The Great Gatsby

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The Great Gatsby (1925) is a short novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald set in New York in the 1920s. It has often been seen as the epitome of American literature of the so-called "Jazz Age".

Warning: Plot details follow.

Table of contents

1 Summary 2 Detailed synopsis 3 Literary elements 4 Structure 5 Themes 6 Symbols 7 Important quotes 8 Publications 9 Film

Summary

Jay Gatsby is a young millionaire with a dubious past---some say he made his money as a bootlegger during the Prohibition years. Some said he "killed a man", while others say he was a German spy and was a cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm. However, despite the glamorous parties he throws, with their countless gatecrashers whom he generously tolerates, Gatsby is a lonely man. All he really wants is to "repeat the past" -- to be reunited with the love of his life, Daisy. But Daisy is now married to millionaire Tom Buchanan. Tom and Daisy have a daughter. Gatsby does not believe this could constitute a problem, and Daisy Buchanan actually feels flattered by Gatsby's attentions.

The first person narrator of the novel is Nick Carraway, a young bond salesman who moves into the small house next to Gatsby's mansion (a "factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy") and who keeps commentary on the protagonists' actions. Carraway soon realizes that Tom and Daisy are "careless people". When Gatsby lets Daisy drive his new car, she causes an accident in which Myrtle Wilson, Tom's mistress, is killed. So much in love with Daisy, Gatsby takes the blame and is consequently shot by Myrtle's desperate husband, Wilson, a garage owner. Except for Gatsby's father, an old, poverty-stricken man, hardly anyone shows up for Gatsby's funeral.

Detailed synopsis

Chapter I – The book opens with one of the most famous passages from any work of American literature:

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."

Structure

• Nonlinear representation of time

• The decline of the American Dream. Gatsby is alone in embodying the American Dream - he was born to a poor family but has become a millionaire. The novel downplays his dubious business links (to Meyer Wolfshiem), to emphasise the narrative stance, which is entirely in Gatsby's favour (once Nick has gotten to know Gatsby). Gatsby is totally committed to his dream of reigniting his romance with Daisy. Tom and Daisy, however, are the antithesis of the American Dream: they drift aimlessly from place to place ("wherever people play polo and are rich together"), with no morals, no commitment, and no dreams.

• The corruption of the rich. Tom and Daisy are corrupted by their wealth, in contrast to Gatsby, for whom the acquisition of wealth has become a means to get closer to Daisy. Tom is unfaithful, and Daisy is entirely artificial.

• The novel discusses questions of racism through the character of Tom Buchanan who, on top of his loose morals, is also a white supremacist. This is however, a very minor theme and is rarely mentioned.

• The green light on the end of Daisy's dock is introduced at the end of Chapter 1, when Gatsby reachs, "trembling", out toward it across the Sound. It clearly represents Gatsby's dreams, but has other, more subtle, associations such as money.

• The disembodied eyes of a giant advertisement in the slum where Myrtle lives, referred to as the eyes of "Dr. T.J Eckleburg", symbolise a brooding presence in the slum, as if God is constantly watching those who live there, a symbol which the characters themselves are aware of, George Wilson's assertion that "God sees everything" in chapter 8 being made while he is staring at Eckleburg's eyes.

• The colors white and yellow have special significance in the novel. White is a symbol of purity and goodness, while yellow is the color corruption and greed. This illuminates the character of Daisy, who is named after a flower that is white on the outside and yellow in the center.

• Fitzgerald was among the American expatriates who lived in Paris in the 1920s. The name Gatsby is a close homophone of the word gaspille from the verb gaspiller: To Waste

Publications

1974 movie version

1. In 1926 by Herbert Brenon – A silent movie of which, according to the IMDb, no copies have survived (only a trailer with a few minutes of footage remains);
2. In 1949 by Elliott Nugent - Starring Alan Ladd;
3. In 1974 by Jack Clayton – Often considered the definitive screen version, starring Robert Redford in the title role and Mia Farrow as Daisy Buchanan, with a script by Francis Ford Coppola; and finally
4. In 2001 by Robert Markowitz – A made-for-TV movie starring Toby Stephens and Mira Sorvino.