Chapter 1
Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby opens with Nick Carraway, the novel's narrator, introducing himself as a man who tends to listen and observe without passing judgment. Carraway immediately proceeds to preface the story he recounts over the course of the novel by passing judgment on his former companions. Mysteriously hinting at themes which will pervade the plot of his tale Carraway reflects, "When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. Only Gatsby...was exempt from my reaction -- Gatsby who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn" (6). Thus, providing plenty of room for speculation as to what provoked such a critical response, Nick begins his story.
After serving in World War I, Nick moves east from his Midwest roots to learn the bond business, settling on the island of West Egg, New York, "one of the strangest communities in North America" (9). Nick reveals, however, that his story really begins on a June evening in 1922, when he drives over to East Egg (the more fashionable and wealthy of the twin islands) to have dinner with "two old friends whom I scarcely knew at all" (11). Nick meets with an old college associate, Tom Buchanan, and his wife, Daisy, as well as Jordan Baker, an unexpected guest. For more detailed information about these characters, please see the Character Profiles section.
When the light-hearted conversation includes a brief reference to a man named Gatsby -- his next-door neighbor -- Nick's curiosity is evident. Tension mounts during dinner, however, when Tom leaves to answer a phone call, and Jordan reveals to Nick that it is Tom's mistress calling. Later, perhaps searching for sympathy in response to Tom's phone call during dinner, Daisy cynically tells Nick that she believes "everything's terrible" (21). Though riveted by Daisy's voice while she speaks, Carraway finds her insincere, and leaves the Buchanan house feeling "confused and disgusted" (24).
Upon arriving home Nick sees a silhouette emerge from the mansion next door, and assumes it is Gatsby. When Gatsby suddenly stretches his arms toward the water, Nick turns to see what he reaches for, but "distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock" (26). When Nick looks back towards the silhouette, Gatsby has vanished.
Chapter 2
As Fitzgerald's second chapter begins, Nick travels via train to New York City with Tom Buchanan. At the ash-heaps halfway there, they get off in order for Tom to pick up his mistress, Myrtle Wilson. In the sole building near the "valley of ashes" (28) the two men find Myrtle and her husband -- George Wilson -- in his auto repair office. Buchanan interacts with George under the guise of selling him a car; when George leaves the room, however, Tom instructs Myrtle to get on the next train to New York City.
Upon arriving in New York Nick becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the affair he finds himself caught in the midst of, and tries to escape from Tom and Myrtle. The overbearing Tom Buchanan, however, refuses to let him leave, and the three drive to the lovers' secret apartment. As more company arrives -- including Catherine (Myrtle's sister), and Mr. and Mrs. McKee -- Nick proceeds to get drunk for the second time in his life.
Nick's fascination with his next door neighbor intensifies when the guests bring up Gatsby's name in casual conversation. The topic quickly changes, however, as Myrtle starts complaining about her husband over a second bottle of whiskey. By ten that evening the party scene turns ugly, as Tom and his mistress get into an argument over whether or not Myrtle "had any right to mention Daisy's name" (41). When she starts shouting "Daisy!" repeatedly, Tom quickly punches Myrtle, breaking her nose. Nick stumbles away from the chaos, and waits -- drunk, and lying half asleep -- for a train back to West Egg.
Chapter 3
In contrast to the previous chapter's "party," Chapter 3 opens with Nick attending one of Gatsby's extravagant soirees, which his next-door-neighbor had invited him to. As Nick watches the spectacle of wealth intensify -- as more and more uninvited guests arrive -- he runs into Jordan Baker, the other guest from Nick's original visit to the Buchanans' house. Conversation centers around gossip about the absent Gatsby -- that he killed a man, that he was a German spy during WWI, that he served in the American army.
Around midnight, the "hilarity had increased," and Nick speaks with a man near his own age, who recognizes Carraway's face -- turns out they had been in the same division during the war. Eventually, to his embarrassment, Nick discovers he is actually conversing with his host, Jay Gatsby. When Gatsby leaves, Nick finds himself intrigued by his new acquaintance, and asks Jordan about his history. The mystery surrounding Gatsby deepens as Jordan responds, "Well, -- he told me once he was an Oxford man....However, I don't believe it" (53).
