5. Summary

After Nick Carraway came back from the Great War, he moved from the west of the US to the east, to a little island they call West Egg. His neighbour, Jay Gatsby, lives all by himself in an enormous house. He throws a lot of parties and there are always many people at his house.
The story starts when Nick goes to visit his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom Buchannon. There, Nick finds out that Tom has got a mistress. One day Nick and Tom take the train for New York. There, Nick meets Myrtle Wilson, Tom’s new girlfriend, who is married as well. A few days later Nick receives an invitation for a party at Mister Gatsby’s house. At the end of that evening Nick meets his neighbour Jay Gatsby. After a while Nick and Gatsby become close friends.

Later, it turns out that Daisy and Gatsby used to be in love five years ago. But Gatsby was poor at that time and Daisy was inpatient. While Gatsby was fighting the Great War she married Tom. But Gatsby never forgot about her. He was a very ambitious man and started to make money. When he got rich he bought the enormous house near Nick at West Egg, so he could see Daisy’s house on the other side of the bay. He always hoped that she would show up one night at one of his parties, but she never did.


When Gatsby founds out that Nick is Daisy’s cousin, he asks him to invite her over for tea, and himself to. When Daisy and Gatsby meet again after five years at Nick’s, the great Gatsby is a little embarrassed. But their feelings never disappeared and they fall in love again. Gatsby fires all his servants so they wouldn’t chat about Daisy coming over at his house so frequently. Until one day, when Nick, Gatsby and the Buchannons are all together in New York Tom finds out about their affair. There is a fight between Gatsby and Tom, and Daisy cries that she never loved Tom. Tom sends Gatsby away with Daisy and tells him to bring her home. So they drive away in Gatsby’s yellow car which Tom borrowed earlier that day.
In the mean time, Mister Wilson also finds out about the affair his wife had. They have a fight and she runs to the road when she see the yellow car, thinking it’s Tom in it, her lover. But it isn’t Tom in the car. So the car doesn’t stop but runs into her and she dies instantly. Daisy was driving but she wouldn’t stop, when Gatsby told her to stop.
The next day, Mister Wilson finds out that the lover of his wife was Tom. Tom tells him Gatsby owns the yellow car, so Mister Wilson gets over at Gatsby’s, who is swimming. Wilson kills Gatsby and himself with his gun. Nick arranges Gatsby’s funeral. And although there where always hundreds of people at his parties, no one showed up at the funeral. Only one drunk and Mister Gatz, Gatsby’s old father. Daisy moves to New York with Tom and never calls again.

6. Main Characters

Nick Carraway is the main Character in the book and the narrator of the story. He is a young and friendly gentleman, who moved to West Egg in New York to learn about bond business. He becomes friends with Jay Gatsby and is Daisy’s cousin.

James Gatz the poor boy who changed his name into Jay Gatsby and became very rich. Jay is a man of dreams. Nobody knows about his past. Jay served as a soldier during World War One and is deeply in love with Daisy Buchannon.

Daisy Buchannon had a relationship with Gatsby but married Tom when she had to wait too long for Gatsby’s return from Europe. In the end, Daisy loves Jay more and more but reacts weak when Gatsby is shot because she ran over Myrtle Wilson. She didn’t come to his funeral but chose for her safe life with Tom.

Tom Buchannon is Daisy’s husband but they aren’t that happy. Tom is having an affair with Myrtle Wilson. He is very arrogant and selfish.

Myrtle Wilson is Tom’s mistress. When her husband becomes suspicious of her and wants to move West, she tries to run to Tom. She is run over by Daisy and dies instantly.

George Wilson sells cars. After a long time he finds out about his wife and Tom Buchannon, one of his customers. He avenges the death of Myrtle by killing Gatsby, assuming he was driving the car that killed her. After that he commits suicide.

Jordan Baker is a friend of Daisy. She is tall and pretty. She is very nice to Nick. They had a short of relationship, but that didn’t work out.


