1. The Great Gatsby
1920’s America

2. The Great Gatsby The 1920s and the American Dream
The 1920s were an era of “mindless materialism and consumption and pursuit of private wealth.”

3. The book was written in the 20’s
A book about the 20s:
the novel comments on the gaiety and the moral decadence of the period
innumerable references the contemporary scene:
Wild, extravagant parties
the shallowness and aimlessness of the individual.
Fitzgerald stresses the need for hope and dreams to give meaning and purpose to man’s efforts.
But hopes and dreams have to fail because ideals standing behind both are mainly too fantastic to be realized.

4. The 20s: an age of transition
1918 the war had been won but nothing worth winning had been gained, because idealism had been used-up, that caused uneasy feelings and a general disillusionment among the people which caused nervousness: racism, intolerance, violence, Ku Klux Klan, immigrants, political intolerance "ghost of bolshevism" behind every form of social protest/ strikes.

5. CRITICS they called the decade "decline and degradation"
Americans are caught up in a "surge of materialism", people who had failed to grasp the meaning and significance of life.
they feel disillusioned or disenchanted, they lost faith in life and in the possibility of social progress that caused their absolute lack of interest in politics.

6. SOCIAL ATMOSPHERE OF CHANGE
relaxing of structures within the sphere of private and public morality
relationship between the sexes
change of the status of women

7. SPIRIT OF THE 20s urbanization and the move away from the land
fascination with the dream of success
development of the cinema as a medium of entertainment
popularity of jazz
increased mobility brought about by the mass produced automobile
Babe Ruth and other sports figures became heroes.

8. PROHIBITION
The 18th Amendment(1919)prohibited the sale and consumption of alcohol.
Although alcohol was illegal it was distributed through" bootleggers”
It was the time of famous gangsters like Al Capone
Events like the St. Valentine's Day massacre happened
During that time the Mafia became important in American society.
In "The Great Gatsby”
Jay Gatsby is suspected to be a bootlegger and a murderer.
Meyer Wolfshiem is said to have "fixed the World's Series" in 1919.
Jordan Baker is someone who cheated at playing golf. Illegal gambling and bootlegging led to wide-spread corruption in the United States at that time.
Prohibition is not taken seriously in "The Great Gatsby": in almost every chapter alcoholic drinks are offered.

9. THE CHANGING ROLE OF WOMEN
The 19th Amendment(1920) gave women the right to vote.
During the Twenties 9 million women were employed and earned money on their own, many younger women used their money to enjoy themselves
Women bobbed their hair
They were able to drink and smoke in public. For the first time female alcoholism is a major problem.
The liberated young women were called" flappers”
In The Great Gatsby Jordan Baker is such a new type of woman. She is living alone and has equal relationships to men. She is self- confident in dealing with others. Tom comments on her new freedom as a woman.

10. The role of women changed – their behavior, looks, and aims connected to the 20th century speed.
Behavior: the relations between the sexes changed radically during the decade.
Prohibition of alcohol reshaped into secret fun: men and women began drinking together at private cocktail parties which replaced the illegal saloon.
Women started smoking.
For those who could afford it the automobile became a further means of liberation.
They enjoyed sports like golf. On Saturday afternoon quite a few also attended the Big Game, watched football.
The new dancing style expressed a new joy of life.
Social crazes such as dances like the Charleston, dance marathons, flagpole sitting and flying stunts erupted.
The new woman revolted against being treated as a love object or male property.
Feminist leaders fought against the general idea of women as a mother and housewife.
The conduct shows the disintegration of the values and customs of the older generations.
Women in the 1920’s

11. Women in the 1920’s
Looks: just as well the looks of the young women experienced drastic change.
Girls had their hair cut short like boys (in a bob) and went hatless.
They wore short shirts or dresses and their coats reached only to their knees.
These young women were known as flappers.
Sex: Sexual relations were now more like open discussions.
Some feminists denounced sexuality as a male problem.
Some men described women as becoming frigid and masculine.
Suffrage in 1920: women's suffrage was finally fixed throughout the United States:
The right ... to vote shall not be denied or abridged ... on account of sex.
The Nineteenths Amendment didn't effect American politics.
World War I brought about the first step towards a new role of women in American society.
During the war, women were employed in all jobs of the work force because of the manpower shortage.
Then during the twenties they had found entrance to business and politics though in the very minority.

12. FACTS ABOUT THE DECADE 106,521,537 people in the United States
2,132,000 unemployed, Unemployment 5.2%
Life expectancy: Male 53.6, Female 54.6
in military (down from 1,172,601 in 1919)
Average annual earnings $1236; Teacher's salary $970
Dow Jones High 100 Low 67
Illiteracy rate reached a new low of 6% of the population.
Gangland crime included murder, swindles, racketeering
It took 13 days to reach California from New York There were 387,000 miles of paved road.

