The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald Born in St. Paul, Minnesota Named after Francis Scott Key, composer of “The Star-Spangled Banner” Gave the 1920s the name “Jazz Age” Married Zelda Sayre, whom he met while stationed at Camp Sheridan in AL during WWI Zelda’s hometown – Montgomery, AL First novel – This Side of Paradise, 1920

F. Scott Fitzgerald, cont. Moved to France for a couple of years, where he became friends with Hemingway Published The Great Gatsby in 1925 Zelda suffered a mental breakdown in 1930, spending the remainder of her life in and out of asylums Spent money faster than he could make it; he “struggled with mounting debts, failing health, drinking, and depression.” Died of heart failure in 1940 – age 44

F Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda The Fitzgeralds became the “darlings of the Jazz Age They had one child “Scottie” born in 1921. Fitzgerald died in 1940; Zelda died in 1948.

Characteristics of the 20s Americans made and spent money. Little concern for social welfare or global cooperation Corruption accepted by most people Prejudice against Jews, Catholics, Blacks, and foreigners rose. Nation’s wealth grew, but was unevenly distributed Technology grew: automobiles, radios, movies

Key Facts genre · Modernist novel, Jazz Age novel, novel of manners narrator  · Nick Carraway; Carraway not only narrates the story but implies that he is the book’s author point of view  · Nick Carraway narrates in both first and third person, presenting only what he himself observes. Nick alternates sections where he presents events objectively, as they appeared to him at the time, with sections where he gives his own interpretations of the story’s meaning and of the motivations of the other characters. tone  · Nick’s attitudes toward Gatsby and Gatsby’s story are ambivalent and contradictory. At times he seems to disapprove of Gatsby’s excesses and breaches of manners and ethics, but he also romanticizes and admires Gatsby, describing the events of the novel in a nostalgic and elegiac tone.

tense  · Past setting (time)  · Summer 1922 settings (place)  · Long Island and New York City protagonist  · Gatsby and/or Nick major conflict  · Gatsby has amassed a vast fortune in order to win the affections of the upper-class Daisy Buchanan, but his mysterious past stands in the way of his being accepted by her.

Place Setting Two wealthy fictional suburbs on the eastern tip of Long Island East Egg – home of the “old money” West Egg – across the bay and province of the newly rich Valley of the ashes – an industrial wasteland located nearly New York City and Manhattan – pinnacle of materialism

EAST EGG

WEST EGG

VALLEY OF ASHES George Wilson’s garage The valley of ashes is a very grotesque area where all you can see is dust in the air. It is located half way between West Egg and New York City. It has rundown houses and polluted water. It is a desolate wasteland. It is a very poor area. George Wilson’s garage

PLOT There are two possible climaxes: Gatsby’s reunion with Daisy in Chapters V–VI; the confrontation between Gatsby and Tom in the Plaza Hotel in Chapter VII. Daisy’s rejection of Gatsby, Myrtle’s death, Gatsby’s murder  Gatsby’s lavish parties, Gatsby’s arrangement of a meeting with Daisy at Nick’s Gatsby’s Gatsby’s funeral; Nick returns to Midwest (more Mature) Gatsby has amassed a vast fortune in order to win the affections of the upper-class Daisy Buchanan, but his mysterious past stands in the way of his being accepted by her.

Putting It All Together 1. Exposition 2. Rising Action 3. Climax 4. Falling Action 5. Resolution Beginning of Story Middle of Story End of Story

Symmetrical Plot 2 love affairs trigger 3 violent deaths (an accident, a murder, and a suicide) among 5 characters under the watchful gaze of a 6th character who is the narrator

THEMES The decline of the American dream, the spirit of the 1920s, the difference between social classes, the role of symbols in the human conception of meaning, the role of the past in dreams of the future The wasteland and moral emptiness The ideal

MOTIFS The connection between events and weather, the connection between geographical location and social values, images of time, extravagant parties, the quest for wealth

SYMBOLS The green light on Daisy’s dock, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, the valley of ashes, Gatsby’s parties, East Egg, West Egg "I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock....his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him." -F. Scott Fitzgerald

FORESHADOWING The car wreck after Gatsby’s party in Chapter III, Owl Eyes’s comments about the theatricality of Gatsby’s life, the mysterious telephone calls Gatsby receives from Chicago and Philadelphia

Nick First person narrator who tells the story as a flashback Age 29-30 educated at Yale and fought in World War I, went to New York City to learn the bond business. Honest, tolerant, and inclined to reserve judgment Daisy Buchanan’s cousin Nick quickly befriends his next-door neighbor, the mysterious Jay Gatsby

Nick Carraway Conservative, upper-middle-class background Has a casual affair withy Jordan Baker, but finds her shallow Appalled by the moral emptiness of the Buchanans’ society

JAY GATSBY protagonist of the novel, Gatsby is a fabulously wealthy young man living in a Gothic mansion in West Egg – AGE 32 He is famous for the lavish parties he throws every Saturday night, but no one knows where he comes from, what he does, or how he made his fortune. Acquired wealth through bootlegging and racketeering (illegal bond deals) Idolizes Daisy, the romantic embodiment of the American dream

Jay Gatsby cont. Turns materialism into a religious ideal Uses money to create a new identity for himself He is romantic and goodhearted Tragic, pathetic victim of his own illusion

TOM BUCHANAN Wealthy married to Daisy Age 30 Former football player at Yale Plays polo Strong, arrogant, physically brutal, intellectually and morally weak, prejudiced

TOM BUCHANAN Believes he is entitled to whatever he wants Restless, no moral qualms about his own extramarital affair with Myrtle, selfish Materialistic by using and consuming people

DAISY BUCHANAN MARRIED TO TOM; AGE 23 CHARMING, BUT SHALLOW FORMER BELLE OF LOUISVILLE SEDUCTIVE VOICE GUIDING PRINCIPLE IS MONEY OBJECT OF GATSBY’S FANTASIES, BUT FALLS SHORT OF HIS DIVINE IMAGE OF HER

JORDAN BAKER FRIEND OF DAISY SINCE CHILDHOOD IN LOUISVILLE AGE 21 CHAMPION GOLFER CHEATED IN A TOURNAMENT TO AVIOD LOSING

JORDAN BAKER CONT. BORED, ARROGANT PHONY MANNERISMS ROOTLESS, USES PEOPLE SPIRITUALLY EMPTY INCAPABLE OF HAPPINESS Jordan represents one of the “new women” of the 1920s—cynical, boyish, and self-centered.

MYRTLE WILSON GEORGE WILSON’S WIFE TOM’S MISTRESS MID 30s SLIGHTLY OVERWEIGHT SENSUOUS, FLESHY WOMAN NOT BEAUTIFUL

MYRTLE WILSON PURSUES THE AMERICAN DREAM possesses a fierce vitality and desperately looks for a way to improve her situation SHE SEEKS WEALTH AND GLAMOUR IN AN AFFAIR WITH TOM SHE IS KILLED

SYMBOLS VALLEY OF ASHES HEARSE GATSBY’S SILK SHIRTS THE MIDWEST

THE JAZZ AGE PARTIES