Review for The Great Gatsby
Know who these characters are:
Nick Carraway
Tom and Daisy Buchanan
Jordan Baker
George and Myrtle Wilson
Michaelis
Meyer Wolfsheim
Klipspringer
Owl Eyes
Major Symbols and their locations: Green light, Valley of Ashes, Doctor T. J. Eckleburg
Major Plot Points
Chapter 1 – characters introduced | Nick Carraway, narrator, and Tom and Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker
West Egg and East Egg introduced; Nick goes to Tom and Daisy’s for dinner, meets Jordan Baker.
Gatsby appears at the end of the chapter, gazing at the green light on Daisy’s dock from his lawn in the dark.
Chapter 2 – setting | the Valley of Ashes, Dr. T. J. Eckleburg’s billboard, Wilson’s garage, Michaelis’ cafe is next door.
Tom takes Nick to Manhattan; Nick meets Myrtle Wilson; party in the apartment where Tom hits Myrtle.
Chapter 3 – setting | Gatsby’s enormous parties are described in lush detail.
Nick is invited to Gatsby’s party; Jordan Baker and Nick become friends there; Gatsby tells Jordan a secret.
Chapter 4 – Gatsby takes Nick to lunch; Nick meets Meyer Wolfsheim, which reveals Gatsby’s underworld connections.
Nick has tea with Jordan and he learns more about Gatsby and his early love for Daisy; Jordan tells Nick of
Gatsby’s request that Nick engineer a reunion between Daisy and Gatsby by inviting Daisy to tea.
Chapter 5 – Nick invites Daisy to tea; Gatsby and Daisy meet again after almost five years; Daisy and Nick get a tour of
Gatsby’s house, which is when Gatsby tosses the shirts at Daisy that make her cry.
Chapter 6 – Gatsby’s true origins, and how he got his start as Jay Gatsby with Dan Cody; Tom and Daisy attend one of
Gatsby’s parties and Tom’s suspicions of Gatsby are aroused.
Chapter 7 – Nick and Gatsby go to lunch at the Buchanan’s. Tom realizes that Gatsby and Daisy love each other; the trip
to the Plaza hotel, where Tom confronts Gatsby and where Gatsby’s attempt to separate Daisy from Tom
is unsuccessful.
Daisy drives Gatsby’s car back to Long Island, hitting Myrtle Wilson, killing her. Gatsby takes Daisy home.
Tom drives Jordan and Nick back to Long Island; they stop at Wilson’s garage and learn about the accident.
Gatsby keeps watch over Daisy in the dark outside the Buchanan’s house, while Nick is disgusted with all of
them. Gatsby tells Nick that Daisy was driving the car but that he will take the blame for her.
Chapter 8 – Nick spends time with Gatsby and learns about his early life; then George Wilson’s final hours become the
focus of the chapter. Gatsby goes for a swim in his pool and Wilson shoots Gatsby there, then kills himself.
Chapter 9 – Nick makes all the arrangements for Gatsby’s funeral; no one wants to attend, not Meyer Wolfsheim or any
of the other people who knew Gatsby. Gatsby’s father, Henry Gatz, comes East and he, Nick, and Owl Eyes
are the only ones at the funeral. Nick decides to return to the Midwest.
Nick has a final conversation with Jordan, when she tells him she’s engaged to someone else. Nick runs into
Tom in Manhattan and they have a conversation in which Tom reveals that he told Wilson about Gatsby’s
owning the car that killed Myrtle.