13. WHAT IS THE AMERICAN DREAM?
It describes an attitude of hope and faith that looks forward to the fulfillment of human wishes and desires.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
These wishes were expressed in Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence.
The concept of the American Dream is presented from two different point of view

14. SPIRITUAL AND MATERIAL IMPROVEMENT
Materialism achieved too quickly.
Thus, lacking spiritual life/purpose.
Gatsby is a character that represents this DREAM.
The American Dream relates to a desire for spiritual and material improvement.
But what happened was the material aspect clearly outraced the spiritual ideals… it was achieved too quickly.
So there emerged a state of material well-being but lacking in spiritual life or purpose.

15. FAILURE OF THE AMERICAN DREAM
Poverty, Discrimination, Exploitation, Hypocrisy, Corruption, and Suppression
The American Dream has totally failed to bring any kind of fulfillment, whether spiritual or material.
For all the progress and prosperity, for all the declaration of democratic principles, there are still poverty, discrimination, exploitation
As far as morality and values, there are also hypocrisy, corruption and suppression.
The Great Gatsby also comments on this condition.

16. How is this developed? Through the 5 central characters
Through certain dominant images and symbols
Through diction.

17. 1920’s Arts & Writing
The lush, ornate style of Art Deco architecture, art, clothing, hairstyles, decor and furnishings flourished
a rich period of American writing
Sinclair Lewis, Willa Cather, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Carl Sandburg and Ernest Hemingway were prominent writers of the time period
Will Durant's The Story of Philosophy would sell millions of copies.

18. 1920’s Arts & Writing
A uniquely American music form, with roots in African expression, came to be known as jazz
greats such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Fletcher Henderson
George Gershwin, Cole Porter and others would bring jazz influences to Broadway and the concert hall.
Bessie Smith hallowed the Blues on a sound
first movie made with sound, The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson

19. 1920’s Arts & Writing
Walt Disney would produce his first cartoon, Alice's Wonderland.
Charlie Chaplin and Rudolph Valentino were tremendous movie box office hits

20. 1920’s:Economy, Technology, & Science
the United States was converting from a wartime to peacetime economy
In this decade, America became the richest nation on Earth and a culture of consumerism was born
People spent money for better roads, tourism, and holiday resorts. Real estate booms, most notably in Florida, sent land prices soaring

21. 1920’s:Economy, Technology, & Science
Technology played a vital part in delivering the economic and cultural good times
Henry Ford blazed the way with his Model T; he sold more 15 million of them by 1927
assembly line means of production was the key
radio found its way into virtually every home in America

22. 1920’s:Economy, Technology, & Science
In 1926, the advent of Technicolor made movies more entertaining and memorable
Charles A. Lindbergh's pioneering flight across the Atlantic Ocean in the Spirit of St. Louis in 1927
Canned foods, ready-made clothing and household appliances emerge liberating women from household drudgery

23. 1920’s:Economy, Technology, & Science
The use of machinery increased productivity, while decreasing the demand for manual laborers
industrial boom lured numerous workers off the farm to the cities
farmers were compelled to merge in order to compete; the lasting effect would be larger, but fewer farms.

24. 1920’s:Economy, Technology, & Science
Albert Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1921
Diphtheria became better controlled with an immunization in 1923
With the Flapper's focus on dieting and her looks came a significant change in the dietary habits of Americans as a whole — less fat and meat, and more fruits and vegetables
discovery of vitamins and their effects
However, contradictory habits like cigarette consumption, rose roughly by 43 billion annually, and bootleg liquor became a $3.5 billion-a-year business

25. Who is F. Scott Fitzgerald?
Born in 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota.
attended Newman, a Catholic prep school in NJ
He attended Princeton University.
1917 joined the army.
Met his wife Zelda.
Published The Great Gatsby at 23 in
Regarded as the speaker of the Jazz Age.
Drinking and wife’s schizophrenia
Died in 1940.

