About F. Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)

Brief Biography : Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul Minnesota and spent most of his youth there. He began writing in high school and his literary ambitions continued at Princeton University, where he spent more time writing and socializing than studying. With failing grades, Fitzgerald joined the army in 1917 and met his future wife while in basic training. Much of the rest of his life was influenced by his and Zelda's joint desire for money and fame. His first several novels sold relatively well and made him a national literary figure. He also began writing short stories for magazines, especially The Post. Most of these stories, written quickly and with the aim of quick cash, Fitzgerald considered a kind of literary prostitution. As he continued to write novels and many short stories, Fitzgerald and Zelda (especially) began to show mental instability. Zelda, thereafter, was in and out of mental institutions and eventually died in 1948 in an institution fire. To make additional income, Fitzgerald worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood, the fate of another of America's great writers, William Faulkner. Fitzgerald himself died relatively young (in 1940), his life cut short by excessive drinking.

Major Works : This Side of Paradise (1920) The Great Gatsby (1925) Tender is the Night (1934) The Last Tycoon (posthumously) Short story collections

Themes : American myth gone wrong; exact, careful portraits of life in the twenties and thirties, especially in the upper crust of society; failing marriage relationships; degeneration and self-destruction of people and couples via insanity and alcoholism

Techniques : Matching the symbol and the character or action--in other words, Fitzgerald's writing shows very little of the experimentation that marked other modern writers' work. Rather, within a framework of realism, he uses setting and events in symbolic ways.

Short Summary of The Great Gatsby

Summary and Analysis of Chapter 1

Chapter One: The novel begins with a personal note by the narrator, Nick Carraway. He relates that he has a tendency to reserve all judgments against people and that he has been conditioned to be understanding toward those who haven't had his advantages. Carraway came from a prominent family from the Midwest, graduated from Yale and fought in the Great War. After the war and a period of restlessness, he decided to go East to learn the bond business. At the book's beginning, Carraway has just arrived in New York, living in West Egg village. He was going to have dinner with Tom Buchanan and his wife Daisy. Tom was an enormously wealthy man and a noted football player at Yale, and Daisy was Carraway's second cousin. Jordan mentions that, since Carraway lives in West Egg, he must know Gatsby. Another woman, Jordan Baker, is also there. She tells Nick that Tom is having an affair with some woman in New York. Tom discusses the book "The Rise of the Colored Empires," which claims that the colored races will submerge the white race eventually. Daisy talks to Carraway alone, and claims that she has become terribly cynical and sophisticated. After visiting with the Buchanans, Carraway goes home to West Egg, where he sees Gatsby come from his mansion alone, looking at the sea. He stretches out his arms toward the water, looking at a faraway green light.

Analysis: Fitzgerald establishes Nick Carraway as an impartial but not passive narrator. He does reserve judgment on others, yet as he states, he is not entirely forgiving. From the opening paragraphs, there is already a tension. For the narrator, Gatsby represents all that is contemptible, but Gatsby is the one person exempt from this scorn. The first paragraphs of the book foreshadow the main actions of The Great Gatsby: Carraway says that living without privilege can excuse some behavior, yet not all. The main theme of the novel is what behavior the less privileged can and cannot use to gain the advantages of the elite. A major concern in the book is class and privilege. Nick Carraway and the Buchanans are all from privileged, elite backgrounds, yet use this status in different ways. Tom Buchanan uses his status in a reprehensible and vulgar manner. In physical stature he is powerful and dominant. As his wife says, he is a 'big, hulking physical specimen.' He has a trace of 'paternal contempt' that inspires hatred. His choice of reading, "The Rise of the Colored Empires," suggests that he is concerned with maintaining his own dominance. There is some anxiety surrounding Tom Buchanan, as if he foretells his eventual decline. Daisy Buchanan is a stark contrast to her husband. She is frail and diminutive, flighty and insubstantial. She laughs at practically every opportunity. Additionally, Daisy is gossipy and transparent, affecting an air of worldliness and cynicism. She strikes a similar posture as her husband, claiming that everything is in decline, but does not appear to have the hard temperament or the concrete knowledge to back up that opinion. Daisy seems to represent some sense of purity and an innocence that borders on naïveté. She and Jordan are dressed in white when Nick arrives, and she mentions their 'white girl-hood' together. But this ostensible purity of Daisy and Jordan is an ironic contrast to their actual decadence and corruption, as later events will show. The first appearance of Gatsby is a dramatic and symbolic gesture. It has a religious solemnity, and Gatsby himself seems godlike. Fitzgerald writes that his position suggests that Gatsby had "come out to determine what share was his of our local heavens." He is alone and isolated, mysteriously appearing and disappearing. He reaches out to the sea in an attempt to grasp some intangible object, a green light at the end of a dock. Gatsby literally reaches for something he cannot hold in this scene. In this scene, Fitzgerald does not attempt for realism, but instead for a dramatic statement. The green light symbolizes the thing for which Gatsby has been striving a symbol that will become tangible in the following chapters.

