The Great Gatsby: Plot, Characters, and Key Themes
Chapter 1: Nick Carraway & West Egg’s Elite
Nick Carraway: Narrator and newcomer to West Egg; curious, observant, and initially nonjudgmental.
Daisy Buchanan: Nick’s cousin; charming, nostalgic, but emotionally shallow.
Tom Buchanan: Daisy’s wealthy husband; aggressive, arrogant, and unfaithful.
Jordan Baker: Daisy’s friend; cynical, independent, and somewhat dishonest.
Jay Gatsby: Appears only briefly; mysterious neighbor who watches the green light across the bay.
Nick Carraway opens the novel with a reflection on a piece of advice from his father: to reserve judgment about others because not everyone has had his advantages. This makes Nick a self-proclaimed nonjudgmental observer, though he admits this tolerance has limits. He has moved to West Egg, Long Island, to start a career in bonds and now lives in a modest house next to a grand mansion owned by the mysterious Jay Gatsby. One evening, Nick travels to East Egg to visit his cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband, Tom. Tom is imposing and arrogant, a former football star from a wealthy family, and their home is lavish and traditional. At dinner, Nick meets Jordan Baker, Daisy’s friend, a professional golfer with a cool, detached demeanor. The dinner is interrupted by a phone call, which Jordan later reveals is from Tom’s mistress in New York, highlighting the fracture in the Buchanan marriage. Nick is both intrigued and disillusioned by the superficiality he witnesses. That night, back in West Egg, Nick sees Gatsby for the first time. He is alone, reaching out toward a distant green light across the bay, located at the end of Daisy’s dock. Nick feels a strange mixture of admiration and melancholy. Gatsby’s gesture is filled with yearning, and the light becomes a powerful symbol of unattainable dreams.
Nick’s thoughts in this chapter reveal his fascination with Gatsby’s mysterious hope, even as he begins to notice the moral emptiness of the East Egg elite. Daisy is charming but shallow. Tom is forceful and morally corrupt. Jordan is interesting but aloof. Gatsby is still a mystery, but one surrounded by meaning.
Chapter 2: The Valley of Ashes & Myrtle Wilson
Nick Carraway: Still an observer, though increasingly uneasy with the moral decay he witnesses.
Tom Buchanan: Dominant and violent; openly parades his affair and shows his cruelty.
Myrtle Wilson: Tom’s mistress; desperate to rise socially, vulgar, and emotionally reckless.
George Wilson: Myrtle’s husband; meek, defeated, and unaware of her affair.
Catherine: Myrtle’s sister; gossipy and superficial.
Mr. & Mrs. McKee: Party guests; contribute to the chaotic and meaningless atmosphere.
Nick accompanies Tom on a trip to New York. On the way, they pass through the “valley of ashes,” a desolate wasteland that symbolizes the moral and social decay hidden beneath the wealth of the Eggs. There they meet George Wilson, a lifeless man who runs a garage, and his wife Myrtle, Tom’s loud and materialistic mistress. Tom forces Nick to join them for a party at the apartment he keeps for Myrtle in the city. At the party, Myrtle behaves in a vulgar, pretentious manner, showing off the small luxuries Tom has given her. They are joined by Myrtle’s sister Catherine and a couple named the McKees. As the party grows louder and drunker, Myrtle taunts Tom by mentioning Daisy. In a fit of rage, Tom hits her and breaks her nose.
Nick, who begins the evening detached and curious, ends it disturbed and dazed. He reflects on how quickly people shed their morals when immersed in wealth and illusion. His judgment, though restrained, begins to show. He sees how Tom’s dominance and brutality infect everything around him. Myrtle is desperate to escape her lower-class life but becomes just another casualty of Tom’s power. George Wilson is passive and invisible. Nick’s role is again that of an observer, but he now senses the ugliness behind the glamour.
Chapter 3: Gatsby’s Lavish Parties & First Meeting
Nick Carraway: Begins to develop admiration for Gatsby’s sincerity and hope.
Jay Gatsby: Finally appears fully; mysterious, charming, and obsessed with an ideal.
Jordan Baker: Continues to intrigue Nick, though he notes her dishonesty.
Party Guests: Symbolize the careless indulgence of the Jazz Age; shallow and opportunistic.
Nick receives an invitation to one of Gatsby’s famous Saturday night parties, which are legendary across Long Island for their extravagance and mystery. When he arrives, he finds that most of the guests have not even met their host and speculate wildly about his background—rumors that he’s a German spy, that he killed a man, or that he’s a prince. The party is dazzling, filled with music, food, dancing, and people acting with careless abandon. Eventually, Nick meets Gatsby, who turns out to be surprisingly modest and gracious. They speak briefly about Gatsby’s time in the war, and Gatsby’s deep charisma leaves a strong impression.
