The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Literary Devices Metaphor, Simile, Allusion, Aphorism, Foreshadowing, Symbolism, and Irony

Setting Midwest, East Egg, West Egg, The Valley of Ashes

Setting In the novel, the Midwest was the home of many main characters including Nick, Jordan, Daisy, Tom, and Gatsby. The Midwest represents more established normal lifestyle, evidenced by Nick moving back to the Midwest upon turning 30 (the age of establishment and stability.) The Midwest also represents hospitality and the kindness of American people. The East Egg: In the story, it represents established and inherited wealth, like that of Tom and Daisy. The people who live there are older and have a larger family history of wealth and fame. The West Egg: In The Great Gatsby, it represents the newer wealth of the East and the rising establishment of the younger generation. West Egg is inhabited by self-made men. Nick and Gatsby live in West Egg.

Setting The Valley of Ashes: In the novel, this place is a poorer part of the city where George and Myrtle Wilson live. It is a place of emptiness, poverty, and desolation. Towards the climax of the novel, this place truly earns its name, for it is where Myrtle Wilson is killed by Gatsby’s car.

Characters Nick Carraway: Nick is the speaker in the novel. He is from a middle- western family, and went to Yale College with Tom Buchanan. After college, Nick enrolled in the army and was in the third division ninth machine gun battalion during the war. After the war, Nick moves out east to New York State to pursue a career in bonds. Nick soon becomes involved with the affairs of his next door neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Nick aids Gatsby and Daisy in meeting, and even holds their first meeting at his house. Although Nick prides himself on being the most honest person he knows, he continually associates himself with Gatsby, a person who habitually lied about his life.

Characters Jay Gatsby: When Nick first meets Gatsby, he views him as a fabulously rich middle age man. Gatsby tells everyone that he inherited his money from his family who are all dead. He also reveals that he went to Oxford because it was a family tradition. After college, Gatsby claims that he went traveling around the world collecting rubies, hunting big games, painting, and living in Europe. He then went into the military and received medals for his courageous actions. As the novel progresses, Gatsby reveals to Nick that he did not go to Oxford because of family tradition, or travel around the world. Gatsby’s life was a total fabrication. In real life, Gatsby’s name is James Gatz, and although he was from the Midwest, he did not inherit his money from his dead parents. Gatsby drifted around a lot, but eventually joins the army. As he was being trained to be an officer he meets Daisy and instantly falls in love with her. After being released from the army, he was accidentally sent to a small Lutheran college in St. Olaf, Minnesota, and took a job as a janitor. He despised the way he was treated and quit. After quitting his job, Gatsby drifts around Lake Superior, digging for clams. There he meets a fifty year old multimillionaire named Dan Cody. He invites Gatsby to come sailing with him. They sailed around the continent for five years. After traveling around with Dan Cody, a multi-millionaire, Gatsby realizes the perks of wealth. When Dan Cody died, Gatsby went looking for Daisy, which was funded by his shady contacts and illegal business.

Characters Daisy Buchanan: Daisy Buchanan is Tom’s 23 year old wife. Her voice is described a lot in the novel. It is said to be full of money and seductive, men are drawn to it. Before she was married she was in love with Jay Gatsby. During the novel you find that she and Gatsby start to get involved again and have an affair. She tells him that she has always loved him, but now she only loves him for his money. When the novel takes place in the summer, there is a battle between Tom and Gatsby for her. She has to decide between staying with Tom or going off with Gatsby. She decides to stay with Tom because it’s the easiest thing to do. While going back to East Egg, driving Gatsby’s car, you find out that she is the actual one who killed her husband’s mistress, Myrtle.

Characters Tom Buchanan: Tom Buchanan is married to Nick’s second cousin once removed, Daisy. He’s an ex-football star and attended the same college as Nick, Yale. He is around thirty years old and is very wealthy from an inheritance. He was a very strong man and many people didn’t like him. He was very aggressive and short tempered and abused, physically or emotionally, almost anyone in his life. He and Daisy moved around a lot and in almost every place, he had some affair with another woman. While living in East Egg, he had an affair with Myrtle Wilson, George Wilson’s wife.

Characters Myrtle Wilson: Myrtle Wilson is George Wilson’s wife. They were married for 11 years. She is said to be short, but carries her weight well. She detests her husband but yet, Tom, who she’s been having an affair with, abuses her. Early in the novel, Tom breaks her nose, while they’re drunk in New York City. The climax of the novel is when her husband finds out about her having affair, then later that night she gets run over by Jay Gatsby’s car, driven by Daisy. George Wilson: George and his wife, Myrtle, run a repair shop in the valley of ashes. They have been married for eleven years, and Myrtle has been cheating on George with Tom Buchannan. George is a very passive person, who is constantly controlled by his wife. He was extremely fragile, and when Tom tells him Gatsby killed his wife, he snaps.

Characters Jordan Baker: Jordan Baker is introduced into the story as an innocent-looking jock with a troubling past that was full of controversy. Jordan meets Nick through her friend Daisy, and they become romantically involved. Jordan is a strong, confident, wealthy woman who lies throughout the book, and has cheated in her first golf tournament in order to win. Jordan is a symbol if the modern woman during the 1920’s. Dan Cody: Dan Cody is a fifty year old multi-millionaire, who received his money during the gold rush. Dan meets Gatsby on the shores of the Lake Superior and decides to take him under his wing. They travel together around North America, until Dan’s untimely death. After his suspicious death, Dan’s girlfriends takes off with all of Cody’s fortune.

Theme The overall theme of “The Great Gatsby” is the American dream. Originally, the American dream was supposed to be the pursuit of happiness and the love between a man and a woman. During the story, the American dream is corrupted by the selfish pleasures of the men and women in the story. After the soldiers got back home from World War 1, there was a major rise in materialism and greed. Nick and Gatsby both fought in the war and Gatsby reflects the materialistic ways of the people at this time.

The Roaring Twenties The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is thought by many to be the most definitive novel during this era. The 1920’s was also referred to as the Roaring Twenties or the Jazz Age. In Europe this decade was known as the Golden Twenties. This era was a time of social, economic, and political change in America. The Roaring Twenties was called “roaring” because of its luxuriant, high-spirited culture. Many people were against Prohibition, indulged in new styles of dancing and fashion, and refused many traditional moral standards

The Roaring Twenties