Summary and Analysis of Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Fitzgerald begins this second chapter with the description of a road running between West Egg and New York City. A large, decaying billboard showing two eyes (advertising an optometrist's practice) overlooks the desolate area. It is here, at a gas station, where Tom Buchanan introduces Nick Carraway to Myrtle Wilson, the woman with whom he is having an affair. Myrtle herself is married to George B. Wilson, an auto mechanic. Tom has Myrtle meet them in the city, where Tom buys her a dog. They go to visit Myrtle's sister and also visit her neighbors, Catherine McKee and her husband, who is an artist. They gossip about Gatsby, and Myrtle discusses her husband, claiming that she was crazy to marry him, and how she met Tom. Later, Myrtle and Tom argue about whether or not she has a right to say Daisy's name, and he breaks Myrtle's nose.

Analysis: The road from West Egg to New York City exemplifies decay. It is a 'valley of ashes,' desolate and gray. The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg that overlook the road are a bit of grotesque imagery, looking out on the barren road but not attached to any face or body. They are profoundly unnatural and decaying. The valley in some way represents a hellish underworld. Even in the description of the drawbridge and passing barges it makes a literary illusion to the mythological River Styx. The area also seems to reference Fitzgerald's contemporary, T.S. Eliot, in the creation of a Waste Land. Like Gatsby's reaching toward the green light, the area is representative at the expense of realism, two detached eyes looking over dust and ashes. Ashes are the predominant image of this chapter. The road is a 'valley of ashes,' while Fitzgerald describes George Wilson as having an 'ashen dust' in his clothes and hair. In comparison to Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson is sensuous and vital. While Daisy wears pale white, Myrtle wears earth tones. While Daisy is light and affected, Myrtle Wilson is thicker and straightforward. Fitzgerald consistently notes her stout figure and excess weight, not as a sign of unattractiveness, but as a reminder of her robust fertility and femininity. There is a constant concern among the characters for fashion and culture. Myrtle Wilson reads tabloid-style magazines and speaks of her sister in terms of gossip. Fitzgerald consistently notes a sense of superficiality among the characters. Mr. McKee does not say that he is an artist, rather he claims to be in the 'artistic game.' Gossip is particularly prevalent. The characters discuss the mysterious Gatsby, telling rumors that he is related to the Kaiser, while Catherine dishes information about Tom and Myrtle to Nick. Clothing plays an important role for each character, reflecting moods and personalities. When Myrtle changes into a cream-colored dress, she loses some of her vitality. She becomes, like Daisy, more artificial. Her laughter, gestures and assertions become more violently affected. The chapter also continues to explore the theme of a society in decadent decay. The rationale that Myrtle gives for having an affair with Tom is that 'you can't live forever.' Nick Carraway's relationship with this society deserves some mention. He mentions that he was "within and without," both drawn to and repelled by the ways that the Buchanans and their acquaintances lived. Also, there is some indication of Tom Buchanan's violent temper when he suddenly breaks Myrtle's nose.

Summary and Analysis of Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Nick Carraway describes the customs of Gatsby's weekly parties: the arrival of crates of oranges and lemons, a corps of caterers and a large orchestra. On the first night that Carraway visits Gatsby's house, he was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. When he arrives, he sees Jordan Baker, who had recently lost a golf tournament. They hear more gossip about Jay Gatsby he supposedly killed a man, or was a German spy. Jordan and Nick look through Gatsby's library, where she thinks that his books are not real. Later in the party, a man who recognized Nick from the war talks to him Nick does not know that it is Gatsby. Suddenly, after he identifies himself, Gatsby gets a phone call from Chicago. Afterwards, Gatsby asks to speak to Jordan Baker alone. When she finishes talking to Gatsby, she tells Nick that she heard the most amazing thing and says that she wishes to see him. Guests leaving the party have a car wreck in Gatsby's driveway. This was merely one event in a crowded summer. Carraway, who spent most of his time working, began to like New York. For a while he lost sight of Jordan Baker. He was not in love with her, but had some curiosity toward her.

Analysis: Even upon his introduction, Jay Gatsby remains a mystery. At his own parties few of the guests know the host or are even invited at all. This chapter builds on the idea that there is something not only mysterious but sinister about Gatsby. All of the gossip relating to Gatsby is borderline monstrous, whether murder or spying for the Germans during the war. When Nick finally meets Gatsby, the man is unassuming and ordinary, easily mistaken for another guest. Among the others he is isolated. He alone does not dance. The sense of mystery that surrounds Gatsby is compounded by the long discussion that he has with Jordan Baker. There is some amazing news about Gatsby that Jordan will soon reveal to Nick. Fitzgerald gives great attention to the details of his contemporary society. The party is a long description of Jazz Age decadence. The parties exemplify conspicuous consumption, as Carraway details in the beginning of the chapter, and mix the lewd with the respectable. Among the butlers and professionally trained singers who perform at the party, the guests are drunk and boisterous. The orchestra plays a work by a Mr. Vladimir Tostoff that had a great reception at Carnegie Hall, yet this piece, the Jazz History of the World, is the antithesis of classical respectability. Another contemporary touch that Fitzgerald adds to this chapter is the use of cars. At the time of this book's publication, they were still novelty items, and Fitzgerald presents them with a sense of luxurious danger. A car accident disturbs the end of the party, when one of the guests drives drunk, and Carraway realizes that Jordan is a terribly unsafe driver. Her near car accident serves as a metaphor for the behavior of her contemporaries: Jordan is a careless driver because she expects others to be careful and stay out of her way in the event of an accident. The chapter also bolsters Fitzgerald's insistence that Carraway is an objective narrator, ending with the narrator's claim that he is one of the few honest people he has ever known. Jordan Baker is a stark contrast to this. She is compulsively dishonest; the story that she may have moved her ball during a golf tournament seems unsurprising. She additionally suspects others of equal dishonesty. She automatically assumes that Gatsby's books aren't real, but are instead, like most of her major characteristics, for decoration and appearance.

