Chapter 1
In the beginning of the novel, Nick Carraway, the narrator, and portrays himself as a very honest and tolerant man. He comes from a wealthy family, and he is currently involved in the bond businesses, which are stocks and investments. In order to improve his knowledge of this business he decides to move east in the spring of 1922.
He finds a house for eighty dollars a month in West Egg, New York, the less fashionable of the two when compared to East Egg, which is just across the bay
. Nick’s house is small and a bit of an “eye-sore” when seen about his neighbors’ houses, which were elaborate and very expensive. One of his neighbors was Mr. Gatsby, a main participant in the novel’s events.
East Egg is where Nick’s second cousin once removed lived. Daisy Buchanan is his cousin’s name, and living with her is her husband Tom Buchanan. Nick had known Tom from when they went to college in New Haven together. His family is extremely wealthy, and from them he inherited all his money.
When Nick goes to visit his cousin, he sees they own an over-the-top, elaborate, mansion. When Nick is welcomed inside, he sees Daisy and her friend from Chicago, Jordan Baker. When in a conversation with Daisy, Nick finds out that the Buchanan’s have a baby girl who’s about two years old. When talking with Jordan Baker, the topic of Mr. Gatsby comes up, however, before they could talk about him more, dinner is served. In the middle of dinner, Tom receives a call. Jordan tells Nick Tom has a woman in New York. When Nick arrives home that night, he notices Mr. Gatsby outside his house with his arms stretched out towards the bay. There is a green light in the distance, but that is the only thing visible in the darkness. When Nick looked once more, Gatsby had disappeared.
Chapter 2
The Valley of Ashes is half way between West Egg and New York. It’s dry and desolate, and a huge billboard advertising Doctor T.J. Eckleburg stands alone, watching people as they pass by.
The significance of this place is that Tom’s mistress, Myrtle Wilson, lives there. Her house is connected to her husband, George Wilson’s, car repair shop. While there, Tom talks to George about some business about buying and selling cars, and then Myrtle comes down. Nick notices she’s stout, but carries her weight well. She sends Wilson off to get a few chairs and while he’s away, Tom and she make plans to meet later.
They meet in New York, where Tom buys Myrtle a dog and later arrive at Tom’s small run-down apartment. At the apartment, Myrtle decides to call up the McKeeys. They start talking and drinking, and Nick has only been drunk twice in his life. This being his second time getting drunk. Later, Myrtle’s sister, Catherine, comes by and tells Nick Tom would leave Daisy for Myrtle, but Daisy is a Catholic and doesn’t believe in divorce.
After the second bottle of whiskey, things start to get out of hand. Myrtle starts chanting Daisy’s name over and over again, and when Tom tells her to stop, she continues saying it. Suddenly, Tom hits Myrtle square in the nose, causing her to bleed. Catherine tends to her needs, while Nick helps Mr. McKeey down to his room because he is passed out. Nick, deciding that it is too late to return to West Egg, spends the night with Mr. McKeey.
Chapter 3
Gatsby throws extremely elaborate parties every weekend. When Nick is observing how Gatsby prepares for one of his parties he sees caterers bringing in enormous amounts of food and liquor, a full orchestra being set up, gallons of juices are being made, and his garden is being covered in lights. When the party begins there are many people who attend. These people seem to be extremely wealthy and have high profile careers, but are unsophisticated. They are getting drunk, diving into Gatsby’s pool, as well as many other embarrassing actions. Nick feels he is the only person who was actually invited, and later finds Jordan Baker with whom he spends the majority of the night.
At the beginning of the party, Jordan and Nick go into Gatsby’s enormous library and find a man, named Owl Eyes, who has been drunk for the past week, trying to become more sober. After leaving the library, Nick and Jordan find conversation with a man who seems to remember Nick from somewhere. Nick and this man learn they had been in the army together, and coincidently the man is the host himself, Mr. Gatsby.
When Gatsby left, Nick was intrigued and wanted to know more about him. When he asks the people around him they say he was educated at Oxford, killed a man, and was a German spy, but no one thinks that is the true story.
When the party is almost over, someone drives their car into the ditch and manages to have the car wheel come off. The driver is Owl Eyes, who is still drunk.