26. F. Scott Fitzgerald
While stationed in Alabama in he met and fell in love with his future wife Zelda Sayre
1919 is discharged from the Army
Married Zelda 1920 after he earned recognition for his work, This Side of Paradise
The two embark on an extravagant lifestyle that would lead to the trials and tribulations of both their lives and their relationship

27. F. Scott Fitzgerald
In 1937 Fitzgerald tries his hand in Hollywood where he signed with MGM Studios and works until late 1938
Fitzgerald believed himself to be a failure
He became more notably recognized
post-humously
His 1924 work, The Great Gatsby has secured him a place in American History being called the example that “defines the classic American novel”

28. The Great Gatsby 1924 F. Scott Fitzgerald
Modernist Novel; a novel of manners

29. The Great Gatsby
Setting: The Summer of 1922 on Long Island and in New York City
THEMES:
The idea of the American Dream
The spirit revolving around the 1920’s
Social classes
The idea of symbols
Past, present and future

30. Pre-reading:       
1.Why are we still reading a book written in the 1920’s? What gives a book its longevity?
2.Some people think that having money leads to happiness. Do you agree? Why or why not? What are the advantages or disadvantages of being wealthy.

31. Gatsby Journal-Favorite Color?
What is your favorite color? Why? What do you associate with this color? How does it make you feel?
Write a paragraph explaining your answers on this topic.

32. Connotations of Color Think-Pair-Share
Choose a color and list as many cultural connotations as possible.
For example-green:
“green with envy” – jealousy
“luck of the Irish”- Emerald Isle/ lucky clovers
“green backs” – money/wealth
Different cultures have differing connotations associated with color.
In China, brides wear red as white is associated with death.
Within a culture a color can have conflicting connotations.

33. Cover Art Predictions Identify the colors-what do they symbolize?
Identify the details-what do they symbolize?
Tone- the attitude or feeling the author or painter is trying to convey
Make predictions about the novel using what you already know and your analysis of the cover art.

34. Cover Art
Artist-Francis Cugat- commercial artist did print ads, movie posters, no other book jackets
Paid $100 for the cover art
Fitzgerald loved the art and wrote it into the book. Definitely the end of ch.4-Daisy floating disembodied over the lights. Possibly the watching eyes of T.J. Eckleburg in the valley of ashes.
Nude women in the eyes’ irises.

35. Chapter 1
The Area

36. The Fitzgeralds moved to Great Neck, Long Island in 1922.
Like the Buchanans, they, too, moved a great deal.

37. Beacon Towers-Great Neck, Long Island-Gatsby Mansion on West Egg
Now demolished, the Fitzgerald's attended parties here during the time of their residence.

38. Oheka Castle-Great Neck, Long Island-Gatsby Mansion on West Egg
Now a hotel, also considered an influence on Fitzgerald’s description of Gatsby’s mansion.

39. Oheka Castle-Great Neck, Long Island-Gatsby Mansion on West Egg
Alternate view
Alternate View

40. Lands End-Buchanan house on East Egg
Located at Sands Point, Long Island. Also visited by the Fitzgeralds, it was empty for several years and demolished in 2011 due to a lack of interested buyers.

41. East Egg (where the old money families live) and West Egg, Long Island (where the nouveau riche [newly rich] reside.
The Valley of Ashes (Industrial section): the depression and grime symbolize
the wealthy’s exploitation of the working class. Myrtle Wilson feels trapped in the “ash heap.”

42. The nouveau riche (new rich) emerged: a generation of wealthy individuals who did not inherit their social and financial status, but who became suddenly well-off due to lucrative business ventures (some were illegal). “The American Dream” was attainable without “hard work” or “perseverance.”

43. Today’s Exit Card
What is something you want to know about the book Great Gatsby?
Example:
What’s the differences between book and movie
Why is it called Great Gatsby?
Why are we still reading it today?

44. Cugat’s Valley of Ashes
Preliminary artwork for the cover by Francis Cugat corresponding to the original title, Among the Ash Heaps and Millionaires.

45. Cugat’s Valley of Ashes.
Preliminary artwork for the cover by Francis Cugat corresponding to the original title, Among the Ash Heaps and Millionaires

46. Chapter 1 Summary
The narrator Nick Carraway, begins the novel by commenting on himself. He attempts to understand people on their own terms, rather than holding them up to his own personal standards. He decided to go east, in order to learn the bond business. He arrives at West Egg; it is home to the those who have recently made money and lack an established social position. Nick's house is next door to Gatsby’s mansion.
One night, he attends a dinner party in East Egg; the party is given by Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Daisy is Nick’s cousin. Tom comes from a wealthy, established family, and was a much-feared football player while at Yale. A friend of Daisy’s is also in attendance.
Jordan Baker makes her living as a professional golfer. She has a frigid, boyish beauty and affects an air of extreme boredom. Tom dominates the conversation at dinner; he wishes to propound ideas he has found in a book entitled "The Rise of the Colored Empires." This book espouses racist and white supremacist ideas, to which Tom wholeheartedly subscribes.
After his awkward visit with the Buchanan's, Carraway goes home to West Egg. There, he sees a handsome young man, Jay Gatsby, standing on his wide lawn, with his arms stretched out to the sea. He appears to be reaching for a faraway green light, which may mark the end of a dock.