Summary and Analysis of Chapter 4

Chapter Four: At a Sunday morning party at Gatsby's, young women gossip about Gatsby (he's a bootlegger who killed a man who found out that he was a nephew to Von Hindenburg and second cousin to the devil). One morning Gatsby comes to take Nick for lunch. He shows off his car: it had a rich cream color and was filled with boxes from Gatsby's purchases. Gatsby asks Nick what his opinion of him is, and Nick is evasive. Gatsby gives his story: he is the son of wealthy people in the Middle West, brought up in America and educated at Oxford. Carraway does not believe him, for he chokes on his words. Gatsby continues: he lived in the capitals of Europe, then enlisted in the war effort, where he was promoted to major and given a number of declarations (from every Allied government, even Montenegro). Gatsby admits that he usually finds himself among strangers because he drifts from here to there, and that something happened to him that Jordan Baker will tell Nick at lunch. They drive out past the valley of ashes and Nick even glimpses Myrtle Wilson. When Gatsby is stopped for speeding, he flashes a card to the policeman, who then does not give him a ticket. At lunch, Gatsby introduces Carraway to Meyer Wolfsheim, a small, flat-nosed Jew. He talks of the days at the Metropole when they shot Rosy Rosenthal, and proudly mentions his cufflinks, which are made from human molars. Wolfsheim is a gambler, the man who fixed the 1919 World Series. Tom Buchanan is also there, and Nick introduces him to Gatsby, who appears quite uncomfortable and then suddenly disappears. Jordan Baker tells the story about Gatsby: Back in 1917, Daisy was eighteen and Jordan sixteen. They were volunteering with the Red Cross, making bandages, and Daisy asked Jordan to cover for her that day. She was meeting with Jay Gatsby, and there were wild rumors that she was going to run off to New York with him. On Daisy's wedding day to Tom, she nearly changes her mind, and goes into hysterics. According to Jordan, Gatsby bought his house just to be across the bay from Daisy. Nick becomes more drawn to Jordan, with her scornful and cynical manner. Jordan tells Nick that he is supposed to arrange a meeting between Gatsby and Daisy.

Analysis: The chapter begins with an additional reminder that Gatsby is a mysterious, shady presence and possibly dangerous. The presence of Meyer Wolfsheim supports the idea that Gatsby is involved with shady dealings. In comparison with the other characters, Wolfsheim is vulgar and unrefined. He immediately speaks about murders and crimes, yet does so in a sentimental manner. His speech is slurred and low-class, and his proud display of his cufflinks made from human molars is borderline grotesque. The character is an exaggeration meant to emphasize Gatsby's disreputable dealings, more a symbol such as the green light or the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg than a fully realized character such as Carraway or Gatsby. Wolfsheim also serves to place the novel in a historical context; the mention of the 1919 World Series was a recent and quite notable scandal to Fitzgerald's contemporaries. In this chapter, Gatsby finally gives his first account of his personal history, refuting the previous wild rumors about his past. Yet his account is entirely unconvincing. Gatsby claims to have had a wholesome upbringing in the middle west (his idea of the middle west is San Francisco), and the claim that all of his family is dead seems inconvenient. Furthermore, this does not explain how such wild accusations concerning his reputation have arisen. Jordan Baker even contradicts parts of Gatsby's stories when she tells Nick how she met Gatsby. According to her, she met Gatsby in America when he was a soldier; Gatsby tells Nick that he enlisted in the war while traveling through Europe. Furthermore, she indicates that there is something in Gatsby's past that made Daisy's parents oppose her romance with him. Jordan's tale about Daisy and Gatsby seems disjointed and incoherent. Only the first anecdote (about Daisy leaving Red Cross work to meet him) relates directly to Gatsby. However, Jordan does seem to relate Daisy's breakdown at her wedding to Gatsby, and Gatsby's move to New York to Daisy. There seems to be a great romantic longing between the two, yet (as shown by Gatsby's sudden disappearance when Daisy arrives at the restaurant) some reason for the inability of the two to meet directly. An infatuation for Daisy explains a great deal of Gatsby's behavior. When he was watching the light in the first chapter, he was in fact gazing over at the Buchanan's mansion across the bay. Gatsby throws his constant parties for the sole purpose of finding a connection to Daisy Buchanan, which he found in both Jordan Baker and Nick Carraway. Fitzgerald sets up the romance between Gatsby and Daisy largely from Gatsby's point of view: it is the driving force in Gatsby's life and his great obsession. The admission that Nick Carraway is to arrange a meeting between Gatsby and Daisy places his friendship with Gatsby in a questionable light. It appears that Gatsby is using Nick merely to get to Daisy, yet Nick holds no ill will toward Gatsby for his behavior. Jordan Baker occupies an ambiguous role for Nick Carraway; he has an interest in her, but this interest stems from her negative qualities her scorn and sarcasm and he is painfully aware that he does not have great concern for her. Nick and Jordan contrast with the presumed passionate and consuming romance between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. The only emotion that Nick can evoke for Jordan is curiosity.

