The Great Gatsby

by

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald

Nick Carraway

He is the main character and the narrator of this novel. Nick is a pretty, solid, young man who has graduated from Yale University. He`s honest, tolerant and understanding. Nick admires Gatsby and he`s the only person that understands him.

Jay Gatsby

Nick`s neighbour, who has climbed the social ladder after the war. His problem is that he chose an illegal way to earn his fortune. Gatsby is a heroic but also a trivial and common person.

Daisy Buchanan:

She`s beautiful, rich, innocent and pure. Daisy is a person who dreams the whole day.

Summary:

Nick Carraway moves from the Mid-West of the United States to New York to work as a stock brocker. He finds a small house on Long Island, an expensive area where rich people live. Next to his home lays the big mansion of Jay Gatsby. Opposite the bay Nick`s cousin Daisy lives with her husband Tom Buchanan. Tom is having a mistress, Myrtle, and he isn`t making a big secret out of it. Jay Gatsby seems to be a big mystery so that everybody tells different stories about him. Allthough he gives big partys every weekend.

One day Nick is invited to one of these and there he meets Gatsby the first time. They became good friends and Gatsby tells Nick that he wants to meet Daisy.

So Nick arranges a meeting between them. It turns out that they had an affair five years ago but Gatsby didn`t have enough money to marry and besides he had to go to war so Daisy married Tom. When Gatsby heard that, he started to believe that becoming as rich as possible would bring him Daisy back.

It all ends in a big tragedy when Daisy and Gatsby drive home from New York.

Myrtle Wilson throws herself in front of the car and dies.The husband of Myrtle,

Wilson,wants to take revenge for the death of his wife. Tom tells the widower that Gatsby has driven the car. Finally Wilson gets to Gatsby`s house and shoots first Gatsby and then himself.

Nick prepares the funeral but only Gatsby`s father and a former party guest show up. At the end Nick is tired of the life in New York and decides to return to the Mid-West.