1. F. Scott Fitzgerald vs Jay Gatsby
Aya Safieddine
Zeinab Artail
Alexa Fawaz

2. More about F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald born on September 24th 1896 in St Paul Minnesota, was an American short- story novelist and writer who was mostly well known for his wild personal life and his most famous novel “The Great Gatsby”. He was known to be one of the best writers from the 20th century. As he dropped out of Princeton college in 1917, he joined the US army where he later met his future wife, Zelda. They got married in 1919, a year after F.Scott Fitzgerald published his first novel which was also one of his best novels. It is said that he published that novel in order to get Zelda’s attention and acceptance for him to be able to marry her since she would only accept him as a wealthy man.

3. In the introduction to The Far Side of Paradise: A Biography of F
In the introduction to The Far Side of Paradise: A Biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author notes, “[Fitzgerald] always…wrote about himself or about people and things with which he was intimate. As a consequence his life is inextricably bound up in his works” (xviii). In The Great Gatsby, aspects of Fitzgerald’s life are reflected in the development of the conflicted narrator, the image of the complex title character, and the fancy portrayal of upper-class life in 1920s America.

4. Similarities between Fitzgerald and Gatsby
In The Great Gatsby, the fictional life of Jay Gatsby reflects the personal experiences of author F. Scott Fitzgerald. Gatsby and Fitzgerald were romantics who had love affairs during military service, made new money early in life and hosted wild parties to impress the women they loved. Gatsby and Fitzgerald surrendered to the corrupt lifestyle, eventually losing themselves in the affection they had for their lovers, Daisy and Zelda, respectively.

5. Both F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jay Gatsby wanted to impress their ladies.
In order to catch their attention, F scott Fitzgerald decided to become a wealthy man by publishing his first novel this side of paradise in order to get Zelda’s acceptance to his marriage proposal.
Similarly, Jay Gatsby was known to throw the most extravagant parties which caught Daisy’s attentions, as intendent by Gatsby.

6. Fitzgerald decide to use experiences from his own life during the 1920’s since he thought it would be more effective and would attract more people if he were to talk about his personal problems and experiences in an indirect way.
Fitzgerald left school to join the military which also reflects on Jay Gatsby, who joined the United States Army at the start of World War I. During World War I, both Jay Gatsby and F. Scott Fitzgerald fell in love with a woman at the locations they were stationed at. Gatsby fell in love with Daisy, and Fitzgerald fell in love with a woman named Zelda whom they later on both married.

7. Both Fitzgerald and Gatsby were hopeless romantics.
Zelda Sayre

8. “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people---his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all.” (98)
He had changed his name when he was 17, with the motive of redefining his life. It is mentioned in the end of the book that Gatsby had run away from home, and changed his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald had not accepted the reality of his own circumstance since he came from a family that lived comfortable but were not considered rich. Fitzgerald gained an interest in wealth since his youth, by spending time with the rich children in his neighborhood.

9. Even daisy was a character who did not appear to fully accept her current state. Throughout the book she is portrayed as lighthearted carefree person. The way she interacts with her daughter hints at her state of mind. “You dream, you. You absolute little dream” (117)

10. Nick Carraway
Nick Carraway, the narrator, mimics Fitzgerald in various ways such as being born in the same hometown, Minnesota, and from well off families. He most importantly plays the role of the narrator in the novel, giving a kind-calm sympathetic view of Jay Gatsby’s wild actions. He is shown as a somewhat wise character.
“Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had”. Likewise, the author had mentioned in his biography that his father had taught him the etiquette of the Southern gentlemen.

11. The narrator has numerous emotions towards the glamorous lifestyle of Gatsby, such as fascination. However, he still kept his midwestern values and stayed clear of getting lost in the lifestyle that Gatsby has engrossed himself in. Thus serving as the traditional midwestern who didn't get lost in the Gatsby’s chaotic world, till the end. While Gatsby lives a hectic lifestyle to the point where most his guests at his fascinating parties had countless stories of his life.

12. Ironically, Gatsby and Fitzgerald both led farfetched lives that ended in tragic deaths. When Fitzgerald’s writing career began to flourish, he began showing off his money in seemingly tasteless ways. Eventually, “[Fitzgerald] saw his own rise from poverty to wealth as an illustration of the terrible, meaningless power of money” (Mizener 103). Fitzgerald had his own desire for the past. Focussed on their happier days together, Fitzgerald struggled with the hope that Zelda would recover from her mental illness, “trying as always to preserve that past, with all its enormous investment of feelings, that he would never know again” (Mizener 259). After battling with drinking spells and deteriorating health, Fitzgerald died of a heart attack in Hollywood. His body was laid out in an undertaker’s parlor “on the other side of the tracks” relative to Beverly Hills. “He was not placed in the chapel but in a back room,” and, like Gatsby’s funeral in the novel, “almost no one came to see him” (Mizener 336).