The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is set in 1922 in the New York City area.
It is about the American Dream and those who attempt to reach its illusionary goals. Jay Gatsby
acquires the wealth and the power of his dream but not the happiness.
We have to wonder why F. Scott Fitzgerald would write such a book. Was it to reflect the
society of the 1920's: where either you had money and the dream, or you were poor and lived
amongst the ashes. You could havethe chance of being like the phoenix and rising out of the
ashes like the character Jay. This dream is different for different people. In The Great Gatsby, for
Jay, the dream is that through wealth and power one can acquire happiness.
Jay Gatsby, the central figure of the story is one character who longs for the past.
Surprisingly, he devotes most of his adult life trying to recapture it, finally dying in its pursuit. In
the past, Jay had a love affair with the affluent Daisy Buchannan. Knowing he could not marry her
because of her social status, he leaves her to achive a comparable social status. Once he
acquires this status, he moves near Daisy, and throws elaborate parties hoping, by chance, she
might show up at one of them. When Daisy doesn't show up at the parties, Jay asks around to see
if anyone knows her. Soon he meets Nick Carraway, a cousin of Daisy's, who agrees to arrange a
meeting. Gatsby's personal dream symbolizes the larger American Dream which is available to
everyone , the wealth, the status and the happiness.
Tom Buchannan, Daisy's husband, realizes his world is falling apart when he is driving to
New York with Nick and Jordan Baker the female golf pro. His wife Daisy, is driving with Jay in her
car. Tom stops to get gas and Tom's mistress, Myrtle sees him. With jealous eyes she watches
them leave thinking Jordan is Tom's wife. On the way back from New York, Daisy i
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