The next couple weeks Nick is adjusting to life in New York. Other than attending parties, he is working, taking walks, and meeting women. Jordan Baker, however, is the woman who Nick is really pursuing. He learns that she is quite a dishonest person, but Nick still is fascinated with her. The term “bad driver” comes into play, and Nick declares himself as one of the few honest people he knows.
Chapter 4
Nick recaps on the people who he sees frequently at Gatsby’s parties. From talking with these people Nick had a hazy view on Gatsby. Ironically, Gatsby drives over to Nick’s house and decides to take Nick out for a drive in his luxurious car. Gatsby begins to tell Nick his first name is Jay, he is the son of a wealthy family in the Mid-West, from whom he inherited all his money because they’re all dead. He was brought up in America, but educated at Oxford College in England because it’s a family tradition. After college he went over seas to Europe where he loved like a raja, hunted big game, collected precious gems, and painted. After Europe he enlisted in the army where he reached lieutenant status and received medals, which he carries with him.
When they reach their destination, Gatsby introduces Meyer Wolfsheim to Nick after their long drive into town. Wolfsheim did business with Gatsby, and strangely uses human molars for cuff buttons. Gatsby explains to Nick that Meyer fixed the World Series in 1919. After Meyer left, Nick notices Tom and introduces Mr. Gatsby to him, but as Nick was going to familiarize Tom and Gatsby more, Gatsby leaves unannounced.
When Nick meets up with Jordan that afternoon she begins telling him of Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship. Daisy and Gatsby first met in Louisville, where Gatsby had been stationed during the war. When he had to leave to go overseas, and Daisy’s family wouldn’t let her say good-bye to him, she was completely devastated and wasn’t on speaking terms with her family for weeks. By the next fall she met Tom Buchanan and was happy again. He was very rich and gave her life the shaping she needed. On the night of her bridal dinner Jordan came into her room and found Daisy lying on her bed, completely drunk, and holding a letter. Daisy never drinks so this was a strange scene to see Daisy in. A maid and Jordan gave Daisy a cold bath and even when Daisy in the water she wouldn’t let go of the letter. The next day she married Tom Buchanan, and started their three-month honeymoon overseas, without ever speaking of that day again. The next April they had a baby, and it wasn’t until recently that the name Gatsby had been mentioned. Nick realizes then, that it’s Daisy that had been in love with Jay Gatsby, his neighbor.
Jordan continues telling Nick that Gatsby bought his house right across the bay from her. She also asks Nick, on behalf of Gatsby, if he would invite Daisy over for tea sometime and invite Gatsby along too. After some questioning and reasoning with Jordan, he agrees.
Chapter 5
Arriving home one night, Nick sees Gatsby’s house completely lit up, resembling the world’s fair. Nick tells Gatsby he’s going to call Daisy and arrange her to come over to his house for tea. Gatsby ponders the idea, and they both decide the day after would be better.
The day Daisy comes over the pouring rain slows down to a damp mist. Daisy arrives exactly on time, and while Nick greets her at her car, Gatsby sneaks out of the house. A few seconds later there came a knocking, and a pale-faced Gatsby stood at the door in a puddle. There were several minutes of awkward silence once everyone was inside, but little by little conversation began to develop. Nick left Gatsby and Daisy alone for a while and when Nick returned Daisy’s face was wet with tears, and Gatsby seemed to glow.
Gatsby later extended an invitation to Nick and Daisy to go to his house. On the way there Gatsby tells Daisy how it took him three years to get enough money to pay for this house, and that he is in the drug store business. In his house Daisy seemed to love everything about it. When Gatsby showed them his room it appeared to be the most simplistic, except for his dresser from which he began showing off all his shirts. When Daisy saw these she began to cry.
Gatsby points Daisy’s house right across the bay from his window, and when it’s dark he tells Daisy he can see the green light at the end of her dock. While Gatsby and Daisy were engrossed with each other, Nick wandered around and found a portrait of a man in yachting attire. Gatsby said the portrait was of Dan Cody, his best friend a few years ago.
As Nick went to say good-bye, Gatsby didn’t notice him leaving, for he was finally with Daisy, the love he had lost for five years. Nick then left them alone and began walking home.
