Great Gatsby Essay, Research Paper

Setting

This story takes place at West Egg in Long Island, an unfashionable town. It is in the early 1900’s.

Characters

A. Nick Carraway- Nick is the story narrator. He is a young man from Minnesota who moves to the east after fighting in the First World War. He is Jay Gatsby’s next-door neighbor.

B. Jay Gatsby- Jay is the title character. He is a wealthy man who lives in a gothic mansion in West Egg. He was born with the name Jay Gatz on farm in North Dakota.

C. Daisy Buchanan- Daisy is Nick’s cousin. She is the woman with whom Gatsby is in love. She lives right across from Gatsby with her husband Tom. She is bitter and a little cynical.

D. Tom Buchanan- Tom is Daisy’s husband. He is arrogant and hypocritical.

E. Jordan Baker- Jordan is Daisy’s friend who becomes romantically involved with Nick during the story. She is a talented golfer but cheated her way into winning her first tournament.

F. Myrtle Wilson- Myrtle is Tom’s lover. Her husband George owns a run-down garage.

Summary

Like the setting says, the story takes place at West Egg in Long Island. The narrator, Nick, is not like the people of West Egg. He drives out to East Egg to have dinner with his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom where he is introduced to Jordan Baker, the woman who he will begin a romantic relationship with. She informs Nick of Myrtle Wilson, Tom’s secret lover.

As the summer goes on, Nick learns more about his mysterious neighbor Gatsby. He throws extravagant parties at his mansion every Saturday night to impress the women he loves, Daisy. Nick arranges for Gatsby and Daisy to reunite. After this they fall in love and start and affair.

Tom finds out about his wife’s wrongdoings and confronts Gatsby at a suite in the Plaza Hotel in New York. Tom claims that he and Daisy have a history that Gatsby could never understand. He also tells Daisy that Gatsby’s fortune comes from bootlegging illegal alcohol and other criminal activities.

On their way home Nick, Jordan and Tom discover that Gatsby’s car struck and killed Myrtle, Tom’s lover. They rush back to Long Island where Nick learns from Gatsby that Daisy was driving the car that struck Myrtle, but Gatsby intends to take the blame. Tom informs George, Myrtle’s husband, that Gatsby has killed her. George finds Gatsby in the pool at his mansion and shoots him dead.

Nick stages a small funeral for Jay Gatsby, ends his relationship with Jordan, and moves back to the Midwest to escape the harsh feelings from the characters surrounding Gatsby. He disapproved of the way Gatsby lived, but found hope in the way he pursued his dream.

Critical Analysis

At the end of this story I felt sad that Gatsby’s life didn’t turn out as he had hoped. The book was interesting and written well. It was definitely the best book I read all year. I would really recommend other people to read this book. In life everything doesn’t turn out to become a happy ending. This book helps you realize that.