Summary and Analysis of Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Nick speaks with Gatsby about arranging a meeting with Daisy, and tries to make it as convenient for Nick as possible. Gatsby even offers him a job, a "confidential sort of thing," although he assures Nick that he would not have to work with Wolfsheim. On the day that Gatsby and Daisy are to meet, Gatsby has arranged everything to perfection. They start at Nick's home, where the conversation between the three (Nick, Gatsby, Daisy) is stilted and awkward. They are all embarrassed, and Nick tells Gatsby that he's behaving like a little boy. They go over to Gatsby's house, where Gatsby gives a tour. Nick asks Gatsby more questions about his business, and he snaps back "that's my affair," before giving a half-hearted explanation. Gatsby shows Daisy newspaper clippings about his exploits, and has Ewing Klipspringer, a boarder, play the piano for them. One of the notable mementos that Gatsby shows Daisy is a photograph of him with Dan Cody, his closest friend, on a yacht. As they leave, Carraway realizes that there must have been moments when Daisy disappointed Gatsby during the afternoon, for his dreams and illusions had been built up to such grandiose levels.

Analysis: The exchange between Nick and Gatsby when Gatsby offers a job is indicative of their relationship. Gatsby wishes to arrange for Nick's comforts and provide for him; he uses his material wealth as leverage in personal relationships. Nick, however, wishes to remain at a distance; he is still suspicious of Gatsby and obviously aware of Nick's distaste for Wolfsheim. The amount of preparation that Gatsby puts into his afternoon with Daisy borders on grand obsession Gatsby even arranges aspects of Nick's home for him but there are still unexpected inconveniences such as rain to spoil Gatsby's intended perfection. The afternoon is an ostentatious display of wealth. The dozens of shirts and other piles of clothing are signs of conspicuous consumption, and Gatsby himself is dressed in gold and silver. Every detail is meant to impress, including the newspaper clippings and the picture of Gatsby in yachting costume. Gatsby himself is incredibly nervous during the entire meeting. In previous chapters he has been consistently calm and composed, yet he breaks his composure when he meets Daisy, behaving in a sullen and withdrawn manner. This change in character is highlighted by the exchange between Nick and Gatsby when Nick scolds him for acting immature. This is the first instance in which Nick assumes a role equal to Gatsby. Gatsby further displays a tremendous sense of self-doubt and uncharacteristic anger, indicating that there is information concerning his affair with Daisy that he has not let Nick know. Daisy herself plays a minor role in the entire ordeal. Her reactions to the display and pageantry that Gatsby has prepared for her are less important than the display itself. Rather, she is overwhelmed by the display, at a loss for words when shown the piles of multicolored shirts. The chapter continues to provide evidence that Gatsby has not been truthful about his origins. Although he had earlier claimed to inherit his money, he admits that it took him years to earn enough money to buy his mansion. When Nick catches him on this, he again offers a half-hearted explanation, and is vague when explaining his business (he claims to have been in the drug business and the oil business, but is no longer in either). Clocks are a recurring object in this chapter. Carraway says of Gatsby that "he was running down like an over-wound clock," while Gatsby nearly breaks Nick's clock out of anxiety when they first meet Daisy at Nick's home. They highlight the importance of time in the novel. It is quite significant for Gatsby that years (five years in November, as he precisely notes) had passed since he last saw Daisy. The song that Klipspringer plays for Gatsby and Daisy is significant. The lyrics "In the morning, In the evening, Ain't we got fun‹" indicate a joy and spontaneous gaiety that are a stark contrast with the tightly planned and controlled event that Gatsby has produced. The lyrics "the rich get richer and the poor get‹" also are significant, bringing in issues of money and class that are omnipresent throughout the novel. There is also the sense of inevitable disappointment inherent in the meeting between Gatsby and Daisy which Nick realizes upon the end of the day. Gatsby has been planning for this moment for years; no matter how well the meeting had gone, it could not fulfill the grand dreams that he has created for himself. This highlights an important aspect of Gatsby's character: he has an inability to conceive of anything in less than grandiose terms, whether parties, business arrangements or meetings with an old flame.

Summary and Analysis of Chapter 6

Chapter Six: On a vague hunch, a reporter comes to Gatsby's home asking him if he had a statement to give out. The actual story of Gatsby is revealed: he was born James Gatz in North Dakota. He had his named legally changed at the age of seventeen. His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people, and the young man was consumed by fancies of what he might achieve. His life changed when he rowed out to Dan Cody's yacht on Lake Superior. Cody was then fifty, a product of the Nevada silver fields and of the Yukon gold rush. Cody took Gatsby in and brought him to the West Indies and the Barbary Coast as a personal assistant. When Cody died, Gatsby inherited $25,000, but didn't get it because Cody's mistress, Ella Kaye, claimed all of it. Gatsby told Nick this much later. Nick had not seen Gatsby for several weeks when he went over to his house. Tom Buchanan arrived there. He had been horseback riding with a woman and a Mr. Sloane. Gatsby invites the group to supper, but the lady counters with an offer of supper at her home. Mr. Sloane seems quite opposed to the idea, so Nick turns down the offer, but Gatsby accepts. Tom complains about the crazy people that Daisy meets, presumably meaning Gatsby. On the following Saturday Tom accompanies Daisy to Gatsby's party. Tom is unpleasant and rude during the evening. Tom suspects that Gatsby is a bootlegger, since he is one of the new rich. After the Buchanans leave, Gatsby is disappointed, thinking that Daisy surely did not enjoy herself. Nick realizes that Gatsby wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should tell Tom that she never loved him. Nick tells Gatsby that he can't ask too much of Daisy, and that "you can't repeat the past," to which Gatsby replies: "Of course you can!"