Nick also spends more time with Jordan Baker, who intrigues him despite her dishonesty. By the end of the night, Nick reflects on the superficiality of the guests and the sincerity he begins to see in Gatsby. He is drawn to Gatsby’s romantic hope, a quality that seems absent from the rest of the partygoers. Nick’s final words reveal a shift: he is becoming more emotionally involved, no longer just watching, but starting to admire Gatsby’s vision of life, even if he doesn’t fully understand it.
Chapter 4: Gatsby’s Past & Daisy’s Connection Revealed
Jay Gatsby: Reveals more of his curated identity; deeply in love with Daisy.
Nick Carraway: Learns the truth and begins to see the tragedy in Gatsby’s dream.
Meyer Wolfsheim: Gatsby’s shady associate; connects Gatsby to the criminal world.
Jordan Baker: Provides backstory; her account makes Gatsby’s motivations clear.
Daisy Buchanan: Appears in memory as Gatsby’s romantic ideal.
Gatsby invites Nick to lunch and, during the drive, tells him a story about his background: that he’s the son of wealthy people in the Midwest, educated at Oxford, and a decorated war hero. Nick is skeptical, sensing rehearsed details, but Gatsby shows him a medal and a photograph to back up his story. They go to lunch at a speakeasy where Gatsby introduces him to Meyer Wolfsheim, a shady character rumored to have fixed the 1919 World Series.
Later that day, Jordan tells Nick the real story: Gatsby met Daisy five years earlier and fell deeply in love with her, but when he left for the war, she married Tom. Gatsby bought his mansion in West Egg to be near her and has been throwing parties in the hope that she might appear. Now, he wants Nick to arrange a meeting between them. Nick realizes Gatsby’s entire life has been shaped by this impossible dream: to win Daisy back and recreate the past. Gatsby’s longing is no longer just romantic—it’s obsessive, and perhaps tragic. Nick begins to understand the dangerous beauty of dreams that refuse to die.
Chapter 5: The Reunion: Gatsby & Daisy Meet Again
Jay Gatsby: Vulnerable and ecstatic; obsessed with rekindling the past.
Daisy Buchanan: Moved by Gatsby, but emotionally unstable and nostalgic.
Nick Carraway: Facilitator of the reunion; becomes more reflective and empathetic.
Klüpspringer (indirectly): His presence in Gatsby’s home highlights Gatsby’s eccentric lifestyle.
Nick arranges a tea at his house and invites Daisy, without telling her Gatsby will be there. When Gatsby arrives, he is nervous to the point of being almost paralyzed. The reunion is awkward at first, but as Gatsby and Daisy talk privately, emotions surface and old feelings reignite. Gatsby is ecstatic. Later, they go to his mansion, where he shows Daisy his wealth, his possessions, and especially his shirts—she cries at their beauty, overwhelmed by his success and perhaps her own regrets.
Nick watches all of this with a complex mix of admiration and concern. He sees that Gatsby is not just in love with Daisy, but with the idea of Daisy—the perfect memory of what she was, untouched by time. Nick realizes Gatsby’s dream is fragile because it depends on reversing reality. For Gatsby, the green light is no longer a symbol of distant hope. Daisy is now tangible, yet still unreachable in the way he truly wants. Nick begins to pity Gatsby as much as he admires him.
Chapter 6: James Gatz’s Origins & Tom’s Suspicion
Jay Gatsby: Revealed as James Gatz; romantic dreamer shaped by ambition.
Nick Carraway: Begins to fully grasp Gatsby’s illusion and feel sorrow for him.
Dan Cody (in memory): Gatsby’s mentor; symbol of wealth and missed opportunity.
Tom Buchanan: Feels threatened; begins actively undermining Gatsby.
Daisy Buchanan: Shows signs of discomfort with Gatsby’s world; fails to match his fantasy.
A young reporter arrives at Gatsby’s door hoping for a sensational story, which prompts Nick to recount Gatsby’s true origins. Gatsby was born James Gatz, the son of poor farmers in North Dakota. From a young age, he imagined a different life. At seventeen, he changed his name and was taken in by Dan Cody, a wealthy copper magnate. Although Gatsby never inherited Cody’s fortune, the experience shaped his vision of wealth and greatness.
Later, Gatsby throws another party, this time attended by Tom and Daisy. Tom is critical of the people and the setting, and Daisy seems unimpressed. Gatsby is deeply disappointed. He wants Daisy to tell Tom she never loved him, to erase the past, but Daisy cannot give him that. Gatsby clings to the belief that the past can be recreated, but Nick begins to see how impossible this is. Nick reflects that Gatsby’s dream is noble but doomed—it’s based not on truth, but on illusion. Gatsby’s vision is a romantic distortion of reality, and Daisy, as a person, cannot live up to it.