Chapter 6
A reporter comes to Gatsby’s house one day and reveals the true story of Gatsby’s life. The reporter tells Nick Gatsby’s real name is James Gatz from North Dakota. His parents are poor, unsuccessful farmers of the Mid-West. He was educated at a small college called St. Olaf. He worked as a janitor, but only manages to stay at St. Olaf for two weeks. When he was seventeen years old, he dug for clams and fished. He also sailed with Dan Cody for five years and traveled around the continent three times. While on Dan Cody’s yacht, he cooked and cleaned; however, when Dan Cody mysteriously died after a visit with Ella Kaye, he joined the army. In the army he became an officer in Louisville.
After Nick hears the truth about Gatsby, they don’t talk for several days, while Nick is with Jordan in New York. When Nick finally decides to talk to Gatsby he finds him with Tom Buchanan and two other people. Gatsby begins telling Tom how he knows his wife and invites them all to his next party. They decide to go, and when the day finally arrives there is a harshness and unpleasantness about the party. Gatsby has thrown a party in which Daisy has arrived, but because Tom was there it wasn’t enjoyable for Daisy or Gatsby. The only time Daisy had fun was when she was alone with Gatsby. At this party, Tom first suspects Gatsby as a bootlegger, similar to some of the other newly rich people who attended this party.
Nick stayed until the very end that night. Gatsby said Daisy didn’t like the party at all, and he felt far away from her the entire night. Gatsby thinks if he got Daisy back everything would be just as it was before, but Nick reminded him that he couldn’t repeat the past. Gatsby then went into a flashback from five years ago about how life was life with Daisy.
Chapter 7
This particular Saturday night, Gatsby’s house is completely dark. Gatsby had been dismissing servants during the day and replacing them with ones who had hardly been in West Egg. His house is completely dirty, because now wanted to lead a more private and secluded life now that Daisy made frequent visits to his house in the afternoons.
Daisy invites Nick, Jordan, and Gatsby over for lunch one afternoon. While there Daisy kisses Gatsby and tells him she loves him when Tom is away. When lunch is served, Tom catches Daisy flirting with Gatsby and gets extremely upset because he knows that Daisy has been cheating on him with Gatsby now. Tom abruptly requests they should all go to town, right after first dismissing Daisy’s idea of going there earlier. The weather was excruciating hot, but they went anyway. Daisy insisted she ride with Gatsby, and Tom agreed as long as they took his car. Jordan and Nick rode with Tom in Gatsby’s car. On the way to town, Tom stops at George Wilson’s car shop to get some gas. While talking with George, he brings up that he needs Tom’s car so he can sell it for the money he needs in order to move west with Myrtle. Tom realizes George knows now about Myrtle and his affair, and because of this discovery, they are moving away. Myrtle, looking out her bedroom window, sees Jordan in Tom’s car and assumes that she is Tom’s wife.
In town they met up at the Plaza Hotel. Tom, still angered by the discovery of Daisy’s affair and Myrtle leaving, started questioning Gatsby quite intently. Daisy tires to quiet everyone and get Tom to make some mint juleps, but Tom persist on questioning. Tom asks Gatsby about his studies at Oxford, and there is hesitation in Gatsby’s answers. He confesses to only staying there for five months. Daisy, getting fed up with this persecuting, tells Tom to have more self-control. By Daisy saying that Tom goes into an uproar. He blatantly accuses “Mr. Nobody”, Gatsby, of having an affair with Daisy. Gatsby counteracted that response by saying, “She never loved you. She once married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting. She never loved anyone except me!” (Page 131) Tom was certain that Daisy loved him when she married him and she loves him now, but Gatsby disagrees. Daisy also said she never loved Tom the way she loves Gatsby, but even when she said that, it was a lie. She did love Tom, and she did love Gatsby. Tom, trying to get her back on his side, tells Daisy that Gatsby is a bootlegger, and his chain of drugstores was his business. When Daisy heard this, she felt as if she didn’t know Gatsby at all. It was then that she sided back with Tom, and decides not to leave with Gatsby. Tom tells Daisy and Gatsby to go back home in Gatsby’s car. After they left, Nick suddenly realizes it was his birthday, and he has turned thirty years old.
On the way home for Jordan, Nick, and Tom, they see a tragedy in the Village of Ashes, right by the Wilson’s car shop. Myrtle is lying in the street, bloody and dead. The only thing they know about that accident was the car that hit her was yellow, and it didn’t stop after the impact. When Tom talks to George, he is completely devastated. Tom starts to cry, and George could hardly talk.