Analysis: The incident with the reporter is another indication that Gatsby is involved with some dealings with far-reaching consequences. Whenever there is even the slightest hint that something shady has occurred, Gatsby is automatically presumed involved. The story of Jay Gatsby is the quintessential tale of the self-made man. Gatsby even 'invented' himself, creating the persona of 'Jay Gatsby' from the actual person 'James Gatz.' The full realization of the Gatsby persona and all that it entails is the character's grandiose dream and motivating force. The experience with Dan Cody did not give Gatsby any tangible assets, but did provide him with a concrete idea of what Gatsby wanted to be. This actual history of Gatsby explains some of the suspicion directed towards him. Unlike Tom or Nick, he does not come from an established family. He is, as Tom Buchanan says, one of the 'new rich.' Tom Buchanan serves two major purposes in the novel. He is a source of danger, with his violent bearing and blunt manner. Tom has no sense of restraint, and is quite suspicious, particularly when Daisy is involved. But Tom is also the prime exemplar of 'old money' as compared to Gatsby's status as one of the 'new rich.' Tom's status endows him with a sense of crude condescension towards all others. He automatically assumes that Gatsby must be a bootlegger, for it seems the only explanation for his newfound wealth. He considers Gatsby an obvious social inferior, automatically unacceptable to members of his social circle. Fitzgerald makes it clear in this chapter that Gatsby expects far too much from Daisy. He expects that Daisy will give order to his life and set right any confusion. It is not enough that she might leave her husband for him; Gatsby expects her to totally renounce any feelings she may have for Tom and to return to how her life was five years before. This indicates a great arrogance within Gatsby. He sincerely believes that he can fix everything to be how it was before. Included in this arrogance is some hostility directed toward Daisy. Part of Gatsby's goal is to prove Daisy wrong for marrying Tom.

Summary and Analysis of Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: It was when curiosity about Gatsby was at its highest that he failed to give a Saturday night party. Nick goes over to see if Gatsby is sick, and learns that Gatsby had dismissed every servant in his house and replaced them with a half dozen others who would not gossip, for Daisy had been visiting in the afternoons. Daisy invites Gatsby, Nick and Jordan to lunch. At the lunch, Tom is supposedly on the telephone with Myrtle Wilson. Daisy shows of her daughter, who is dressed in white, to her guests. Tom claims that he read that the sun is getting hotter and soon the earth will fall into it or rather that the sun is getting colder. Daisy makes an offhand remark that she loves Gatsby, which Tom overhears. When Tom goes inside to get a drink, Nick remarks that Daisy has an indiscreet voice. Gatsby says that her voice is "full of money." They all go to town: Nick and Jordan in Tom's car, Daisy in Gatsby's. On the way, Tom tells Nick that he has investigated Gatsby, who is certainly no Oxford man, as is rumored. They stop to get gas at Wilson's garage. Mr. Wilson wants to buy Tom's car, for he has financial troubles and he and Myrtle want to go west. Wilson tells Tom that he "just got wised up" to something recently, the reason why he and Myrtle want to get away. While leaving the garage, they see Myrtle peering down at the car from her window. Her expression was one of jealous terror toward Jordan Baker, whom she took to be his wife. Feeling that both his wife and mistress are slipping away from him, Tom feels panicked and impatient. To escape from the summer heat, they go to a suite at the Plaza Hotel. Tom begins to confront Gatsby, irritated at his constant use of the term "old sport." Tom attempts to expose Gatsby as a liar concerning Gatsby's experience at Oxford. Tom rambles on about the decline of civilization, and how there may even be intermarriage between races. Gatsby tells Tom that Daisy doesn't love him, and never loved him the only reason why she married him was because Gatsby was poor and Daisy was tired of waiting. Daisy hints that there has been trouble in her and Tom's past, and then tells Tom that she never loved him. However, she does concede that she did love Tom once. Gatsby tells Tom that he is not going to take care of Daisy anymore and that Daisy is leaving him. Tom calls Gatsby a "common swindler" and a bootlegger involved with Meyer Wolfsheim. Nick realizes that today is his thirtieth birthday. The young Greek, Michaelis, who ran the coffee joint next to Wilson's garage was the principal witness at the inquest. While Wilson and his wife were fighting, she ran out in the road and was hit by a light green car. She was killed. Tom and Nick learn this when they drive past on their way back from the city. Tom realizes that it was Gatsby who hit Myrtle. When Nick returns home, he sees Gatsby, who explains what happened. Daisy was driving the car when they hit Myrtle.