47. Chapter 2
New York

48. Long Island “Egg” Characters
West Egg
Nick Caraway
Jay Gatsby
East Egg
Tom Buchanan
Daisy Buchanan
Jordan Baker

49. Live in the Valley of Ashes
New York Characters
Lower/Working Class
Live in the Valley of Ashes
Mr. and Mrs. Wilson
George and Myrtle
High Class
Live in New York
Mr. and Mrs. McKee
Catherine

50. Nick Caraway Narrator From the West In the bond business
Live in West Egg (small house)
Neighbors with Jay Gatsby.
Daisy Buchanan’s cousin
The Great Gatsby is told entirely through Nick’s eyes

51. Tom Buchanan Daisy’s immensely wealthy husband
Powerfully built, Polo player
hailing from a socially solid old family money
Football superstar from Yale
Tom is an arrogant, hypocritical bully.
Lives in East Egg
From Chicago
He has no moral qualms about his own extramarital affair with Myrtle

52. Daisy Buchanan Nick’s cousin Has a 3 year old daughter
From Chicago, spent time ss a young woman in Louisville before the war
Daisy harbors a deep need to be loved, this causes her to be unhappy
lives in the fashionable East Egg district of Long Island.
She is sardonic and somewhat cynical, and behaves superficially to mask her pain at her husband’s constant infidelity.

53. Jordan Baker Daisy’s friend
A competitive golfer, Jordan represents one of the “new women” of the 1920s—cynical, boyish, and self- centered.
Jordan is beautiful, but also dishonest:
she cheated in order to win her first golf tournament and continually bends the truth.
From Louisville, KY
Independent and Not married

54. George Wilson Myrtle’s husband,
the lifeless, exhausted owner of a run-down auto shop
George lives and idealizes Myrtle
George is comparable to Gatsby

55. Myrtle Wilson Tom’s lover Thicker/less attractive woman
Possesses a fierce vitality and desperately looks for a way to improve her situation
Unfortunately for her, she chooses Tom, who treats her as a mere object of his desire.

56. Chester McKee Photographer Womanly Dull
Wants to find work on Long Island

57. Lucille McKee Snoody Escaped a bad marriage proposal
Enjoys talking about her husbands work

58. Catherine Myrtle’s sister Typical Flapper woman Independent Unmarried
Enjoys feminine companionship
Not gay
Just not seeking a man

59. Jay Gatsby Nick’s Neighbor Strange People fear him Mysterious
Enjoys partying

60. Chapter 2 Summary
The second chapter begins with a description of the valley of ashes, a dismal, barren wasteland halfway between West Egg and New York.
A pair of enormous eyes broods over the valley from a large, decaying billboard. These are the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, an optometrist whose practice has long since ended.
Tom takes Nick to George Wilson’s garage which is in the Valley of Ashes. Wilson’s wife Myrtle is the woman whom Tom is having an affair. Tom forces both Myrtle and Nick to accompany him to the city. There, in the apartment, they have a shrill, vulgar party with Catherine (Myrtle’s sister) and the McKee’s from downstairs
The group gossips about Gatsby: Catherine claims Jay is related to Wilhelm (a ruler of Germany during WWI). The group becomes very drunk and as a result Myrtle becomes harsh.
Shortly after Tome gives her a puppy, Myrtle begins chanting Daisy’s name to irritate Tom. Tome tells her she has no right and she continues. Tom responds by breaking Myrtle’s nose
Nick and Mr. McKee slip out the door amidst the commotion

61. The Great Gatsby- Symbolism

62. You will need to watch out for….
The green light- the symbol of Gatsby’s longing for Daisy. There is also more, but they will come later.
T.J. Eckleburg’s billboard- overlooks “the valley of ashes”

63. More
Automobiles- the characters use these things to escape from events.
The use of alcohol- the ideas impaired judgment.

64. Wait, there is still more
“The Valley of Ashes” the land between New York City and East/West Eggs.
Grey- the lack of spirit and bleak

65. More use of colors
White- false purity
Red- death
Yellow- Corruptness

66. The Map of Gatsby’s life: kind of

67. Old $
New $
New York City- dreams
The Valley of Ashes

68. Chapter 3
Gatsby, in the summer months, was known far and wide for the extravagant parties he threw in which "men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars." During the weekend, people flocked to his house for his parties. His gatherings were lavishly catered (serving two complete dinners), boasting not just a small combo of musicians, but a whole orchestra. The guests enjoyed themselves, flirting and dancing, until the wee hours of the morning.
Nick is invited by Gatsby by a handwritten note to join in the festivities. Nick is one of the few to have actually been invited. The others simply arrive, knowing only that there will be a party and they won't be turned away.
At the party, Nick tries to find Gatsby, but has no luck. No one can tell him where Gatsby is, suggesting that they, themselves, didn't know the host. As Nick mills around the party, he encounters Jordan Baker and the two of them two mingle around, inadvertently gathering rumors about Gatsby, including that he had once killed a man.