When Nick returns to Tom’s house, Gatsby calls out to him from behind a bush. He is hiding behind the bush to see if Daisy would be alright with Tom. Gatsby asks if he saw the tragedy, and Nick said that he did. Gatsby admits to killing her, even though Daisy had been driving.
As Nick watches Daisy and Tom talk to each other from outside, he sees they are not happy with each other, but Gatsby had nothing to worry about Daisy being with Tom that night. Gatsby insisted on staying so Nick left him alone and started home.
Chapter 8
The next morning Nick talks with Gatsby. Nothing happened to Daisy, and Nick advises Gatsby to move away because the police will trace his car and convict him of murder. Gatsby wouldn’t think hear of it though.
That night Gatsby tells Nick the story of his youth with Daisy. They met in Louisville when Gatsby was stationed there for the army. She was the first girl he felt a real connection with. He loved her fullness of life, her youthful energy, and her voice. The only reason he lied to her about his background was to make her think that he was good enough for her. When he had to leave overseas, Daisy promised him she would wait for him to return so they could get married. There were some complications after the fighting, however, that caused Gatsby to delay his return home. Daisy didn’t understand why he couldn’t come and the sadness and despair in her letters worried Gatsby. Months went by and Gatsby still didn’t come. She decided her life needed shaping, even if it was with out Gatsby. When Tom Buchanan came she took the opportunity and married him in June.
After the flashback and breakfast, the gardener tells Gatsby that he’s going to drain the pool for the fall. Gatsby, having never used the pool all summer, decides use it today. Gatsby invites Nick in also, but he declines the invitation for he has to go into town. While in town, Nick tires to get some work done, but ends up falling asleep. He wakes up to the phone ringing and it is Jordan Baker. They’re conversation is bitter towards one another and ends in silence.
Meanwhile, George Wilson, still sad and confused about his wife, seeks out Tom Buchanan in hopes of some answers. Tom tells him that he suspected Gatsby of driving the car that hit Myrtle. Taking revenge, George goes to Gatsby’s house and kills him while he was sitting in his pool. After he killed Gatsby, George killed himself close by.
Chapter 9
The rest of the day had been imprinted in Nicks mind for more than two years after the fact. Photographers and reporters swarm Gatsby’s house, and make up stories which were extremely elaborated.
Nick, thinking Gatsby needs a funeral, starts planning it. He calls many people who, unfortunately, are not interested at all in attending Gatsby’s funeral. When he tries Daisy’s house, a servant answers the phone saying Tom and Daisy had gone away. They left no address of where they would be or when they would arrive back to East Egg. Meyer Wolfsheim also could not attend the funeral because he doesn’t want to be part of Gatsby’s death.
Later, Nick receives a telegram from Henry C. Gatz, saying he is on his way to West Egg and to postpone the funeral until he arrives. When he arrives in West Egg, Nick was surprised to find out Henry C. Gatz is Gatsby’s father. Mr. Gatz always thought Gatsby had a big future ahead of him. Unfortunately, he was the only one who thought highly of him and also one of the few who attended Gatsby’s funeral. The other people were Nick, a few servants, and later Owl Eyes.
When the drama quiets down, Nick decides it is time to return home to the Mid-West, but not before he ends things with Jordan Baker. When they see each other Nick compliments her, and in response she tells him she was engaged to another man. She explains she was still mad from their last phone conversation and doesn’t care about Nick anymore. She lastly mentions her being engaged to a bad driver, the same remark Nick made to her when they first met. She thought Nick was a very honest and honorable man, but due to recent events was proved otherwise.
Nick later passed Tom walking down the street. Nick asks him what he told George the afternoon Gatsby was killed. Tom responds by saying he told George the truth. He said George had a gun to his head and demanded to know who killed Myrtle, so in order to stay alive, he told him it was Gatsby. Along with that, Tom says Gatsby deserved to die, and because of that remark Nick could never forgive Tom Buchanan.
On the last night in West Egg for Nick, he looks at Gatsby’s house and see it as a failure. He sits on Gatsby’s beach and sees the green light Gatsby had been reaching for when they first met. Nick believes Gatsby saw something in that light, and his dream was across the bay. Nick looks back on the events that have gone by, and realizes everyone was trying to manipulate their futures in different ways. Unfortunately, instead of moving forward, they repeated the mistakes of their past.
