bay. For Daisy, green was the color of richness and desire. She says in chapter 6:

“These things excite me so… If you want to kiss me any time during the evening, Nick, just let me know and I'll be glad to arrange it for you. Just mention my name. Or present a green card. I'm giving out green…"

The light also symbolizes the birth and death of Gatsby: Jay Gatsby was reborn together with the luxurious living he had made for himself, but it wasn’t long until this new life had ended. As Nick says in chapter 1:

“Involuntarily I glanced seaward and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away… When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness.”

You might also be interested in discovering WHAT IS SYMBOLISM IN LITERATURE

The Eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg

The eyes of Doctor Eckleburg are first presented in chapter 2:

“The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic — their retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose.”

They are nothing more than the leftovers of a portrait or a picture, but in the novel they represent the symbol of somebody who is watching over the main characters. The eyes don’t judge them, but the tension is there. The fact that these eyes are abandoned demonstrates how uncomfortable Daisy and the other main characters felt whilst seeing them. It is almost like looking in the mirror and not liking what you see – but, after all, it is you who gives the meaning to the image you see in it.

The Valley of Ashes

The Valley of Ashes is the territory that the main characters pass when traveling between West Egg and New York. It is a long stretch of devastated land that “hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter of a mile” (Chapter 2). It is associated with greyness, dullness, and boredom. The people, houses, and streets there are so uninteresting and ordinary that the author describes it as: “ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” (chapter 2). It is the place that all of the characters of The Great Gatsby want to avoid the most, yet they have to bypass it when traveling to New York. Thus, The Valley of Ashes is a symbol of the bitter reality that so many people try to escape in their lives.

East and West

The contrasts and dramatic differences between East and West in the USA are not new symbols for literature. The East, in this case, represents wealth, fame, and brightness. The West represents tradition, origins, and values. In the story, East Egg is the place where traditionally, rich people lived. While West Egg is, in Nick’s own words, “the less fashionable of the two” (Chapter 1). Another way to interpret this symbol is that East and West represent the old and new wealth, or the real and fake lives characters lead.

Gatsby's Mansion

Gatsby’s mansion is the place where most of the action starts. It is the symbol of his wealth and his hard efforts to become rich or to be “worthy” – worthy of Daisy, and worthy of the people she surrounds herself with. Gatsby bought this mansion knowing that the love of his life lives nearby:

Chapter 4 “He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths so that he could "come over" some afternoon to a stranger's garden”

The mansion is marvelous and beautiful, but it is not a home where Jay Gatsby feels most happy. Thus, it also resembles many of the characters in the book – they are pretty on the outside, but that doesn’t make them good people. Many of Gatsby’s guests know his mansion, but don’t even know what its owner looks like.

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What Is the Main Message of The Great Gatsby?

What are the three main points of great gatsby, what does the green light mean in great gatsby, why can't gatsby see the green light.

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The Great Gatsby: Book Review

“ The Great Gatsby” written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is the bestseller published in 1925. This book is a masterpiece in the writings of Fitzgerald. It’s a classic for the readers and most prominent in the American fiction. It occurred as the milestone as it has been reread by many readers. It is a benchmark for the all readers, authors and contemporary writer.

The Great Gatsby involves the story of Jay Gatsby. In this book the character being played, namely Jay, is a character that is in the conquest of win back his only and first love. This character plays the role of an American (University of Adelaide). This book involves the psychology of American people. How they are tempted for the wealth and how they are busy in living their lives. It’s about Americans and their social nature as well as the love and lust with the work (Fitzgerald and Prigozy).

In this book the author has given the goal to think rich and be rich psyche. The author himself is thinking the same. Here the author has personalized his personality aspect in the form of a character in his novel (University of South California).

The author has described the love between a man and woman in a depressed outlook of thwarted love. The author has taken the era out of time which was basically the ear of Jazz and the declined social prosperity of America. America right after the war, experience the raise of wealth when the stock market reached the highest of the height (Fitzgerald and Prigozy).

This book was accepted as the biography of the American state in which all of the problems America have faced in that very time of the war and how American got out of the period. This book was greatly accepted by many of the readers and was entitled as the touchstone for the American society (Fitzgerald and Prigozy).

America right after receiving the raise in wealth became the victim of the deadly phenomenon “materialism”. In this way the families with any social background became able to make fortune. One more important aspect of this novel deals the amendment of 1919, which banned the sale of alcohol. This gave rise in the need and demand for alcohol in almost all the social classes. Because of this demand there was a clear observation of rise in crime ration (Fitzgerald and Prigozy).