69. Chapter 3 Cont.
After several glasses of champagne, Nick begins a conversation with a fellow who is, unbeknownst to him, Gatsby himself. Later, Gatsby takes Jordan Baker aside to speak with her privately. What they discuss is not revealed, but Jordan passes along that it is "the most amazing thing."
Not wanting the reader to think his summer was composed merely of the three events outlined in the book's first three chapters, Nick interjects that much more happened to him, although it largely entailed working, dating casually, and dining at the Yale Club. His affinity for New York has been growing throughout the summer as he begins to appreciate its "enchanted metropolitan twilight" and how everyone hurried "toward gayety."
Nick meets up with Jordan Baker in mid-summer and as the two begin to see more of each other, Nick begins to look upon her with "a sort of tender curiosity." He realizes, though, that Jordan is "incurably dishonest." In fact, the reason Nick remembered her name initially is that she had once been accused of cheating in a golf tournament. Despite Jordan's downfalls, she intrigues Nick, although he ends the chapter by touting his own cardinal virtue, claiming modestly, "I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known."

70. Chapter 4
Chapter 4 opens with a cataloguing of Gatsby's party guests: From socialites and debutantes to the famous and the infamous, Gatsby's parties draw only the most fashionable of people. One fellow, Klipspringer, in fact, was at Gatsby's house so often and so long that he became known as simply "the boarder."
One late July morning, Gatsby arrives at Nick's and announces they are having lunch that day in New York. During the "disconcerting ride" to the city, Gatsby attempts to clear the record about his past so that Nick wouldn't "get a wrong idea" by listening to the rumors. Nick is suspicious, however, when he hears Gatsby reveal that he was born into a wealthy Midwest family (in San Francisco) and educated at Oxford, "a family tradition." After touring Europe, Gatsby served as a major in the military where he "tried very hard to die" but, in his own words, "seemed to bear an enchanted life." As in testament to this disclosure, Gatsby is pulled over for speeding, but is let go after producing a card from the police commissioner for whom Gatsby had once done a favor.

71. Chapter 4 Cont. In New York, two important things happen to Nick.
First, at lunch Nick meets Meyer Wolfshiem, a professional gambler and the man rumored to have fixed the 1919 World Series. Wolfshiem is Gatsby's link to organized crime and there is an intimation that Gatsby may be able to fix Nick up with Wolfshiem in an undisclosed venture (this hint is again brought out in Chapter 5).
The second memorable thing which happened to Nick comes through Jordan Baker. She recounts how one morning in 1917 she met Daisy and an unknown admirer, a military officer, who watched Daisy "in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at." His name: Jay Gatsby. Daisy's family didn't approve of the match and so she eventually turned her attentions away from Gatsby and to Tom Buchanan. On the day before the wedding, Daisy reconsidered her actions but after a drunken cry, she thought better of her situation and married Tom. The following April, Daisy gave birth to a daughter.
Jordan continues, noting what Gatsby told her on the night of the party. Apparently, it was not coincidence that brought him to West Egg: He purposely selected his house so that the house of his lost love would be just across the bay. Jordan then relays Gatsby's request: that Nick invite Daisy over some afternoon so he can arrange to come by and see her, as if by accident. She is to know nothing about the intended reunion with her former lover; it is all supposed to be a surprise.

72. Meyer Wolfshiem
Gatsby's business associate and link to organized crime.
A professional gambler
Attributed with fixing the World Series.
Wolfshiem helped build Gatsby's fortune, although the wealth came through questionable means
Cufflinks from human molars
Jewish with a flat nose, 55

73. Chapter 5
When Nick returns home to West Egg that evening, he finds Gatsby's house lit top to bottom with no party in sight, and Gatsby walking over to see him.
Nick assures Gatsby that he will phone Daisy the next day and invite her to tea. Gatsby, knowing Nick doesn't make much money, offers to arrange for him to "pick up a nice bit of money." Nick, however, declines.
The next day, Nick phones Daisy and extends his invitation with the stipulation "Don't bring Tom." She accepts his invitation, agreeing on a day. The agreed upon day arrives and Gatsby, wanting everything to be perfect, sends a man to cut Nick's grass and, later, has flowers delivered.
Arriving an hour before Daisy, Gatsby is nervous and, for the first time in the novel, a little unsure of himself. At the appointed time, Daisy arrives. Nick ushers Daisy into the house to find that Gatsby has disappeared, only to reemerge at the front door, looking pale and tragic. Gatsby ushers himself into the living room and joins Daisy.
The reunion is initially stilted and unnaturally polite, leaving all three people feeling somewhat awkward, but amid the tea preparations, a greater sense of ease overtakes the group.
Excusing himself, Nick tries to give Gatsby and Daisy some privacy, but Gatsby, as nervous as a young man, follows him out. Nick sends Gatsby back in to Daisy, while he himself sneaks out the back and wanders around the house for half an hour.

