The Great Gatsby
"Gatsby tackles the American Dream, as well as issues of wealth and class, materialism, and marital infidelity. And while Gatsby is a work of fiction, the story has many similarities to Fitzgerald's real-life experiences. Gulp. Fitzgerald's personal history is mirrored in the characters of Jay Gatsby and narrator Nick Carraway. Nick is both mesmerized and disgusted by Gatsby's extravagant lifestyle, which is similar to how Fitzgerald claimed to feel about the "Jazz Age" excesses that he himself adopted. As an Ivy League educated, middle-class Midwesterner, Fitzgerald (like Nick) saw through the shallow materialism of the era. But (like Gatsby) Fitzgerald came back from World War I and fell in love with a wealthy southern socialite – Zelda Sayre. The Great Gatsby is swaddled in Fitzgerald's simultaneous embrace of and disdain for 1920s luxury."
"Since Fitzgerald did indeed partake in the Jazz Age's high life of decadence, it's not surprising that the details of the setting and characters make The Great Gatsby a sort of time capsule preserving this particular time in American history. Gatsby is taught all over the world partly because it's a history lesson and novel all rolled into one delicious lettuce wrap of intrigue. Mmmmm…intrigue. You may find that when many people refer to the "Jazz Age" or the "Roaring Twenties," they automatically associate it with Gatsby, and vice versa." "The Great Gatsby." Shmoop. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. <http://www.shmoop.com/great-gatsby/>. |
Check out the trailer for the upcoming remake of The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio
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Key Characters:
- Nick Carraway: Narrator, Gatsby's next-door neighbor in West Egg, bond salesman
- Jay Gatsby: Mysterious millionaire obsessed with the girl he fell in love with during WWI
- Daisy Buchanan: Shallow cousin of Nick
- Tom Buchanan: Unfaithful husband
- Jordan Baker: Pro golfer, friend of Daisy
- Myrtle Wilson: Tom's ill-fated mistress
- George Wilson: Mechanic husband of Myrtle
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