The Great Gatsby

For my book report, I chose to read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is a novel set in the twenties when the American economy was soaring (SparkNotes…). I choose this book because I had it in my bookshelf for a long time, but never found time to read it. I had no expectations of this book because I had never heard anything about it, and the summary on the back was un-descriptive. In this paper I will accurately and specifically go into the characters of the book, and present the themes, motifs and symbols of The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby has five important characters, all which play very different and crucial roles to the story. Tom, Daisy, Jordan and Gatsby are the characters who are rich, indulgent and selfish (Homework…). Nick is the narrator as well as the only one who leaves a modest live, and seems to have a moral compass. I found the characters in The Great Gatsby exaggerated and unrealistic. The group of rich people had great drive, but all had no conscience or morals. Nick is the most morally sound of the group, seemingly because his lack of riches (The Great Gatsby). The main character of the book is also the inspiration of the title, Jay Gatsby (SparkNotes…). He is a complicated character and we get to know him at many different stages of his life. We meet him as extravagantly rich and successful Gatsby, (Ross). He has the means to have extravagant parties every Saturdays, but he seems to be desperately searching for something. We learn about the history of Gatsby When learn that at one point he was called James Gatz (The Great Gatsby). He was poor and dreamed of the day he would have all the money he wanted. He fell in love with Daisy before leaving to fight in the war, but the pressure of parents and society were so great to marry someone in her ‘class’, she broke and married Tom. When Gatsby returned and realized Daisy had married, he was heartbroken. He worked for Dan Cody; a bootlegger involved with illegal things. Gatsby gets

Cited: NovelGuide.com. “Novel Analysis The Great Gatsby” Novel Guide. N.p. N.d. Web. 14 May 2010 Ross, Jeremy. Nolan, Rachel ed.“The Great Gatsby Study Guide.” GradeSaver, 08 October 2006. Web. 14 May 2010 SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Great Gatsby.” SparkNotes. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. 6 May 2010. Web. 14 May 2010. “The Great Gatsby.” Homework Online Study Guide. Homework Online, Inc. n.d. Web. 14 May 2010 “The Great Gatsby.” Wow Essays. N.p. n.d. Web. 14 May 2010 at