The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is a novel by American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald that was first published on April 10, 1925. The story is set in New York City and Long Island in the 1920s. It is the famous novel from the "Jazz Age", a term Fitzgerald coined himself. It was not popular upon initial printing, selling fewer than 24,000 copies during his lifetime, although it was adapted into both a Broadway play and a Hollywood film within a year of publication. Largely forgotten during the Great Depression and World War II, it was republished in 1945 and 1953 and quickly found a wide readership. Over the following decades it emerged as a standard text in high school and university courses on American literature in countries around the world. Modern Library named it as the second greatest English language novel of the Twentieth Century.

Plot

Nick Carraway, a New York bond dealer from the Midwest, befriends his neighbour Jay Gatsby, an extremely wealthy young man known for throwing lavish soirées in his Long Island mansion. Gatsby's great wealth is a subject of much rumor; none of the guests who Nick meets at Gatsby's parties know much about his past. Gatsby is infatuated with an old flame, Daisy Buchanan, who happens to be Nick's second cousin and the wife of one of his Yale classmates, a wealthy former footballer named Tom Buchanan. Nick learns that the Buchanan marriage is not particularly happy — Tom has had numerous affairs with other women; the latest involves Myrtle, the wife of George Wilson, an auto mechanic.

Through Jordan Baker, a young golf pro with whom Nick is mildly infatuated, Gatsby asks Nick to arrange a meeting with Daisy, who he last saw five years ago as a suitor during his military training near her home in Louisville. In the intervening period, Gatsby fought in World War I, then, stung by the need to make himself a wealthy man to vie for Daisy's attention, became involved in organized crime through Meyer Wolfsheim, through which he quickly made his fortune. Daisy, disinclined to wait, became engaged to Tom. On the eve of her wedding, she became distraught when she received a letter from Gatsby, but went through with the nuptials anyway.

Their meeting is at first strained (unnerving Nick), but turns more communicative when Gatsby relaxes. They see more of each other at Gatsby's house, with Tom occasionally in attendance. The conflict comes to a head in New York City, when Tom confronts Gatsby about the affair that Tom suspected, and Gatsby claims that Daisy will leave Tom and go with Gatsby. Daisy declares that she loves Gatsby, then admits that she loves Tom, as well. Flustered, Daisy departs for Long Island with Gatsby in his car; the rest follow later, in another. By this point, Nick (who placed himself as an outsider early on in the novel) has become both Gatsby's sole ally and best friend. In response, Nick finds himself becoming extremely loyal to Gatsby, and comes to view Gatsby as his closest friend. During the middle of the hotel room confrontation, Nick becomes so impressed by Gatsby that he feels the desire to "get up and pat him on the back", saying he has experienced a complete renewal of faith in Gatsby. Later on, he goes as far as to tell Gatsby "They're (Tom and Daisy) a rotten crowd. You're worth the whole damn bunch put together."

Distraught, Daisy runs down and kills a pedestrian on the way back to Gatsby's house. The pedestrian is none other than Tom's lover, Myrtle Wilson. Her husband, in a rage, tracks the car to Gatsby's house and shoots Gatsby to death, then kills himself. None of the legions who attended his parties come to Gatsby's funeral; only Nick, Gatsby's father Henry Gatz (Gatsby changed the name in his social-climbing efforts), and an unnamed man who Nick met in Gatsby's library pay their respects, known for his "owl" eyes. Nick breaks off his relationship with Jordan (in whom he saw a fundamental dishonesty) and moves back to the West.

Trivia

The introduction features a poem attributed to Thomas Parke D'Invilliers, who is actually a character from Fitzgerald's first novel This Side Of Paradise.
Early in the book, Tom Buchanan describes to Nick a book he's reading, "Rise of the Colored Empire" by some Goddard. This book is a play on T. Lothrop Stoddard's book, "The Rising Tide of Color" printed about 1922. Fitzgerald obviously didn't want to use the real title and author (whether for dislike or era-appropriateness).
The college that Jay Gatsby was said to have attended for a few days ("disliking it because he had to support himself with janitor work"), St. Olaf College, is a liberal arts college located in Northfield, Minnesota, a short drive from where Fitzgerald grew up.
The situation of the Great Gatsby, a wealthy man of mystery haunting the society of his lost love, may owe something to Alexandre Dumas, père's Count of Monte Cristo.
The character of Meyer Wolfsheim in the novel is based on Arnold Rothstein, the real-life kingpin suspected to be behind the fixing of the 1919 World Series.
Fitzgerald originally wanted to title the novel Trimalchio in West Egg, after the character Trimalchio in The Satyricon that Gatsby resembles.
After The Great Gatsby went to press, Fitzgerald decided to change the title of the novel to "Under the Red, White, and Blue." He sent a telegram to his publisher asking whether it was too late to change it. (It was.)
The Great Gatsby was sometimes read out loud by Andy Kaufman in a faux British accent as a type of anti-humor.
Famous American author Truman Capote was originally hired as the screenwriter for the 1974 film adaptation of The Great Gatsby. In his screenplay, Nick Carraway and Jordan Baker were both written to be homosexual. Capote was removed from the project; Coppola rewrote the screenplay.
Seattle-based rock band Gatsby's American Dream derived their name from an obvious theme in the book.
Gatsby's copy of Hoppalong Cassidy is dated 1906, which is not possible since it was published in 1910.
East Egg and West Egg are thinly disguised versions of Port Washington and Great Neck, New York.
Business man Bill Gates has the words "It took me this long to reach the blue lawn." inscribed in his library which represent a famous quote from the book.

Film

The Great Gatsby has been filmed four times:

In 1926 by Herbert Brenon – a silent movie of a stage adaptation, starring Warner Baxter and Lois Wilson. According to the IMDb, no copies have survived (only a trailer with a few minutes of footage remains);
In 1949 by Elliott Nugent – starring Alan Ladd and Betty Field; considered by many to be more faithful to the novel than the more elaborate 1974 version, for copyright reasons this film is not readily available;
In 1974 by Jack Clayton – often considered the definitive screen version, starring Robert Redford in the title role and Mia Farrow as Daisy Buchanan, with a script by Francis Ford Coppola;
In 2000 by Robert Markowitz – a made-for-TV movie starring Toby Stephens and Mira Sorvino.

The 2002 film G (released in 2005) by Christopher Scott Cherot claims inspiration from The Great Gatsby.

Opera

An operatic treatment of the novel was commissioned by the New York Metropolitan Opera to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the debut of James Levine. The opera premiered on December 20, 1999. The music and libretto are by John Harbison with popular song lyrics by Murray Horwitz.

External links

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Plot

Trivia

Film

Opera

External links