74. Chapter 5 Cont.
Upon his return, Nick finds Gatsby changed entirely. He has moved from the embarrassment of his initial appearance to unbounded delight, radiating a newfound sense of well-being. Daisy, too, reflects an "unexpected joy" through her voice.
At Gatsby's request, the three move from Nick's little house to Gatsby's mansion. Daisy, just as Gatsby had intended, is delighted by the magnificence of his estate. Together they wander from room to room, each one tastefully and carefully decorated to create a particular ambiance.
Along the way they meet Klipspringer, "the boarder," who was busy doing exercises as if he hadn't a care in the world.
At the house, Gatsby passes into yet a third phase: wonder at Daisy's presence in his house. Daisy, at seeing Gatsby's array of shirts, buries her head in them weeping at their beauty.
By the end of the afternoon, Gatsby has shown Daisy all the material stability he possesses, yet Nick hints that perhaps Daisy doesn't measure up — not because of a shortcoming on her part, but because of the magnitude of the dream that Gatsby has built over the past five years. At chapter's end, Nick departs, leaving Gatsby and Daisy alone together.

75. Chapter 6
Chapter 6 opens with an air of suspicion as a reporter comes to Gatsby, asking him "if he had anything to say." The myth of Gatsby was becoming so great by summer's end that he was rumored to be embroiled in a variety of plots and schemes, inventions that provided a source of satisfaction to Gatsby, who was originally christened James Gatz and hails from North Dakota.
Nick fills the reader in on Gatsby's real background, which is in sharp contrast to the fabricated antecedents Gatsby told Nick during their drive to New York. James Gatz became Jay Gatsby on the fateful day when, on the shores of Lake Superior, he saw Dan Cody drop anchor on his yacht.
Prior to that time, Gatsby spent part of his young adulthood roaming parts of Minnesota shaping the aspects of the persona he would assume.
Nick suspects he had the name ready prior to meeting Cody, but it was Cody who gave Gatsby the opportunity to hone the fiction that would define his life.
Cody, fifty years old with a penchant for women, took Gatsby under his wing and prepared him for the yachting life, and they embarked for the West Indies and the Barbary Coast.
During their five years together, Cody and Gatsby went around the continent three times; in the end, Cody was mysteriously undone by his lady love.

76. Chapter 6 Cont.
After many weeks of not seeing Gatsby (largely because Nick was too busy spending time with Jordan), Nick goes to visit. Shortly after his arrival, Tom Buchanan and two others out for a horseback ride show up for a drink.
After exchanging social small talk wherein Gatsby is invited to dine with the group, the three riders abruptly leave without him, somewhat taken aback that he accepted what they deem to be a purely rhetorical invitation.
Tom, apparently concerned with Daisy's recent activities, accompanies her to one of Gatsby's parties. Gatsby tries to impress the Buchanans by pointing out all the celebrities present, then makes a point of introducing Tom, much to his unease, as "the polo player."
Gatsby and Daisy dance, marking the only time Gatsby really gets involved with one of his own parties. Later, Daisy and Gatsby adjourn to Nick's steps for a half-hour of privacy. They head back to the party and when dinner arrives, Tom remarks he wishes to eat with another group.
Daisy, always aware of what Tom is really up to, remarks the girl is "common but pretty" and offers a pencil in case he wants to take down an address. Daisy, aside from the half-hour she spends with Gatsby, finds the party unnerving and appalling.
After the Buchanans leave and the party breaks up, Nick and Gatsby review the evening. Gatsby, fearing Daisy did not have a good time, worries about her. When Nick cautions Gatsby that "You can't repeat the past," Gatsby idealistically answers "Why of course you can!" words that strike Nick soundly because of their "appalling sentimentality," which both delights and disgusts him.