Analysis: A number of changes accompany the new romance between Gatsby and Daisy. Gatsby has reunited with Daisy; he no longer needs to throw his lavish parties simply to find some connection to her. For the first time, Gatsby shows some awareness of public perceptions of him. Previously, Gatsby has shown no interest in the numerous rumors concerning his reputation; however, with Daisy's frequent visits he must now exercise some discretion. However, Daisy lacks the sense of discretion that Gatsby now begins to show. Inviting Gatsby to lunch with her husband is a bold, foolish move, particularly considering Tom's brutish snobbery toward Gatsby and his cynical suspicions. Tom is inherently insecure, obsessed with an inevitable downfall (as shown by his choice of reading material, this time predicting no less than the end of the world). However, despite his fumbled attempts at intellectualism, Tom is shrewd enough to know about his wife's infidelity. Tom's awareness of Daisy's affair is mirrored in Wilson's realization that Myrtle and Tom's affair. A major development in this chapter is that Fitzgerald reveals how each of the characters knows or at least suspects what is going on with the others. This is not a society in which moral codes are strictly enforced or infidelities are shocking news. Although angry at his wife, Tom is certainly not shocked by Daisy's behavior. Quite tellingly, Tom seems less opposed to the fact that his wife is having an affair than that she is having an affair with a man he considers to be low class. The introduction of Daisy's daughter is an abrupt and jarring development in the novel. It is an additional reminder to Gatsby that he cannot turn back the five years that have passed, and makes it quite clear that Daisy is a mother. Yet the presence of her daughter makes Daisy seem all the more immature. Fitzgerald describes the child as nearly identical to her mother, even dressed in white as Daisy traditionally is, and Daisy's manner seems even more insubstantial than usual around the young girl. The chapter also elucidates the particular qualities in Daisy that Gatsby admires. His remark "Her voice is full of money" is particularly significant. For Gatsby, Daisy represents the money (and, more importantly, the status it entails) for which he has yearned. The distinction between 'old' and 'new' money is crucial; while Gatsby had to strive to earn his fortune, Daisy's inherited wealth has formed her sense of ease and leisure. The description of Myrtle at the window foreshadows dire events relating to the character. While the others remain calm despite the more shocking revelations, Myrtle verges on hysterics. Tom responds to events with bitter disgust, and Wilson descends into glum resignation. Myrtle, however, is seized with "jealous terror." The confrontation between Gatsby and Tom depends upon the major motivations for each character. For Tom, the affair between Gatsby and Daisy is further proof of the decline of society and, more importantly, of social stratification. Tom's attacks on Gatsby are meant to expose Gatsby as a lower class fraud. He opposes his wife's affair because it sneers at family life and institutions the very institutions that place Tom at the apex of society. He even claims that the affair is a step toward the eventual collapse of society and "intermarriage between white and black." This is a remarkable shift for Tom, who moves "from libertine to prig" when it suits his needs. Tom obviously does not predict similar dire consequences stemming from his affair with Myrtle. Gatsby, however, desires no less than for Daisy to entirely renounce Tom and to claim her unwavering devotion to Gatsby. When she refuses to concede that she never loved Tom, it is a defeat for Gatsby, who can accept nothing less. It is this fact that gives Tom the victory. Daisy may not love Tom, but she doesn't love Gatsby enough to satisfy him. His expectations are far too high to ever allow complete satisfaction. Daisy remains a pawn throughout the entire chapter, caught between the arguments of the two men. Her fragility is particularly important in this chapter. Tom and Gatsby fight over who can possess Daisy and provide for her. Gatsby does not tell Tom that Daisy is leaving him, but that "You're not going to take care of her anymore." Neither of the men conceive of Daisy having the ability for independent action. Yet the careless Daisy does not challenge their possessiveness. Gatsby lets her drive to calm her down after the argument, but she is not up to the task. Afterwards, Gatsby must leave the scene of the accident and hide the car to protect her delicate nerves. Her weakness is such that for Gatsby, Daisy's emotions are all that matter, despite the fact that she killed another woman through her careless driving. Throughout the chapter, Nick serves as simply a passive observer. He is caught up in the events surrounding him, even forgetting important details of his own life. He goes without noticing that the day was his thirtieth birthday. When he does realize this, it reflects a turning point for Nick. He has witnessed the bitter confrontation between Tom and Gatsby, which matures him, and this newfound maturity is reflected in a literal aging of the character.

Summary and Analysis of Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: Nick cannot sleep that night. Toward dawn he hears a taxi go up Gatsby's drive, and he immediately feels that he has something to warn Gatsby about. Gatsby is still there, watching Daisy's mansion across the bay. Nick warns him to get away for a week, since his car will inevitably be traced, but he refuses to consider it. He cannot leave Daisy until he knew what she would do. It was then when Gatsby told his entire history to Nick. Gatsby still refuses to believe that Daisy ever loved Tom. After the war Gatsby searched for Daisy, only to find that she had married Tom. Nick leaves reluctantly, having to go to work that morning. Before he leaves, Nick tells Gatsby that he's "worth the whole damn bunch put together." At work, Nick gets a call from Jordan, and they have a tense conversation. That day Michaelis goes to comfort Wilson, who is convinced that his wife was murdered. He had found the dog collar that Tom had bought Myrtle hidden the day before, which prompted their sudden decision to move west. Wilson looks out at the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg and tells Michaelis that "God sees everything." Wilson left, "acting crazy" (according to witnesses), and found his way to Gatsby's house. Gatsby had gone out to the pool for one last swim before draining it for the fall. Wilson shot him, and then shot himself.