In the beginning of the novel, Nick Carraway, the narrator, and portrays himself as a very honest and tolerant man. He comes from a wealthy family, and he is currently involved in the bond businesses, which are stocks and investments. In order to improve his knowledge of this business he decides to move east in the spring of 1922.
He finds a house for eighty dollars a month in West Egg, New York, the less fashionable of the two when compared to East Egg, which is just across the bay
. Nick’s house is small and a bit of an “eye-sore” when seen about his neighbors’ houses, which were elaborate and very expensive. One of his neighbors was Mr. Gatsby, a main participant in the novel’s events.East Egg is where Nick’s second cousin once removed lived. Daisy Buchanan is his cousin’s name, and living with her is her husband Tom Buchanan. Nick had known Tom from when they went to college in New Haven together. His family is extremely wealthy, and from them he inherited all his money.
When Nick goes to visit his cousin, he sees they own an over-the-top, elaborate, mansion. When Nick is welcomed inside, he sees Daisy and her friend from Chicago, Jordan Baker. When in a conversation with Daisy, Nick finds out that the Buchanan’s have a baby girl who’s about two years old. When talking with Jordan Baker, the topic of Mr. Gatsby comes up, however, before they could talk about him more, dinner is served. In the middle of dinner, Tom receives a call. Jordan tells Nick Tom has a woman in New York. When Nick arrives home that night, he notices Mr. Gatsby outside his house with his arms stretched out towards the bay. There is a green light in the distance, but that is the only thing visible in the darkness. When Nick looked once more, Gatsby had disappeared.
Chapter 2
The Valley of Ashes is half way between West Egg and New York. It’s dry and desolate, and a huge billboard advertising Doctor T.J. Eckleburg stands alone, watching people as they pass by.
The significance of this place is that Tom’s mistress, Myrtle Wilson, lives there. Her house is connected to her husband, George Wilson’s, car repair shop. While there, Tom talks to George about some business about buying and selling cars, and then Myrtle comes down. Nick notices she’s stout, but carries her weight well. She sends Wilson off to get a few chairs and while he’s away, Tom and she make plans to meet later.
They meet in New York, where Tom buys Myrtle a dog and later arrive at Tom’s small run-down apartment. At the apartment, Myrtle decides to call up the McKeeys. They start talking and drinking, and Nick has only been drunk twice in his life. This being his second time getting drunk. Later, Myrtle’s sister, Catherine, comes by and tells Nick Tom would leave Daisy for Myrtle, but Daisy is a Catholic and doesn’t believe in divorce.
After the second bottle of whiskey, things start to get out of hand. Myrtle starts chanting Daisy’s name over and over again, and when Tom tells her to stop, she continues saying it. Suddenly, Tom hits Myrtle square in the nose, causing her to bleed. Catherine tends to her needs, while Nick helps Mr. McKeey down to his room because he is passed out. Nick, deciding that it is too late to return to West Egg, spends the night with Mr. McKeey.
Chapter 3
Gatsby throws extremely elaborate parties every weekend. When Nick is observing how Gatsby prepares for one of his parties he sees caterers bringing in enormous amounts of food and liquor, a full orchestra being set up, gallons of juices are being made, and his garden is being covered in lights. When the party begins there are many people who attend. These people seem to be extremely wealthy and have high profile careers, but are unsophisticated. They are getting drunk, diving into Gatsby’s pool, as well as many other embarrassing actions. Nick feels he is the only person who was actually invited, and later finds Jordan Baker with whom he spends the majority of the night.
At the beginning of the party, Jordan and Nick go into Gatsby’s enormous library and find a man, named Owl Eyes, who has been drunk for the past week, trying to become more sober. After leaving the library, Nick and Jordan find conversation with a man who seems to remember Nick from somewhere. Nick and this man learn they had been in the army together, and coincidently the man is the host himself, Mr. Gatsby.
When Gatsby left, Nick was intrigued and wanted to know more about him. When he asks the people around him they say he was educated at Oxford, killed a man, and was a German spy, but no one thinks that is the true story.
When the party is almost over, someone drives their car into the ditch and manages to have the car wheel come off. The driver is Owl Eyes, who is still drunk.
