Title The Great Gatsby Essays - The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby

Title: The Great Gatsby Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald Publisher: New York, Bantam Books, 1923 1. PlotA young bond-man from the Mid-west named Nick Carraway, moves to a suburb of New York in search of fortune. The first few weeks pose a general ?Culture shock? to him, but he quickly befriends one of his cousins by the name of Daisy Buchannon and her husband Tom. His neighbor, a very wealthy Mr. Jay Gatsby, is also one of the many interesting people that Nick encounters. Mr. Gatsby is known all around New York for his elaborate parties that are held nearly every weekend. Nick is invited to one, upon which he hears numerous rumors of how Mr. Gatsby attained his massive fortune; but everybody admits that it's all hearsay. Nick also encounters a Miss Jordan Baker. He had met Ms. Baker previously at the Buchannon's home when he had gone to pay his dear cousin a visit. About a week later, Nick and Tom Buchannon, were on their way up to New York, when Tom suddenly got off of their train and led them to a small service station, where they met a Myrtle Wilson, the wife of the owner. Th is was Tom's mistress. There had been rumors flying, but Nick had really paid no heed to them until now. Off they went to New York to her sister's house. They had a gay old time, except for the part about Tom breaking Myrtle's nose because she kept on referring to Daisy. But other than that everybody was drunk and happy. Some time after that, Nick was invited to go to New York with Mr. Gatsby, but during the car ride Nick is asked to do Mr. Gatsby a favor; arrange a meeting between him and Daisy. Nick soon discovers that, before the war, Gatsby and Daisy were lovers. Then, he got shipped off to go fight in ?The Great War? that was raging in Europe. They had corresponded mildly, but when he got back they never saw each other; except from a distance. His house was located directly across the bay from Daisy's. At night, he watched the green light at the end of her dock; just waiting for their eventual meeting. Nick invites her over for tea one day, and Gatsby is more nervous than a lit tle kid in a thunderstorm. But, eventually, things work out and the rest of the meeting goes quite smoothly. A couple of days later, Daisy and Tom invite Nick and Gatsby over for tea at their house. Jordan Baker is there, also, to the delight of Nick. After about thirty minutes of idle chit-chat, Tom decides that he wants to go to New York. Finding nothing else to entertain them-selves with, they opted on checking into a hotel. The argument that ensued was one of yelling, screaming, and nearly bloodshed. Tom had caught on to the clue that his wife was having an affair, and he didn't like it one bit. Finally, after everyone had calmed down to some degree they started to head home. They were in two cars, Gatsby's car and the Buchannon's car. Whenever they were nearing Wilson's service station, Myrtle Wilson, in a violent fit of emotion, ran screaming into the road She was run down like a dog by Gatsby and Daisy in Gatsby's bright yellow sportster. Wilson was emotionally traumatized. H e vowed to find out who killed her, and he did. That night, as Gatsby was swimming, Wilson shot both Gatsby and himself right in Gatsby's back yard. 2. CharacterizationGatsby is the ultimate symbol of wealth. He threw massive parties every weekend, and essentially had anything that he wanted; except for Daisy. On the outside, he's a hard-shelled ?Mystery man?, who's always on the phone with somebody who wishes to remain anonymous. But on the inside, he's a lonely little rich boy with nobody to love. Nick Carraway is the only one who keeps a sensible head during the whole thing. In the beginning, he started out as a mild-mannered, young kid from the sticks; but by the end of the story, he had learned to stand up and say something, no matter what kind of ridicule might come upon him. Daisy is