The Great Gatsby, written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel that was published on April 10, 1925.
Summary Of The Great Gatsby
Nick Carraway, a young man hailing from Minnesota, relocates to New York during the summer of 1922 with the intention of learning about the bond business. He leases a home in West Egg, a prosperous but less fashionable part of Long Island, where the newly affluent live. This group, having recently come into their wealth, lacks established social ties and often flaunts their riches in a gaudy manner. Nick’s neighbor in West Egg is Jay Gatsby, an enigmatic figure who owns an enormous Gothic mansion and hosts lavish parties every Saturday night.
Unlike the other inhabitants of West Egg, Nick has a Yale education and connections in East Egg, a more prestigious area of Long Island that is home to the old money elite. One evening, he visits East Egg for dinner with his cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband Tom. During the evening, Daisy and Tom introduce Nick to Jordan Baker, a beautiful but cynical young woman.
Nick starts a romantic relationship with Jordan and learns more about Daisy and Tom’s marriage. Jordan reveals to Nick that Tom has a mistress named Myrtle Wilson, who resides in the valley of ashes, a desolate industrial area between West Egg and New York City. Not long after this revelation, Nick accompanies Tom and Myrtle to New York City. At a garish and over-the-top party in the apartment Tom maintains for the affair, Myrtle mocks Tom about Daisy, leading Tom to respond by breaking her nose.
As the summer unfolds, Nick receives an invitation to one of Gatsby’s renowned parties. At the event, he reunites with Jordan Baker and is eventually introduced to Gatsby himself. Gatsby is a young man with a captivating smile who calls everyone “old sport” and speaks with an affected English accent. Gatsby confides in Jordan that he once knew Daisy in Louisville in 1917 and is still deeply in love with her.
Gatsby spends countless nights gazing at the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock across the bay from his mansion. His extravagant lifestyle and wild parties are all part of his effort to impress Daisy. Gatsby now wants Nick to help arrange a meeting between him and Daisy but fears she may not want to see him. Nick agrees to invite Daisy over for tea at his house without informing her that Gatsby will be there. The reunion is initially uncomfortable, but Gatsby and Daisy soon rekindle their past connection and start an affair.
Before long, Tom becomes increasingly suspicious of his wife’s relationship with Gatsby. During a luncheon at the Buchanans’ home, Tom notices Gatsby’s intense gaze at Daisy and realizes Gatsby is in love with her. Though Tom himself is involves in an extramarital affair, he is profoundly troubled by the idea of Daisy being unfaithful.
Tom insists that the group drives into New York City, where he confronts Gatsby in a suite at the Plaza Hotel. Tom asserts that he and Daisy share a history that Gatsby could never comprehend and exposes Gatsby’s criminal activities, revealing that his wealth comes from bootlegging alcohol and other illegal enterprises. Daisy, realizing her loyalty lies with Tom, agrees to return to East Egg with him, leaving Gatsby to prove he poses no threat to Tom.
However, as Nick, Jordan, and Tom pass through the valley of ashes, they discover that Gatsby’s car has hit and killed Myrtle, Tom’s mistress. Back on Long Island, Nick learns from Gatsby that Daisy was driving the car, but Gatsby intends to take the blame. The next day, Tom informs Myrtle’s husband, George, that Gatsby was the driver. Believing that the person who killed Myrtle must have been her lover, George tracks down Gatsby at his mansion and kills him before taking his own life.
Nick arranges a modest funeral for Gatsby, ends his relationship with Jordan, and, disillusioned by the moral decay he has witnessed among the wealthy elite, decides to return to the Midwest. Reflecting on Gatsby’s pursuit of Daisy, Nick realizes that Gatsby’s dream was tainted by money and deceit, mirroring the way the American dream of happiness and individualism has been corrupted by the pursuit of wealth. Though Gatsby’s ability to turn his dreams into reality made him “great,” Nick concludes that the era of such dreams has come to an end.