The book starts off with a young man named Nick Carraway. Nick decided to move from Minnesota to New York in 1922 to learn more about the bonds business. He rents a rather small house in West Egg, which is a district of Long Island. West Egg is where all of what they call the “New Rich” live, in their gigantic homes, wearing overpriced clothes and accessories, and driving expensive automobiles. Nick receives word of his next door neighbor the mysterious man named Jay Gatsby. Gatsby throws these huge, extravagant, and ridiculous parties every Saturday night.
Nick’s cousin Daisy Buchanan lives across the bay in East Egg, which is where most of the people with old money live. One night Nick is invited to go to dinner at Daisy’s house with her and her husband Tom. Nick knows Tom from when they went to Yale together. When Nick arrives at Daisy’s he meets a slightly dark yet beautiful women named Jordan Baker. Jordan is a professional tennis player, and Nick later becomes romantically involved with her. While they were eating dinner Tom received a phone call and being the rude and self-loathing person he is, he took the call. When Tom left the table Daisy seemed distraught and left the table herself to go after him. Jordan then took the opportunity to discuss Tom and Daisy’s marriage. She told Nick about Tom’s lover, Myrtle Wilson, and how she was married to a man, George Wilson, who owned a gas station in the Valley of Ashes. The Valley of Ashes is a dusty, desolate, industrial dump between New York and Long Island. She also said that Tom owned an apartment in New York that was just for the affair. After dinner when Tom was escorting Nick out to his car he invited Nick to New York with him to meet Myrtle and some of the bonds ...
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...must have been because they were having an affair. When Tom, Nick, and Jordan arrived back in East Egg, Tom offered for them to come inside for dinner. Nick declined and started to go home. Along the way home he came upon Gatsby waiting in the bushes. Gatsby told him that Daisy had been driving the car when it hit Myrtle.
The next day Nick was invited over to Gatsby’s house to go for a swim before it started to get cold, Nick declined. George showed up over to Gatsby’s while he was swimming and, George shot Gatsby dead and then turned the gun on himself. Nick throws a small funeral for Gatsby where he and only two other people show up to pay their respects. Tom and Daisy skip town and do not look back. Nick eventually leaves himself saying that he is not cut out to live in the East. He says that the people are shady and that no one truly cares for anyone out East.
A part of the novel that had heavy effect on Nick Carraway was when he hides Toms secrets and as well as Daisy and Gatsby’s. Tom reveals that he has an affair with another woman named Myrtle, but Nick doesn't tell daisy about it. Also, Gatsby was Daisy’s first love. Nick helped them meet, and have affairs behind Tom’s back. He was covering the mistake of others which can end up in huge problems if revealed. Sadly, Nick decides to stay silent from both side, and ended up getting along with everything. Because of this, another mess occurred; Myrtle dies in a car accident. Slowly, Nick becomes devastated with all this, and starts to change a bit.
After finally realizing the situation, Tom agrees with Daisy's suggestion that they should all go to New York together. Nick rides with Jordan and Tom in Gatsby's car; Gatsby and Daisy ride together in Tom's car. Stopping for gas at Wilson's garage, Nick, Tom, and Jordan learn that Wilson has discovered his wife's affair and plans to move her to the West. Nick perceives that Tom and Wilson are in the same position.
The story takes place in an area near New York called "Long Island." It is in a shape of an egg. They focus in on places on there named "East Egg", "West Egg", and "The Valley of Ashes." West egg is for people who have recently made their fortunes. The characters Nick and Gatsby live there. The Valley of Ashes is for people who are not wealthy. The Wilson family lives there. The East Egg is for people who inherit their money. The characters Daisy and Tom live there. Daisy is a distant cousin one removed of Nick’s. One of her friends is a character named Jordan baker.
Thesis: How does F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, compares the American Dream in today's generation and back in the 1920's-30's? What did the American Dream really mean and why? So why did this issue happen? Do you think America can change in the future? What is the american dream really about? When did the phrase: ‘american dream’ started? Have you ever wondered what the 20s and 30s were like back then? How can this so called dream ever bring hope to our country? These are all the questions I would like to know myself. I’ve found three online sources & one source from the novel that can help explain about the 20th century, the Gatsby novel, today's generation, and about Mr.Gatsby from the book.
