Analysis Of The Great Gatsby

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In the beginning of the summer of 1922, Nick Carraway, main character and narrator of the book, drives up to his cousin Daisy Fay Buchanan and her husband Thomas (Tom), who is also one of Nick’s old friends from their time at Yale University. Nick is a World War I veteran and just moved from the Midwest – where he was born and raised – to the (fictional) West Egg district of Long Island. West Egg was known for being a wealthy district, mainly populated by the new rich millionaires. Nick was offered a job in New York as a bond salesman. His new neighbor is Jay Gatsby, a man who obviously idolizes luxury: he lives in a colossal and extravagant mansion right next door.
At Tom and Daisy’s dinner party, they introduce Nick to the attractive young lady Jordan Baker. It’s not long before they begin a romantic relationship. Nick also finds out that Tom has a mistress, Myrtle Wilson. Everyone knows about their affair, including Daisy.

One day, Nick gets an invitation to one of Gatsby’s legendary and decadent parties. Nick now gets to meet Gatsby himself, who happened to have served in the same division during the war and is about the same age. After their first encounter, Nick and Gatsby start spending a lot of time in each other’s company. Gatsby tells Nick he inherited a tremendous amount of money from his wealthy family and decided to settle in Long Island.

Via Jordan, Nick learns that his cousin Daisy had a romantic encounter with Gatsby back in 1917, but Daisy then rejected Gatsby because he was deployed and she got tired of waiting, and also because he was poor. Her parents then insisted on Daisy marrying Tom, who she also falls in love with, eventhough her love for Gatsby never faded.
Daisy has no clue Gatsby is Nick’s next do...

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...ople became interested in spending money in materialistic items, started paying interest in fashion, parties and dances everywhere and the American Dream arose. It was the era of prosperity, growth of cities, automobiles, a backfiring alcohol ban, extravagance and opportunities. People started to love the nouveau riche lifestyle. This decade is also referred to as the Jazz Age, as jazz music and dance became extremely popular. With the introduction and accessibility of automobiles, along came the freedom for young people to go where they pleased and to do what they wanted. Young people drove to dance halls to go dancing. Fitzgerald actually coined the term ‘Jazz Age’. But the American Dream was only a dream for some, a tragedy for others. For African-Americans in the Deep South states, the majority of black people had to live with ongoing racism and poverty.

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