Outline For The Great Gatsby

• The Great Gatsby

• F. Scott Fitzgerald

• 180 Pages

• Published in 1925

1. Point of View:

The Great Gatsby is written in both first person and third person point of view and Nick Carraway is the narrator. By using this point of view, Fitzgerald achieves the effect of Nick Carraway portraying and interpreting events the way he perceives them.

2. Main Characters:

a) Jay Gatsby, age is unknown

b) Obsessive, Ambitious, Lonely

“He hadn’t once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes.”

“The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself.

”He talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy.”

c)

Gatsby is a round character as all his qualities are revealed throughout the novel.

He is also a static character because does not really experience change. Gatsby believes that he will get back with Daisy and does not change his mind about this conception.

d) Gatsby’s function is to be the main character of the novel. The novel follows Gatsby’s efforts to acquire wealth in order to recover Daisy.

e) The significance of Jay Gatsby’s name is that his actual name was James Gatz but the name Jay Gatsby emerged when Gatsby tried to remake himself into a person he believed he was meant to be.

f) “So he invented just that sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the

end.”
This quote reveals Gatsby’s perception he had of himself and the life he thought he had to live. Gatsby never accepted who he really was and the family he was born into. In his mind, he believed he was destined for greatness and his desire for greatness drove him to become the person he always dreamt of being.
a) Daisy Buchanan, age is unknown
b) Materialistic, Indecisive, Vain
“‘They’re such beautiful shirts,’ she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. ‘It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such—such beautiful shirts before.’”
“‘I love you now- isn’t that enough? I can’t help what’s past.’ She began to sob helplessly. ‘I did love him once—but I loved you too.’”
“I waited, and sure enough, in a moment she looked at me with an absolute smirk on her lovely face, as if she had asserted her membership in a rather distinguished secret society to which she and Tom belonged.”
c) Daisy is a flat and static character as she does not undergo any changes during the novel. Daisy does not change her views on Gatsby at the end of the novel, but retreats back to her marriage and her careless ways.
d) Daisy’s function in the novel is to be Gatsby’s love. Daisy is the reason why Gatsby throws lavish parties and essentially the reason why Gatsby acquired his wealth.
e) There is no significance to Daisy’s name.
f) “She wanted her life shaped now, immediately—and the decision must be made by some force—of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality—that was close at hand.”
This quote reveals Daisy’s careless decisions. When Daisy decides to marry Tom she does not care whether it’s because of love, money, or another force. Yet, she decides to marry Tom because of his social standing and because her parents approved of him. Daisy was aware of the luxuries Tom would provide her with his wealth, for example the pearl necklace, something Gatsby wasn’t able to provide.
3. Minor Characters:
a) Jordan Baker
b) Jordan is Daisy’s friend since childhood and is also responsible for getting Gatsby to reunite with Daisy through Nick.
c) Jordan is very dishonest in order to get what she wants, but is very intelligent in doing so.
a) George Wilson
b) George Wilson is the husband of Myrtle Wilson, Tom Buchanan’s mistress, who kills Gatsby.
c) George Wilson is a faithful, hardworking husband but is very innocent and foolish as he does not realize that his wife is cheating on him.
4. Setting:
The novel is set in West Egg and East Egg on Long Island and New York City during the 1920s. This setting is important to the novel because West Egg and East Egg pertain to a social class. These areas contribute to the plot of the story and they serve as a symbol of the social class structure that initially separated Gatsby and Daisy.
5. Conflict:
The main conflict in the story is Gatsby’s obsession with the past and his efforts to change himself to someone who he believes Daisy wants in hopes of winning her back. The conflict is resolved when Daisy decides to stay in her marriage with her husband, Tom Buchanan. Gatsby ultimately waits for Daisy and dies failing to achieve his long-lived dream of starting all over with her.
6. Theme:
a) Reading The Great Gatsby I learned that pursing the future requires one to quit dwelling in the past in order to live in the present.
b) Materialism is responsible for the demolition of one’s ideals for the future.
7. Writer’s Style:
“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther….And one fine morning—— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
Fitzgerald’s writing style proves to be very figurative throughout the story. Fitzgerald’s writing style was important to the novel as it contributed to the complexity of some of the characters and the symbolism used allows the reader to contemplate the meaning of passages, such as the one above.
8. Literary Devices:
a) Symbol
b) “Once he stopped and shifted it a little, and the chauffeur asked him if he needed help, but he shook his head and in a moment disappeared among the yellowing trees.”(Fitzgerald 161)
c) The author used this literary term to symbolize Gatsby’s death. The color yellow symbolizes death in the book, for instance Myrtle Wilson is hit by Gatsby’s yellow car and as a result dies. Just as the leaves on the trees were about to die, so was Gatsby.
a) Allusion
b) “Have you read ‘Rise of the Colored Empires’ by this man Goddard?” (Fitzgerald 12)
c) The author uses this literary device to reveal Tom Buchanan’s racist attitude as the book mentioned advocates racist views. The use of this allusion allows the reader to recognize how shallow and vain Tom really is.
a) Simile
b) “At his lips’ touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete.” (Fitzgerald 111)
c) The author uses this literary device to compare Gatsby kissing Daisy to that of a flower blossoming. Daisy is the flower and blossoms with Gatsby’s kiss, yet flowers die and so did Daisy’s love for Gatsby.
a) Imagery
b) “His tanned skin was drawn attractively tight on his face and his short hair looked as though it was trimmed every day.”(Fitzgerald 50)
c) The author used imagery to describe Gatsby’s appearance. The use of the words allows the reader to visualize the elegance and greatness that Gatsby exhibited making him distinct from any regular person.
a) Irony
b) “‘I’m Gatsby,’ he said suddenly.” (Fitzgerald 48)
c) Nick is talking to a man at Gatsby’s party and is telling the man that he has not met the host when the man says that he is indeed Gatsby. The author uses this literary term to demonstrate Gatsby’s mysteriousness.
9. Diamantes: Gatsby
Ambitious, Diligent
Chasing, Aspiring, Intending
Dream, Army, Yale, Wealth
Cheating, Sabotaging, Deceiving
Vain, Shallow
Tom
Love
Loyal, Passionate
Caring, Enjoying, Lasting
Emotion, Affection, Money, Materialism
Thriving, Spending, Bragging
Prosperous, Luxurious
Wealth