Jordan Baker, at her host's request, goes off to speak with Gatsby alone, leaving Nick to wander through the party stragglers around 2 a.m. When Jordan returns she tells Carraway, "I've just heard the most amazing thing," (57) but teases him by saying she promised not to tell. The chapter concludes as Nick walks across the lawn towards his house -- away from a chaotic scene where a car with one wheel ripped off has landed in a ditch in front of Gatsby's -- thinking of Jordan Baker. Nick reveals, "I wasn't actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity" (62). Although he finds Jordan dishonest and careless, Nick begins to fall for her anyway.
Chapter 4
At the outset of Chapter 4, Gatsby arrives at Nick's house, informing him they are going to lunch in New York City. On this occasion Gatsby provides Nick with his long awaited biography, swearing that he is the son of wealthy parents in the middle-west and that he attended Oxford. Nick, suspicious of the way Gatsby says this, wonders "if there wasn't something a little sinister about him after all" (69). Gatsby continues, however, detailing how, after being promoted to major in World War I, every Allied government honored him for his achievements. Gatsby's presentation of a war medal and picture from his Oxford days suddenly seems to convince Nick of his companion's stories.
At lunch, Gatsby introduces Nick to Mr. Meyer Wolfshiem. After retelling a story about the brutal murder of one of his associates, Wolfshiem mistakenly asks Gatsby if Nick is present to negotiate some unnamed business. Gatsby quickly corrects him, replying mysteriously, "Oh no...this isn't the man" (75). At the end of lunch, Nick sees Tom Buchanan, and introduces Gatsby, who acts embarrassed and quickly disappears unnoticeably when Nick turns his head.
The rest of Chapter 4 is devoted to explaining Gatsby's hasty exit, as Jordan Baker repeats the story Gatsby told her to Nick. Five years earlier Jordan and Daisy Buchanan were acquaintances in Louisville, back when Daisy was very popular with the young officers in town. One day, Jordan saw her in a car with an unknown lieutenant, who looked as Daisy "in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at sometime" (80). This young lieutenant's name, Jordan reveals, was Jay Gatsby. By the next year, however, Daisy was engaged to Tom Buchanan. On the night of the bridal dinner, Jordan -- a bridesmaid at the wedding -- found Daisy drunk and crying, while clutching a mysterious letter and declaring she had changed her mind. In spite of this outburst, she married Tom Buchanan "without so much as a shiver and started off on a three months' trip to the South Seas" (81).
Jordan continues, saying that the Buchanans' party -- when Jordan had inquired whether Nick knew the Gatsby living in West Egg -- was the first time Daisy had heard Gatsby's name in four years. Later, Jordan insists that Gatsby bought his West Egg mansion for the sole purpose of being across the bay from Daisy's house -- with the green light at the end of the dock -- in East Egg. Using Jordan as his messenger, Gatsby requests that Nick invite Daisy to his house, then allow Gatsby to stop by and see her. The chapter closes with Nick kissing Jordan Baker, momentarily forgetting about the saga of Daisy and Gatsby.
Chapter 5
Chapter 5 takes place on the day following Nick's revelations about Gatsby and Daisy's previous involvement. Nick calls Daisy, and, without mentioning Gatsby, invites her over for tea under the condition that she doesn't bring Tom. Gatsby arrives first on the rainy afternoon, and waits nervously for Daisy. When she arrives, Nick invites her in, only to find that -- once again -- Gatsby has disappeared. Moments later, after a sudden knock at the door, Nick finds the usually composed Gatsby, "pale as death...standing in a puddle of water glaring tragically into my eyes" (91).
The reunion between the former lovers is an awkward one, as an embarrassed Gatsby laments to Nick that he has made "a terrible, terrible mistake" (92). Nick, therefore, leaves his house, forcing Gatsby to talk with Daisy. When he returns half an hour later Nick finds Daisy in happy tears and Gatsby glowing with joy. The completely transformed Gatsby invites Daisy and Nick next door to his house, where he gives them a comprehensive tour.
Yet another turning point occurs during this visit, however, when Gatsby tries to show Daisy her house -- marked by the green light at the end of the dock -- across the bay. Due to mist from the rain, Daisy's green light cannot be seen, which has a profound effect on Gatsby. Nick suggests, "Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever....Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one" (98). The moment Gatsby has waited four years for -- and schemed so single-mindedly for -- has finally happened, leaving him without the "colossal vitality of his illusion" (101) to fuel his fantasy with Daisy. Nick, recognizing this, leaves them alone in Gatsby's mansion -- bought to win Daisy -- together.
