The Great Gatsby Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The Great Gatsby (1925) is a short novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald set in New York City and Long Island in the 1920s. It has often been seen as the epitome of American literature of the so-called "Jazz Age".
The novel was not popular when it was first published, selling less than 24,000 copies during Fitzgerald's lifetime. Largely forgotten during the Great Depression and World War II, it was republished in the 1950s and quickly found a wide readership. Over the following decades it emerged as a standard text in high school and university literature classes in the United States. It remains a consistent seller for its publisher, and is now often cited as one of the greatest English-language novels of the 20th century.
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2 Literary elements 3 Structure 4 Themes 5 Symbols 6 Important quotes 7 Trivia 8 Publications 9 Film |
Jay Gatsby is a young millionaire with a dubious past – some say he made his money as a bootlegger during the Prohibition years. Some said he "killed a man", while others say he was a German spy and was a cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm. However, despite the glamorous parties he throws, with their countless gatecrashers whom he generously tolerates, Gatsby is a lonely man. All he really wants is to "repeat the past" – to be reunited with the love of his life, Daisy. But Daisy is now married to millionaire Tom Buchanan. Tom and Daisy have a daughter. Gatsby does not believe this could constitute a problem, and Daisy Buchanan actually feels flattered by Gatsby's attentions.
The first person narrator of the novel is Nick Carraway, a young bond salesman who moves into the small house next to Gatsby's mansion (a "factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy") and who keeps commentary on the protagonists' actions. Carraway soon realizes that Tom and Daisy are "careless people". When Gatsby lets Daisy drive his new car, she causes an accident in which Myrtle Wilson, Tom's mistress, is killed. So much in love with Daisy, Gatsby takes the blame and is consequently shot by Myrtle's desperate husband, Wilson, a garage owner. Except for Gatsby's father, an old, poverty-stricken man, hardly anyone shows up for Gatsby's funeral.
“…I’m inclined to reserve all judgements…”
“I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known”
“…there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life…”
“…an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness…”
“No — Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and shortwinded elations of men.”
“…a factual imitation … spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy…”
“…drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together.”
"I hope she'll be a fool—that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool."
Daisy, talking to Nick about her daughter.
“She turned to me helplessly: ‘What do people plan?’ “
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together…”
“Her voice is full of money…”
“ ’What’ll we do with ourselves this afternoon?’ cried Daisy, ‘and the day after that, and the next thirty years?’”
“ ’Can't repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously. ’Why of course you can!’”
“ ’They're a rotten crowd’ I shouted, across the lawn. ‘You're worth the whole damn bunch put together’”
“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter — tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . And then one fine morning— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
The Great Gatsby has been filmed four times:
This is an Article on The Great Gatsby. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About The Great Gatsby Summary
Literary elements
Structure
Themes
The main themes of the novel are:
Minor themes:
Symbols
Important quotes
Nick describing himself in Chapter 1.
Nick describing himself.
This is Nick describing Gatsby's personality in Chapter 1.
This is Nick describing Gatsby's personality in Chapter 1.
Nick, illustrating the novel's narrative stance in Chap 1.
This is Nick's description of Gatsby's house (Chapter 1)
Nick describing Tom and Daisy's lifestyle.
Daisy.
Nick's opinion of Tom and Daisy in the final chapter.
Gatsby describes Daisy's voice.
Daisy's aimlessness is shown here, when the main characters are deciding what to do.
Gatsby.
Nick, on impulse, shouts this to Gatsby.
The final lines of the novel.Trivia
Publications
The Great Gatsby
Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (Cliffs Notes)
The Great Gatsby – Penguin Critical Studies Guide
The Great Gatsby (Audio Editions CD)
F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby: A Literary Reference
Film