1、The Great Gatsby ReviewThe Great Gatsby is probably F. Scott Fitzgerald s greatest novel-a book that offers damning and insightful views of the American nouveau riche in the 1920s. The Great Gatsby is an American classic and a wonderfully evocative work. Like much of Fitzgerald s prose, it is neat a
2、nd well-crafted. Fitzgerald seems to have had a brilliant understanding of lives that are corrupted by greed and incredibly sad and unfulfilled. The novel is a product of its generation-with one of American literatures most powerful characters in the figure of Jay Gatsby, who is urbane and world-wea
3、ry. Gatsby is really nothing more than a man desperate for love.The AuthorF. Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota. His first novels success made him famous and let him marry the woman he loved, but he later descended into drinking and his wife had a mental breakdow
4、n. Following the unsuccessful Tender is the Night, Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood and became a scriptwriter. He died of a heart attack in 1940, at age 44, his final novel only half completed.OverviewThe Great Gatsby is a story told by Nick Carraway, who was once Gatsbys neighbor, and he tells the sto
5、ry sometime after 1922, when the incidents that fill the book take place. As the story opens, Nick has just moved from the Midwest to West Egg, Long Island, seeking his fortune as a bond salesman. Shortly after his arrival, Nick travels across the Sound to the more fashionable East Egg to visit his
6、cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband, Tom, a hulking, imposing man whom Nick had known in college. There he meets professional golfer Jordan Baker. The Buchanans and Jordan Baker live privileged lives, contrasting sharply in sensibility and luxury with Nicks more modest and grounded lifestyle. When
7、 Nick returns home that evening, he notices his neighbor, Gatsby, mysteriously standing in the dark and stretching his arms toward the water, and a solitary green light across the Sound.One day, Nick is invited to accompany Tom, a blatant adulterer, to meet his mistress, Myrtle Wilson, a middle-clas
8、s woman whose husband runs a modest garage and gas station in the valley of ashes, a desolate and run-down section of town that marks the convergence of the city and the suburbs. After the group meets and journeys into the city, Myrtle phones friends to come over and they all spend the afternoon dri
9、nking at Myrtle and Toms apartment. The afternoon is filled with drunken behavior and ends ominously with Myrtle and Tom fighting over Daisy, his wife. Drunkenness turns to rage and Tom, in one deft movement, breaks Myrtles nose.Following the description of this incident, Nick turns his attention to
10、 his mysterious neighbor, who hosts weekly parties for the rich and fashionable. Upon Gatsbys invitation (which is noteworthy because rarely is anyone ever invited to Gatsbys parties they just show up, knowing they will not be turned away), Nick attends one of the extravagant gatherings. There, he b
11、umps into Jordan Baker, as well as Gatsby himself. Gatsby, it turns out, is a gracious host, but yet remains apart from his guest an observer more than a participant as if he is seeking something. As the party winds down, Gatsby takes Jordan aside to speak privately. Although the reader isnt specifi
12、cally told what they discuss, Jordan is greatly amazed by what shes learned.As the summer unfolds, Gatsby and Nick become friends and Jordan and Nick begin to see each other on a regular basis, despite Nicks conviction that she is notoriously dishonest (which offends his sensibilities because he is
13、one of the few honest people he has ever met). Nick and Gatsby journey into the city one day and there Nick meets Meyer Wolfshiem, one of Gatsbys associates and Gatsbys link to organized crime. On that same day, while having tea with Jordan Baker, Nick learns the amazing story that Gatsby told her t
14、he night of his party. Gatsby, it appears, is in love with Daisy Buchanan. They met years earlier when he was in the army but could not be together because he did not yet have the means to support her. In the intervening years, Gatsby made his fortune, all with the goal of winning Daisy back. He bou
15、ght his house so that he would be across the Sound from her and hosted the elaborate parties in the hopes that she would notice. It has come time for Gatsby to meet Daisy again, face-to-face, and so, through the intermediary of Jordan Baker, Gatsby asks Nick to invite Daisy to his little house where
16、 Gatsby will show up unannounced.The day of the meeting arrives. Nicks house is perfectly prepared, due largely to the generosity of the hopeless romantic Gatsby, who wants every detail to be perfect for his reunion with his lost love. When the former lovers meet, their reunion is slightly nervous,
