The Great Gatsby 解析
经典解读-The Great Gatsby
THE GREAT GATSBY F. Scott FitzgeraldKey FactsF U L L T I T L E·The Great GatsbyA U T H O R· F. Scott FitzgeraldT Y P E O F W O R K·NovelG E N R E·Modernist novel, Jazz Age novel, novel of mannersT I M E A N D P L A C E W R I T T E N·1923–1924, America and FranceD A TE OF F I R S T P U B L I C A T I O N·1925N A R R A T O R·Nick Carraway; Carraway not only narrates the story but implies that he is the book’s authorP O I N T O F V I E W·Nick Carraway narrates in both first and third person, presenting only what he himself observes. Nick alternates sections where he presents events objectively, as they appeared to him at the time, with sections where he gives his own interpretations of the story’s meaning and of the motivations of the other characters.T O N E·Nick’s attitudes toward Gatsby and Gatsby’s story are ambivalent and contradictory. At times he seems to disapprove of Gatsby’s excesses and breaches of manners and ethics, but he also romanticizes and admires Gatsby, describing the events of the novel in a nostalgic and elegiac tone.T E N S E·PastS E T T I N G(T I M E)·Summer 1922S E T T I N G S(P L A C E)·Long Island and New York CityP R O T A G O N I S T·Gatsby and/or NickM A J O R C O N F L I C T·Gatsby has amassed a vast fortune in order to win the affections of the upper-class Daisy Buchanan, but his mysterious past stands in the way of his being accepted by her.R I S I N G A C T I O N·Gatsby’s lavish parties, Gatsby’s arrangement of a meeting with Daisy at Nick’sC L I M A X·There are two possible climaxes: Gatsby’s reunion with Daisy in Chapters 5–6; the confrontation between Gatsby and Tom in the Plaza Hotel in Chapter 7.F A L L I NG A C T I O N·Daisy’s rejection of Gatsby, Myrtle’s death, Gatsby’s murderT H E M E S·The decline of the American dream, the spirit of the 1920s, the difference between social classes, the role of symbols in the human conception of meaning, the role of the past in dreams of the futureM O T I F S·The connection between events and weather, the connection between geographical location and social values, images of time, extravagant parties, the quest for wealthS Y M B O L S·The green light on Daisy’s dock, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, the valley of ashes, Gatsby’s parties, East Egg, West EggF O R E S H A D O W I N G·The car wreck after Gatsby’s party in Chapter 3, Owl Eyes’s comments about the theatricalit y of Gatsby’s life, the mysterious telephone calls Gatsby receives from Chicago and Philadelphia1. Analysis of Major CharactersJay GatsbyThe title character of The Great Gatsby is a young man, around thirty years old, who rose from an impoverished childhood in rural North Dakota to become fabulously wealthy. However, he achieved this lofty goal by participating in organized crime, including distributing illegal alcohol and trading in stolen securities. From his early youth, Gatsby despised poverty and longed for wealth and sophistication—he dropped out of St. Olaf’s College after only two weeks because he could not bear the janitorial job with which he was paying his tuition. Though Gatsby has alwayswanted to be rich, his main motivation in acquiring his fortune was his love for Daisy Buchanan, whom he met as a young military officer in Louisville before leaving to fight in World War I in 1917. Gatsby immediately fell in love with Daisy’s aura of luxury, grace, and charm, and lied to her about his own background in order to convince her that he was good enough for her. Daisy promised to wait for him when he left for the war, but married Tom Buchanan in 1919, while Gatsby was studying at Oxford after the war in an attempt to gain an education. From that moment on, Gatsby dedicated himself to winning Daisy back, and his acquisition of millions of dollars, his purchase of a gaudy mansion on West Egg, and his lavish weekly parties are all merely means to that end.Fitzgerald delays the introduction of most of this information until fairly late in the novel. Gatsby’s reputation precedes him—Gatsby himself does not appear in a speaking role until Chapter 3. Fitzgerald initially presents Gatsby as the aloof, enigmatic host of the unbelievably opulent parties thrown every week at his mansion. He appears surrounded by spectacular luxury, courted by powerful men and beautiful women. He is the subject of a whirlwind of gossip throughout New York and is already a kind of legendary celebrity before he is ever introduced to the reader. Fitzgerald propels the novel forward through the early chapters by shrouding Gatsby’s background and the source of his wealth in mystery (the reader learns about Gatsby’s childhood in Chapter 6 and receives definitive proof of his criminal dealings in Chapter 7). As a result, the reader’s first, distant impressions of Gatsby strike quite a different note from that of the lovesick, naive young man who emerges during the later part of the novel.Fitzgerald uses this technique of delayed character revelation to emphasize the theatrical quality of Gatsby’s approach to life, which is an important part of his personality. Gatsby has literally created his own character, even changing his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby to represent his reinvention of himself. As his relentless quest for Daisy demonstrates, Gatsby has an extraordinary ability to transform his hopes and dreams into reality; at the beginning of the novel, he appears to the reader just as he desires to appear to the world. This talent for self-invention is what gives Gatsby his quality of “greatness”: indeed, the title “The Great Gatsby” is reminiscent of billings for such vaudeville magicians as “The Great Houdini” and “The Great Blackstone,” suggesting that the persona of Jay Gatsby is a masterful illusion.Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.(See Important Quotations Explained)As the novel progresses and Fitzgerald deconstructs Gatsby’s self-presentation, Gatsby reveals himself to be an innocent, hopeful young man who stakes everything on his dreams, not realizing that his dreams are unworthy of him. Gatsby invests Daisy with an idealistic perfection that she cannot possibly attain in reality and pursues her with a passionate zeal that blinds him to her limitations. His dream of her disintegrates, revealing the corruption that wealth causes and theunworthiness of the goal, much in the way Fitzgerald sees the American dream crumbling in the 1920s, as America’s powerful optimism,vitality, and individualism become subordinated to the amoral pursuit of wealth.Gatsby is contrasted most consistently with Nick. Critics point out that the former, passionate and active, and the latter, sober and reflective, seem to represent two sides of Fitzgerald’s personality. Additionally, whereas Tom is a cold-hearted, aristocratic bully, Gatsby is a loyal and good-hearted man. Though his lifestyle and attitude differ greatly from those of George Wilson, Gatsby and Wilson share the fact that they both lose their love interest to Tom.Nick CarrawayIf Gatsby represents one part of Fitzgerald’s personality, the flashy celebrity who pursued and glorified wealth in order to impress the woman he loved, then Nick represents another part: the quiet, reflective Midwesterner adrift in the lurid East.A young man (he turns thirty during the course of the novel) from Minnesota, Nick travels to New York in 1922 to learn the bond business. He lives in the West Egg district of Long Island, next door to Gatsby. Nic k is also Daisy’s cousin, which enables him to observe and assist the resurgent love affair between Daisy and Gatsby. As a result of his relationship to these two characters, Nick is the perfect choice to narrate the novel, which functions as a personal memoir of his experiences with Gatsby in the summer of 1922.Nick is also well suited to narrating The Great Gatsby because of his temperament. As he tells the reader in Chapter 1, he is tolerant, open-minded, quiet, and a good listener, and, as a result, others tend to talk to him and tell him their secrets. Gatsby, in particular, comes to trust him and treat him as a confidant. Nick generally assumes a secondary role throughout the novel, preferring to describe and comment on events rather than dominate the action. Often, however, he functions as Fitzgerald’s voice, as in his extended meditation on time and the American dream at the end of Chapter 9.Insofar as Nick plays a role inside the narrative, he evidences a strongly mixed reaction to life on the East Coast, one that creates a powerful internal conflict that he does not resolve until the end of the book. On the one hand, Nick is attracted to the fast-paced, fun-driven lifestyle of New York. On the other hand, he finds that lifestyle grotesque and damaging. This inner conflict is symbolized throughout the book by Nick’s romantic affair with Jordan Baker. He is attracted to her vivacity and her sophistication just as he is repelled by her dishonesty and her lack of consideration for other people.Nick sta tes that there is a “quality of distortion” to life in New York, and this lifestyle makes him lose his equilibrium, especially early in the novel, as when he gets drunk at Gatsby’s party in Chapter 2. After witnessing the unraveling of Gatsby’s dream and presiding over the appalling spectacle of Gatsby’s funeral, Nick realizes that the fast life of revelry on the East Coast is a cover for the terrifying moral emptiness that the valley of ashes symbolizes. Having gained the maturity that this insight demonstrates, he returns to Minnesota in search of aquieter life structured by more traditional moral values.Daisy BuchananPartially based on Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda, Daisy is a beautiful young woman from Louisville, Kentucky. She is Nick’s cousin and the object of Gatsby’s love. As a young debutante in Louisville, Daisy was extremely popular among the military officers stationed near her home, including Jay Gatsby. Gatsby lied about his background to Daisy, claiming to be from a wealthy family in order to convince her that he was worthy of her. Eventually, Gatsby won Daisy’s heart, and they made love before Gatsby left to fight in the war. Daisy promised to wait for Gatsby, but in 1919 she chose instead to marry Tom Buchanan, a young man from a solid, aristocratic family who could promise her a wealthy lifestyle and who had the support of her parents.After 1919, Gatsby dedicated himself to winning Daisy back, making her the single goal of all of his dreams and the main motivation behind his acquisition of immense wealth through criminal activity. To Gatsby, Daisy represents the paragon of perfection—she has the aura of charm, wealth, sophistication, grace, and aristocracy that he longed for as a child in North Dakota and that first attracted him to her. In real ity, however, Daisy falls far short of Gatsby’s ideals. She is beautiful and charming, but also fickle, shallow, bored, and sardonic. Nick characterizes her as a careless person who smashes things up and then retreats behind her money. Daisy proves her real nature when she chooses Tom over Gatsby in Chapter 7, then allows Gatsby to take the blame for killing Myrtle Wilson even though she herself was driving the car. Finally, rather than attend Gatsby’s funeral, Daisy and Tom move away, leaving no forwarding address.Like Zelda Fitzgerald, Daisy is in love with money, ease, and material luxury. She is capable of affection (she seems genuinely fond of Nick and occasionally seems to love Gatsby sincerely), but not of sustained loyalty or care. She is indifferent even to her own infant daughter, never discussing her and treating her as an afterthought when she is introduced in Chapter 7. In Fitzgerald’s conception of America in the 1920s, Daisy represents the amoral values of the aristocratic East Egg set.2. Themes, Motifs & SymbolsThemesThemes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. The Decline of the American Dream in the 1920sOn the surface, The Great Gatsby is a story of the thwarted love between a man and a woman. The main theme of the novel, however, encompasses a much larger, less romantic scope. Though all of its action takes place over a mere few months during the summer of 1922 and is set in a circumscribed geographical area in the vicinityof Long Island, New York, The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic meditation on 1920s America as a whole, in particular the disintegration of the American dream in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess.Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values, evidenced in its overarching cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure. The reckless jubilance that led to decadent parties and wild jazz music—epitomized in The Great Gatsby by the opulent parties that Gatsby throws every Saturday night—resulted ultimately in the corruption of the American dream, as the unrestrained desire for money and pleasure surpassed more noble goals. When World War I ended in 1918, the generation of young Americans who had fought the war became intensely disillusioned, as the brutal carnage that they had just faced made the Victorian social morality of early-twentieth-century America seem like stuffy, empty hypocrisy. The dizzying rise of the stock market in the aftermath of the war led to a sudden, sustained increase in the national wealth and a newfound materialism, as people began to spend and consume at unprecedented levels. A person from any social background could, potentially, make a fortune, but the American aristocracy—families with old wealth—scorned the newly rich industrialists and speculators. Additionally, the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919, which banned the sale of alcohol, created a thriving underworld designed to satisfy the massive demand for bootleg liquor among rich and poor alike.Fitzgerald positions the characters of The Great Gatsby as emblems of these social trends. Nick and Gatsby, both of whom fought in World War I, exhibit the newfound cosmopolitanism and cynicism that resulted from the war. The various social climbers and ambi tious speculators who attend Gatsby’s parties evidence the greedy scramble for wealth. The clash between “old money” and “new money” manifests itself in the novel’s symbolic geography: East Egg represents the established aristocracy, West Egg the self-made rich. Meyer Wolfshiem and Gatsby’s fortune symbolize the rise of organized crime and bootlegging.As Fitzgerald saw it (and as Nick explains in Chapter 9), the American dream was originally about discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness. In the 1920s depicted in the novel, however, easy money and relaxed social values have corrupted this dream, especially on the East Coast. The main plotline of the novel reflects this assessment, as Gatsby’s dream of loving Daisy is ruined by the difference in their respective social statuses, his resorting to crime to make enough money to impress her, and the rampant materialism that characterizes her lifestyle. Additionally, places and objects in The Great Gatsby have meaning only because characters instill them with meaning: the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg best exemplify this idea. In Nick’s mind, the ability to create meaningful symbols constitutes a central component of the American dream, as early Americans invested their new nation with their own ideals and values.Nick compares the green bulk of America rising from the ocean to the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. Just as Americans have given America meaning through their dreams for their own lives, Gatsby instills Daisy with a kind of idealized perfection that she neither deserves nor possesses. Gatsby’s dream is ruined by the unworthiness of its object, just as the American dream in the 1920s is ruined by the unworthiness of its object—money and pleasure. Like 1920s Americans in general, fruitlessly seeking a bygone era in which their dreams had value, Gatsby longs to re-create a vanished past—his time in Louisville with Daisy—but is incapable of doing so. When his dream crumbles, all that is left for Gatsby to do is die; all Nick can do is move back to Minnesota, where American values have not decayed.The Hollowness of the Upper ClassOne of the major topics explored in The Great Gatsby is the sociology of wealth, specifically, how the newly minted millionaires of the 1920s differ from and relate to the old aristocracy of the country’s richest families. In the novel, West Egg and its denizens represent the newly rich, while East Egg and its denizens, especially Daisy and Tom, represent the old aristocracy. Fitzgerald portrays the newly rich as being vulgar, gaudy, ostentatious, and lacking in social graces and taste. Gatsby, for example, lives in a monstrously ornate mansion, wears a pink suit, drives a Rolls-Royce, and does not pick up on subtle social signals, such as the insincerity of the Sloanes’ invitation to lunch. In contrast, the old aristocracy possesses grace, taste, subtlety, and elegance, epitomized by the Buchanans’ tasteful home and the flowing white dresses of Daisy and Jordan Baker.What the old aristocracy possesses in taste, however, it seems to lack in heart, as the East Eggers prove themselves careless, inconsiderate bullies who are so used to money’s ability to ease their minds that they never worry about hurting others. The Buchanans exemplify this stereotype when, at the end of the novel, they simply move to a new house far away rather than condescend to attend Gatsby’s funeral. Gatsby, on the other hand, whose recent wealth derives from criminal activity, has a sincere and loyal heart, remaining outside Daisy’s window u ntil four in the morning in Chapter 7 simply to make sure that Tom does not hurt her. Ironically, Gatsby’s good qualities (loyalty and love) lead to his death, as he takes the blame for killing Myrtle rather than letting Daisy be punished, and the Buchanan s’ bad qualities (fickleness and selfishness) allow them to remove themselves from the tragedy not only physically but psychologically.MotifsMotifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.GeographyThroughout the novel, places and settings epitomize the various aspects of the 1920s American society that Fitzgerald depicts. East Egg represents the old aristocracy, West Egg the newly rich, the valley of ashes the moral and social decay of America, and New York City the uninhibited, amoral quest for money and pleasure. Additionally, the East is connected to the moral decay and social cynicism of New York, while the West (including Midwestern and northern areas such as Minnesota) is connected to more traditional social values and ideals. Nick’s analysis in Chapter 9 of the story he has related reveals his sensitivity to this dichotomy: though it is set in the East, the story is really one of the West, as it tells how people originally from west of the Appalachians (as all of the main characters are) react to the pace and style of life on the East Coast.WeatherAs in much of Shakespeare’s work, the weather in The Great Gatsby unfailingly matches the emotional and narrative tone of t he story. Gatsby and Daisy’s reunion begins amid a pouring rain, proving awkward and melancholy; their love reawakens just as the sun begins to come out. Gatsby’s climactic confrontation with Tom occurs on the hottest day of the summer, under the scorching sun (like the fatal encounter between Mercutio and Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet). Wilson kills Gatsby on the first day of autumn, as Gatsby floats in his pool despite a palpable chill in the air—a symbolic attempt to stop time and restore his relationship with Daisy to the way it was five years before, in 1917.SymbolsSymbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.The Green LightSituated at the end of Daisy’s East Egg dock and barely visible from Gatsby’s West Egg lawn, the green light represents Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for the future. Gatsby associates it with Daisy, and in Chapter 1 he reaches toward it in the darkness as a guiding light to lead him to his goal. Because Gatsby’s quest for Daisy is broadly associated with the American dream, the green light also symbolizes that more generalized ideal. In Chapter 9, Nick compares the green light to how America, rising out of the ocean, must have looked to early settlers of the new nation.The Valley of AshesFirst introduced in Chapter 2, the valley of ashes between West Egg and New York City consists of a long stretch of desolate land created by the dumping of industrialashes. It represents the moral and social decay that results from the uninhibited pursuit of wealth, as the rich indulge themselves with regard for nothing but their own pleasure. The valley of ashes also symbolizes the plight of the poor, like George Wilson, who live among the dirty ashes and lose their vitality as a result.The Eyes of Doctor T. J. EckleburgThe eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are a pair of fading, bespectacled eyes painted on an old advertising billboard over the valley of ashes. They may represent God staring down upon and judging American society as a moral wasteland, though the novel never makes this point explicitly. Instead, throughout the novel, Fitzgerald suggests that symbols only have meaning because characters instill them with meaning. The connection between the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg and God exists only in George Wilson’s grief-stricken mind. This lack of concrete significance contributes to the unsettling nature of the image. Thus, the eyes also come to represent the essential meaninglessness of the world and the arbitrariness of the mental process by which people invest objects with meaning. Nick explores these ideas in Chapter 8, when he