The Great Gatsby Summary & Analysis By F. Scott Fitzgerald

BBC says it to be the world’s one of the most misunderstood novels.  And they emphasize that not just one there are many reasons for it.  They say whenever asked about their first impression of The Great Gatsby, people relate it with glitz, glamour and parties!  Is the book really about this shimmery, shiny world, or are there deeper thoughts?  Let's find out in this blog!

But before entering the world of The Great Gatsby, let's know about its author F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Who Was F. Scott Fitzgerald?

Francis Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896, and was given his name in honour of his ancestor Francis Scott Key, who wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner." Fitzgerald was raised in the Minnesota city of St. Paul.  Despite being a bright boy, he struggled in school and was transferred to a boarding school in New Jersey in 1911.  He was only a middling student there but nevertheless managed to get into Princeton in 1913.  But even then, no luck favoured him academically!  He struggled with schoolwork and was disengaged throughout college, so he never received a degree.  Instead, in 1917, as World War I was drawing to a close, he enlisted in the army.

He met and fell in love with Zelda Sayre, a wild and beautiful seventeen-year-old, while he was serving in the army.  Zelda eventually consented to marry him, but due to her overwhelming desire for wealth, amusement, and leisure, she postponed their nuptials until he was able to show his prosperity and accomplishments.

 

 

His love for Zelda and passion for writing helped him fulfil his dreams.  Finally, Fitzgerald became a literary success after the release of This Side of Paradise in 1920, gaining enough money and notoriety to persuade Zelda to marry him.

Fitzgerald was the most well-known writer of 1920s America, which he referred to as "the Jazz Age." One of the finest literary works of this age, when the American economy was booming, and the country was experiencing unparalleled levels of prosperity, is The Great Gatsby.

The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald's most well-known book, which was released in 1925, contains many of these early-life incidents.  A smart young man from Minnesota who attended an Ivy League institution, Nick Carraway is similar to Fitzgerald.  The title character of The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, a sensitive young man who idolizes riches and elegance and who additionally develops affection for an attractive young woman while stationed at a military base in the South, also has some traits in common with Fitzgerald.

But it was unfortunate for the world that it could not enjoy much of his talented work.  Following the literary success of The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald embraced a frantic carefree lifestyle of excess and dissipation while frantically trying to win Zelda over by writing to make a living from it.  But when the euphoria of the1920's faded into the despair of the Great Depression, Zelda had a nervous breakdown, and Fitzgerald struggled with drinking, which made it in 1934 and sold short tales to The Saturday Evening Post.  He departed for Hollywood in 1937 to write screenplays, and while he was at work on his book The Love of the Last Tycoon, he passed away from a heart attack in 1940 only at the age of 44.

Introducing You to The Great Gatsby

Characterisation in The Great Gatsby

In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses characterization to bring his characters to life for his audience.  Tom Buchanan is revealed to be a strong bull of a man to the reader through the eyes of the narrator Nick Carraway.  People are drawn to his wife, Daisy, because she is a wonderful and engaging person.  George and Myrtle Wilson are each described by Fitzgerald in terms of the other: George is a broken-down man, whereas Myrtle is brimming with life.  The exuberance and decadence of Jay Gatsby's parties define him as the leading man.  He has an uncanny ability to make everyone around him feel known and understood.

Here is the list of the main characters in the story and their character analysis –

Jay Gatsby

The protagonist of the novel is named Jay Gatsby a 30-year-old guy who struggled a lot to gain power, wealth and reputation but got it all through businesses that weren’t considered very legal in the eyes of judiciary. Although Gatsby has always desired wealth, his primary driving force in accumulating it was his fondness for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, whom he had first met in Louisville as a young officer in the military before departing to serve in World War I in 1917.

Gatsby committed himself to obtaining Daisy back; his acquisition of millions of dollars, his purchase of a garish mansion on West Egg, and his extravagant weekly parties were all only meant to that end.

Fitzgerald doesn't provide most of this material until pretty late in the book.  You already know that Gatsby has no proper verbal appearance in the story until Chapter 3. But yet his notoriety precedes him.  Author plays very clever here by portraying him as the mysterious and distant man who is known for throwing shimmery and glamorous lavish parites at his property every week. Not just stunning attractive women but also strong men were ready to court this man. With this description the author tries to build an image of Gatsby who is loved and adored by one and all. Not just that even after introducing his popularity and influential personality the author did not reveal any details about his family background or how was he bought up. Neither did he say anything about Jay’s source of income. He kept playing with the readers’ imagination.

But as you read through the book you’ll get to see the transformation of the love sick boy to this powerful wealthy man.

In order to symbolize his self-reinvention, Gatsby physically invented his own identity and changed his name from James Gatz.  Gatsby has a remarkable ability to make his goals and desires come true, as evidenced by his unrelenting search for Daisy.  Gatsby's ability to reinvent himself is what gives him his quality of "greatness" and thus justifies the title "The Great Gatsby".

Tom Buchanan

Tom’s identification comes from his physical features. He is portrayed from the very beginning as the very mentally strong man who also has some real good and tough physical features. He is said to have a “cruel body” with  excessive power. Nick the narrator of the story all these powers come from his (Tom’s) participation in college sports.

Tom steadfastly insists that they have always been fond of one another and that they always will be, despite the fact that it is revealed at the end of the novel that both Daisy and Tom have cheated on each other.  Tom's gruff mentality uses threats and violence to keep power due to his extreme physical and mental toughness.

