The Great Gatsby book report
Introduction
The book The Great Gatsby is a novel written by an American author F. Scott Fitzgerald and was firstly published by Scribner’s in April 1925 (Wikipedia 2015, para. 1-3).
Summary of the content
Chapter 1
Nick Caraway, the narrator of this book, moved to New York for business reasons in the summer of 1922. He rented a house in West Egg, a part of Long Island and lived next door to Gatsby. One night, he drove to East Egg and had dinner with his cousin Daisy, Daisy’s husband Tom Buchanan, an affluent man and her friend Miss Baker. During the dinner, Tom talked about a book called The Rise of the Colored Empires, but was interrupted when his phone rang. Miss Baker told Nick secretly that the call was from Tom’s lover. The dinner ended up being awkward, and Nick drove back to his house. When he arrived, he saw his neighbour Gatsby, standing in his mansion and stretching out his arms towards the dark. A faint green light is shining far away.
Chapter 2
Halfway between New York and West Egg lies a gray valley where ashes are dumped. One day, as Tom and Nick were taking a train to New York, Tom forced Nick to leave the train with him when it passed through the valley. There they went to George Wilson’s garage, which is on the edge of the valley. Tom ordered Wilson’s wife Myrtle out and took her to New York and held a party with Myrtle’s sister Catherine and a couple called McKee. All of them got drunk in the party, and the conversation among Tom, Myrtle and Catherine was rather ostentatious. An argument was fuelled between Myrtle and Tom when Myrtle talked about Daisy’s name. Tom broke Daisy’s nose out of anger. The party was brought to an end abruptly.
Chapter 3
Gatsby has been famous for holding elaborate and luxurious parties in his mansion on a weekly basis. One day, Nick received an invitation from Gatsby to join the festivities. All the guest present spread rumours about Gatsby the host while nobody actually knows the truth of his personal history. Gatsby’s party was as luxurious as you can ever imagine, gardens overflowing with a feast, live orchestra playing, liquor flowing freely. At midnight, Nick found Miss Baker when watching the entertainment. They happened to find that the handsome young man sitting beside them was Gatsby. Nick even noticed that Gatsby never drink but watch his guests silently instead.
Chapter 4
One day, Nick took a trip to New York with Gatsby and had lunch together. During the trip, Gatsby talked a lot about his past, but what he said seemed to make no sense. For instance, Gatsby claimed that he was born in an affluent family from the Midwest, and he has achieved a lot of accomplishments such as graduating from Oxford, being awarded medals in WWI by multiple European countries and so forth.
When they reached New York, Gatsby introduced Nick to Meyer Wolfshiem, a shady man with underground business connections. Nick began to suspect that Gatsby might have to do with the sort of organized crime which Wolfshiem is connected with.
After the lunch, Nick found Miss Baker, from whom he knew the mysterious history of Gatsby. Miss Baker revealed that before Daisy married Tom, Daisy was a beautiful young girl and Gatsby was her boyfriend. When the World War I broke out, Gatsby went to the war and Daisy choose to marry Tom. However, Tom was not faithful to his marriage and had several women outside. Miss Baker added that Gatsby bought his mansion in West Egg purely because he wanted to be closer to Daisy. He even asked her to persuade Nick to arrange a tea for him with Daisy.
Chapter 5
Nick went back home that night and came across Gatsby on the way. Gatsby then invited Nick to his mansion and swim in his pool. He tried every method to make Nick happy, since Nick is the only hope for him to arrange a meeting with Daisy. Touched by his commitment, Nick agreed with his request.
It rained on the day of the meeting and Gatsby was terribly nervous. When Nick brought Daisy into the house, however, Gatsby was found nowhere. Then they heard a knock at the door. It was Gatsby, having returned from the rain.
The meeting, at first, was very awkward. After half an hour, the gap between them melted gradually and Daisy even accepted Gatsby’s invitation to his house. Daisy was shocked by Gatsby’s luxurious lifestyle and Gatsby expressed his longing for her day and night. It seemed that the romance between them was rekindled. Nick, however, as an onlooker, got to worry that Daisy will almost fail to live up Gatsby’s expectation.
