The narrator of "The Great Gatsby" is a young man from Minnesota named Nick Carraway. He speaks very highly of himself. He stated that he learned from his father to reserve judgment about other people because if he holds them up to his own moral standards he will misunderstand them. He is both highly moral and highly tolerant. He briefly mentions Gatsby, the hero of his story, when he represented everything he scorns, but he exempts Gatsby from his judgments. Nick describes GatsbyÃÂs personality as nothing short of ÃÂgorgeous.ÃÂGatsby was a hopeless romantic character in this novel. Daisy told him that rich girls donÃÂt marry poor boys. Gatsby spent the rest of his life becoming rich to win Daisy over. No one seems to know the truth about GatsbyÃÂs wealth or personal history. Jordan BakerÃÂs friend Lucille speculates that Gatsby was a German spy during the war. The only thing that people truly know about Gatsby is that he is extremely rich.
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby
The Great GatsbyHe built a huge mansion right down the road from Daisy where he frequently threw parties.
One of the reasons that Gatsby became so famous around New York was that he throws elaborate parties every weekend at his mansion, lavish spectacles to which peoplelong to be invited. GatsbyÃÂs parties were almost unbelievably luxurious. Guest marvelover his Rolls-Royce, his swimming pool, his beach, crates of fresh oranges and lemons,Daugherty 2buffet tents in the garden overflowing with a feast, and a live orchestra playing under the stars. Liquor flows freely, and the quests grow louder as they get drunk. During the 1920ÃÂs drinking was banded. GatsbyÃÂs parties were the only place where liquor was available to drink.
This time in life was called the ÃÂlost generation.ÃÂ It was taken place during the Great Depression. There was two parts of Long Island, the West Egg and the East Egg. West Egg was the home to the ÃÂnew rich,ÃÂ those who, having made their fortunes recently, have neither the social connections nor the refinement to move among the East Egg set. West Egg is characterized by lavish displays of wealth and garish poor taste. GatsbyÃÂs mansion was in the part of town called the West Egg. He claims to have been educated at Oxford, to have collected jewels in the capitals of Europe, to have hunted big game and to have been awarded medals in World War I by multiple European countries. He was good at retaining money and he did it all for Daisy.
Daisy was invited over to his mansion to see everything he has accomplished. Daisy was overwhelmed by his luxurious lifestyle, and when he shows her his extensive collection of English shirts, she begins to cry. Daisy soon realizes her love for Gatsby once again, but after all of his accomplishments and effort Daisy remains with Tom. Gatsby took the blame for the automobile accident that killed Myrtle. Soon after the accident Wilson goes to GatsbyÃÂs house, finding his lying on an air mattress in the pool, floating in the water and looking at the sky. Wilson shoots Gatsby, killing him instantly,and then shoots himself. Wilson probably put Gatsby out of his misery. ÃÂA life withoutlove is a life not worth living.ÃÂBibliographyF. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 1925.
The Great Gatsby Movie Set
The Great Gatsby Movie Set
The Great Gatsby Movie Set
The Great Gatsby
The writing is adequate, but I do not find it inspired, or inspiring. And then there are the glitches: the out-and-out mistakes in the reading of the book.
Daisy never told Gatsby that rich girls don't marry poor boys. She would not need to. He was shipped to Europe, and knew that in the world of social custom, he was barely above someone who would come to the back door, either as a servant or a delivery man, but never as someone socially on par with her.
Gatsby did not build his mansion. Whether he bought it or leased it is unclear -- the reference to "$15,000 a month" suggests it was leased. But he would never have wasted the one-to-two years it would have taken to build such a palace. That would have been time wasted while he might have been trying to lure Daisy to a party.
The notion that Gatsby's was the only place to get liquor is almost funny. Tom eventually refers to the ease with which alcohol could be had when he mentions that you can get anything at a drug store these days. Drug stores sold alcohol "for medicinal purposes," and were marvelous for the ingenuity with which they defined medicinal purpose to include anything.
Of Gatsby, although it is not set forth in a straight-forward way, Nick Carroway does give a fairly details sketch of his life. He went to Europe. He served with bravery and distinction -- the medal from little Montenegro is real. He was allowed to attend Oxford, while his return to the United States was delayed several months so that Daisy would not wait for him.
There is nothing so luxurious about Gatsby's lifestyle that Tom Buchanan could not overwhelm it. Buchanan was rich enough to bring in a whole stable of polo ponies, something that took away the breath of the people at Yale, hardly a crowd to have their breath taken away easily by mere wealth.
What Gatsby offers Daisy is a return to a greater love, a romantics willingness to sacrifice everything for the object of his love. It does not matter that Daisy is married. He adores her. He will do anything and everything for her. In the end, he does, and for nothing.
The description of the end of the book is a muddle. I cannot say that it really shows an understanding of the book.
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