77. Chapter 7
As the curiosity surrounding Gatsby peaks, the routine Saturday parties abruptly cease. When Gatsby comes, at Daisy's request, to invite him to lunch at her house the next day, Nick learns that Gatsby replaced the servants with "some people Wolfshiem wanted to do something for" — he feared they would leak information about he and Daisy.
The day, it turns out, is unbearably hot, making all the participants in the luncheon — Daisy, Gatsby, Nick, Jordan, and Tom — even more uncomfortable than expected. While all five are at the Buchanans' house, Tom leaves the room to speak with his mistress on the phone and Daisy boldly kisses Gatsby, declaring her love for him. Later, after Daisy suggests they go to town, Tom witnesses a soft glance that passes between Daisy and Gatsby and can no longer deny the two of them are having an affair.
Enraged by what he has just learned, Tom agrees they should go to the city. He retrieves a bottle of whiskey and the group starts out — Tom, Jordan, and Nick driving Gatsby's car, and Gatsby and Daisy in Tom's. Tom, it turns out, has been suspicious of Gatsby all along and has had him investigated.
Noticing the car is low on gas, Tom pulls into Wilson's station where he finds Wilson visibly unwell. Wilson abruptly announces he and Myrtle will be headed West shortly because he has just learned of her secret life, although the identity of Myrtle's lover is yet unknown to him. Tom, doubly enraged at the potential loss of his mistress and his wife, malevolently questions Gatsby after the group assembles at the Plaza Hotel.

78. Chapter 7 Cont.
He confronts Gatsby about his love for Daisy. Gatsby, refusing to be intimidated, tells Tom "Your wife doesn't love you She's never loved you. She loves me." Tom, in disbelief, turns to Daisy for confirmation. Daisy, however, cannot honestly admit she never loved Tom. Gatsby, somewhat shaken by the scene unfolding before him — the collapse of his carefully constructed dream — tries another tactic.
He declares: "Daisy's leaving you." Tom assures him Daisy will never leave him for a bootlegger. Tom orders Daisy and Gatsby to head home (in Gatsby's own car this time). Tom, Jordan, and Nick follow in Tom's car.

79. Chapter 7 Cont.
The narration now skips to George Wilson who has been found ill by his neighbor, Michaelis. Wilson explains he has Myrtle locked inside and she will remain so until they leave in two days' time. Michaelis, astonished, heads back to his restaurant. He returns a few hours later, hears Myrtle's voice, and then sees her break away from her husband and rush into the road. As she enters the highway Myrtle is struck by a passing car that fails to stop, continuing its route out of the city. Nick, Tom, and Jordan arrive on the scene shortly. Excited by the thought of something going on, Tom pulls over to investigate. He is grief- stricken to find Myrtle's lifeless body lying on a worktable. Tom learns the car that struck Myrtle matches Gatsby's in description. Tom, visibly upset by the day's events, can only whimper of his anger toward the man he already hates.
Returning to East Egg, Tom invites Nick inside to wait for a cab to take him home. Nick, seeing clearly the moral and spiritual corruption of Tom, Daisy, and the whole society they represent, declines. Outside the Buchanans', Nick bumps into Gatsby who asks if there was trouble on the road. Nick recounts what he has seen. After asking a few questions, Nick learns Daisy, not Gatsby, was driving at the time. Gatsby, however, in true chivalric fashion, says he'll take the blame. The chapter ends with Gatsby, the paragon of chivalry and lost dreams, remaining on vigil outside Daisy's house, in case she needs assistance dealing with Tom, while Nick heads back to West Egg.

80. Chapter 8
Nick wakes, hearing Gatsby return home from his all-night vigil at the Buchanans. He goes to Gatsby's, feeling he should tell him something (even he doesn't know what, exactly). Gatsby reveals that nothing happened while he kept his watch. Nick suggests Gatsby leave town for a while, certain Gatsby's car would be identified as the "death car."
Nick's comments make Gatsby reveal the story of his past, "because 'Jay Gatsby' had broken up like glass against Tom's hard malice." Daisy, Gatsby reveals, was his social superior, yet they fell deeply in love. The reader also learns that, when courting, Daisy and Gatsby had been intimate with each other and it was this act of intimacy that bonded him to her inexorably, feeling "married to her."
Gatsby left Daisy, heading off to war. He excelled in battle and when the war was over, he tried to get home, but ended up at Oxford instead. Daisy didn't understand why he didn't return directly and, over time, her interest began to wane until she eventually broke off their relationship.
Moving back to the present, Gatsby and Nick continue their discussion of Daisy and how Gatsby had gone to Louisville to find her upon his return to the United States. She was on her honeymoon and Gatsby was left with a "melancholy beauty," as well as the idea that if he had only searched harder he would have found her.
The men are finishing breakfast as Gatsby's gardener arrives. He says he plans on draining the pool because the season is over, but Gatsby asks him to wait because he hasn't used the pool at all. Nick, purposely moving slowly, heads to his train. He doesn't want to leave Gatsby, impulsively declaring "They're a rotten crowd You're worth the whole damn bunch put together."