Great literary characters are immortalized and perpetually discussed not because they are individually so grand and majestic, but because they exist as more than themselves. A great literary character truly exists in the external and symbolic associations that the author and audience apply. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald reveals social and emotional elements of his character Daisy Buchanan through the symbols of white dresses and a pearl necklaces in order to convey a message concerning detrimental class values, a theme that can be better understood by comparing Daisy to a diamond.
It is New York in the 1920s. Nick Carraway moves to the West Egg from Minnesota. He lives in a small house next to Jay Gatsby, a mysterious man who throws lavish parties, and decides he wants to know more about him. Then conflicts ensue about affairs and the secrets about all of the characters’ pasts. Nick, Daisy, and Tom (Daisy’s husband) “hang out” and later on, Gatsby joins on their travels. One day, when they are on an outing, Daisy hits Myrtle (Tom’s mistress) accidentally with Gatsby’s car and Myrtle dies. Tom then assures Daisy that they will cover up who killed Myrtle. Wilson thinks Gatsby killed his wife, so in a fit of madness goes to Gatsby’s house and kills him and
As depicted by Scott F. Fitzgerald, the 1920s is an era of a great downfall both socially and morally. As the rich get richer, the poor remain to fend for themselves, with no help of any kind coming their way. Throughout Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, the two “breeds” of wealthier folk consistently butt heads in an ongoing battle of varying lifestyles. The West Eggers, best represented by Jay Gatsby, are the newly rich, with little to no sense of class or taste. Their polar opposites, the East Eggers, are signified by Tom and Daisy Buchanan; these people have inherited their riches from the country’s wealthiest old families and treat their money with dignity and social grace. Money, a mere object in the hands of the newly wealthy, is unconscientiously squandered by Gatsby in an effort to bring his only source of happiness, Daisy, into his life once again. Over the course of his countless wild parties, he dissipates thousands upon thousands of dollars in unsuccessful attempts to attract Daisy’s attention. For Gatsby, the only way he could capture this happiness is to achieve his personal “American Dream” and end up with Daisy in his arms. Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy is somewhat detrimental to himself and the ones around him; his actions destroy relationships and ultimately get two people killed.
Think about being separated from the one you love. You thought this person would be in your life forever and always. You may have spent days and weeks thinking and planning your future together, but then one day they disappear from your life. That person has moved on, and chose to live a life that no longer including you. It would be assumed in most cases that the love of your life is no longer the person they were before, so should you stick around and try to win them back? In the case of Gatsby and Daisy, Gatsby did not realize Daisy would be different, and although he still thinks he is in love with Daisy, is he in love with her for who she is now, or the idea of everything she used to be the answer may shock you, and this is all due to the unreal expectations he has for her to fill. Because Gatsby is not in love with who she is at the time they are reunited. Instead, he is caught up in the idea of who she used to be. The actions of Gatsby, how he talks about her, and the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy once they are back together again show who Gatsby is really in love with, and that is the old Daisy.