imagines Gatsby’s final thoughts as a depressed consideration of the emptiness of symbols and dreams.3.Important Quotations Explained1.I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.Daisy speaks these words in Chapter 1 as she describes to Nick and Jordan her hopes for her infant daughter. While not directly relevant to the novel’s main themes, this quote offe rs a revealing glimpse into Daisy’s character. Daisy is not a fool herself but is the product of a social environment that, to a great extent, does not value intelligence in women. The older generation values subservience and docility in females, and the younger generation values thoughtless giddiness and pleasure-seeking. Daisy’s remark is somewhat sardonic: while she refers to the social values of her era, she does not seem to challenge them. Instead, she describes her own boredom with life and seems to imply that a girl can have more fun if she is beautiful and simplistic. Daisy herself often tries to act such a part. She conforms to the social standard of American femininity in the 1920s in order to avoid such tension-filled issues as her undying love for Gatsby.2.He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced, or seemed to face, the whole external world for an instant and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself.This passage occurs in Chapter 3 as part of Nick’s first close examination of Gatsby’s character and appearance. This description of Gatsby’s smile captures both the theatrical quality of Gatsby’s character and his charisma. Additionally, it encapsulates the manner in which Gatsby appears to the outside world, an image Fitzgerald slowly deconstructs as the no vel progresses toward Gatsby’s death in Chapter 8. One of the main facets of Gatsby’s persona is that he acts out a role that he defined for himself when he was seventeen years old. His smile seems to be both an important part of the role and a result of the singular combination of hope and imagination that enables him to play it so effectively. Here, Nick describes Gatsby’s rare focus—he has the ability to make anyone he smiles at feel as though he has chosen that person out of “the whole external world,” reflecting that person’s most optimistic conception of him- or herself.3.The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that—an d he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the 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.In Chap ter 6, when Nick finally describes Gatsby’s early history, he uses this striking comparison between Gatsby and Jesus Christ to illuminate Gatsby’s creation of his own identity. Fitzgerald was probably influenced in drawing this parallel by a nineteenth-century book by Ernest Renan entitled The Life of Jesus.This book presents Jesus as a figure who essentially decided to make himself the son of God, then brought himself to ruin by refusing to recognize the reality that denied his self-conception. Renan descr ibes a Jesus who is “faithful to his self-created dream but scornful of the factual truth that finally crushes him and his dream”—a very appropriate description of Gatsby. Fitzgerald is known to have admired Renan’s work and seems to have drawn upon it in devising this metaphor. Though the parallel between Gatsby and Jesus is not an important motif in The Great Gatsby,it is nonetheless a suggestive comparison, as Gatsby transforms himself into the ideal that heenvisioned for himself (a “Platonic conception of himself”) as a youngster and remains committed to that ideal, despite the obstacles that society presents to the fulfillment of his dream.4.That’s my Middle West . . . the street lamps and sleigh bells in the frosty dark. . . .I see now that this has been a story of the West, after all—Tom and Gatsby, Daisy and Jordan and I, were all Westerners, and perhaps we possessed some deficiency in common which made us subtly unadaptable to Eastern life.This important quote from Nick’s lengthy meditation in Chapter 9 brings the motif of geography in The Great Gatsby to a conclusion. Throughout the novel, places are associated with themes, characters, and ideas. The East is associated with a fast-paced lifestyle, decadent parties, crumbling moral values, and the pursuit of wealth, while the West and the Midwest are associated with more traditional moral values. In this moment, Nick realizes for the first time that though his story is set on the East Coast, the western character of his acquaintances (“some defic iency in common”) is the source of the story’s tensions and attitudes. He considers each character’s behavior and value choices as a reaction to the wealth-obsessed culture of New York. This perspective contributes powerfully to Nick’s decision to leave th e East Coast and return to Minnesota, as the infeasibility of Nick’s Midwestern values in New York society mirrors the impracticality of Gatsby’s dream.5.Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It elud ed us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And then one fine morning—So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.These words conclude the novel and find Nick returning to the theme of the significance of the past to dreams of the future, here represented by the green light. He focuses on the struggle of human beings to achieve their goals by both transcending and re-creating the past. Yet humans prove themselves unable to move beyond the past: in the metaphoric language used here, the current draws them backward as they row forward toward the green light. This past functions as the source of their ideas about the future (epitomized by Gatsby’s desire to re-create 1917 in his affair with Daisy) and they cannot escape it as they continue to struggle to transform their dreams into reality. While they never lose their optimism (“tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther . . .”), they expend all of their ene rgy in pursuit of a goal that moves ever farther away. This apt metaphor characterizes both。
影评：The Great Gatsby
影评：The Great Gatsby《了不起的盖茨比》是一部充满华丽与光芒的电影，它将观众带入了一个充满繁荣与浮华的时代。
导演巴兹·鲁尔曼以其独特的视觉风格和精心打造的场景，再现了小说中的独特氛围。
首先，电影给我带来了一种强烈的视觉冲击。
从华丽的服饰到精心布置的宴会场景，每一帧都充满了奢华和细节。
鲁尔曼运用了大量的特写镜头和缓慢的镜头移动，使得观众仿佛置身于1920年代的纽约，感受到了那个时代的繁荣与荒诞。
其次，电影中的演员们也给我留下了深刻的印象。
莱昂纳多·迪卡普里奥扮演的盖茨比无疑是他职业生涯中的又一力作。
他将盖茨比的复杂心理和对黛西的痴迷演绎得淋漓尽致，令人为他的命运和孤独感到心痛。
而凯瑞·穆里根则饰演了一个充满魅力和复杂性的女性角色，她的表演让我对黛西的动机和行为产生了深入的思考。
此外，电影中的配乐也是一大亮点。
杰·齐默尔曼为电影创作的原声音乐不仅与影片的画面相得益彰，更是将观众带入了那个充满活力和热情的时代。
音乐的节奏和旋律与剧情的发展相得益彰，使得观众更加投入到故事中。
最令我感到共鸣的是电影中对于美国梦的探讨。
《了不起的盖茨比》通过盖茨比和其他角色的命运，揭示了美国梦的虚幻和脆弱。
无论是盖茨比的追求，还是其他角色的欲望，他们都在这个浮华的社会中追逐着虚幻的幸福。
这使我不禁思考，人们是否应该将幸福寄托在物质上，或者是否应该追求更深层次的内心满足。
总的来说，电影《了不起的盖茨比》给我留下了深刻的印象。
它不仅在视觉上给我带来了震撼，也让我对美国梦和人性的探索产生了思考。
这部电影将观众带入了一个充满繁荣和荒诞的时代，同时也让我们反思了当代社会中的价值观和追求。
TheGreatGatsby《了不起的盖茨比》导读,英文解析
Background
The great Gatsby , regard the1920s New York and long Island(长岛） as the whole background. It set in the upper middle class of the modern American society and narrated surround Callaway.
became creditor nation. ⑤ The government implemented the “laissez faire” economic policy（自由放任) to free
market. This created the miracle of the “Coolidge boom times“(柯立芝繁荣时代）.
The Great Gatsby
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Author----Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the “Lost Generation" of the 1920s.
