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Esther Muro
Sister Spilsbury
English 3 A
21 January 2015
The Great Gatsby Literary Analysis
Taking place in the summer of 1922, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott
Fitzgerald, is a story narrated by Nick Carraway who moves from Minnesota to New York
and becomes the neighbor of a particular man called Jay Gatsby, who lives in an enormous
mansion and organizes parties every weekend. What an extravagant life he had! And
Carraway was eager to investigate his ultimate secrets.
Nicks social life progresses as he travels to East Egg to visit the rich Buchanas, his
cousin Daisy and her husband Tom. There he meets Jordan Baker, a beautiful lady that
captures his heart, and there he also figures a mystery about his cousin-in-law, who has an
affair with a woman called Myrtle Wilson. As life continues, Nick receives an invitation to
attend one of Mr. Gatsbys prestigious parties, where he encounters Jordan, and they both
meet Jay, who becomes their friend as time goes on and reveals that the reason why he was
so motivated to earn his fortune and throw parties every Saturday night was because he
wanted to be worthy of Daisy, his lost love.
With the help of Nick and Jordan, Gatsby has the opportunity to meet with Daisy
and they begin an affair. Everything seems to go well, until Tom meets Gatsby and starts
investigating about his past life and discovers the unfaithfulness of Daisy, who had been
insinuated by Gatsby to run away with him. However, she refrains from such plans when
shes told that he made his fortune as a bootlegger, and she realizes that she cannot leave
her husband. In rage and position of authority, Tom sends Daisy and Jay back to East Egg.
Tom, Nick, and Jordan follow.
A tragedy occurs when Gatsbys vehicle crashes with Myrtles and kills her. This
accident causes George Wilson to sneak in the rich mans mansion and shoot him. Then he
triggers himself. Nick Carraway arranges a small funeral for Gatsby and ends his

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relationship with Jordan. Hes outraged with the attitudes of his closest relatives and friends
and decides to return to Midwest and to escape such repugnant happenings.
The tone of The Great Gatsby seems to be dark, pessimistic, and cynical, and it is a
prominent symbolic reflection on 1920s America in general because it represents the
disintegration of the American dream. Nick Carraway, an educated and righteous man, is
characterized as a romantic with definite ideas about what love is. Interestingly, he sees
something noble and admirable in Gatsby, despite his faults, and he feels really honored to
go to parties and socialize with people like him. However, Nicks authentic feelings seem to
be mocked by the greed and empty pursuit of pleasure from the people of the high class.
The tone of the novel becomes very imposing and voluptuous, which creates and contrast in
the tone when the events and people illustrated arent exactly noble or admirable.
The green light at the end of Daisys dock is the symbol of Gatsbys hopes and
dreams because it represents the things that haunt him, such as the distance that separates
him from Daisy, and the division between the past and the present. Likewise, the Valley of
Ashes is an industrial place covered in ash and soot. If New York City stands for all the
mystery and beauty in the world, and West Egg represents the people that have become
rich, the Valley of Ashes speaks for the misery of the people caught in between.
To my personal perspective, the story of this book depicts many conflicts that
happen in everyday life and that continuously harm other peoples feelings. Gatsbys
motivation turned into an ambition to earn power to conquer Daisys heart. He believed, as
many other people, that popularity and wealth were the two most important factors to be
remarkable and esteemed; however, these beliefs proved to be fallacious when he died and
nobody really seemed to truly care and feel nostalgic about losing him. We learn that the
meaningful relationships are not based on luxuriance, but on trust, devotion, and selfless
love.