Book Review: The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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Book Review: The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in Saint Paul, MN on September 24, 1896. He is one of the great authors of his time. He wrote many books. His books are good and sometimes interesting to read. He served in the United States Army and during this time, he wrote a book called The Side of Paradise. The book was a love story. The popularity of this book was the beginning of his successful career. Some of his books that were made into movies are: The Great Gatsby, The Beautiful and Damned, and Tender Is the Night. Following his service in the Army, he worked an advertising job where he was paid $90/month. He had a daughter with this first wife. He had an affair on his first wife with an actress. He suffered from depression which most likely caused him to turn to alcohol. He had a heart attack on December 21, 1940, and died in his home in Los Angeles, CA while working on his fifth book. The last book, The Last Tycoon was published after his death.

Originally, the title of the book was going to have a different name, but the author decided on The Great Gatsby because it contained the main character’s name. The author of The Great Gatsby is F. Scott Fitzgerald. He was a great author. The genre of the book is both historical fiction and a novel. The book provides such good detailed information about each character that it brings each one to life when reading. Fitzgerald added a surprising plot twist to the end of the book. I agree with book critics that The Great Gatsby is one of Fitzgerald’s best masterpieces. I found the book to be fairly easy to read and was able to follow along with each character. Nick Carraway is the narrator of the book and he is Jay Gatsby’s friend. He is also a second cousin removed to Daisy Buchanan. He moved to West Egg next door to Gatsby’s house. He is a quiet and slender man. He graduated from college and fought in a war. After they became friends, he follows Gatsby around places as he writes a book filled with intrigue and calls it The Great Gatsby.

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Jay Gatsby owns a huge house on the West Egg and throws big parties every single night. One night, Nick Carraway is invited to go to one of Jay Gatsby’s parties, so he attends it. He meets Jay Gatsby outside of the huge house near the pool, and they become friends. Jay Gatsby knew the cousin of the narrator from long ago and was convinced that they were meant to be together. They drive in different cars to Nick’s house to have a drink, Daisy driving the other car. She drives into Myrtle because she was driving at a high speed and didn’t see Myrtle go into the road, killing her instantly. George then blames the owner of the yellow car, Jay Gatsby, for killing his wife. To avenge her, he commits a murder-suicide when Jay Gatsby goes for a swim in his pool.

After Nick gets done talking to Jay Gatsby. He meets his cousin and they talk to one another. Daisy says, “I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful fool” (Fitzgerald 17). They meet Jordon at one of Jay Gatsby’s parties. Nick starts a story about Jay Gatsby and follows him around places. Tom, Daisy’s husband, is mean to Daisy and they have an argument that night. Daisy has an affair with Jay Gatsby, and Tom doesn’t like that at all.

In the Valley of Ashes, Nick, Daisy, and Jay drive by a billboard with eyes on it (WHO IS ON THE BILLBOARD). They meet Myrtle Wilson and George her husband. They talk to them at the car shop. They go to Nick’s house and have a drink. Daisy gets in the yellow car and drives off. She drives very fast and Myrtle thinks its Tom’s car. So, Myrtle steps out in the road and Daisy doesn’t see her and runs her over killing her instantly. George gets upset at the driver of the yellow car. Daisy goes back to Jay Gatsby’s house.

Daisy Buchanan is married women with a daughter and gets back with her love Jay Gatsby. But Daisy gets into an argument with her husband, Tom Buchanan. She loves him but she wants to have a better life with Jay Gatsby. So, she goes with Jay Gatsby to a party at Nick’s house. She gets drunk and drives Gatsby’s car and hits and kills Myrtle. She is a careless person and hides behind money. She does not attend Gatsby’s funeral instead she moves away with tom, her husband.

So, Tom tells George that Jay Gatsby was the one who killed Myrtle. It saves Daisy. George goes to Jay Gatsby’s house. Jay Gatsby fires the people that he does not trust and keep the ones who he trusts like the butler. The butler talks to him before he gets into the pool and takes the phone outside near the pool. Jay Gatsby hears the phone and then gets out of the pool. He gets shot by George.

Jay Gatsby’s father is the one that goes to his son’s funeral. Tom and Daisy got back together and moved away. Nick moves back to the west. Two years later, Nick visits Gatsby’s house. Nick says, “So, we beat on, boats against the current, borne ceaselessly into past” (Fitzgerald 180).

The protagonist is Jay Gatsby. The book bears his name. He is rich and throws a lot of parties every Saturday night. He is in love with Daisy. He has a lot of acquaintances, but he has few friends. He is a deeply flawed man and is dishonest about where his money came from to his friends. He had an affair with Daisy. He is known for his wealth and owns a large house, which is seen as a castle by some. He kept looking at the light across the lake, waiting for his lover to come.

The antagonist is Tom Buchanan. He tells George that Gatsby was in the car and that Gatsby was the one who killed his wife. So, George goes to Gatsby’s house and shoots him. He leaves him to die in the pool before committing suicide himself. Tom Buchanan gets back together with Daisy after Gatsby’s death.

The secondary characters are Owl Eyes, and Klipspringer, and Meyer Wolfsheim.

Owl Eyes is drunk when Nick meets him at one of Gatsby’s parties. He looks through Gatsby’s library for books. Klipspringer is a freeloader and lives near the Gatsby’s house. He leaves after Jay Gatsby dies and doesn’t show up at his funeral. He calls Nick and then he gets his shoes from Gatsby’s house. So, they go to the house and get the shoes and talk to Nick in the house about Gatsby. Meyer Wolfsheim is Gatsby’s friend. He helps Gatsby make his fortune with his forbidden liquor business. Meyer and Gatsby were still involved in the illegal liquor business.

My opinion is that the author’s intention was to use the narrator of the book to tell the story from his point of view. It is an interesting approach as it adds it gives a different meaning to the book. Sometimes authors don’t do that, and they tell about the characters from the authors’ point of view. Other times, there are other authors writing the same and adding to the book. I like this book. It is very interesting to me because it has a surprising ending.

In conclusion, the book is put together in a good way. The book is based on the roaring twenties because the author based it off of his life. I would recommend this book to high schoolers or college students because it is a very good book to read when you have free time.  

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