Chapter 6
In Fitzgerald's sixth chapter, Nick reveals Gatsby's true history, in an attempt to explode "those first wild rumors about his antecedents, which weren't even faintly true" (107). In reality, Jay Gatsby is James Gatz, son of unsuccessful farmers from the Midwest. In a chance encounter with Dan Cody -- a fifty year old ex-millionaire -- on Lake Superior, however, young Gatz had introduced himself as Gatsby. Thus, the ambitious Gatz birthed a newfound persona, "just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end" (104). For more on Gatsby's history, please see the Character Profiles section.
After Nick's revelations, he relaxes at Gatsby's one summer afternoon when somebody brings Tom Buchanan in for a drink. Gatsby becomes increasingly confident in his interaction with Tom -- who remains oblivious to Gatsby's continued affair with Daisy -- even inviting him to stay for dinner. Although he refuses, Tom does accompany his wife to Gatsby's party that weekend. By the end of the awkward evening, Tom demands to know who Gatsby
is and what he does, vowing ominously to "make a point of finding out" (115).
Nick lingers with his neighbor after Tom and Daisy leave, and discerns that Gatsby "wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: 'I never loved you'" (116). After destroying her past with Tom with that statement, Daisy would then marry Gatsby in Louisville, "just as if it were five years ago" (116). Gatsby, essentially, wishes to obliterate and re-write the past, and truly believes that he can, determining to "fix everything just the way it was before" (117).
Chapter 7
At the outset of Chapter 7, Nick realizes that Gatsby's lavish parties have suddenly ceased. In addition, he discovers Gatsby has fired all his servants, and hired new ones who wouldn't gossip about he and Daisy, who comes over frequently. Shortly after this discovery, Gatsby calls Nick, inviting him to Daisy's for lunch the following day. Daisy, too, calls half an hour later, which inspires Nick to believe "something was up" (120).
The next day Gatsby and Nick arrive at the Buchanans' house, joining Jordan Baker. In the course of the visit, Tom Buchanan finally realizes that Daisy loves Gatsby, and his usually poor temper begins to get the best of him. Tom decides they are all going to New York City, then declares he will drive Gatsby's yellow car. When Tom orders Daisy to come with him she refuses, going alone with Gatsby in Tom's blue coupe. Tom, Jordan, and Nick stop for gas along the way at George Wilson's auto garage, where they find a physically sick Wilson. George -- having realized his wife has been unfaithful, just not with whom -- informs the trio that Myrtle and he are moving west immediately. Nick quickly points out the irony of Tom -- who has been cheating with Myrtle Wilson -- making the similar discovery less than an hour before. As they leave Wilson's garage, Nick notices Myrtle watching them with "jealous terror" (131) from a window, as she mistakenly presumes Jordan Baker to be Tom's wife.
The passengers of the two cars reconvene, and attempt to escape the stifling heat in a room inside New York City's Plaza Hotel. Tom, pride wounded by his wife's affair, makes several unsuccessful attempts to insult Gatsby, then finally comes right out and demands, "What kind of a row are you trying to cause in my house anyhow?" (136). Gatsby responds by saying Daisy doesn't
love Tom, and that she only married him because Gatsby was too poor. As the two men proceed to argue, Tom loses his temper and insists Daisy once loved him and still does. An ugly spectacle unfolds -- with Gatsby on one side trying to get Daisy to say she never loved Tom and that she's leaving him, and Tom on the other side declaring Daisy's not leaving -- leaving Daisy in the middle, acting helpless and wanting to escape the situation. Tom reveals yet another piece of Gatsby's past as he angrily calls him a "common swindler," (140) accusing him of selling bootleg alcohol. Finally, Tom tells Daisy and Gatsby to drive back in Gatsby's car, taunting him that he must realize "his presumptuous little flirtation is over" (142).
That same night, at the ash-heap halfway between New York City and East Egg, George Wilson has Myrtle locked up in their room, where he plans to keep her until they move west. Myrtle escapes, however, but when she rushes out into the night she gets hit by a "big yellow car" (147) that doesn't stop. On their drive home, Tom, Jordan, and Nick -- who had been behind Gatsby and Daisy -- come upon the crowd gathered outside Wilson's garage. When Tom discovers his mistress has been "instantly killed" (147) he quickly makes the connection that Gatsby's yellow car has killed her.