17、but shortly, the two are once again comfortable with each other, leaving Nick to feel an outsider in the warmth the two people radiate. As the afternoon progresses, the three move the party from Nicks house to Gatsbys, where he takes special delight in showing Daisy his meticulously decorated house
18、and his impressive array of belongings, as if demonstrating in a very tangible way just how far out of poverty he has traveled.At this point, Nick again lapses into memory, relating the story of Jay Gatsby. Born James Gatz to shiftless and unsuccessful farm people, Gatsby changed his name at sevente
19、en, about the same time he met Dan Cody. Cody would become Gatsbys mentor, taking him on in a vague personal capacity for five years as he went three times around the Continent. By the time of Codys death, Gatsby had grown into manhood and had defined the man he would become. Never again would he ac
20、knowledge his meager past; from that point on, armed with a fabricated family history, he was Jay Gatsby, entrepreneur.Moving back to the present, we discover that Daisy and Tom will attend one of Gatsbys parties. Tom, of course, spends his time chasing women, while Daisy and Gatsby sneak over to Ni
21、cks yard for a moments privacy while Nick, accomplice in the affair, keeps guard. After the Buchanans leave, Gatsby tells Nick of his secret desire: to recapture the past. Gatsby, the idealistic dreamer, firmly believes the past can be recaptured in its entirety. Gatsby then goes on to tell what it
22、is about his past with Daisy that has made such an impact on him.As the summer unfolds, Gatsby and Daisys affair begins to grow and they see each other regularly. On one fateful day, the hottest and most unbearable of the summer, Gatsby and Nick journey to East Egg to have lunch with the Buchanans a
23、nd Jordan Baker. Oppressed by the heat, Daisy suggests they take solace in a trip to the city. No longer hiding her love for Gatsby, Daisy pays him special attention and Tom deftly picks up on whats going on. As the party prepares to leave for the city, Tom fetches a bottle of whiskey. Tom, Nick, an
24、d Jordan drive in Gatsbys car, while Gatsby and Daisy drive Toms coupe. Low on gas, Tom stops Gatsbys car at Wilsons gas station, where he sees that Wilson is not well. Like Tom, who has just learned of Daisys affair, Wilson has just learned of Myrtles secret life although he does not know who the m
25、an is and it has made him physically sick. Wilson announces his plans to take Myrtle out West, much to Toms dismay. Tom has lost a wife and a mistress all in a matter of an hour. Absorbed in his own fears, Tom hastily drives into the city.The group ends up at the Plaza hotel, where they continue dri
26、nking, moving the day closer and closer to its tragic end. Tom, always a hot-head, begins to badger Gatsby, questioning him as to his intentions with Daisy. Decidedly tactless and confrontational, Tom keeps harping on Gatsby until the truth comes out: Gatsby wants Daisy to admit shes never loved Tom
27、 but that, instead, she has always loved him. When Daisy is unable to do this, Gatsby declares that Daisy is going to leave Tom. Tom, though, understands Daisy far better than Gatsby does and knows she wont leave him: His wealth and power, matured through generations of privilege, will triumph over
28、Gatsbys newly found wealth. In a gesture of authority, Tom orders Daisy and Gatsby to head home in Gatsbys car. Tom, Nick, and Jordan follow.As Toms car nears Wilsons garage, they can all see that some sort of accident has occurred. Pulling over to investigate, they learn that Myrtle Wilson, Toms mi
29、stress, has been hit and killed by a passing car that never bothered to stop, and it appears to have been Gatsbys car. Tom, Jordan, and Nick continue home to East Egg. Nick, now disgusted by the morality and behavior of the people with whom he has been on friendly terms, meets Gatsby outside of the
30、Buchanans house where he is keeping watch for Daisy. With a few well-chosen questions, Nick learns that Daisy, not Gatsby, was driving the car, although Gatsby confesses he will take all the blame. Nick, greatly agitated by all that he has experienced during the day, continues home, but an overarchi
31、ng feeling of dread haunts him.Nearing dawn the next morning, Nick goes to Gatsbys house. While the two men turn the house upside down looking for cigarettes, Gatsby tells Nick more about how he became the man he is and how Daisy figured into his life. Later that morning, while at work, Nick is unab
32、le to concentrate. He receives a phone call from Jordan Baker, but is quick to end the discussion and thereby the friendship. He plans to take an early train home and check on Gatsby.The action then switches back to Wilson who, distraught over his wifes death, sneaks out and goes looking for the driver who killed Myrtle. Nick retraces Wilsons journey, which placed him, by early afternoon, at Gatsbys house. Wilson murders Gatsby and then turns the gun on himself.After Gatsbys death, Nick is left to help make arrangements for his burial. What is most perplexing, though, is that no one seems