The Analysis of Plots of The Great Gatsby了不起的盖茨比情节分析
The Analysis of Plots of The Great Gatsby Finally, I finished reading The Great Gatsby!!!The obvious clue was the life of Nick’s searching for living in the East, while the shadowy clue was the tragedy of Jay Gatsby.The story reminded me of Adam and Eve. In the story of the Bible, Adam and Eve lived happily in the Garden of Eden. But Eve was seduced by Satan and ate the forbidden fruit. Then, she and Adam were punished to live in the man’s world. So as Gatsby and Daisy. They had a wonderful time to have each other. But when Gatsby was in the war, Daisy couldn’t push against the temptation of Tom’s money and then married him. And Gatsby entirely fell into suffering. Also, the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy was somewhat like the story of Jesus and Judas. Among all the followers, Jesus believed Judas most. But the one who betrayed him wasn’t anyone else but Judas. In Gatsby’s heart, Daisy was more than anything. But she left him coldly and directly caused the death of him.Plots of Gatsby’s love to DaisyThe first scene where Gatsby himself really was in was at the end of Chapter 1. “…he stretched out his arms towards the dark water in a curious way, and , far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward----and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away,…”. Why would Gatsbystare at the single green light? Then, at one of the party, Gatsby asked to speak with Jordan alone. Why Jordan? Alone? When Gatsby met Tom for the first time, but there was strained, unfamiliar look of embarrassment on his face and then he disappeared. Why did this gentleman behave like this?“‘Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay.’Then it had not been merely the stars to which he had aspired on that June night.”The author explained it later. The single green light came from Daisy’s house. That’s why Gatsby bought that house. He loved Daisy! But at that time what he could only do was to gaze fixedly at the tiny but obvious light in Daisy’s home. Also, the writer used “distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away” here to show Gatsby was over head and ears in love with Daisy. The only thing he could see was to find the love of Daisy again. That’s why he wanted to talk with Jordan----Daisy’s friend. That’s why he was awkward when he saw Tom----Daisy’s husband. However, just like the green light, minute and far away, Gatsby and Dai sy’s tragedy was unavoidable. They were never ever getting back together.When Gatsby and Daisy met again, Gatsby acted like a little boy. He remembered that there had been five years next November since he andDaisy hadn’t seen each other. But obviously Daisy couldn’t remember.I still can recall the scene when Gatsby showed Daisy his fabulous house. He showed her the big pastern, the music rooms and restoration salons, the period bedrooms, dressing rooms, bathrooms and even his patent cabinet. He showed so detailed. He wanted Daisy to notice how rich he was. He wanted to draw Daisy’s attention through these gorgeous luxuries.“‘Her voice is full of money, ‘ he said suddenly.” From this I can see that Gatsby found something unpleasant about Daisy. But he still struggled to fight for Daisy’s love.Nick said, “a bad driver was only safe until she met another bad driver.”Daisy was a bad driver. When she met Tom, another bad driver, they could go on because neither of them believed in love but fortune and indulgence. But when she met Gatsby, Gatsby died because his naïve trust that his love and money could find back his lover. “Compared to the great distance that had separated him Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon.”From some time, Daisy and Gatsby were close, just like a star and the moon. But it was only from the surface. Actually, the distance between a star and the moon was very fun. The writer used this simile to show their hearts were far away. For a heart of love can never be close to the heart of chasing fame and wealth.Another wise way to show Gatsby and Dais y’s love story was that the author didn’t write it down directly. It was firstly talked by Jordan. The scene was always undergoing in a memorable type. It was always covered by an etamine, blur and mysterious. It increased the mystery and suspense of the novel. Thus the whole story gained an artistry of dummy reality.Plots of Gatsby’s DeathFinally, Gatsby was shot to death. Before his death he’s still waiting for Daisy’s phone call. What a poor man! But he was poorer than ever after his death.Before his death, his house was filled with celebrities. “There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights.”“Champagne, stars, oranges, lemons, orchestra, girls, men, gypsies (I)seemed Gatsby lived in a wonderful life. People all knew him. Coming to his parties was a fashionable trendiness.But after his death, “only as an endless drill of police and photographers and newspapermen in and out of Gatsby’s front door”. What an ironic contrast! At that time, it’s when you were someone, people would all clustered around you. When you failed, they would just left without any sympathy. That was the grief of that time. The loss of some virtue of humanity and the blindness of searching for money, indulgence made people become more and more coldblooded,indifferent.I still remember the letter Meyer Wolfshiem sent to Nick and the phone call from Klipspringer.Meyer called Gatsby “that man” in the letter. He forgot the funeral so that he “hasty addenda beneath”. He changed his attitude towards Gatsby totally. Also, Klippspringer, the boarder, called. At first, Nick thought there would be some other people come to the funeral. But what he called up about was a pair of shoes he left there!People didn’t remember anything great of Gatsby. When he was alive, they just took advantage of him: to have fun, to earn money. How could people become like this? How did someone who was extremely popular but only had four people came to his funeral.It was the time when people lost their sense of place. They were all taking part in sensualism, regarded their life value as drink, right, and seek for money. They wanted to become rich and after that they could live with all kinds of pleasure. They were chasing the American dream in a totally wrong way. No one actually cared about others. What they cared were themselves. People were hiding their feelings, and anyone who showed their true hearts might be abandoned, just like Gatsby.Plot of Daisy’s voiceDaisy was an extremely stunning girl. But the most attractive thingof her was her “low, thrilling”voice. There were a lot of plots which were used to describe Daisy’s voice. From these, the writer turned Daisy into pictures.