Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald

• was an American author of novels and short stories

• He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century

• September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940

• Although he found movie work degrading, Fitzgerald spent the second half of the 1930s in Hollywood

• Fitzgerald had been an alcoholic since his college days

Character list

• Nick Carraway - a bond salesman from the Midwest, he is Gatsby's next-door neighbor.

Character list

• Jay Gatsby - a young, mysterious millionaire later revealed to be a bootlegger, with shady business connections and an obsessive love for Daisy Fay Buchanan .

Character list

• Daisy Buchanan - an attractive and effervescent, if shallow, young woman, Nick's second cousin, and the wife of Tom Buchanan .

Character list

• Tom Buchanan - millionaire who lives on East Egg, and Daisy's husband

Character list

• Jordan Baker - She is Daisy Buchanan's long-time friend, a professional golfer with a slightly shady reputation.

The plot

Nick Carraway a young man from Minnesota, moves to New York in the summer of 1922  to begin a career, next to the house of Jay Gatsby in West Egg

The plot

Several weeks later Nick is invited to one of Gatsby's elaborate parties where he meets Jordan, a friend of Daisy

The plot

Gatsby asks to speak to Jordan alone, and, through Jordan, Nick later learns more about his mysterious neighbour and the fact that Gatsby and Daisy had loved each other five years ago .

The plot

Gatsby and Daisy reestablish their connection and begin an affair.

The plot

Tom realizes Gatsby is in love with his wife.

The plot

Nick, Jordan, and Tom discover that Gatsby’s car has struck and killed Myrtle, Tom’s lover.

The plot

Tom tells Myrtle’s husband, George, that Gatsby was the driver of the car.

The plot

Nick stages a small funeral for Gatsby .

Themes

Love

Wealth

Themes

Society and class

Visions of America

Symbols

The green light

The eyes of T. J. Eckleburg

Symbols

• The valley of ashes