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Chapter-by-Chapter Notes

The Great Gatsby · During reading

The Great Gatsby — Chapter-by-Chapter Notes

Use this as you read - important points and questions for each section

Chapter 1: The Introduction (West Egg to East Egg)

What Happens

Nick Carraway, a veteran of WWI and a Yale graduate, moves from the Midwest to West Egg, Long Island in the summer of 1922 to work in the bond business.
He visits his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom Buchanan at their mansion in East Egg.
He meets Jordan Baker, a cynical professional golfer.
Tom displays his aggressive, racist, and elitist views.
Jordan reveals to Nick that Tom has a mistress in New York.
Nick returns home and catches his first glimpse of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby, reaching out towards a green light across the water.

Important Points

Character Introductions:

Nick Carraway: Our narrator. He values his “reserve” and “honesty,” yet he is quickly drawn into a world of gossip and infidelity.
Tom Buchanan: The “Old Money” archetype. Aggressive, bulky, and deeply insecure about his status.
Daisy Buchanan: “The Golden Girl.” Encapsulated by her voice, which Nick describes as “full of money.”
Jordan Baker: Representation of the “New Woman” of the 1920s—independent, cynical, and dishonest.

The Contrasting Eggs:

West Egg: The “less fashionable” side. Home of the “New Rich” (Gatsby and Nick).
East Egg: White palaces, tradition, and inherited wealth (The Buchanans).

Key Symbols Introduced:

The Green Light: Represents Gatsby’s hopes and his yearning for the past (Daisy).

Questions to Consider

How does Nick describe himself in the first few pages? Do you trust him?
What does the dinner conversation reveal about the character of Tom and Daisy’s marriage?
What is the effect of having Nick as an outsider in this wealthy world?

🧭 Character Motives + Masks (Track Each Chapter)

Use 1-2 lines per chapter:

Nick: What does he claim to value vs. what he actually seeks?
Gatsby: What does he want right now, and how does he perform it?
Daisy: What does she protect (comfort, image, love)?
Tom: What insecurity is he covering with dominance?
Jordan: What does she gain by staying detached?

🗂️ Symbol Tracking Table (Fill As You Go)

Symbol	First Appearance	Chapter Note	How It Changes
Green Light	Ch. 1	Gatsby reaching across the bay at night.	Hope turns into loss once Daisy is in reach.
Valley of Ashes	Ch. 2	Industrial wasteland between Eggs and NYC.	Becomes the moral/physical cost of wealth.
Eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg	Ch. 2	Faded billboard watching the ash heaps.	Shifts into a false “moral judge” after Myrtle’s death.
Cars / Driving	Ch. 2	Tom’s trip to the city; reckless wealth on display.	Culminates in Myrtle’s death and moral collapse.
Weather / Heat	Ch. 1	Summer setting; the season frames the dream.	Heat peaks in Ch. 7 as conflict explodes.

🎭 Narrator Reliability Checklist

After each chapter, jot a quick note:

What does Nick say he believes?
What does Nick do?
What does he leave out or soften?
Who gets sympathy and who does not?

✍️ Key Passages to Copy Out

Pick 1-2 as you go and handwrite them (or type them into your notes) to slow down and notice the language.

Ch. 1: The final paragraph with the green light.
Ch. 3: A description of Gatsby’s party at peak energy.
Ch. 5: The shirt scene or the moment the dream “deflates.”
Ch. 7: The Plaza confrontation.
Ch. 9: The closing line about the current and the past.

Chapter 2: The Valley of Ashes (The Secret Life)

What Happens

Tom takes Nick to the “Valley of Ashes,” a industrial wasteland between Long Island and NYC.
They meet George Wilson, a garage owner, and his wife Myrtle, who is Tom’s mistress.
Tom, Nick, and Myrtle go to an apartment in New York for an impromptu party with Myrtle’s sister and neighbors.
The afternoon is fueled by whiskey and shallow conversation.
The chapter ends violently when Tom breaks Myrtle’s nose because she won’t stop saying Daisy’s name.

Important Points

Key Symbols:

The Valley of Ashes: Represents the moral and social decay that results from the uninhibited pursuit of wealth. It is the “garbage dump” of the American Dream.
The Eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg: A pair of fading, spectacled eyes on a billboard. They symbolize God or a silent moral judge overlooking the wasteland.

