User:Kaylee.jonnes/sandbox

Reception

Critics have noted that, "this is Fitzgerald's most nearly perfect work" while others have asked the question, "strip away this melodrama and what are you left with?" Fitzgerald has left many thinking that the theme of the book was mostly recalled for its aspiration and glamour rather than the futility and envy. Fitzgerald is said to have captured the jazz age with The Great Gatsby, published in 1925. And, "if ever there was one person who captured the prosperity of the Roaring 20's and Jazz Age, it was F. Scott Fitzgerald." Fitzgerald is praised by many who claim that he had captured the essence of the 20's so well in his books, especially The Great Gatsby. But others claim that "the "Jazz Age," Fitzgerald's constant subject, is exposed here in terms of its false glamour and cultural barrenness" and "F. Scott Fitzgerald's epic tragedy is lost amid the lavish excess." Although many praise Fitzgerald's work, others have dug deeper and found that Gatsby's work is not perfect, saying things such as "although it is not a bad book, it is not a masterpiece."

Plot Summary

After fighting in World War 1, Nick Carraway moves to New York City to learn about the bond business. Carraway rents a house about an hour away from the city, in an area named the West Egg. He quickly befriends his next door neighbor, Jat Gatsby. Gatsby is a rich and mysterious man that many know little about. He holds large parties every Saturday night in his large mansion. Carraway's cousin, Daisy Buchanan, lives across the bay in the East Egg. Daisy lives with her husband, Tom Buchanan and their daughter. One evening, Nick drives out to the East Egg to visit and have dinner with Daisy and Tom. There, he is introduced to a woman named Jordan Baker, with whom Nick begins a romantic relationship with. Jordan Baker is a famous golfer and is a close friend of the Buchanan family. Dinner is interrupted by a phone call for Tom, and is guessed to be Tom's mistress, Myrtle Wilson. Myrtle is married to George Wilson, where they live in the " Valley of Ashes," a place not too far from the entrance of Manhattan. George is a car mechanic. Tom invites Carraway to travel to the city with him one day by train. The train stops at the Valley of Ashes and Buchanan makes a quick decision to get off, dragging Carraway with him, and visit Myrtle. When Tom and Carraway arrive in the shop, Myrtle is very demanding toward George and orders him to get cjhairs for their guests. While he is doing so, Tom pulls Myrtle close and tells her to get onto the next trai to the city. The rest of the day and spent with Myrtle spending Tom's money, going back to her apartment and getting very drunk. Carraway find himself at his doorstep the next morning, not knowing how he got there.

The next day he is greeted by an invitation to one of Gatsby's famous parties the Saturday. Carraway arrives at Gatsby's party that night and runs into Jordan Baker. They decide to look for the host, who many of the attenders of the party didnt even know. Carraway finds Gatsby, not knowing it's him. Gatsby introduces himself and invites Carraway to fly his hydroplane on the beach that next morning. Carraway agrees and Gatsby leaves for a phone call. Baker is approached by Gatsby's assistant and tells her that Gatsby has asked to speak with her alone. Gatsby and Baker speak privately for the rest of the night while Carraway wonders around the party. When they are done speaking the party is practically over. Carraway is still there, waiting. Jordan comes out of Gatsby's office happy and surprised. She expresses this to Carraway but says she's not to speak a word about what Gatsby has told her.

That next morning Gatsby invites Carraway's to lunch with him in the city. When they arrive Gatsby speaks to Carraway and says that he is going to ask a favor of him. He then says that Carraway will be having tea with Jordan Baker soon and she will explain what is going on. Gatsby meets Baker after lunch for tea and she tells him about Gatsby and Daisy. She tells him that five years ago, they were in love. But en Gatsby had to go away for the war. In the next couple years she had met Tom and they had fell in love. But days before their wedding Daisy had received a note from Gatsby. No one else saw what it said but after she became terribly drunk and was saying that she's changed her mind about marrying Tom. But, she went on with marrying him and forgot about Gatsby. When Gatsby returned from the war, he found out where Daisy lived and bought his house right across the bay from her. He kept tabs on Daisy, cutting newspaper articles out about her and keeping them with pictures.

But what Gatsby wanted was for him to invite Daisy to tea at Carraway's home. He agrees and invites Daisy to tea. That day, Gatsby appears as very nervous and unsure of what Carraway has done for him. When Daisy arrives late, Gatsby jumps out of a window but returns to the front door, ready to see her. They continue this affair for many weeks. One hot summer day, Carraway and Gatsby are invited to the Buchanans for lunch. This was planned by Daisy and Gatsby so they could tell Tom what has been going on. Right before lunch, Gatsby starts to tell him but Daisy panics and changes the subject by saying how they should go to the city. Everyone agrees and they make their way to a hotel and rent a room. At that time, Gatsby tells Tom. Tom is furious. Daisy is unsure of her feelings though and breaks down. Gatsby takes Daisy and says their leaving. Tom, Carraway and Baker follow them home after a bit. Daisy is driving Gatsby's yellow car and while driving through the Valley of Ashes and accidentally runs over Myrtle, leaving her dead. Daisy and Gatsby drive on, not knowing what they did. Later, Daisy decides to stay with Tom and they leave with their daughter. At that time, George Wilson, Myrtle's husband, finds Gatsby and kills him, thinking that it was Gatsby who killed Myrtle.

Background

Fitzgerald's "book that rolled out under the night in roaring 1925 was not original" and "actually began with a manuscript that Fitzgerald had submitted a year earlier with the title "Trimalchio"" This manuscript was transformed into the well know book many know today, The Great Gatsby. The original idea for "Trimalchio" was that Gatsby talked little about his past until it all comes out at once after Myrtle's death, already late in the novel. Fitzgerald states that "Gatsby"started out as one man I knew and then changed into myself"" The split between daft the finished draft and the first draft is what seperates the two Gatsby's, the great and the vague. Trimalchio was a bit darker than the revised entry and very blurred and patchy.