FRANCIS SCOTT FITZGERALD

THE GREAT GATSBY

Gabriela Nterov XAJ9m

2012/2013

Who was F.S.Fitzgerald?

* 24th Sep 1896

1920 publication of This Side of Paradise

1925 The Great Gatsby, events from Fitzgeralds early life appear in it wild, reckless lifestyle of parties, battled alcoholism 1937 left for Hollywood to write screenplays 1940 died of a heart attack

The Great Gatsby - period

post war period (WW I) one of the greatest literary documents of this period the American economy soared, bringing unprecedented levels of prosperity to the nation prohibition - millionaires made out of bootleggers an underground culture of revelry private parties, secret clubs thrived America in a state of shock

The Great Gatsby

Genre: a novel with autobiographical features, Jazz Age novel, novel of manners Setting: Long Island and New York City, summer 1922 Narrator: Nick Carraway; both first and third person, presenting only what he himself observes Tone: - Nicks attitudes toward Gatsby are contradictory - seems to disapprove of Gatsbys excesses and violations of manners and ethics - also romanticizes and admires Gatsby; describing the events of the novel in a nostalgic and elegiac tone

Nick Carraway
the novels narrator,a young man from Minnesota, works New York City to learn the bond business honest, tolerant, and inclined to reserve judgment

serves as a confidant for those with troubling secrets

lives in West Egg, home to the newly rich befriends his next-door neighbor, the mysterious Jay Gatsby Daisy Buchanans cousin, facilitates the rewakening of the romance between her and Gatsby

Jay Gatsby
the title character and protagonist of the novel, born as James Gatz on a farm in North Dakota fabulously wealthy young man living in a mansion in West Egg, famous for the lavish parties he throws every Saturday night no one knows where he comes from, what he does, or how he made his fortune fell in love with Daisy while training to be an officer made his fortune through criminal activity viewed by Nick as a deeply flawed man, dishonest and vulgar, but his extraordinary optimism and power to transform his dreams into reality make him great nonetheless

Daisy Buchanan
Nicks cousin, and the woman Gatsby loves before the war she was courted by a number of officers, including Gatsby she fell in love with Gatsby and promised to wait for him harbors a deep need to be loved so she decided not to wait for Gatsby lives with Tom, her husband across from Gatsby in the fashionable East Egg district of Long Island cynical, behaves superficially to mask her pain at her husbands constant adultery

Tom Buchanan
arrogant, hypocritical bully his social attitudes are laced with racism and sexism he never even considers trying to live up to the moral standard he demands from those around him has extramarital affair with Myrtle when he begins to suspect Daisy and Gatsby of having an affair, he becomes outraged and forces a confrontation

 Jordan Baker - Daisys friend, a woman with whom Nick becomes romantically involved, boyish, and selfcentered, dishonest Myrtle Wilson - Toms lover, he treats her as a mere object of his desire George Wilson - Myrtles husband, George is consumed with grief when Myrtle is killed

Plot Overview
N. Carraway comes to NYC for business, rents a house in W. Egg, his neighbour is a mysterious Jay Gatsby (lives in huge house and has parties every Saturday night) Nick has a dinner with his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom (classmates) Nick introduced to Jordan Baker (she tells him about Buchanan s marriage, and Toms lover, Myrtle. Nick begins a romantic relationship with her Nick travels with Tom and Myrtle to NYC, they are in the apartment having a party, Myrtle starts to jeer Tom about Daisy and he breaks her nose In the summer Nick accepts Gatsby s invitation to one of his parties

Plot Overview
Nick finds out Gatsby has known Daisy and is deeply in love with her and lives an extravagant life just to impress Daisy Gatsby asks Nick to invite her to his house without telling her that hell also be there,they meet, fall in love again and begin an affair Tom suspects Daisy that she has a relationship with Gatsby While they are having lunch at Buchanan s house and he realizes that Gatsby is in love with Daisy He meets Gatsby and confronts him He says his wife that Gatsby is a criminal and his fortune comes from bootlegging alcohol and other illegal activities

Plot Overview
Tom sends her back home with Gastby Nick, Jordan and Tom drive through the valley of ashes, they see that Gatsby s car has killed Myrtle Nick learns that Daisy was driving the car and Gatsby takes the blame and responsibility Tom tells Myrtle s husband that Gatsby was the driver (he thinks that the driver must have been her lover and shoots Gatsby in his pool , then he shoots himself Nick organizes a small funeral for Gatsby, ends his relationship with Jordan and moves back to Midwest to escape the disgust he feels for the people in Gatsby s life

Plot Overview
Nick reflects Gatsby s dream of Daisy was corrupted by money and dishonesty, the American dream of happiness has broken up into the simple chase of wealth Though Gatsby s power to transform his dreams into reality is what makes him GREAT , Nick reflects that the era of dreaming is over

Themes
The Decline of the American Dream in the 1920s The Hollowness of the Upper Class

Motifs
Geography
Weather

Symbols
The Green Light
The Valley of Ashes The Eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg

Similarities between Fitzgeralds life and characters from The Great Gatsby
Nick Carraway is a thoughtful young man from Minnesota, educated at New Haven University, who moves to New York after the war Jay Gatsby, a sensitive young man who idolizes wealth and luxury and who falls in love with a beautiful young woman while stationed at a military camp Gatsby acummulates a great deal of wealth at a relatively young age, and devotes himself to acquiring possessions and throwing parties that he believes will enable him to win Daisys love

Similarities between Fitzgeralds life and characters from The Great Gatsby
Like Nick in The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald found this new lifestyle seductive and exciting like Gatsby, he had always idolized the very rich like Nick, Fitzgerald saw through the glitter of the Jazz Age to the moral emptiness and hypocrisy beneath, and part of him longed for this absent moral center Like Gatsby, Fitzgerald was driven by his love for a woman who symbolized everything he wanted, even as she led him toward everything he despised

Film adaptations
1974 - the most famous screen version, with Mia Farrow and Robert Redford

2000 made for TV movie, starring Toby Stephens and Mira Sorvino

to be released in 2013, with Leonardo DiCaprio

Resources
Fitzgerald,F.S.1994.The Great Gatsby.London: Penguin books Ltd,1994.ISBN 978-0-14-062323-9 http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gatsby/ http://www.litcharts.com/search/node/the+great+gatsb y http://www.biography.com/people/f-scott-fitzgerald9296261

Thank you for your attention