Social Commentary:

Myrtle Wilson attempts to act like a wealthy woman in the apartment, but her “vitality” and coarser nature reveal the class divide she cannot cross.

Questions to Consider

Why does Tom want Nick to meet his mistress?
How does the atmosphere of the New York apartment contrast with the East Egg mansion?
What does Tom’s violence at the end of the chapter tell us about his view of Myrtle?

Chapter 3: The Party (The Myth of Gatsby)

What Happens

Nick is invited to one of Gatsby’s extravagant, chaotic parties.
He hears wild rumors about Gatsby (he killed a man, he was a German spy).
He meets Jordan again and together they explore the mansion, finding “Owl Eyes” in the library.
Nick finally meets Gatsby, who turns out to be a polite, quiet man who calls everyone “Old Sport.”
The party ends with a chaotic car crash in the driveway, highlighting the recklessness of the guests.

Important Points

The Spectacle:

Gatsby’s parties are “monuments to excess.” Most guests aren’t invited; they just show up. This emphasizes the superficiality of the era.
Owl Eyes: The only guest who notices Gatsby’s books are “real” but “uncut”—symbolizing that Gatsby’s life is a meticulously constructed facade.

The Introduction of Gatsby:

Fitzgerald delays Gatsby’s entrance to build the mystery. His first conversation with Nick is simple and informal, contrasting with the mythic rumors.

Questions to Consider

Why do people attend Gatsby’s parties if they don’t know him and spread nasty rumors about him?
What is the significance of the “real books” in Gatsby’s library?
What is Nick’s final assessment of Jordan and himself at the end of the chapter?

Chapter 4: The Mystery Unfolds (The Strategy)

What Happens

Gatsby takes Nick to lunch and tells him a clearly fabricated version of his past (Oxford-educated, wealthy family from the “Midwest” city of San Francisco).
Nick meets Meyer Wolfsheim, a gambler who fixed the 1919 World Series—hinting that Gatsby’s wealth comes from crime.
Jordan later tells Nick the real truth: Gatsby and Daisy were in love back in 1917, but he went to war and she married Tom for status.
Gatsby bought the mansion just to be across the bay from Daisy. He wants Nick to invite her to tea so they can “accidentally” meet.

Important Points

The Construction of Identity:

Gatsby is literally “inventing” himself. The medal and the photograph are props in his performance.
The connection to Wolfsheim is the first concrete crack in the “gentleman” image.

The Motivation:

Every act Gatsby has performed—the mansion, the parties, the wealth—has been for the sole purpose of attracting Daisy.

Questions to Consider

Why does Gatsby tell Nick such an obviously fake story about his life?
How does the revelation of Gatsby’s past change your view of his “greatness”?
What does Meyer Wolfsheim represent in the context of the American Dream?

Chapter 5: The Reunion (The Climax of the Dream)

What Happens

Nick arranges the tea. Gatsby is a nervous wreck, even suggesting he “cut Nick’s grass” as payment.
The meeting is initially awkward and silent.
After some time, they become comfortable. Gatsby invites them to his mansion.
Gatsby displays his wealth with an almost obsessive fervor, culminating in the “shirt scene” where Daisy cries.
Nick realizes that now that the dream is achieved, the “colossal significance” of the green light has vanished.

Important Points

The Deflation of the Dream:

Nick notes that Gatsby’s dream was so perfect that Daisy could never truly live up to it.
The Shirts: Daisy isn’t crying over the beauty of the shirts; she’s crying over the lost years and the realization that she chose Tom over a man who would eventually become this wealthy.

Questions to Consider

Why is Gatsby so nervous about meeting Daisy?
Why do you think Daisy cries when she sees the shirts?
Interpret Nick’s thought: “It had occurred to him that the colossal significance of the light had now vanished forever.”

Chapter 6: The Origin Story (James Gatz)

What Happens

Nick reveals Gatsby’s true history: He was James Gatz, a poor farm boy from North Dakota.
He reinvented himself after meeting Dan Cody, a wealthy copper magnate, on a yacht.
Tom and Daisy attend one of Gatsby’s parties. Tom is skeptical and judgmental; Daisy is bored and “appalled” by the “new rich.”
Gatsby is devastated that Daisy didn’t have a good time. He tells Nick he wants to “fix everything just the way it was before.”