Chapter 7: Confrontation at the Plaza & Tragedy Strikes
Gatsby suddenly stops throwing parties, fires his servants to prevent gossip, and spends his time waiting for Daisy. On the hottest day of the summer, Daisy invites Gatsby, Nick, and Jordan to her home. Tension fills the room. Tom senses the affair between Gatsby and Daisy. They all decide to go to New York to cool off, but it’s clear a confrontation is brewing. At the Plaza Hotel, Gatsby tells Tom that Daisy never loved him. Gatsby wants Daisy to erase her entire history with Tom. Daisy, under pressure, says she once loved Tom, but also loved Gatsby. The moment breaks Gatsby’s fantasy. Tom then exposes Gatsby’s criminal connections, including bootlegging and involvement with Meyer Wolfsheim. Daisy draws back emotionally, and Tom feels he has won. On the drive back, Daisy—driving Gatsby’s car—hits and kills Myrtle Wilson, who had run into the road thinking the car belonged to Tom. Gatsby tells Nick he will take the blame. He waits outside Daisy’s house all night, watching, still hoping. But Daisy and Tom have already reconciled inside. Nick is disgusted by the Buchanans’ carelessness. He sees Gatsby as noble in his devotion, but tragically deluded. Gatsby is left with his dream shattered, still believing in the impossible, still staring at a dream that can no longer survive. Nick’s reflections are sharp: Tom and Daisy are careless people who smash things and retreat into their money. Gatsby, in contrast, is flawed, but he dreams with intensity. That is what sets him apart—and what ultimately destroys him.
Key Characters in Chapter 7
Gatsby: Idealism and loyalty lead to his downfall.
Daisy: Torn and cowardly, unable to break with her secure life.
Tom: Aggressive and triumphant in reclaiming his power.
Nick: Completely disillusioned, siding with Gatsby and rejecting the false world of the Buchanans.
Myrtle Wilson: Innocent casualty, crushed by the illusions of the rich.
George Wilson: Devastated and broken, soon to become the instrument of Gatsby’s fate.
Chapter 8: Gatsby’s Final Hope & Tragic End
Jay Gatsby: Dreamer to the end; clings to hope even as reality destroys him.
Nick Carraway: Deeply empathetic; sees Gatsby as a tragic figure.
George Wilson: Becomes an agent of vengeance; driven by grief and deception.
Tom Buchanan: Manipulative; misleads Wilson and ensures Gatsby’s demise.
Daisy Buchanan: Absent; her silence seals Gatsby’s fate.
After the terrible events of the previous day, Nick cannot sleep. He visits Gatsby early in the morning and finds him restless but hopeful. Gatsby tells Nick the full truth about his past: how he met Daisy as a young officer before the war and fell deeply in love with her. They had a brief affair, but Gatsby had to leave for Europe. Daisy promised to wait for him, but she eventually married Tom because he could offer the stability and wealth Gatsby could not. Gatsby explains that he still believes Daisy will call and come to him. Nick, however, knows that hope is fading.
Nick returns to work, leaving Gatsby alone at the mansion. Meanwhile, George Wilson, devastated by Myrtle’s death, believes the man who killed her was also her lover. Tom tells Wilson that the yellow car belongs to Gatsby. Consumed by grief and revenge, Wilson finds Gatsby floating in his pool and shoots him, then kills himself.
Nick returns to find Gatsby dead, surrounded by silence. He is heartbroken. Gatsby died still believing in the dream, in Daisy, in the impossible future he imagined. Nick feels a profound loneliness and sees Gatsby as a symbol of all dreamers whose hopes are destroyed by an uncaring world.
Chapter 9: Gatsby’s Legacy & Nick’s Disillusionment
Nick Carraway: Narrator of Gatsby’s legacy; becomes disillusioned with the East.
Jay Gatsby (in death): Symbol of the American Dream; misunderstood and abandoned.
Henry Gatz: Gatsby’s father; proud of his son’s achievements and ambitions.
Tom and Daisy Buchanan: Represent moral emptiness and privilege; escape accountability.
Jordan Baker: Ends her relationship with Nick; emblem of apathy.
Party Guests: Reveal the hollowness of Gatsby’s world through their absence.
In the days following Gatsby’s death, Nick tries to organize a funeral. He is shocked to discover that no one wants to attend—not Daisy, not Tom, not the guests who once flooded Gatsby’s mansion. Only Gatsby’s father, Henry Gatz, arrives. He shows Nick a schedule Gatsby had written as a boy, filled with self-improvement goals. Nick sees this as further proof of Gatsby’s relentless belief in betterment.
Nick becomes more disillusioned with the East and the people in it. He runs into Tom, who shows no remorse for his role in Gatsby’s death. Tom and Daisy have retreated into their wealth, leaving destruction behind. Nick ends his relationship with Jordan Baker, who is indifferent to everything.
Finally, Nick decides to return to the Midwest. On his last night, he stands in Gatsby’s empty yard and reflects on the green light, on Gatsby’s dream, and on America itself. He concludes that Gatsby believed in the future with a passion that made him great, but that belief also destroyed him. The novel ends with Nick’s famous meditation: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
Nick’s final judgment is clear: Gatsby was flawed, but he had hope. The others had wealth, but no soul. Gatsby’s dream was beautiful and tragic—an emblem of the American Dream itself, both inspiring and impossible.