The Great Gatsby
The protagonist in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is Jay Gatsby. He is the one that gives the name to the book. The central character is Mr. Gatsby. However, Nick Carraway opens the novel as the narrator. He is involved in all events throughout the novel, yet he does not play in a significant role. Gatsby is a wealthy New Yorker who is known for his extravagant parties that he throws every weekend. He lives in a mansion next door to Nick Carraway. Nick is a young mid-westerner from a family who came to New York to enter the bond business. Daisy is Nick's second cousin. She carries herself in an insignificant manner. While she seems to be naive, she claims to be extremely sophisticated. Daisy's husband Tom, is from the mid-west like Nick. Tom is a former athlete at Yale. It is soon revealed in the novel that Tom is having an affair with a woman in the city. When Nick arrives in New York, he decides to visit his relatives, the Buchanans, who live in East Egg. When Nick arrives at the Buchanans, they already have a visitor, Jordan Baker, who is a professional golfer and a close friend of Daisy's. Tom Buchanan takes Nick into New York, and on the way they stop at George Wilson's garage. Tom
Nick and Jordan Baker attend a party at Gatsby's mansion. Only a few of the people that attended Gatsby's party were invited guests, some did not even know Gatsby. When Nick first meets Gatsby, he does not recognize him. Gatsby asks to speak to Jordan Baker alone, and after talking to with Gatsby, she tells Nick that she learned some remarkable news, which she can not yet tell him. During this time in the novel, Nick and Jordan begin a half-hearted romance. They occasionally spend time with one another, while often losing sight of one another. Some time later in the novel, Gatsby visits Nick's home and invites him to lunch. He informs Nick that he is from a wealthy family from San Francisco and went to school at Oxford after serving in the Great War. Nick suspects that he is lying to him, but he is not sure. The true story of Gatsby is revealed later on in the novel. He was born as James Gatz in North Dakota. He had his name legally changed when he turned seventeen, soon after he met the wealthy Dan Cody, who served as his mentor until he died. Cody introduced Gatsby to the life of the wealthy. Gatsby tells Nick that Ms. Baker will soon tell him her remarkable news. While Gatsby and Nick are having lunch, Gatsby introduces Nick to an associate, Meyer Wolfsheim. When Nick notices the Buchanan's there, Gatsby decides to avoid them. Later, Jordan tells Nick the story of Gatsby, and how he had fallen in love with Daisy Buchanan before the war and implying that he is still in love with her. She also implies that Daisy has been in love with Gatsby before as well. Gatsby asks Nick to arrange a meeting between him and Daisy. Gatsby has everything all figured out perfect. When he shows her his mansion, he is trying to show her his wealth and possessions. Gatsby acts different around Daisy, as if he is nervous. Gatsby had imagined this great reuniting with Daisy and he was preparing himself for disappointment. F. Scott Fitzgerald went to Newman school in New Jersey. Later he went to Princeton. "Half of his major stories had already been published before his masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, appeared in 1925 when he was twenty-eight" (Kuehl xi). "The Great Gatsby is Fitzgerald's best work, his most highly satisfactory novel" (Eble 88). According to David Parker "The Great Gatsby is a masterpiece not by American standards alone" (141). The novel has many fundamental characteristics including directness, and simplicity. Fitzgerald arranges the plot of the novel to develop slowly toward a violent encounter and an ironic ending. The parallel plots in the novel involve the attraction that Nick has to Jordan and Tom's affair with Myrtle. The dramatic climax occurs when Myrtle is accidentally killed. Along with Myrtle, her husband Wilson kills Gatsby and himself. "Another reviewer described the book as 'a superb impressionistic painting, vivid in colour, and sparkling with meaning'" (Miller 32). "In this scene, in which all the color symbols are born, Nick tells us that 'the only completely stationary object in the room was an enormous couch on which two young women were buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon. They were both in white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in the house'" (Schneider 146). The color white in the novel is symbolizi
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2255
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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