After Myrtle was hit and killed by a car, Tom told George, her husband, that the person driving the car was Gatsby. It was actually Daisy who killed Myrtle, but Gatsby paid the price for her mistake. George Wilson went to Gatsby’s mansion and shot Gatsby while he was in the pool. After killing Gatsby, George took the gun and commited suicide. Then, Tom took Daisy and their child and moved away and left Nick Carraway without his cousin or his friend. Tom did not care about Gatsby’s death, even though he was someone his wife
Throughout the novel, one of Tom 's biggest careless acts was when he cheated on Daisy. Tom is a cocky, confident man shown many times throughout the novel like when Nick arrived at his house and "Tom Buchanan in riding clothes was standing with his legs apart on the front porch" (Fitzgerald 6). His stance showed his arrogance, and how highly he thought of himself because of his wealth. Tom was a man who often acted without thinking things through, like having an affair with Myrtle. Despite both Tom and Myrtle being married, they both had affairs. Tom doesn 't hide his affair from Nick and introduces him to his mistress Myrtle at Wilson 's garage. Tom doesn 't seem to care if anyone finds out because he feels as though nothing would change due to his wealth. While at Myrtle 's husbands garage, Tom tells Myrtle to meet him at the train station. They end up going to their apartment in New York City that they keep for their affair. While at the Morningside Height 's apartment Myrtle starts to talk about Tom 's wife Daisy, ""Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!" shouted Mrs. Wilson. "I 'll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai-"" (Fitzgerald 37). Tom didn 't like Myrtle overstepping her boundaries and to show
The word visually stunning could be used to describe the 2013 Baz Luhrman directed adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s timeless novel The Great Gatsby. Speaking of the director, I enjoyed his portrayal of the lavish lifestyle and carefree party like attitude in such a beautiful visual experience. The way in which the party scenes were filmed in the movie made perfect sense compared to the source material and were something I have never seen done by any other directors in a live action film. Another positive for me about this film was the soundtrack. When I first started watching the film I expected to hear old time music prevalent in the 20s. I however was pleasantly surprised when I learned the soundtrack was compiled by Jay-Z and featured many tracks I enjoyed featuring him either alone or accompanied by another musical guest. While Jay-Z is not exactly an accurate representation of the music of the 20s, the soundtrack adds a modern flavour over the previously mentioned beautiful backgrounds and architecture. The story however is where the movie at times falls flat. When stripped down to basics it is nothing more than a generic love story with a few twists added in for extra kick. The characters in the same vain can be very bland and not make you care much for them due to their backstories not being deeply explored. The only character that I found to be interesting was Jay Gatsby because of the mystical aura that surrounds his character at the beginning of the movie that leads you to want to uncover more of this ever mysterious man. All in all the visuals clearly outpace
As Nick and Gatsby become more acquainted, Nick is invited to dine with Gatsby for lunch. They arrive at the restaurant, and eat while engaging with one of Gatsby’s business partners. After the three enjoy their lunch, Nick bumps into Tom Buchanan, the husband of Nick’s cousin, Daisy. Attempting to introduce Gatsby to Tom, an “…unfamiliar look of embarrassment came over Gatsby face… I turned towards Mr. Gatsby, but he was no longer there” (74). The reason for his disappearance is unknown, thus adding to the ambiguity of Gatsby.
Nick is astonished at this information. He finds it hard to believe that Tom, with a beautiful wife and child, would be having an affair with some woman in the city. Miss Baker thinks “everybody knew” about the affair, yet Daisy is still with Tom. Being too ignorant to make herself believe it’s true, Daisy is willing to stay in the marriage, even when she is presented with an opportunity from Gatsby to escape. Daisy is willing to stay with Tom just because he has “old money,” and that shows how important it is to her. Everyone else’s morals are just as bad as Tom’s because they know about what’s going on and know that it’s wrong, but they don’t say anything about it. Later in the story, when Wilson is looking for the driver of the yellow car that killed Myrtle, he also suspects that person of having an affair with...
While in a New York City hotel room one evening late in the summer with Nick, Daisy, Tom, and Gatsby, there is a massive confrontation during which Tom exposes Gatsby's corrupt business dealings. Jay and Daisy leave to drive back to Long Island together with her driving Gatsby's car "to calm her down" when she accidentally hits and kills Tom's mistress. The car doesn't stop after the accident and speeds on towards Long Island. Gatsby's charm has faded with his exposed corruption. While Nick goes off to work in New York City the next day, the dead woman's vengeful husband, told that it had been Gatsby's car that killed his wife by a vengeful Tom Buchanan, shoots Gatsby to death in his own swimming pool and then kills himself.
Daisy was Nick’s second cousin once removed, and Tom Buchanan was Daisy’s hulking brute of a husband and classmate of Nick’s from college. Jordan Baker, a prominent tennis player of the time, was staying with Daisy and Tom. As they sat down and chatted, it was Jordan who mentioned Gatsby, saying that she had been to one of his extravagant parties that he held every weekend. The four sat down to dinner when Tom received a phone call, which Daisy suspected to be from Tom’s mistress. Afterwards, Daisy and Nick talked and Jordan and Tom went out to walk about the grounds. Daisy talked about her little daughter and how when she was born Tom was not even there and she had wished out loud that she would be a fool, for that was the only way she could ever be happy. The four met again at the house and then Jordan went to bed and Nick went home.