The author or the novel moreover badges the characters and especially Jay, with the all these social changes and the followers of these social trends. Jay is even ready to gain the wealth by any means whether it’s the right way or the wrong way. He is just doing so to impress Daisy, the girl who is his beloved (Fitzgerald and Prigozy).

This book widely possess all the main features of the Americans run for the wealth and keeping themselves highly renowned in the society, not with the aid of the noble actions but by increasing the wealth and the power to get what they desire for. The comforts they deserve I life was the name they used instead of calling the root cause, materialism (94).

This novel is a touchstone for all, which is being reread by many. This novel tells the story of Americans, how they started to get to the place where they are standing. This novel compasses and works as the alarm clock for the American people and their influence on the next generations. This novel is still the best seller in America.

Works Cited

Fitzgerald, S and R Prigozy. The great Gatsby. Oxford University Press, 1998.

University of Adelaide. “The Great Gatsby.” 2007. Web.

University of South California. 2003. A brief life of Fitzerland . Web.

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The Great Gatsby Essay Examples
The Great Gatsby Essay Topic Examples. Whether you want to analyze the American Dream, compare and contrast characters, vividly describe settings and characters, persuade readers with your viewpoints, or share personal experiences related to the story, these essay ideas provide a diverse perspective on the themes and complexities within the book.
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is F. Scott Fitzgerald's third novel. It was published in 1925. Set in Jazz Age New York, it tells the story of Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, and his pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, a wealthy young woman whom he loved in his youth. Commercially unsuccessful upon publication, the book is now considered a classic of American fiction.
The Great Gatsby Review
Book Title: The Great Gatsby Book Description: 'The Great Gatsby' is an unforgettable and beautiful novel that explores the nature of dreams and their value in contemporary society. Book Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald Book Edition: First Limited Edition Book Format: Hardcover Publisher - Organization: Charles Scribner's Sons Date published: April 10, 1925 ISBN: -14-006229-2
A Summary and Analysis of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is the quintessential Jazz Age novel, capturing a mood and a moment in American history in the 1920s, after the end of the First World War. Rather surprisingly, The Great Gatsby sold no more than 25,000 copies in F. Scott Fitzgerald's lifetime. It has now sold over 25 million copies. If Fitzgerald had stuck with one of the ...
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The publication of his first novel, This Side of Paradise, in 1920, made Fitzgerald a literary star. He married Zelda one week later. In 1924, the couple moved to Paris, where Fitzgerald began work on The Great Gatsby. Though now considered his masterpiece, the novel sold only modestly. The Fitzgeralds returned to the United States in 1927.
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The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published in 1925 in New York City. It is considered to be Fitzgerald's best and most famous novel.It depicts the lives of characters entangled in the New York City social scene, in dangerous love affairs, and endless wealth.Narrated by Nick Carraway, a man whose life mirrored Fitzgerald's own, he takes the reader into the mysterious world of Jay ...
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The American West and East. Quotes. Set in the Jazz Age around New York City and the fictional Long Island towns of West Egg and East Egg, The Great Gatsbytells the story of Jay Gatsby, a self-made man who dreams of turning back time to regain his first love, Daisy Buchanan. In the process, the novel explores the culture of the Roaring Twenties ...
The Great Gatsby Book Review and Summary: [Essay Example], 1956 words
The novel dives deep into the era and draws the audience into the mysterious nature of the main characters. To reflect on my experience reading The Great Gatsby, a book review essay is written. There are four major characters in this book. ; Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan and Nick Carraway. Although the characters Jordan Baker, Myrtle ...
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He has always been extremely ambitious, creating the Jay Gatsby persona as a way of transforming himself into a successful self-made man—the ideal of the American Dream. Nick, Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, and Jordan get together for lunch. At this lunch, Daisy and Gatsby are planning to tell Tom that she is leaving him.
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In New Essays on 'The Great Gatsby, ... A few pages later Nick reports: ... The Great Gatsby is a dishonest book because the culture from which it derives and which it reflects is radically ...
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These essay examples would give you detailed analysis on The Great Gatsby, explain the plot, each character and cast, and their part in the entire storyline. Beginning/Foreword. The Great Gatsby, written by F.Scott Fitzgerald and published in 1925 by Charles Scribner's Sons, tells the story of Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, and the ...
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Short Summary of The Great Gatsby Plot. The story is narrated by Nick Carraway, who is 30 years old and comes from a wealthy family. Chapter 1 tells us how he starts his business in credit dealings after returning from the war. He rented a house in West Egg across the bay from the house of his second cousin Daisy.
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