“I’ve heard it said that Daisy’s murmur was only to make people lean towards her; an irrelevant criticism that made it no less charming.”It showed that Daisy used her voice as a tool to draw people’s attention. Despite her beautiful, deceptive appearance, she was actually a hypocritical, vain product of the times.“The exhilarating ripple of her voice was a wild tonic in the rain. I had to follow the sound of it for a moment; up and down, with my ear alone…”Although Nick was Daisy’s cousin, he still couldn’t help himself drawing by this exciting voice. Her voice made her more glamorous. Her voice was used by her to conceal her ugly deep inside.When she met Gatsby again, “her throat, full of aching, grieving beauty, told only of her unexpected joy”. When she saw Gatsby’s expensive shirts, “she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds”. But the beautiful voice couldn’t hide her love of money. Even Gatsby noticed that “her voice was full of money”. That’s why her voice was always rising and falling. Fortune made her voice charming. It was full of jingle of coins.Daisy’s voice was like Sirens’. They were all symbol of love and fear. They both used their amazing voice to seduce men. But after they hadenough from them, they destroyed them. They were witches, and masters of fooling other’s feelings, cruel and coldblooded.“I think that voice held him most, with its fluctuating feverish warmth, because it couldn’t be over-dreamed----that voice was a deathless song.”Is it real an everlasting song? No! The voice blindfolded Gatsby’s eyes and made him chase after Daisy desperately. It fascinated Gatsby’s heart and finally guided him to the abyss. It was the song of death.This lady was one of the main reasons that led to Gatsby’s death. But she was also the suffered of her miserable life and the whole times.This novel was not just about people’s vacant inner world in the Jazz Age, but was more about the wrong idea of American dream. It made us think about ourselves. The great Gatsby was a great novel.赵卓欣1班201144501026。
2016年度精品--the_great_gatsby（了不起的盖茨比）_英文介绍及赏析
The Great Gatsby F.Scott.Fitzgerald.Character ListDaisy Buchanan - Nick’s cousin, and the woman Gatsby loves. As a young woman in Louisville before the war, Daisy was courted by a number of officers, including Gatsby. She fell in love with Gatsby and promised to wait for him. However, Daisy harbors a deep need to be loved, and when a wealthy, powerful young man named Tom Buchanan asked her to marry him, Daisy decided not to wait for Gatsby after all. Now a beautiful socialite, Daisy lives with Tom across from Gatsby in the fashionable East Egg district of Long Island. She is sardonic and somewhat cynical, and behaves superficially to mask her pain at her husband’s constant infidelity.Daisy Buchanan (In-Depth Analysis)Tom Buchanan - Daisy’s immensely wealthy husband, once a member of Nick’s social club at Y ale. Powerfully built and hailing from a socially solid old family, Tom is an arrogant, hypocritical bully. His social attitudes are laced with racism and sexism, and he never even considers trying to live up to the moral standard he demands from those around him. He has no moral qualms about his own extramarital affair with Myrtle, but when he begins to suspect Daisy and Gatsby of having an affair, he becomes outraged and forces a confrontation.Jordan Baker - Daisy’s friend, a woman with whom Nick becomes romantically involved during the course of the novel. A competitive golfer, Jordan represents one of the “new women” of the 1920s—cynical, boyish, and self-centered. Jordan is beautiful, but also dishonest: she cheated in order to win her first golf tournament and continually bends the truth.Myrtle Wilson - Tom’s lover, whose lifeless husband George owns a run-down garage in the valley of ashes. Myrtle herself possesses a fierce vitality and desperately looks for a way to improve her situation. Unfortunately for her, she chooses Tom, who treats her as a mere object of his desire.Analysis of Major CharactersDaisy BuchananPartially based on Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda, Daisy is a beautiful young woman from Louisville, Kentucky. She is Nick’s cousin and the object of Gatsby’s love. As a young debutante in Louisville, Daisy was extremely popular among the military officers stationed near her home, including Jay Gatsby. Gatsby lied about his background to Daisy, claiming to be from a wealthy family in order to convince her that he was worthy of her. Eventually, Gatsby won Daisy’s heart, and they made love before Gatsby left to fight in the war. Daisy promised to wait for Gatsby, but in 1919 she chose instead to marry Tom Buchanan, a young man from a solid, aristocratic family who could promise her a wealthy lifestyle and who had the support of her parents.After 1919, Gatsby dedicated himself to winning Daisy back, making her the single goal of all of his dreams and the main motivation behind his acquisition of immense wealth through criminal activity. To Gatsby, Daisy represents the paragon of perfection—she has the aura of charm, wealth, sophistication, grace, and aristocracy that he longed for as a child in North Dakota and that first attracted him to her. In reality, however, Daisy falls far short of Gatsby’s ideals. She is beautiful and charming, but also fickle, shallow, bored, and sardonic. Nick characterizes her as a careless person who smashes things up and then retreats behind herforwarding address.Like Zelda Fitzgerald, Daisy is in love with money, ease, and material luxury. She is capable of affection (she seems genuinely fond of Nick and occasionally seems to love Gatsby sincerely), but not of sustained loyalty or care. She is indifferent even to her own infant daughter, never discussing her and treating her as an afterthought when she is introduced in Chapter VII. In Fitzgerald’s conception of America in the 1920s, Daisy represents the amoral values of the aristocratic East Egg set.财务工作总结ppt[财务工作总结ppt]一、合理安排收支预算，严格预算管理单位预算是学校完成各项工作任务，实现事业计划的重要前提，因此认真做好我校的收支预算责任重大，财务工作总结ppt。
《了不起的盖茨比》赏析
The plot synopsis
Nick came to New York from home in the Midwest, is next to his residence book hero gatsby luxurious mansion. Here every night in held a grand banquet.
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• I do not know the younger girl. She lie low is on the imperial concubine couch, immobilized, chin tilted slightly, as if something is about to fall down, the above and she is trying to keep its balance. Her eyes turn don't turn, doesn't seem to see me in. But in fact I was surprised, almost did to apologize for my coming to bother her.
反正贝克小姐的嘴唇是动了几下，几乎看不 出来地朝我点点头，然后赶紧让她的头回到原 位——她下巴顶着的那样东西显然歪了一点， 把她吓坏了。我又差点脱口说出道歉的话。
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That summer, the music from my neighbor's house in the middle of the night often. The blue of the garden, a lot of men and women like moths in twitter, walking up and down between the champagne and the stars.