In his early years, Tom was a well-known football player across the country, but as his moment in the spotlight passed, and his reputation faded, everything else in his life felt like "an anti-climax." Tom clearly has a victim mentality, which may be attributed to this sense of melancholy.  When Tom hears of Daisy's relationship with Gatsby, he has no cause to feel aggrieved because he, has had a much worse adulterous relationship.  

Daisy Buchanan

Daisy is a stunning young woman from Louisville, Kentucky, who is loosely modelled on Fitzgerald's wife, Zelda.  She is the cousin of Nick and the love interest of Gatsby.  When Daisy was a young debutante in Louisville, she was very well-liked by the military personnel stationed close by, including Jay Gatsby.

After winning Daisy's heart, Gatsby makes a commitment to wait for him as he departs for the war.  But in 1919, she decided to wed Tom Buchanan, a young man from a respectable, aristocratic family who could guarantee her a luxurious existence and had her parents' approval.

Gatsby committed himself to get Daisy back after 1919, making her the sole object of his aspirations.

Daisy is quite a contrast to Gatsby's dream woman.  She is attractive and endearing but also impulsive, vain, uninterested, and sarcastic.  Nick describes her as a reckless individual who destroys things before hiding behind her money.  Daisy reveals her true personality in Chapter 7 when she opts for Tom over Gatsby and later permits Gatsby to receive the blame for the death of Myrtle Wilson despite the fact that she was the one operating the vehicle.  Finally, Daisy and Tom leave without leaving a forwarding address and decide not to attend Gatsby's burial.

Daisy stands in for the immoral East Egg set's aristocratic attitudes in Fitzgerald's vision of America in the 1920s.

Nick Carraway

If Gatsby represents one aspect of Fitzgerald's personality—the flamboyant celebrity who sought and exalted money in an effort to win the love of his life—Nick represents another—the sombre, contemplative Midwesterner lost in the gaudy East.

Keeping this alone in mind, there can be no better narrator than Nick of The Great Gatsby.

Nick's disposition makes him a good choice to narrate The Great Gatsby.  He describes himself as tolerant, open-minded, reserved, and a good listener in Chapter 1, and as a result, people frequently chat to him and open up to him about their secrets.  Particularly Gatsby grows to rely on him and see him as a friend.

But frequently, he serves as Fitzgerald's voice, as in Chapter 9's concluding lengthy reflection on time as well as the American dream.

FAQ

1. Why did Daisy decide to marry Tom?

Daisy’s fondness for wealth influenced her to get married to Tom despite having certain feelings for Jay.

2. How are west and east egg different from each other?

West Egg is seen as less affluent because Gatsby and other residents of the neighbourhood are "new money." In simple words you can say that East egg is modest and humble who do not feel it necessary to flaunt what they have whereas the West egg are snooty who loves in showing off their richness in front of others.

3. Who Daisy loves Tom or Gatsby?

Daisy appears dissatisfied with her marriage to Tom right away in the book.  She became intoxicated the evening before their wedding and instructed Jordan to inform everyone that she had changed her mind.  Daisy ultimately decides on Tom and even permits him to inform George that Gatsby killed Myrtle.  Daisy may have once been in love with Gatsby, but she no longer values her relationship with Tom's wealth, prestige, and independence more than she does.

4. Why is Myrtlle attracted to Tom?

Despite the fact that George Wilson seems to be a loving and dedicated husband, Myrtle says she has been unhappy since the day of their wedding.  Myrtle believed that because George had to borrow a suit from a friend in order to attend the wedding, "he wasn't fit to lick [her] shoe." On the other hand, Tom promises Myrtle the lifestyle she wants and is strong and affluent.  Myrtle, despite coming from a humble home, thinks she deserves more without having to work for it, and as Tom's mistress, she can at least present herself as a member of a better social class.

5. Old money vs new money – what does it mean in The Great Gatsby

Because their fortune is derived from long-standing family ties, old money stands out.  The phrase "new money" describes folks who became wealthy on their own.  The "old money" was regarded as the elite then (Daisy's world).  In Gatsby's culture, "new money" was also perceived as less sophisticated and stylish.

6. How did Gatsby grow rich?

Even if Gatsby is a made-up figure, it seems unlikely that a person in the 1920s could afford to live such a luxurious life.  Some people think he was a drug dealer, while others think he was a tax evader.  Others, however, contend that he sold cognac before becoming wealthy and influential.

7. What is Gatsby’s real name and background?

Jay Gatsby's real name is James Gatz.  He was the son of a poor farmer from North Dakota.  Gatsby (or Gatz, to be exact) did not come from San Francisco, as he claimed.  He attended St Olaf's College, which was not a lie.  However, he dropped out two years later and decided to make a name for himself.

8. What is the meaning of the Great Gatsby ending?

Fitzgerald conveys a number of messages by abandoning his readers with a void in their hearts. He first depicts Gatsby's dissatisfaction with the American dream. The second feature is a reflection of Fitzgerald over the Interbellum. Finally, the author invites discussion about how each reader sees their history and future.

9. Is Great Gatsby significant in the modern times?

Gatsby's story is just as important today as it was when it was written, even if it is a commentary on a different time and set of characters. because it examines topics that are universal: human follies, the futility of social structures, and man's struggle with time and destiny.

10. What are the major themes of The Great Gatsby?

The four major themes in The Great Gatsby are

• Justice
• Power
• Greed
• Betrayal