F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby

I want to write something new--something extraordinary and beautiful and simple + intricately patterned. --Fitzgerald

About the AuthorSeptember 24, 1896-December 21, 1940Father considered a failure/Fitzgerald determined not to replicateMother begged relatives for money to send him to the right schools (success vs. failure)Discovered his special talent at school: writing--gained acceptance1913 accepted at Princeton (popular, good looking, intelligent)Wrote for the literary magazinePlaced on academic probation because he drank/wrote too muchLeft junior year, commissioned to Montgomery, AL

Married Zelda Sayre, a beautiful girl from a wealthy familyMuch drinking, wild parties, extravagant lifestyle, very expensiveAlways in debt

F. Scott Fitzgerald Wrote screenplays for Metro-Goldwyn-MayerFrustrations with career drove him back to drinkingAt 44 he was in poor healthSuicidal depression, recurring tuberculosis, alcoholism and heart trouble Suffered a massive heart attack in 1940 and died

Zelda Fitzgerald

Wanted to become a ballet dancer; hospitalized for nervous exhaustionLived in F. Scotts shadowMental condition continued to deteriorateDiagnosed as schizophrenic Too sick to attend husbands funeralIn and out of mental hospitalsTrapped in a mental hospital during a fire in NC, where she died at age 48

F. Scott Fitzgeralds Impact on SocietyFitzgerald named the 1920s The Jazz AgeUsed his life as material for his fictionMore famous today than he could have ever dreamed

The Jazz Age/The Roaring Twenties1917-1919-U.S. involved in WWIJan. 1920-Prohibition (18th amendment)Role of WomenIf they had jobs during the war, continued afterwardsReceived the right to voteTook more masculine look to symbolize new freedom/power (helmet hats, bobbed hair, straight dresses to camouflage curves)Technology- vacuum cleaners, washing machinesAutomobile-offered mobility and loosened moral code

The Jazz Age contdII. Prohibition (1920-1933) 13 years of corruptionWar time restrictions on drinking-needed the barley to make bread for the soldiers not beerEveryone dealing in illegal alcohol (70 million gallons each year) were called bootleggersBy 1933, 219,000 illegal saloons existedDrinking moved from blue collar to white-collarMany women began drinking. Most liquor was made at illegal still but the rest was smuggled in from CanadaKing of the liquor racket?

Characters of The Great GatsbyJay Gatsby- The self-made wealthy man who lives next door to Nick Carraway He is in love with Daisy Buchanan

Characters of The Great GatsbyNick Carraway- the narrator, Daisys cousin, and Gatsbys neighbor

Characters in The Great GatsbyDaisy Buchanan- married to Tom, Gatsbys love interest before the warRepresents old money

Characters in The Great GatsbyTom Buchanan- Daisys husband, has an affair with MyrtleMyrtle Wilson- Toms woman in the city, married to GeorgeGeorge Wilson- owns a gas station, kills GatsbyJordan Baker- Daisys friend, professional golfer

Settings in The Great GatsbyWest Egg- where Nick and Gatsby live, represents new moneyEast Egg- where Daisy lives, the more fashionable area, represents old money

Settings in The Great GatsbyThe City- New York City, where the characters escape to for work and play The Valley of Ashes- between the City and West Egg, where Wilsons gas station is located

Symbols in The Great GatsbyGreen Lightat the end of Daisys dock and visible from Gatsbys mansion. Represents Gatsby's hopes and dreams about Daisy.Hope, rebirth, to go, youth, longing, choice, serenity, promiseBlueHeaven, fantasy, lost time, unhappinessWhiteFaade behind which characters hidebeauty, cleanliness, wealth, innocence, virginity and laziness Yellow (Silver & Gold)Wealth, corruption, dishonesty

Symbols GreyIndustrialization, dreary, bleak, lifelessRedDeath, abuse, violence, destructionCarIndustrialization, status symbol, carelessness, recklessnessWaterBarriers and boundariesGatsbys restraints from DaisyAbandonmentEyesObservant, omnipresent, watchful, non-judgmental

Basic Plot of The Great GatsbyNick moves from the midwest to New York City in order to pursue a career in bonds

Nick begins a friendship with his cousin, Daisy

Nick befriends his neighbor, Jay Gatsby

Basic Plot of The Great GatsbyNick reunites Daisy with her former love, GatsbyDaisys husband, Tom, discovers his wifes affairA trip into the City results in the death of Toms lover, Myrtle, when she ran out in front of a car Daisy was driving

Plot of The Great GatsbyTom tells Myrtles distraught husband, George, that Gatsby killed MyrtleGeorge kills GatsbyNo one but Nick comes to Gatsbys funeralTom and Daisy leave town

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