Chapter 6
Rumors about Gatsby’s personal history continued to circulate in New York, and some reporters even attempt to interview Gatsby in his mansion. Nick started to narrate Gatsby’s personal story—
Gatsby was born in a small farm in North Dakota, and he worked from a very young age in order to pay his tuition. One day, when he was working on the lake, he saw a yacht driven by Dan Cody, a wealthy copper mogul and warned him about an upcoming storm. Cody was grateful and took Gatsby with him as his personal assistant. Gatsby then fell in love with luxury and vowed to become a wealth man.
One day, Tom stopped for a drink in Gatsby’s mansion and Gatsby awkwardly told Tom that he knew Daisy. Tom was angry with Daisy’s visit to Gatsby’s house alone. He was suspicious but has not discovered the romance between them. The following night, Tom attended Gatsby’s party with Daisy. He upset Daisy in front of people that Gatsby’s fortune was made in an illegal manner.
Chapter 7
One day, Nick took a train to East Egg and had lunch with Daisy and Tom in their house. He found Gatsby and Miss Baker there as well. A nurse brought Daisy’s baby out and Gatsby was stunned. They could not hide their love any longer. Daisy invited Gatsby to New York; Tom agreed, planning for a confrontation.
Having arrived in New York, the group decided to take a rest at the Plaza Hotel. Tom started to implement his confrontation with Gatsby and mocked his habit of calling people old sport. He doubted whether Gatsby had really attended Oxford, and asked him his intentions for Daisy. Tom even disclosed that Gatsby was associated with a bootlegging operation. Realising that Tom has beaten Gatsby, Daisy began to move closer and closer to Tom.
Driving back to Long Island, Nick, Tom and Miss Baker heard that someone had undergone a fatal car accident. A man working next to Wilson’s garage told them that Myrtle was the victim, and confirmed that a car coming from New York struck her. Nick suddenly realised that it must be Nick and Daisy.
Back home, Nick found Gatsby hiding in the bushes. From him, Nick knew that Daisy was driving when the car struck Myrtle. However, Gatsby expressed his willingness to take the blame.
Chapter 8
The next morning, Nick rose restlessly and went to Gatsby’s mansion. Gatsby told him that he waited in the bush till four in the morning to make sure that Tom did not hurt Daisy. Nick suggested him forget about Daisy and leave Long Island as soon as possible to avoid Wilson’s revenge. Gatsby refused, telling him how he and Daisy loved each other in Louisville in 1917. When they are talking, Gatsby’s gardener came and told Gatsby that he wanted to drain the pool. However, Gatsby turned down this suggestion, saying that he wanted to use the pool once before summer ended.
Nick went back to his office to work, but what happened at the garage yesterday still haunted his mind. When Myrtle was killed, George Wilson spent all night thinking about the case. He started to believe that whoever drove the car and hit Myrtle must be her lover. Determined for a revenge, he decided to track down the owner of the car. Eventually, he found the car in Gatsby’s house and shot him in the pool.
Chapter 9
A swarm of reporters gathered in Gatsby’s funeral and exchanged rumours about Gatsby’s relationship with Myrtle and Wilson. Tired of hearing more gossip, Nick decided to invite some Gatsby’s former friends to the funeral. These friends include--Tom and Daisy, for example, who moved far away after his death; or Meyer Wolfshiem, who refused to come using as many excuse as he can.
Sick of the snobbery of the East Egg, Nick decided to move to then Midwest. He met Tom on the way. Tom told him that he was the one who told Wilson that Gatsby was the killer and said that Gatsby deserved to die. Nick got to realise how uncaring Tom and Daisy are and how natural they can be when framing people.
Nick believed that it was the fast-paced, lurid lifestyle on the East that shaped people’s behaviours. Gatsby’s dream of Daisy, just as most explorer’s dream of America, was seemingly so close to reach but so hollow and empty in reality. He imagined that many people, coming here by boat against all odds, would almost inevitably be taken back to where they escaped from.
Conclusion
Despite the poor ending of Gatsby, I like this book since it vividly shapes the personalities of the main characters. I also like the way the author utilise a couple of characters to reflect the snobbery of the whole society back then. The comparison between Gatsby’s dream of Daisy and explorers’ American dreams in the end is my favourite. It states the truth, in a bit cruel manner though—that those who came to America by boat with the purpose of seeking a brand new future will almost definitely be driven back to their past. Unfortunately, it still applies to the American society today.
Reference list
Wikipedia 2015, The Great Gatsby, viewed 26 December 2015, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gatsby >
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