Jay Gatsby (originally named James "Jimmy" Gatz) is the title character of the 1925 F. Scott Fitzgerald novel The Great Gatsby. Gatsby is a millionaire and the owner of a luxurious mansion where he often hosts extravagant parties, and he is described by the novel's narrator, Nick Carraway, as having "an extraordinary gift for hope".
Background[]
James Gatz hails from rural North Dakota, and was born about 1890 into a poor rancher family. He attended St. Olaf College in Minnesota, but dropped out a few weeks into his first semester because he hated supporting himself by working as a janitor.
After dropping out, he went to Lake Superior, where he met copper tycoon Dan Cody in Little Girl Bay in the summer of 1907. Cody became Gatz's mentor and invited him to join his ten-year yacht trek. At seventeen, Gatz changed his name to Jay Gatsby and, over the next five years, learned the ways of the wealthy. Cody left Gatsby $25,000 in his will, but after his death, Cody's mistress cheated Gatsby out of the inheritance.
In 1917, during his training for the infantry in World War I, 27-year-old Gatsby met and fell in love with 18-year-old debutante Daisy Fay, who was everything Gatsby was not: rich, stylish, and knowledgeable in the ways of the world.
During the war, Gatsby reached the rank of Major in the U.S. 16th Infantry Regiment, and was decorated for valor for his participation in the Marne and the Argonne. After the war (as he also tells Nick Carraway years later), he briefly lived in the United Kingdom, where he attended Trinity College, Oxford. Nonetheless, he objects to being called an "Oxford man". "I only stayed five months", he explains to Tom Buchanan. "That's why I can't really call myself an Oxford man". While there, he received a letter from Daisy, telling him that she had married the wealthy Tom Buchanan. Gatsby then decided to commit his life to becoming a man of the kind of wealth and stature he believed would win Daisy's love.
Gatsby returned home and settled in New York City, which was being transformed by the Jazz Age. It is speculated, but never confirmed, that Gatsby took advantage of Prohibition by making a fortune from bootlegging and built connections with various gangsters such as Meyer Wolfsheim (who Gatsby claims is "the man who fixed the World Series back in 1919").
With his vast income, Gatsby purchased a mansion in the fictional West Egg (a reference to Great Neck or perhaps Kings Point) of Long Island. West Egg lies on the opposite bay from old-money East Egg (a reference to Sands Point), where Daisy, Tom, and their three-year-old daughter Pammy live. At his West Egg mansion, Gatsby hosts elaborate parties every weekend, open to all comers, in an attempt to attract Daisy as a party guest. Through Daisy's cousin Nick Carraway, Gatsby finally has a chance to reunite with her. Gatsby does not reveal to Daisy or to Nick the truth of how he came to acquire his wealth. During several meetings, Gatsby tries to revive his relationship with Daisy to what had been five years ago. He seeks to woo her with his wealth and asks her to leave her boorish, unfaithful husband.
At the Buchanan home, Jordan Baker, Nick, Jay, and the Buchanans decide to visit New York City. Tom borrows Gatsby's yellow Rolls-Royce to drive up to the city. On the way to New York City, Tom makes a detour at a gas station in "the Valley of Ashes", a run-down part of Long Island. The owner, George Wilson, shares his concern that his wife, Myrtle, may be having an affair. This unnerves Tom, who has been having an affair with Myrtle, and he leaves in a hurry.
During the party in an expensive hotel suite, the casual conversation evolves into a confrontation between Daisy, Gatsby and Tom. In a fit of anger, Gatsby insists that Daisy always loved him, not Tom, and that she only married Tom for his money. Daisy admits she loved both Tom and Gatsby. The party then breaks up, with Daisy driving Gatsby out of New York City in the yellow Rolls-Royce and Tom leaving with Daisy's friend Jordan Baker and Nick in Tom's car.
From her upstairs room at the gas station, Myrtle sees an approaching car. Mistakenly believing Tom has returned for her, she runs out towards the car, but is struck and killed instantly. Panicked, Daisy drives away from the scene of the event (which is never revealed to be either an accident or intentional). At Daisy's house in East Egg, Gatsby promises Daisy he would take the blame if they are ever caught.
Tom tells George that it was Gatsby's car that killed Myrtle. George goes to Gatsby's house in West Egg, where he shoots and kills Gatsby before committing suicide. Gatsby is later found dead, floating in his pool.
Despite the many guests who attended Gatsby's parties, only one (an individual known as "Owl Eyes") attends his funeral. Also at the funeral are Nick Carraway and Gatsby's father, Henry C. Gatz, who states that he was proud of his son's achievement as a self-made millionaire.
Role in the film[]
The Great Gatsby[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The character is based on the bootlegger and former World War I officer Max Gerlach, according to Some Sort of Epic Grandeur, Matthew J Bruccoli's biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald.
- 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”.
Differences from the source material[]
External Links[]
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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia page Jay Gatsby. The revision history lists the authors. The text on Warner Bros. Entertainment Wiki and Wikipedia is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC BY-SA). |
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