Back at the Buchanans', Nick finds Gatsby hiding in the bushes. Gatsby tells Nick that Daisy had been driving his car, that she has locked herself in her room, and that he intends to watch the Buchanan house to ensure Tom doesn't physically harm her. Nick goes to the house to look for any sign of commotion, only to find Tom and Daisy talking intimately at the kitchen table, holding hands. Nick goes home alone, leaving Gatsby to his vigil over the house as he watches "over nothing" (153).
Chapter 8
In Fitzgerald's eighth chapter, Nick awakes with a start near dawn after Chapter 7's occurrences, feeling the ominous need to tell Gatsby something, "something to warn him about and morning would be too late" (154). Going next door Nick finds a dejected Gatsby, who relates that nothing had happened during his late night vigil watching Daisy's window. Gatsby proceeds to tell Nick the story of Daisy and his month of love -- now five years past --
before he went abroad to war. Please see Chapter 4 for a more detailed account of this story.
After Nick leaves Gatsby's for work he talks with Jordan Baker -- whom he treated curtly the night before -- on the telephone. Nick no longer cares how Jordan feels he acted -- he has lost patience with all of his friends except for Gatsby, who he tries calling repeatedly from work. This concern foreshadows Nick's next revelation.
The second half of Chapter 8 details George Wilson's actions following Myrtle's death. Wilson incorrectly believes that the man in the yellow car (Gatsby) was Myrtle's secret lover, and that he murdered her when she ran out to see him. Although Wilson does not know that Tom Buchanan was Myrtle's lover, and that Daisy Buchanan was her killer, he repeatedly insists he has "a way of finding out" (168). Wilson's mental condition has progressed from
bad earlier in the day to worse, as he begins referring to a nearby
optometrist's billboard -- with the enormous eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg on it -- as "God" (167). For a closer look at this image, please see the Metaphors section.
At six in the morning -- about the same time Nick awoke with concern for Gatsby -- Wilson left his garage on foot in search for his wife's murderer. After disappearing for several hours of unaccounted time, Wilson ended up in West Egg asking for directions to Gatsby's house. Wilson shoots Gatsby, murdering him, then kills himself. As Nick remarks after seeing both bodies,
"the holocaust was complete" (170).
Chapter 9
After the climax of Chapter's 7 and 8, Fitzgerald closes The Great Gatsby by tying up several loose ends. During the day after Gatsby's death, Nick feels that he alone is on his neighbor's side, as Gatsby's house floods with police, photographers, and newspapermen. Discovering that Tom and Daisy Buchanan have left town, leaving no address, Nick sends a letter to Meyer Wolfshiem informing him of Gatsby's death. Wolfshiem responds by saying although it is one of the most difficult shocks of his life, he is simply too busy to be involved with funeral preparations or visit Gatsby's house. As Nick stays with the dead body at Gatsby's house the phone rings, and a man begins talking -- believing Gatsby answered the phone -- with news that "Young Parke's in trouble....They picked him up when he handed the bonds over the counter" (174). This seems to indicate, finally, that Gatsby was involved with illegally handling stolen bond funds.
Gatsby's father arrives for the funeral, and Nick attempts to find others to attend; everyone he speaks with, however, has an excuse. None of the guests who abused Gatsby's hospitality at his parties all summer show up to his funeral, until Owl Eyes -- a character from Nick's first visit to Gatsby's -- arrives. Taken aback that no one else came, Owl Eyes remembers, "Why, my God! they used to go there by the hundreds....The poor son-of-a-bitch" (183).
After Gatsby's death, Nick determines to move back to the Midwest, but first goes to visit Jordan Baker one last time. To Nick's surprise, Jordan informs him that she is already engaged to somebody else, prompting him to leave angrily, still "half in love with her, and tremendously sorry" (186). Later that fall Nick runs into Tom Buchanan, who Nick remains angry at. Having figured out that George Wilson had gone to see Tom before killing Gatsby, Nick asks Tom what he told Wilson that afternoon. Tom replies, "I told him the truth," (187) elaborating that Wilson was crazy enough to kill him if he didn't reveal who owned the car.
Finally, on his last night in West Egg, Nick goes over to Gatsby's house -- that "huge incoherent failure of a house" (188) -- where he finds some boy has scrawled an obscene word with a piece of brick on the front steps. After erasing it, Nick walks to the beach, reflecting on how Gatsby's green light -- one man's hope for the future -- was actually just part of an unattainable past.
― jess (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 22 October 2002 15:34 (twenty-three years ago)
one year passes...
five years pass...