Important Points

The Creation of Jay Gatsby:

James Gatz “sprang from his Platonic conception of himself.” He is a self-made god in his own eyes.
Dan Cody: Represents the “Old American Dream” of hard work and adventure, which Gatsby has inherited and turned into a dream of romantic possession.

The Conflict of Class:

The “Old Money” (Tom) finally meets the “New Money” (Gatsby) on its own turf. Tom’s disdain shows that no amount of money can bridge the gap of “breeding.”

Questions to Consider

Compare the “real” Gatsby (James Gatz) to the persona he created. Which is more “true”?
Why does Gatsby get so defensive when Nick says “You can’t repeat the past”?
What does Daisy’s reaction to the party reveal about her character?

Chapter 7: The Crisis (The Boiling Point)

What Happens

It is the hottest day of the summer. Gatsby stops the parties; the “theatre” is over because the “heroine” (Daisy) is secured.
Tom, Daisy, Gatsby, Nick, and Jordan go to New York.
At the Plaza Hotel, Gatsby confronts Tom, demanding Daisy say she never loved him.
Daisy breaks down and admits she loved both men.
Tom reveals Gatsby’s criminal activities (bootlegging) to Daisy, causing her to retreat to Tom.
On the drive back, Gatsby’s car hits and kills Myrtle Wilson. It is revealed that Daisy was driving, but Gatsby will take the blame.

Important Points

The Heat:

Mirrors the escalating emotional and sexual tension between the characters.
The confrontation is the death of Gatsby’s dream. He wanted a “pure” past, but Daisy is part of a “messy” present.

The Accident:

Myrtle’s death is the literal collision of the Eggs and the Valley of Ashes. The wealthy “careless people” have finally destroyed someone in the lower class.

Questions to Consider

Why is it significant that Daisy cannot bring herself to say she never loved Tom?
How does Tom’s strategy of revealing Gatsby’s “shady” business work to win Daisy back?
Contrast the reaction of Gatsby and Tom to Myrtle’s death.

Chapter 8: The Aftermath (The End of the Summer)

What Happens

Nick spends the night at Gatsby’s. Gatsby tells the full story of his first love with Daisy in Louisville.
Gatsby refuses to leave, still waiting for a call from Daisy.
George Wilson, convinced that Gatsby killed Myrtle and was her lover (misled by Tom), tracks Gatsby to his mansion.
Wilson shoots Gatsby in his pool and then kills himself.
Nick finds the bodies.

Important Points

The Louisville Memory:

Gatsby fell in love with a “house” and a “status” as much as the woman. Daisy was his “Holy Grail.”
The Pool: Gatsby goes for a swim at the very end of summer. It is his first and last time using the pool—a symbol of his failure to actually live in the wealth he created.

The Sacrifice:

Gatsby dies protecting the woman who has already abandoned him. He dies a martyr to a dream that was already dead.

Questions to Consider

Why does Nick tell Gatsby “They’re a rotten crowd… You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together”?
What is the significance of the “holocaust” of Wilson and Gatsby’s deaths?
Why did Gatsby have to die at the end of summer?

Chapter 9: The Resolution (The Final Assessment)

What Happens

Two years later, Nick reflects on the aftermath.
He tries to arrange a funeral, but almost no one comes. Daisy and Tom have vanished.
Gatsby’s father, Henry Gatz, arrives, proud of his son’s “success.”
Only Nick, Owl Eyes, and the servants attend the burial.
Nick meets Tom one last time in New York and realizes Tom and Daisy are “careless people.”
Nick decides to return to the Midwest.
The novel ends with Nick’s famous meditation on the green light and the human struggle against time.

Important Points

The Failure of Community:

The hundreds of people who drank Gatsby’s liquor and ate his food don’t show up for his funeral. Only those who truly “saw” him (Nick, Owl Eyes) or loved him (his father) appear.
Tom and Daisy: They move on with their money, leaving a trail of “smashed up things” behind them.

The Final Quote:

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
This suggests that the human spirit is defined by its attempt to reach a future that is always being pulled back by the weight of the past.

Questions to Consider

Why is it important that Gatsby’s father appears at the end?
What does “careless people” mean in the context of Tom and Daisy?
How has Nick changed from the beginning of the book?

📝 Your Notes

Write your observations, questions, and reactions here:

Chapter-by-Chapter Notes created: 2025-12-25
For Great Literature 101 - Book 3 of 10