81. Chapter 8 Cont.
For Nick, the day drags on; he feels uneasy, preoccupied with the past day's adventures. Jordan phones, but Nick cuts her off. He phones Gatsby and, unable to reach him, decides to head home early.
The narrative again shifts time and focus, as Fitzgerald goes back in time, to the evening prior, in the valley of ashes. George Wilson, despondent at Myrtle's death, appears irrational when Michaelis attempts to engage him in conversation.
By morning, Michaelis is exhausted and returns home to sleep. When he returns four hours later, Wilson is gone and has traveled to Port Roosevelt, Gads Hill, West Egg, and ultimately, Gatsby's house.
There he finds Gatsby floating on an air mattress in the pool. Wilson, sure that Gatsby is responsible for his wife's death, shoots and kills Gatsby.
Nick finds Gatsby's body floating in the pool and, while starting to the house with the body, the gardener discovers Wilson's lifeless body off in the grass.

82. Chapter 9
The book's final chapter begins with the police and the paparazzi storming Gatsby's house. Nick becomes worried that he is handling Gatsby's burial arrangements, believing there must be someone closer to Gatsby who should be conducting the business at hand. When he phones Daisy to tell her of Gatsby's death, he learns she and Tom have left on a trip, leaving no itinerary. Nick, with increasing frustration, feels he must "get somebody" for Gatsby. In his mind, Gatsby did not deserve to be alone. Hoping to gather Gatsby's friends, Nick sends for Meyer Wolfshiem the next day. Wolfshiem, much to Nick's dismay, sends a letter explaining he won't be involved with Gatsby's funeral. Later that afternoon when Gatsby's phone rings, Nick answers. Upon telling the speaker that Gatsby is dead, the speaker hangs up.
Three days after Gatsby dies, Nick receives a telegram from Henry C. Gatz, Gatsby's father in Minnesota. Gatz, it seems, learned of Jimmy's (Gatsby's) death through the Chicago newspaper. Gatz refuses to take the body to the Midwest, noting "Jimmy always liked it better down East." That evening, Klipspringer phones and Nick, thinking another mourner will be joining the funeral the next day, is dismayed to learn Klipspringer is only calling to inquire about his tennis shoes. The morning of the funeral, Nick forces his way into Wolfshiem's office, again hoping to convince Gatsby's closest business associate to attend the services. Wolfshiem again refuses, but discloses he did not just give Gatsby a start in business — he made Gatsby's fortune by using him in various questionable activities.
When Nick returns to Gatsby's, he finds Mr. Gatz going through his son's house, growing more proud as he takes in the possessions around him. Pulling out a copy of Hopalong Cassidy, once owned by the young Jimmy Gatz, Gatsby's father points out his young son's drive toward self-improvement by calling Nick's attention to the daily schedule penciled in the back. Shortly after, the men adjourn to the funeral. At the graveside are a few servants, the mail carrier, the minister, Nick, and Mr. Gatz. Nick is struck by the bitter injustice of Gatsby's solitary death. Despite all the people who found their way to Gatsby's parties, not one, with the exception of a man known only as "Owl Eyes," bothered to make an appearance at his funeral (and he only made it to the gate after the services ended).

83. Chapter 9 Cont.
Nick then moves to memories of traveling West when he came home from college. As the train moved further and further West he became more and more comfortable, as if he were returning to a special place just his own.
Remembering this memory launches Nick into a discussion of the merits of the Midwest versus the vices of the East. The story is brought to a close when Nick interacts with two people from his past.
First, he speaks with Jordan and, although he still feels fondly toward her, he once again coolly dismisses her.
Finally, one autumn day, Nick meets Tom along Fifth Avenue. Tom, seeing Nick, makes the first move to speak. Initially Nick refuses to shake Tom's hand, upset with what Tom has come to represent. In the course of their short discussion, Nick learns Tom had a role in Gatsby's death — George Wilson worked his way to the Buchanan house in East Egg and Tom told him who owned the car that struck Myrtle. When Nick leaves, he shakes Tom's hand because he "felt suddenly as though [he] were talking to a child."
The time comes for Nick to leave West Egg and return West. On the last night, he wanders over to Gatsby's for one last visit. Strolling down to the water he is called to remember the way Gatsby's house used to be, filled with people and lavish parties. He considers Gatsby's wonder at picking out Daisy's dock in the darkness, how far Gatsby had traveled in his life, and how he always had hope in the future.
In his final thought, Nick links society to the boats eternally moving against the current on the Sound.