Analysis: Nick's concern for Gatsby demonstrates the loyalty that he still has toward the man. Despite all of the careless behavior that Gatsby has been involved in, he still remains absolved of a great deal of the blame. Nick gives the final appraisal of Gatsby when he tells him that he's "worth the whole damn bunch of them." While Nick does feel some tension toward Gatsby as he says, he disapproved of him from beginning to end he recognizes that Gatsby has a grand passion and vision that the others, with their detached cynicism and carelessness, lack. His faults stem from his delusion toward Daisy. He refuses to leave town, for reasons simultaneously selfless and arrogant. He wishes to protect Daisy from Tom, but also holds onto the slim chance that Daisy may renounce her husband and come to him. It is his devotion to the unattainable Daisy that is Gatsby's downfall. Gatsby is not murdered for his bootlegging or connections to organized crime, but rather for his unswerving devotion to Daisy that blinds him to the fates of others and even to his own safety. Fitzgerald writes, he had "paid a high price for living too long with a single dream." The exchange between Michaelis and Wilson before he seeks out Gatsby is significant. He looks out at the eyes advertisement and claims that "God sees everything," an important injection of morality into the novel. The only previous statements of moral belief have come from Tom, who uses them as weapons to maintain his societal status. For Wilson the statement is of religious terror: whatever sins these people commit, they cannot hide them from god. Yet this jarring introduction of moral instruction is based on delusion. Wilson confuses the eyes of an advertisement for the eyes of god. Fitzgerald imbues the description of Gatsby's death with images of transition. Even before the murder occurs there seems to be an understanding that a change will soon occur. When Nick leaves Gatsby they say goodbye to each other, implying that it is a final departure. Before Gatsby is murdered he is taking one last swim before draining the pool for the fall.

Summary and Analysis of Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: Most of the reports of the murder were grotesque and untrue. Nick finds himself alone on Gatsby's side. Tom and Daisy suddenly left town. Meyer Wolfsheim is difficult to contact, and offers assistance, but cannot become too involved because of current entanglements. Nick tracks down Gatsby's father, Henry C. Gatz, a solemn old man, helpless and dismayed by news of the murder. Gatz says that his son would have "helped build up the country." Klipspringer, the boarder, leaves suddenly and only returns to get his tennis shoes. Nick goes to see Wolfsheim, who claims that he made Gatsby. He tells Nick "let he learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead," and politely refuses to attend the funeral. Gatz shows Nick his son's daily schedule, in which he has practically every minute of his day planned. He had a continual interest in self-improvement. At the funeral, one of the few attendees is the Owl-Eyed man from Gatsby's first party. Nick thinks about the differences between the west and the east, and realizes that he, the Buchanans, Gatsby and Jordan are all Westerners who came east, perhaps possessing some deficiency which made them unadaptable to Eastern life. After Gatsby's death the East was haunted and distorted. He meets with Jordan Baker, who recalls their conversation about how bad drivers are dangerous only when two of them meet. She tells Nick that the two of them are both 'bad drivers.' Months later Nick saw Tom Buchanan, and Nick scorns him, knowing that he pointed Wilson toward Gatsby. Nick realizes that all of Tom's actions were, to him, justified. Nick leaves New York to return West.

Analysis: The reports of Gatsby's death are consistent with the rumors that circulated when he was alive: they assume a number of lurid details, when in fact the circumstances of the murder are actually somewhat mundane. The general opinion of Gatsby after the death demonstrates clearly how he was such an outsider in society. Only Nick remains devoted to Gatsby after the murder, while the rest of Gatsby's acquaintances have no interest in him. The many guests at his parties are now absent; his murder confirms the ill suspicions and rumors that had circulated concerning Gatsby. After the murder, Tom and Daisy quickly flee New York, an action typical of their careless behavior. They do not take responsibility for any of the events surrounding Gatsby's murder, leaving Nick to handle everything alone. Even Meyer Wolfsheim behaves responsibly in comparison to the Buchanans. Although he refuses to be mixed up in the situation, he still shows concern and compassion. Wolfsheim even gives a sane appraisal of the situation, telling Nick that one should show friendship for a man when he is alive. Wolfsheim's reluctance to be involved seems honorable, and Fitzgerald makes it clear that Wolfsheim had genuine affection for Gatsby. The Buchanans behave entirely selfishly. Henry Gatz serves to place Gatsby's life in proper perspective. From him Nick learns how much Gatsby achieved and how dedicated he was to self-improvement. Even when he was an adolescent he had grand plans for becoming respectable. Contrary to his reputation as a man interested only in pleasure, Gatsby took good care of his father, buying him a house and providing him with a modestly comfortable life. The funeral provides further evidence that few had any concern for Gatsby. Other than his servants, Henry Gatz and Nick, only the Owl-Eyed man from the first party attends the funeral. Where hundreds attended his parties, only a small number attend his funeral. A common trait among the principle characters of the novel Gatsby, Daisy, Nick, and the Buchanans is that each came east for its excitement, compared to the bored mid-west. Yet for Nick the excitement of the east is a grotesque distortion. The excitement of the east sustains wild parties at the Gatsby mansion, but also provides an atmosphere in which people as careless as the Buchanans can wreak incredible havoc upon others. Jordan's 'bad driver' metaphor places Nick into a different light. Since he serves primarily as an objective narrator, there is little critique of his actions. Only Jordan points out that Nick is as false and careless as the others. He pursued a half-hearted romance with Jordan with little consideration for her feelings, showing interest for her only casually. Significantly, she does not find the solution to their faults to be self-improvement and correction, but rather avoidance. According to Jordan, irresponsible people are only harmful when they find each other (as Nick had found her and the Buchanans). The meeting between Tom and Nick is disturbing because Tom sincerely believes that he deserves some degree of sympathy. It was Tom who was responsible for Gatsby's murder, but he believed that the outcome was justice. It is here that Nick fully realizes the Buchanans' depravity, giving the most accurate appraisal of them: he calls them "careless people" who "smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness." Fitzgerald concludes the novel with a final note on Gatsby's beliefs. It is this particular aspect of his character his optimistic belief in achievement and the ability to attain one's dreams that defines Gatsby, in contrast to the compromising cynicism of his peers. Yet the final symbol contradicts and deflates the grand optimism that Gatsby held. Fitzgerald ends the book with the sentence "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne ceaselessly into the past," which contradicts Gatsby's fervent belief that one can escape his origins and rewrite his past.