TheGreatGatsby解析
The Great GatsbyF. Scott FitzgeraldSetting : The story takes place during the 1920's, there are four major settings:1. East egg2. West Egg3. The valley of ashes4. New York City.The West Egg is the "less fashionable" side of Long Island where Gatsby and Nick live. The East Egg is the "fashionable" side of Long Island where the Buchanans and other "old money" people live. The Valley of Ashes is the desolate wasteland where the Wilsons live. New York City is a symbol of what America has become in the 1920's : a place where anything goes, where money is madeand bootleggers flourish, and where the World Series can be fixed by a man such as Meyer Wolfsheim.Background Information :Nick Carraway, the narrator is a young midwesterner who, having graduated from Yale, had fought in World War I and returned hometo begin a career. He decides to moveeast to NewYork and learn the bond business. The novel opened early in the summer of 1922 in West Egg, Long Island where Nick has rented a house. Next to his house is a huge mansion which belongs to Mr. Gatsby. Before leaving the Midwest, Nick's father tells Nick not to be quick to judge. Nick believes his father means never to judge at all.That created a problem. In the 1920's money was very abundant. This was known as "the golden age." People were very materialistic during this time period. The wealthy families in the novel such as Gatsby or the Buchanans, were always trying to impress rather than trying to be themselves. This was a period of drinking, partying, and endless talk, which was best portrayed by the Buchanans. They seemto be very self-centered people who couldn't give up a bit of the "ritzy" life to take care of their own child.Major Characters :« Nick Carraway - The narrator of the novel; moves from the Midwest to New York to lear n the bond bus in ess.« Jay Gatsby - Lives next to Nick in a mansion; throws huge parties,complete with catered food, open bars, and orchestras; people come fromeverywhere to atte nd these parties, but no one seems to know much aboutthe host.« Daisy Bucha nan - Shallow girl who is the emodime nt of Gatsby's dreams; she was going to marry Gatsby but he went off to war.« Tom Bucha nan Husba nd of Daisy; a cruel man who lives life irresp on sibly.« Jordan Baker - A cynical and conceited woman who cheats in golf; wan ts Nick to go out with her.« Myrtle Wils on - Tomhas an affair with this married woma n, and the n aba ndons her after he become bored with her.Plot Summary : Nick Carraway having graduated from Yale and fought inWorld War I, has returned home to beg in a career. He is restless and has decided to move to New York to learn the bond bus in ess. The no vel ope ns early in the summerof 1922 in West Egg, Long Island, where Nick has rented a house. Next to his place is the Gatsby's mansion.Tom and Daisy Bucha nan live in East Egg. Daisy is Nick's cous in and Tom had been in the same senior society at Yale. They invite Nick to dinner at their mansion, and he meets a young woma n golfer n amed Jorda n Baker, whomDaisy wants Nick to be interested in. During dinner the phone rings, and whe n Toma nd Daisy leave the room, Jorda n in forms Nick that the caller is Tom's woma n from New York.Myrtle Wils on, Tom's woma n, lives is a secti on of Long Isla nd known as the Valley of Ashes. In the Valley of Ashes is George Wilson's garage. Pai nted on a large billboard n earby is a fadi ng advertisme nt for an optician with the eyes of a Doctor looking over them with a pair of glasses.On eday Tomtakes Nick to meet the Wils ons. The party breaks up whe nM yrtle starts using Daisy's name, and Tombreaks her nose with a blow of his open hand. Several weeks later Nick is in vited to one of Gatsby's elaborate parties. Nick watches Gatsby and no tices that he does not drink or join in the revelry of the party.At a lun cheon with Nick in New York, Gatsby tells Nick that he graduated from Oxford. During lunch Gatsby in troduces Nick to his bus in ess associate, Meyer Wolfsheim, who fixed the World Series in 1919.At tea that afternoon Nick finds out the Gatsby wants Nick to arrange a date between him and Daisy. Gatsby had loved Daisy five years ago, but he had been sent oversees by the army. Daisy had given up waiting for him and had married Tom. Gatsby decides to win Daisy back and his first step is to buy a house in West Egg. His house is across the bay from Daisy's house, and he can see a green light at the end of Daisy's dock. It represents his hope.Gatsby and Daisy meet for the first time in five years, and he tries to impress her with his mansion and his wealth. Tom, Daisy, Gatsby, Nick and Jordan go into the citywhere the truth is revealed about Gatsby and Daisy. Daisy will not go away with Gatsby and the five year dream is over. Gatsby and Daisy go home together in a yellow Rolls Royce. On the way home they get into a car accident in which Myrtle was killed. Gatsby will take the blame for Daisy whowas driving. George Wilson shoots Gatsby and then kills himself.Not many people showed to Gatsby's funeral except Nick, Mr. Gatz, and a few servants. Nick returns to his home town.Themes:1. Hope- represented by the light across the bay that Gatsby was fixated on. Itwas the embodiment of his sole goal in life, which was a reunification withDaisy.2. Success - Gatsby felt that the only way he would win Daisy was through hismoney.3. Ignorance - The characters have little self-knowledge and even lessknowledge of each other.4. Judgement - Nick misinterprets the advice of his father and tries not to judgepeople.5. Disillusionment - Gatsby dreams of getting back together with Daisy eventhough she is married and has a daughter.6. Morals - The morals of people with great wealth seemto be less thandesirable, but many times are more socially accepted than lower classes. Key Issues :Success - Gatsby uses a corrupt form of the American dream to acquire the wealth he thinks he needs to win back Daisy. Tom and Daisy must have a huge house, a stable of polo ponies, and friends in Europe. Gatsby must have his enormous mansion before he can feel confident enough to win Daisy.The energy that might have gone into the pursuit of noble goals has been channeled into the pursuit of power and pleasure, and a very showy, but fundementally empty form of success. Gatsby had been in love with Daisy for a long while. He tried every way that moneycould buy to try to satisfy his love and lust for Daisy. Instead of confronting her with his feelings, he tried to get her attention by throwing big parties with high hopes that she might possibly showup. Gatsby was actually a very lonesome and unhappy manwho lived in a grand house and had extravagant parties. He did it all for one woman,whoinitially was impressed with his flagrant show of wealth. Daisy was extremely disenchanted after she found out how Gatsby had aquired his fortune.Morals - The characters in this novel live for money and were controlled by money.Love and happiness cannot be bought, no matter how much money was spent. Tomand Daisy were married and even had a child, but