The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a fictional novel written and based on the 1920s, also known as the Roaring Twenties. A time where people drank, partied, and were becoming immoral. The main character and also the narrator of the novel, Nick Carraway, is a conservative young man from the Midwest who comes to New York to seek ‘freedom’ and escape his small town background. But then decides to leave, judging it to be shallow and meaningless. When being in New York, he sees his cousin Daisy. There he meets her husband, Tom Buchanan, and finds that he is cheating on her with Myrtle Wilson. He also meets Gatsby, a poor wealthy young man who is very much in love with Nick’s cousin, Daisy. In the novel Nick is also introduced to Jordan Baker, Daisy’s good friend. She is a wealthy young golfer whom Nick ends up dating while being in New York,. At the end of the novel, Nick says to Gatsby, “They’re a rotten crowd…You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.” He tells Gatsby this to let him know he is different compared to Daisy, Tom and Jordan Baker because unlike them Gatsby wanted to pursue his dream, and go after what he wanted, Daisy, he was better. While the others were just living their lives without purpose and a dream to go after.

Jay Gatsby is a poor young man who falls in love with Daisy Fay Buchanan, a wealthy and shallow ‘golden girl’. And like Daisy, they were both materialistic. Their differences though was that Gatsby fought for what he believed in and desired, which was true love and Daisy. Gatsby did everything to get Daisy, in order to attract her attention he builds a huge, gaudy mansion across the bay from the house of Daisy and her husband. As said by the narrator, “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay.” (pg. 79). He also convinces Nick to bring the two of them together, and for a while they have an affair. As the narrator writes when Jordan was talking to Nick, “He wants to know if you’ll invite Daisy to your house some afternoon and then let him come over” (pg. 80). He also shows daisy his possessions because he knew that Daisy only married Tom because he was rich, as the narrator writes, “He wants her to see his house” (pg. 80). In the other hand Daisy decides to stop waiting for Gatsby when he was gone. She then decides to marry someone else and live a boring life, as the narrator describes, “Her face was sad and lovely…” (pg. 9). Though the only reason she married Tom was because Tom provided her with security and specially the life style to which she is accustomed, she led herself to a meaningless and shallow existence.

Tom Buchanan is Daisy’s wealthy husband. He plays with cars and race horses and treats Daisy shabbily. And like Gatsby they were also materialistic and they were both in love with Daisy. Tom though was married to Daisy and for Gatsby that was just impossible. People in the 1920s did not divorced, they got married and if later on there is no more chemistry between them, there was no other choice than to stay with that person and have an affair with someone else. But unlike Tom, Gatsby was willing to fight for Daisy and was not satisfied with the fact that they were seeing each other he wanted her for himself, he wanted to have Daisy, happiness and love. While in the other hand Tom had any purpose