Character List

"His speaking voice, a gruff husky tenor, added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed. There was a touch of paternal contempt in it, even toward people he liked and there were men at New Haven who had hated his guts." -Pg. 7 fractious (adj) - unruly, quarrelsome, irritable. "Something was making him nibble at the edge of stale ideas as if his sturdy physical egotism no longer nourished his peremptory heart." - Pg. 20-21 peremptory (adj) - admitting of no contradiction, often characterized by arrogant self-assurance

"The supercilious assumption was that on Sunday afternoon I had nothing better to do." supercilious (adj) - arrogant, contemptous "Wilson's mother which hoveblue like an ectoplasm on the wall. His wife was shrill, languid, handsome, and horrible. She told me with pride that her husband had photographed her a hundblue and twenty-seven times since they had been married. " -Pg. 30 ectoplasm (n) - a gel substance held to produce spirit materialization "I wanted to get out and walk southward toward the park through the soft twilight, but each time I tried to go I became entangled in some wild, strident argument which pulled me back, as if with ropes, into my chair. " - Pg. 36 strident (adj) - commanding attention by a loud or obtrusive quality

"Laughter is easier minute by minute, spilled with prodigality, tipped out at a cheerful word." - Pg. 40 prodigality (n) - reckless extravagance, lavishness, luxuriance "A celebrated tenor had sung in Italian, and a notorious contralto had sung in jazz, and between the numbers people were doing "stunts" all over the garden, while happy, vacuous bursts of laughter rose toward the summer sky." -Pg. 47 vacuous (adj) - marked by lack of ideas or intelligence; devoid of serious occupation "I had expected that Mr. Gatsby would be a florid and corpulent person in his middle years." -Pg. 49 corpulent (adj) - having a large bulky body "But young men didn't - at least in my provincial inexperience I believed they didn't - drift coolly out of nowhere and buy a palace on Long Island Sound." -Pg. 49 provincial (adj) - limited in outlook, narrow; unsophisticated "In spite of the wives' agreement that such malevolence was beyond cblueibility, the dispute ended in a short struggle, and both wives were lifted, kicking, into the night." -Pg. 53 malevolence (adj) - intense often vicious ill will, spite, or hatblue

"This quality was continually breaking through his punctilious manner in the shape of restlessness. -Pg. 64 punctilious (adj) - concerned about precise exact accordance with details of codes or conventions "He's quite a character around New York - a denizen of Broadway." -Pg. 74 denizen (n) - inhabitant; one that frequents a place

"He was a son of God - a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that - and he must be about His Father's business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty." meretricious (adj) - tawdrily and falsely attractive, pretentioius, gaudy "The none too savory ramifications by which Ella Kaye, the newspaper woman, played Madame de Maintenon to his weakness and sent him to sea in a yacht, were common knowledge to the turgid sub-journalism of 1902." - Pg. 102 turgid (adj) - swollen; excessively embellished in style or language,bombastic, pompous "She was appalled by West Egg, this unprecedented "place." that Broadway had begotten upon a Long Island fishing village - appalled by its raw vigor that chafed under the old euphemisms and by the too obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along a short-cut from nothing to nothing." euphemism (n) - substitution of an agreeable or inoffesive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant

"Is Mr. Gatsby sick?." "Nope.." After a pause he added "sir." in a dilatory, grudging way." -Pg. 113 dilatory (adj) - intending to cause delay; procrastinating "Before me stretched the portentous, menacing road of a new decade." - Pg. 136 portentous (adj) - eliciting amazement or wonder, prodigious; self-consciously weighty, pompous. "Only the negro and I were near enough to hear what he said, but the policeman caught something in the tone and looked over with truculent eyes." -Pg. 141 truculent (adj) - cruel, savage; deadly, destructive; vitriolic; belligerent

"For Daisy was young and her artificial world was redolent of orchids and pleasant, cheerful snobbery and orchestras which set the rhythm of the year, summing up the sadness and suggestiveness of life in new tunes." -Pg. 148 redolent (adj) - exuding fragrance, aromatic; scented; evocative, suggestive "I suppose there'd be a curious crowd around there all day with little boys searching for dark spots in the dust, and some garrulous man telling over and over what had happened, until it became less and less real even to him and he could tell it no longer, and Myrtle Wilson's tragic achievement was forgotten." -Pg. 156 garrulous (adj) - pointlessly or annoyingly talkative "A new world, material without being real, where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about . . . like that ashen, fantastic figure gliding toward him through the amorphous trees." -Pg. 162 fortuitously (adv) - occuring by change; fortunate, lucky