they both still committed adultery. Daisy was with Gatsby and Tomwas with Myrtle. They tried to find happiness with their lovers, but the risk of changingtheir lifestyles was not worth it. They were not happy with their spousesbut could not find happiness with their lovers. Happiness cannot be found or bought. Daisy lost her love and respect for Gatsby when she found out he was a bootlegger. Tom, after having an affair himself was angry about Daisy's affair. Hypocrisy tends to be a trait in the very rich.Hope - Gatsby bought a house in West Egg, in the hopes that he would win Daisy back. He did this so that he could look across the bay to the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. He expected her to turn up at one of his parties, and when she didn't, he asked Jordan to ask Nick to ask Daisy. Fitzgerald stresses the need for hope and dreams to give meaning and purpose to man's efforts. Striving towards someideal is the way by which mancan feel a sense of involvment, a sense of his ownidentity. Fitzgerald goes on to state that the failure of hopes and dreams, the failure of the American dream itself, is unavoidable, not only because reality cannot keep up with ideals, but also because the ideals are in any case usually too fantastic to be realized. Gatsby is naive, impractical and oversentimental. It is this which makes him attempt the impossible, to repeat the past. There is something pitiful and absurd about the way he refuses to grow up.Lessons/Morals/Applications :1. Money cannot buy happiness.2. You cannot relive the past.3. If dreams are too fantastic, and reality cannot keep up with ideals they areusually not fulfilled.。
the great gatsby第三章感受与收获
the great gatsby第三章感受与收获《了不起的盖茨比》是美国著名作家F·斯科特·菲茨杰拉德创作的一部文学经典，它以富豪盖茨比的传奇经历为背景，生动展现了上世纪20年代美国社会的虚伪与破败。
第三章是全书中的关键章节之一，通过描述盖茨比的豪华派对和人们的狂欢场面，展现了人性的脆弱和对物质的贪婪，带给我深刻的感受与启示。
第三章开篇，菲茨杰拉德以描写盖茨比的派对来展现人们的放纵与堕落。
派对的规模之大和无法想象的奢华让我震惊。
人们在豪华的庄园里疯狂狂欢，各种名流和社会精英都聚集在这个地方。
然而，在繁华背后，却隐藏着人们内心的空虚和孤独。
无论是盖茨比自己还是来参加派对的人们，都在这片虚荣的海洋中迷失了自己。
这让我想到了现实社会中人们对物质的过渡追求和内心的空虚，以及人们在社交场合上的虚伪与伪善。
众多参加派对的贵族和名流们简直就像是一群饥饿的狗，他们来到盖茨比的派对，希望通过参与这样的场合来寻找快乐和满足。
这种追逐物质享受和外表光鲜的现象令我想起了现实生活中的社交场合，人们往往只关注表面的光鲜亮丽，而忽略了真正的内在价值。
这也让我不禁思考，物质是否真的能带来快乐和满足，或许我们应该更多地从内心去追求真正的价值和快乐。
在这个派对中，我对盖茨比产生了深深的兴趣。
他一直以来都是神秘的存在，人们对他的来历和财富都充满了八卦和猜测。
然而，在这个派对中，我第一次看到了盖茨比真正的面貌，一个富有悲剧色彩的形象。
他虽然年轻有为、事业有成，但他内心却是孤独和空虚的。
无论他参与多少派对、结交多少朋友，他都无法找到内心的满足和真正的快乐。
这让我深深地思考人生的意义和追求，究竟是什么才能真正满足我们的内心需求？通过阅读第三章，我意识到财富和地位并不等同于幸福。
在这个派对中，有很多贵族和名流们生活奢华，却感到无趣和虚无。
而盖茨比虽然拥有巨大的财富和华丽的派对，却缺乏真正的幸福感。
这给了我一个重要的启示，那就是真正的幸福不仅来自物质的享受，更来自于内心的满足和对生活的热爱。
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The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald Setting: The story takes place during the 1920's, there are four major
settings:
1. East egg 2. West Egg 3. The valley of ashes 4. New York City.
The West Egg is the "less fashionable" side of Long Island where Gatsby and Nick live. The East Egg is the "fashionable" side of Long Island where the Buchanans and other "old money" people live. The Valley of Ashes is the desolate wasteland where the Wilsons live. New York City is a symbol of what America has become in the 1920's : a place where anything goes, where money is made and bootleggers flourish, and where the World Series can be fixed by a man such as Meyer Wolfsheim.
Background Information:
Nick Carraway, the narrator is a young midwesterner who, having graduated from Yale, had fought in World War I and returned home to begin a career. He decides to move east to New York and learn the bond business. The novel opened early in the summer of 1922 in West Egg, Long Island where Nick has rented a house. Next to his house is a huge mansion which belongs to Mr. Gatsby. Before leaving the Midwest, Nick's father tells Nick not to be quick to judge. Nick believes his father means never to judge at all. That created a problem. In the 1920's money was very abundant. This was known as "the golden age." People were very materialistic during this time period. The wealthy families in the novel such as Gatsby or the Buchanans, were always trying to impress rather than trying to be themselves. This was a period of drinking, partying, and endless talk, which was best portrayed by the Buchanans. They seem to be very self-centered people who couldn't give up a bit of the "ritzy" life to take care of their own child.
Major Characters: Nick Carraway - The narrator of the novel; moves from the Midwest to New York to learn the bond business. Jay Gatsby - Lives next to Nick in a mansion; throws huge parties, complete with catered food, open bars, and orchestras; people come from everywhere to attend these parties, but no one seems to know much about the host. Daisy Buchanan - Shallow girl who is the emodiment of Gatsby's dreams; she was going to marry Gatsby but he went off to war. Tom Buchanan- Husband of Daisy; a cruel man who lives life irresponsibly. Jordan Baker - A cynical and conceited woman who cheats in golf; wants Nick to go out with her. Myrtle Wilson - Tom has an affair with this married woman, and then abandons her after he become bored with her.
Plot Summary: Nick Carraway having graduated from Yale and fought in
World War I, has returned home to begin a career. He is restless and has decided to move to New York to learn the bond business. The novel opens early in the summer of 1922 in West Egg, Long Island, where Nick has rented a house. Next to his place is the Gatsby's mansion.
Tom and Daisy Buchanan live in East Egg. Daisy is Nick's cousin and Tom had been in the same senior society at Yale. They invite Nick to dinner at their mansion, and he meets a young woman golfer named Jordan Baker, whom Daisy wants Nick to be interested in. During dinner the phone rings, and when Tom and Daisy leave the room, Jordan informs Nick that the caller is Tom's woman from New York.
Myrtle Wilson, Tom's woman, lives is a section of Long Island known as the Valley of Ashes. In the Valley of Ashes is George Wilson's garage. Painted on a large billboard nearby is a fading advertisment for an optician with the eyes of a Doctor looking over them with a pair of glasses.
One day Tom takes Nick to meet the Wilsons. The party breaks up when Myrtle starts using Daisy's name, and Tom breaks her nose with a blow of his open hand. Several weeks later Nick is invited to one of Gatsby's elaborate parties. Nick watches Gatsby and notices that he does not drink or join in the revelry of the party.
At a luncheon with Nick in New York, Gatsby tells Nick that he graduated from Oxford. During lunch Gatsby introduces Nick to his business associate, Meyer Wolfsheim, who fixed the World Series in 1919. At tea that afternoon Nick finds out the Gatsby wants Nick to arrange a date between him and Daisy. Gatsby had loved Daisy five years ago, but he had been sent oversees by the army. Daisy had given up waiting for him and had married Tom. Gatsby decides to win Daisy back and his first step is to buy a house in West Egg. His house is across the bay from Daisy's house, and he can see a green light at the end of Daisy's dock. It represents his hope.