The next couple weeks Nick is adjusting to life in New York. Other than attending parties, he is working, taking walks, and meeting women. Jordan Baker, however, is the woman who Nick is really pursuing. He learns that she is quite a dishonest person, but Nick still is fascinated with her. The term “bad driver” comes into play, and Nick declares himself as one of the few honest people he knows.
Chapter 4
Nick recaps on the people who he sees frequently at Gatsby’s parties. From talking with these people Nick had a hazy view on Gatsby. Ironically, Gatsby drives over to Nick’s house and decides to take Nick out for a drive in his luxurious car. Gatsby begins to tell Nick his first name is Jay, he is the son of a wealthy family in the Mid-West, from whom he inherited all his money because they’re all dead. He was brought up in America, but educated at Oxford College in England because it’s a family tradition. After college he went over seas to Europe where he loved like a raja, hunted big game, collected precious gems, and painted. After Europe he enlisted in the army where he reached lieutenant status and received medals, which he carries with him.
When they reach their destination, Gatsby introduces Meyer Wolfsheim to Nick after their long drive into town. Wolfsheim did business with Gatsby, and strangely uses human molars for cuff buttons. Gatsby explains to Nick that Meyer fixed the World Series in 1919. After Meyer left, Nick notices Tom and introduces Mr. Gatsby to him, but as Nick was going to familiarize Tom and Gatsby more, Gatsby leaves unannounced.
When Nick meets up with Jordan that afternoon she begins telling him of Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship. Daisy and Gatsby first met in Louisville, where Gatsby had been stationed during the war. When he had to leave to go overseas, and Daisy’s family wouldn’t let her say good-bye to him, she was completely devastated and wasn’t on speaking terms with her family for weeks. By the next fall she met Tom Buchanan and was happy again. He was very rich and gave her life the shaping she needed. On the night of her bridal dinner Jordan came into her room and found Daisy lying on her bed, completely drunk, and holding a letter. Daisy never drinks so this was a strange scene to see Daisy in. A maid and Jordan gave Daisy a cold bath and even when Daisy in the water she wouldn’t let go of the letter. The next day she married Tom Buchanan, and started their three-month honeymoon overseas, without ever speaking of that day again. The next April they had a baby, and it wasn’t until recently that the name Gatsby had been mentioned. Nick realizes then, that it’s Daisy that had been in love with Jay Gatsby, his neighbor.
Jordan continues telling Nick that Gatsby bought his house right across the bay from her. She also asks Nick, on behalf of Gatsby, if he would invite Daisy over for tea sometime and invite Gatsby along too. After some questioning and reasoning with Jordan, he agrees.
Chapter 5
Arriving home one night, Nick sees Gatsby’s house completely lit up, resembling the world’s fair. Nick tells Gatsby he’s going to call Daisy and arrange her to come over to his house for tea. Gatsby ponders the idea, and they both decide the day after would be better.
The day Daisy comes over the pouring rain slows down to a damp mist. Daisy arrives exactly on time, and while Nick greets her at her car, Gatsby sneaks out of the house. A few seconds later there came a knocking, and a pale-faced Gatsby stood at the door in a puddle. There were several minutes of awkward silence once everyone was inside, but little by little conversation began to develop. Nick left Gatsby and Daisy alone for a while and when Nick returned Daisy’s face was wet with tears, and Gatsby seemed to glow.
Gatsby later extended an invitation to Nick and Daisy to go to his house. On the way there Gatsby tells Daisy how it took him three years to get enough money to pay for this house, and that he is in the drug store business. In his house Daisy seemed to love everything about it. When Gatsby showed them his room it appeared to be the most simplistic, except for his dresser from which he began showing off all his shirts. When Daisy saw these she began to cry.
Gatsby points Daisy’s house right across the bay from his window, and when it’s dark he tells Daisy he can see the green light at the end of her dock. While Gatsby and Daisy were engrossed with each other, Nick wandered around and found a portrait of a man in yachting attire. Gatsby said the portrait was of Dan Cody, his best friend a few years ago.
As Nick went to say good-bye, Gatsby didn’t notice him leaving, for he was finally with Daisy, the love he had lost for five years. Nick then left them alone and began walking home.