7. Place

The Story takes place in New York. Mostly on the little island West Egg, where Nick and Gatsby live or on the other side of the bay, at the Buchannons.

8. Time
The story is set in the ‘roaring twenties’. The years after the Great War, during which the economy and people’s confidence is very strong.

The book tells about one summer. The one summer that Nick lived in West Egg and the one summer of Daisy’s and Gatby’s tragic love affair.

9. In the beginning

The story starts when Nick goes to visit his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom Buchannon.
They are the only people he knows in the east.

10. At the end

At the end of story, Nick decides to go home, because there is nothing left for him in the east.

11. Title

The title of this book is The Great Gatsby. The title refers to one of the narrator’s neighbours: Mister Jay Gatsby. Gatsby lives in the most expensive villa on West Egg and regularly throws huge parties. The many people at his house make Nick believe he must be an important man.
A great man. The great Gatsby.

And maybe he is. Gatsby was a poor boy but made himself great.

12. My Own Opinion

I really liked this book. Mainly that time: the roaring twenties. And the people, the upper class of new York. Although those people had everything, they were not that perfect and happy at all. They were square or obsessed. I like to look at people in that way.
The language was also from that time, and it sounds good, it was good reading.
Yes, the great Gatsby is a really nice book.

13.a

I just began to read the book because I found it in the library. The title was looking familiar to me, it must be a famous novel. On the cover is Gatsby in a white suit, standing on the balcony of his enormous house, gazing over the bay and smoking a cigarette. That picture appealed to me. I liked the sphere and hoped that the whole book would be like that.

13.b

It’s difficult to say something about what you can learn from this book. I think it’s about Gatsby’s burning ambition to get rich and win back the love of Daisy. It turned into a way of life, an obsession. And I learned that some of that upper class people, like daisy and tom, only care for themselves.

14.

Like I said, this book is about the high society. Although they party and chat nicely all the time, they only care about themselves. Tom is arrogant and selfish, cheating on his wife. His wife Daisy seems to be nicer in the beginning of the novel. But she is just the same. She married Tom because he was rich and she got inpatient. When Tom is cheating she goes back to Gatsby. And after Gatsby died she chooses for the safe life with Tom again. She didn’t even show up at his funeral. I really didn’t like her personality.
There where a very few people who came at that funeral at all. All the rich people who drank at Gatsby’s parties forget about him when he dies.

Although Jay Gatsby is also selfish, the only thing he wants is Daisy, I have more sympathy for him. He is ambitious and builds his own life. Nick and Jordan are the most regular people, they do care for other people. Nick leaves New York when he finds out nobody else does.

15.

The story is set in the summer of New York, United States. The high society of New York: with parties every Saturday and lots of ginger ale.

16.

The novel is set in the ‘roaring twenties’, which is very important for the book. Of course it could happen any time but the people, and what they do, belong in the twenties because of the sphere of the twenties.

17.

In the story is one thing very important, it happened earlier than the story and isn’t further described but it had his influence. The great war, world war one. The Great War is what made the twenties roaring and Gatsby had to fight in that war. That is why he never married Daisy.

18.

New York, the summer of 1925. The place is important because New York was the city for the high society. Anywhere else the whole atmosphere would have been different.

19.

The theme of the story is –an impossible eternal love-. Jay Gatsby is in love with Daisy but his eternal love (like an obsession) for her is not enough for Daisy to leave Tom and give up her safe life because she is too selfish. The burning ambition Gatsby has to get rich and win Daisy back is also part of the theme.

20.

A work of art about the drive of ambition is the Dutch movie ‘Karakter’. It’s also a story about an ambition beyond limits turning in an obsession.

The Greek Myth ‘Ikaros’ is also about that ambition beyond limits. Ikaros wanted to fly and when he finally did he flew to high and the sun burned his wings. Just like Gatsby he reached out too far.