1. The Great Gatsby
By:
F. Scott Fitzgerald

2. Setting Long Island, New York
Approximately 20 miles outside of New York City/Manhattan
East Egg & West Egg
1920s

3. Historical Context: 1920s
Beginning of decade, two major events in the country: Prohibition; women gain the right to vote
Result? Many people rebel against authority because of Prohibition
The rich lived recklessly: wild parties, glamorous clothing, very materialistic; life= make $$ and spend $$
Rich people first “celebrities” to average/working class; first example of gossip/tabloid magazines
Known as “Age of Bigness” as cities grow, buildings taller, cars faster

4. Historical Context: The 1920s
3 major influences: cars, radio, movies
Also known as “The Jazz Age” or “The Roaring Twenties”
NYC & Urban Corruption
1919: The Black Sox Fix
1929: Stock Market Crash
The Great Depression begins; lasts until World War II (approx. 10 years)

5. Plot Summary
Story of a self-made man whose dreams of love and social acceptance lead to scandal and corruption and in the end tragedy
Shows a fascination and distrust of wealthy society
Spans from Spring to Fall, 1922
Told as a flashback in first person
Themes: the American Dream; materialism and greed; simplicity vs. corruption and evil; wealth and power corruption; belief in romantic destiny

6. Other Important Themes
Point of View
Setting
Satire
Light / Dark Imagery
Characterization
Symbolism
Modernism
Conflict

7. Characters Nick Carraway Jay Gatsby Daisy Buchanan Tom Buchanan
Jordan Baker
Meyer Wolfsheim
George Wilson
Myrtle Wilson
Pammy Buchanan
Owl-Eyes
Henry C. Gatz
Michaelis
Ewing Klipspringer
Mr. and Mrs. McKee
Catherine
Mr. Sloane

8. Characters

9. F. Scott Fitzgerald Born in St. Paul, Minnesota; Sept. 24, 1896
Family moderately well-off; strict Protestant upbringing
Attended Prep School in New Jersey; college at Princeton University
Left college to serve in Army from ; did not see any overseas action
1920 marries Zelda Sayre; have one child, a daughter, in 1921
First published in 1920, This Side of Paradise; became bestseller immediately

10. More about Fitzgerald
- Lives the “fast life”: Long Island; France, New York, Rome; California (worked as a Hollywood scriptwriter); considered celebrity
- Zelda has a nervous breakdown in 1930; institutionalized in 1934; dies in 1948
Leads to Fitzgerald “cracking up” and relying heavily on alcohol
- Died Dec. 21, 1940 at the age of 44 of a heart attack
- Credited with naming the era “The Jazz Age”
- Died believing he was a failure; thought of as one of (if not the) greatest American writer
- The Great Gatsby used as example of the classic American novel -

11. THE END