Chapter 6
A reporter comes to Gatsby’s house one day and reveals the true story of Gatsby’s life. The reporter tells Nick Gatsby’s real name is James Gatz from North Dakota. His parents are poor, unsuccessful farmers of the Mid-West. He was educated at a small college called St. Olaf. He worked as a janitor, but only manages to stay at St. Olaf for two weeks. When he was seventeen years old, he dug for clams and fished. He also sailed with Dan Cody for five years and traveled around the continent three times. While on Dan Cody’s yacht, he cooked and cleaned; however, when Dan Cody mysteriously died after a visit with Ella Kaye, he joined the army. In the army he became an officer in Louisville.
After Nick hears the truth about Gatsby, they don’t talk for several days, while Nick is with Jordan in New York. When Nick finally decides to talk to Gatsby he finds him with Tom Buchanan and two other people. Gatsby begins telling Tom how he knows his wife and invites them all to his next party. They decide to go, and when the day finally arrives there is a harshness and unpleasantness about the party. Gatsby has thrown a party in which Daisy has arrived, but because Tom was there it wasn’t enjoyable for Daisy or Gatsby. The only time Daisy had fun was when she was alone with Gatsby. At this party, Tom first suspects Gatsby as a bootlegger, similar to some of the other newly rich people who attended this party.
Nick stayed until the very end that night. Gatsby said Daisy didn’t like the party at all, and he felt far away from her the entire night. Gatsby thinks if he got Daisy back everything would be just as it was before, but Nick reminded him that he couldn’t repeat the past. Gatsby then went into a flashback from five years ago about how life was life with Daisy.
Chapter 7
This particular Saturday night, Gatsby’s house is completely dark. Gatsby had been dismissing servants during the day and replacing them with ones who had hardly been in West Egg. His house is completely dirty, because now wanted to lead a more private and secluded life now that Daisy made frequent visits to his house in the afternoons.
Daisy invites Nick, Jordan, and Gatsby over for lunch one afternoon. While there Daisy kisses Gatsby and tells him she loves him when Tom is away. When lunch is served, Tom catches Daisy flirting with Gatsby and gets extremely upset because he knows that Daisy has been cheating on him with Gatsby now. Tom abruptly requests they should all go to town, right after first dismissing Daisy’s idea of going there earlier. The weather was excruciating hot, but they went anyway. Daisy insisted she ride with Gatsby, and Tom agreed as long as they took his car. Jordan and Nick rode with Tom in Gatsby’s car. On the way to town, Tom stops at George Wilson’s car shop to get some gas. While talking with George, he brings up that he needs Tom’s car so he can sell it for the money he needs in order to move west with Myrtle. Tom realizes George knows now about Myrtle and his affair, and because of this discovery, they are moving away. Myrtle, looking out her bedroom window, sees Jordan in Tom’s car and assumes that she is Tom’s wife.
In town they met up at the Plaza Hotel. Tom, still angered by the discovery of Daisy’s affair and Myrtle leaving, started questioning Gatsby quite intently. Daisy tires to quiet everyone and get Tom to make some mint juleps, but Tom persist on questioning. Tom asks Gatsby about his studies at Oxford, and there is hesitation in Gatsby’s answers. He confesses to only staying there for five months. Daisy, getting fed up with this persecuting, tells Tom to have more self-control. By Daisy saying that Tom goes into an uproar. He blatantly accuses “Mr. Nobody”, Gatsby, of having an affair with Daisy. Gatsby counteracted that response by saying, “She never loved you. She once married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting. She never loved anyone except me!” (Page 131) Tom was certain that Daisy loved him when she married him and she loves him now, but Gatsby disagrees. Daisy also said she never loved Tom the way she loves Gatsby, but even when she said that, it was a lie. She did love Tom, and she did love Gatsby. Tom, trying to get her back on his side, tells Daisy that Gatsby is a bootlegger, and his chain of drugstores was his business. When Daisy heard this, she felt as if she didn’t know Gatsby at all. It was then that she sided back with Tom, and decides not to leave with Gatsby. Tom tells Daisy and Gatsby to go back home in Gatsby’s car. After they left, Nick suddenly realizes it was his birthday, and he has turned thirty years old.
On the way home for Jordan, Nick, and Tom, they see a tragedy in the Village of Ashes, right by the Wilson’s car shop. Myrtle is lying in the street, bloody and dead. The only thing they know about that accident was the car that hit her was yellow, and it didn’t stop after the impact. When Tom talks to George, he is completely devastated. Tom starts to cry, and George could hardly talk.
