Great Gatsby Report

Introduction

The Great Gatsby was written in 1925 by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The majority of the book takes place during the summer of 1922 in the fictional town of West Egg, located on Long Island. The main character of the novel, Jay Gatsby, lives in a mansion and throws large parties very often. The book was originally published by Scribner’s in April 1925, the novel received mixed reviews and did not sell well; in the first year, the book sold only 20,000 copies. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s inspiration for the novel came from the parties he attended while visiting Long Island’s north shore, and he began planning the novel in 1923. Fitzgerald wanted to produce “something new--something extraordinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned.” Fitzgerald finished four novels in his lifetime, The Great Gatsby was his most famous. Like Gatsby, Fitzgerald too served in the army during World War I in his earlier years. Many critics and readers believe that because of their similar backgrounds, Fitzgerald intended to portray himself as Gatsby. Fitzgerald died in 1940 of a heart attack at the age of 44.

Characters

Jay Gatsby, the main character of the novel, lives in a mansion at the tip of West Egg not far from the Long Island Sound. Gatsby is a man of great wealth; however, many people are skeptical of how Gatsby acquired his money. Gatsby portrays the qualities of kindness, mysteriousness and intelligence. Gatsby tries to win back Daisy Buchanan, whom he had loved before he was deployed overseas for the war. In order to do this, he needs the assistance of his next door neighbor Nick Caraway. Caraway narrates most of the story, so we see the events through his eyes. Nick Caraway,

Espinoza, 2 born and raised in the Midwest, moved...

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...he Great Gatsby possesses all the qualities of a great American novel. For one thing, Fitzgerald does an excellent job of making the setting and culture in the book match as closely as possible to the setting and culture in the real world during that time period. Fitzgerald wanted to write “something new--something extraordinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned.” and many

Espinoza, 5 readers seem to agree that he did an outstanding job of accomplishing that goal. The Great Gatsby gives the reader an insight into what life was like in the 1920’s in a very detailed and descriptive manner. Although Fitzgerald would not have considered his novel a success, many readers and critics believe that The Great Gatsby is not just a great American novel, they believe that The Great Gatsby is THE American novel, and not many people disagree with that statement.