No Fear The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is an artistic masterpiece, not only in symbols and metaphors, but also in language. However, I
will confess that there are even some words that I have had to look up, and my confidence in Fitzgerald’s novel
mostly comes from reading it 18 times and doing extensive research on it.
My hope is that you can listen to this story be told and fall in love with the way it was written.
Because of this, I don’t want you to spend (too much) time feeling frustrated because you don’t get some of the
words or the way certain sentences are put together.
So, I’ve created this for my students so all of you will feel like you can read this and stay afloat. (See what I did
there? Water reference? Okay OKAY. I’m done. Jeez.)
Chapter 1The novel starts with our narrator, Nick Carraway, who begins his story to us by sharing his social class lineage.
“Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” his father told him, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t
had the advantages that you’ve had.”
This statement has always meant something to Nick, and because of this, the man decides to hold off from judging
anyone. Like. Ever. (Is this smart? You decide.)
Because he has never been Judgey McJudgerson, strange people who keep secrets out of fear of being judged often flock
to him, as they quickly realize that no matter what they do or say, Nick will reserve any judgment and continue to
appreciate them as people.
However, Nick is also pretty fast in letting us know that even he has a limit, and that limit is what has pushed him to tell
this story. The story of Gatsby (who the book is named after, obvi), the man who represented everything for which he had
an unaffected scorn is thus unfolded for us.
Nick begins his story within a story by telling us that he graduated from Yale (New Haven), became a soldier, came home
from the war, and from the things he had seen, the prospect of the Midwest now bored him to tears. Since almost every
guy he knew went into the bond business, he decides he’ll try that too. His family reluctantly agrees and his father
finances him for a year so Nick can go try out this new profession. This is a detail that is often overlooked, but it’s
important. The Carraways come from money. After all, one of his relatives had so much money he paid someone to go to
war for him.
He lets us know he felt lonely and lost until someone asked him for directions one day, and once he was able to help a
dude find where he was going, he felt as though he were a settler of West Egg, and felt better about himself. He lives on
West Egg, but don’t let this fool you- West Egg may be for “new money” folks, but Nick is just visiting there. His family
comes from “old money.”
He visits said family for dinner one night- his cousin Daisy and his college-mate Tom Buchanan. Tom and Daisy are your
stereotypical rich folk. They are privileged, ignorant, and don’t even work. They hang around and drink all day (which is
illegal at the time this story takes place, remember).
It’s particularly important to understand that Tom Buchanan is introduced to us as being a hulking stupid brute. He’s rich,
he’s unapologetically racist, and he’s privileged. Fighting the knowledge that he has already peaked (his star-football
college days are long behind him now), Tom spends his days asserting that he and his belongings (including his favorite
belonging, Daisy) are better than everyone else.
Daisy is introduced to us, and she seems to be vapid and ditzy, but her statement to Nick is more telling about her
character. She understands that in this world, a “beautiful little fool” is the best thing a woman can be- because she is not a
fool. Because she is brighter than she lets on, she has to deal with the pain and disappointment of knowing that her
husband is cheating on her. However, once she realizes this slip of intelligence, she laughs with scorn and puts the ditzy
mask back on.
It is in this moment that Nick realizes Daisy is in a “secret society” with Tom. This secret society is that of the uber-rich,
the people in life who can get away with anything- they can cheat on their wives, drink illegal alcohol, and live in
ignorance- because their money allows them to do whatever they want.
Nick goes home and sees the man he assumes must be Gatsby. He goes to introduce himself to him, but is struck by what
Gatsby is doing. It appears he is trembling, and reaching out to a green light that is far away from his house. He looks at
this light and then looks back at Gatsby, but finds that he has already gone back inside.