When Nick returns to Tom’s house, Gatsby calls out to him from behind a bush. He is hiding behind the bush to see if Daisy would be alright with Tom. Gatsby asks if he saw the tragedy, and Nick said that he did. Gatsby admits to killing her, even though Daisy had been driving.
As Nick watches Daisy and Tom talk to each other from outside, he sees they are not happy with each other, but Gatsby had nothing to worry about Daisy being with Tom that night. Gatsby insisted on staying so Nick left him alone and started home.
Chapter 8
The next morning Nick talks with Gatsby. Nothing happened to Daisy, and Nick advises Gatsby to move away because the police will trace his car and convict him of murder. Gatsby wouldn’t think hear of it though.
That night Gatsby tells Nick the story of his youth with Daisy. They met in Louisville when Gatsby was stationed there for the army. She was the first girl he felt a real connection with. He loved her fullness of life, her youthful energy, and her voice. The only reason he lied to her about his background was to make her think that he was good enough for her. When he had to leave overseas, Daisy promised him she would wait for him to return so they could get married. There were some complications after the fighting, however, that caused Gatsby to delay his return home. Daisy didn’t understand why he couldn’t come and the sadness and despair in her letters worried Gatsby. Months went by and Gatsby still didn’t come. She decided her life needed shaping, even if it was with out Gatsby. When Tom Buchanan came she took the opportunity and married him in June.
After the flashback and breakfast, the gardener tells Gatsby that he’s going to drain the pool for the fall. Gatsby, having never used the pool all summer, decides use it today. Gatsby invites Nick in also, but he declines the invitation for he has to go into town. While in town, Nick tires to get some work done, but ends up falling asleep. He wakes up to the phone ringing and it is Jordan Baker. They’re conversation is bitter towards one another and ends in silence.
Meanwhile, George Wilson, still sad and confused about his wife, seeks out Tom Buchanan in hopes of some answers. Tom tells him that he suspected Gatsby of driving the car that hit Myrtle. Taking revenge, George goes to Gatsby’s house and kills him while he was sitting in his pool. After he killed Gatsby, George killed himself close by.
Chapter 9
The rest of the day had been imprinted in Nicks mind for more than two years after the fact. Photographers and reporters swarm Gatsby’s house, and make up stories which were extremely elaborated.
Nick, thinking Gatsby needs a funeral, starts planning it. He calls many people who, unfortunately, are not interested at all in attending Gatsby’s funeral. When he tries Daisy’s house, a servant answers the phone saying Tom and Daisy had gone away. They left no address of where they would be or when they would arrive back to East Egg. Meyer Wolfsheim also could not attend the funeral because he doesn’t want to be part of Gatsby’s death.
Later, Nick receives a telegram from Henry C. Gatz, saying he is on his way to West Egg and to postpone the funeral until he arrives. When he arrives in West Egg, Nick was surprised to find out Henry C. Gatz is Gatsby’s father. Mr. Gatz always thought Gatsby had a big future ahead of him. Unfortunately, he was the only one who thought highly of him and also one of the few who attended Gatsby’s funeral. The other people were Nick, a few servants, and later Owl Eyes.
When the drama quiets down, Nick decides it is time to return home to the Mid-West, but not before he ends things with Jordan Baker. When they see each other Nick compliments her, and in response she tells him she was engaged to another man. She explains she was still mad from their last phone conversation and doesn’t care about Nick anymore. She lastly mentions her being engaged to a bad driver, the same remark Nick made to her when they first met. She thought Nick was a very honest and honorable man, but due to recent events was proved otherwise.
Nick later passed Tom walking down the street. Nick asks him what he told George the afternoon Gatsby was killed. Tom responds by saying he told George the truth. He said George had a gun to his head and demanded to know who killed Myrtle, so in order to stay alive, he told him it was Gatsby. Along with that, Tom says Gatsby deserved to die, and because of that remark Nick could never forgive Tom Buchanan.
On the last night in West Egg for Nick, he looks at Gatsby’s house and see it as a failure. He sits on Gatsby’s beach and sees the green light Gatsby had been reaching for when they first met. Nick believes Gatsby saw something in that light, and his dream was across the bay. Nick looks back on the events that have gone by, and realizes everyone was trying to manipulate their futures in different ways. Unfortunately, instead of moving forward, they repeated the mistakes of their past.