Green Light
Pursuable, Hopeful
Longing, Grasping, Reliving
Memory, Barrier, Dust, Car
Driving, Dying, Hurting
Poor, Hopeless
The Valley of Ashes

East Egg
Wealthy, Sophisticated
Horse-Back Riding, Golfing, Relaxing
Society, Perfection, Progress, Goals
Working, Pursuing, Partying
Unrefined, Subordinate
West Egg
10. Triple Evidence Charts:
Inference: Gatsby wants to get back with Daisy.
Concrete Detail (fact): He buys a mansion in West Egg.
Commentary: Gatsby buys the mansion in West Egg so he can be across the bay from Daisy’s home in East Egg.
Concluding Sentences: In the novel The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby the main character, wants to get back with Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby buys a mansion in West Egg, in order to be across the bay from Daisy’s home in East Egg, where he can see a green light, which provides him with hope of the future.
Inference: Gatsby is lonely.
Concrete Detail (fact): He regularly throws large parties to keep his house full.
Commentary: The large parties are a way to attract Daisy as she’s the only person who he thinks can bring back the happiness back into his life.
Concluding Sentences: In the novel The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby the main character, is portrayed as being lonely. Gatsby regularly throws lavish parties to keep his house full; by doing this he is actually seeking to attract Daisy, the girl he once loved, in the hope of recovering the love they once shared.
Inference: Gatsby is hopeful.
Concrete Detail (fact): He shows Daisy his newly obtained wealth.
Commentary: By doing this, Gatsby believes that Daisy will leave her marriage and finally return with him.
Concluding Sentences: In the novel The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby the main character, is portrayed as being hopeful. Gatsby demonstrates his newly obtained wealth to Daisy, with the hope that she will finally take him back now that he is wealthy; instead Gatsby dies waiting for Daisy, as she retreats back to her marriage.
11. Character Conflict Sheet:
Conflict: Gatsby won’t let go of the past.
Example (quote) from text:
“‘I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before,’ he said, nodding determinedly. ‘She’ll see.’”
Explanation:
Gatsby wishes to relive his past with Daisy and won’t let go of the love they once shared. He believes that everything will be fixed to how it was in the beginning; however he does not recognize that Daisy is part of his past now. Gatsby’s vision of being with Daisy was bound to fail regardless of his efforts to break through the social barrier that divided them from the start.
Conflict: Gatsby wants Daisy to tell Tom that she never loved him.
Example (quote) from text:
“He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: ‘I never loved you.’”
Explanation:
Gatsby wants Daisy to tell Tom that she never loved him but is faced with the conflict that Daisy has her life made with Tom already. He believes that now that he is wealthy Daisy will get back with him and everything will be just as it were five years ago.
Conflict: Daisy kills Myrtle with Gatsby’s car and Gatsby has to cover up for her.
Example (quote) from text:
“‘Yes,’ he said after a moment, ‘but of course I’ll say I was. You see, when we left New York she was very nervous and she thought it would steady her to drive—and this woman rushed out at us just as we were passing a car coming the other way.’”
Explanation:
Gatsby faces the conflict of covering up for Daisy. Daisy is driving Gatsby’s car back to Long Island when she hits Myrtle, causing her death. George, Myrtle’s husband, ends up killing Gatsby, as he believes that Gatsby was having an affair with his wife and believes that this is the reason why he killed Myrtle.
12. Additional Comment:
I did enjoy reading this literary work. Its strengths were definitely the themes and the symbolism throughout the story and its weakness was that Daisy’s feelings towards Gatsby are not fully revealed as much as Gatsby’s feelings are. As a result of reading this work, I did alter my views on some matters.