Chapter 1
In Chapter 1, the reader is introduced to the narrator Nick Carraway, a young man from Minnesota. He states that he learned from his father to
... [Show More] reserve judgement about other people. Nick moves to New York to work in the bond business, and rented a house in West Egg. One night, he drives to East Egg to have dinner with his cousin Daisy and her husband, Tom Buchanan. Daisy lounges on a couch with her friend Jordan Baker, a competitive golfer. There is an awkward dinner, where Nick finds out that Tom is having an affair. When Nick arrives home aftwewards, he sees Gatsby for the first time, reaching out toward the dark water. Nick looks out at the water and sees a green light at the end of the dock.
Chapter 2
In chapter 2, Nick reveals the Valley of Ashes, a gray valley where New York's ashes are dumped. The train that runs between West Egg and New York passes through the valley. One day, as Nick and Tom are riding the train into the city, Tom forces Nick to follow him out of the train, leading Nick to George Wilson's garage, which sits on the edge of the valley of ashes. Tom's lover Myrtle is Wilson's wife. Tom takes Nick and Myrtle to New York City. They have an impromptu party with Myrtle's sister, Catherine, and a couple named McKee. Catherine tells Nick that she has heard that Jay Gatsby is the nephew or cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm, the ruler of Germany during World War I. Tom sternly warns Myrtle never to mention his wife. Myrtle begins chanting Daisy's name. Tom breaks her nose. Nick leaves, drunkenly, with Mr. McKee, and takes the 4am train back to Long Island.
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Chapter 3
In Chapter 3, the reader learns that Gatsby throws elaborate parties every weekend. One day, Gatsby's chauffeur brings Nick an invitation to one of these parties. Guests mill around exchanging rumours about their host. Nick runs into Jordan Baker, whose friend, Lucille, speculates that Gatsby was a German spy during the war. Nick also hears that Gatsby is a graduate of Oxford and that he once killed a man in cold blood. Nick and Jordan, curious about their host, set out to find Gatsby. Instead, they run into a middle-aged man with huge, owl-eyed spectacles, who sits poring over the unread books in Gatsby's library. The pair sit down and meet Gatsby. Later on, a butler tells Jordan that Gatsby would like to see her. Jordan emerges from her meeting with Gatsby saying that she has just heard something extraordinary. Nick begins a relationship with Jordan.
Chapter 4
In Chapter 4, Nick describes a trip that he took to New York with Gatsby to eat lunch. As they drive to the city, Gatsby tells Nick about his past, but Nick questions its accuracy. Gatsby takes Nick to lunch and introduces him to Meyer Wolfshiem, who, he claims, was responsible for fixing the 1919 World Series. After the lunch in New York, Nick sees Jordan Baker, who finally tells him the details of her mysterious conversation with Gatsby at the party. Gatsby told her that he is in love with Daisy Buchanan. Though she chose to marry Tom after Gatsby left for the war, Daisy drank herself into numbness the night before her wedding, after she received a letter from Gatsby. Gatsby has asked Jordan to convince Nick to arrange a reunion between Gatsby and Daisy. He wants Nick to invite Daisy to tea. Without Daisy's knowledge, Gatsby intends to come to the tea at Nick's house as well, surprising her and forcing her to see him.
Chapter 5
In Chapter 5, Gatsby goes to see Nick, who realises that Gatsby is nervous because he wants Nick to agree to his plan of inviting Daisy over for tea. Nick tells Gatsby that he will help him with the plan.
Daisy arrives. Gatsby's reunion with Daisy is terribly awkward at first. After Nick leaves the two alone for half an hour, Daisy shedding tears of joy and Gatsby glowing. Gatsby invites Nick and Daisy over to his house, where he shows them his possessions. Daisy is overwhelmed by his luxurious lifestyle, and when he shows her his extensive collection of English shirts, she begins to cry. Gatsby calls in Klipspringer, a strange character who seems to live at Gatsby's mansion, and has him play the piano. Quietly, Nick gets up and leaves Gatsby and Daisy alone together.
Chapter 6
In Chapter 6, Nick tells the reader Gatsby's real story. He stops by Gatsby's house one afternoon, alarmed to find Tom Buchanan there. Tom has stopped for a drink at Gatsby's house with Mr. and Mrs. Sloane, with whom he has been out riding. To be polite, they invite Gatsby to dine with them, and he accepts, not realizing the insincerity of the invitation. The following Saturday night, Tom and Daisy go to a party at Gatsby's house. Tom upsets Daisy by telling her that Gatsby's fortune comes from bootlegging.
Gatsby seeks out Nick after Tom and Daisy leave the party; he is unhappy because Daisy has had such an unpleasant time. Nick reminds Gatsby that he cannot re-create the past. Gatsby, distraught, protests that he can. Nick reflects on the first time Gatsby kissed Daisy, the moment when his dream of Daisy became the dominant force in his life.
Chapter 7
Preoccupied by his love for Daisy, Gatsby fires his servants to prevent gossip. On the hottest day of the summer, Nick takes the train to East Egg for lunch at the house of Tom and Daisy. He finds Gatsby and Jordan Baker there as well. Gatsby and Daisy cannot hide their love for one another. They all go to New York. Stopping for gas at Wilson's garage, Nick, Tom, and Jordan learn that Wilson has discovered his wife's infidelity. At the Plaza hotel, Tom asks Gatsby about his intentions for Daisy, and Gatsby replies that Daisy loves him, not Tom. A fight breaks out between Tom and Gatsby, with Daisy moving toward Tom. Driving back to Long Island, Nick, Tom, and Jordan discover a frightening scene on the border of the valley of ashes. Someone has been fatally hit by a car. The victim is discovered to be Myrtle. Nick realises that Myrtle must have been hit by Gatsby and Daisy. Back at Tom's house, Gatsby tells Nick that Daisy was driving when the car struck Myrtle, but that he will take the blame. Tom and Daisy have reconciled their differences, and Nick leaves Gatsby standing alone in the moonlight.
Chapter 8
In Chapter 8: Nick goes to visit Gatsby and suggests that Gatsby forget about Daisy and leave Long Island, but Gatsby refuses to consider leaving Daisy behind. Gatsby decides to swim in the pool, Nick leaves and shouts that Gatsby is worth more than the Buchanans and all of their friends. Michaelis reveals that Wilson told him that before Myrtle died, he confronted her about her lover and told her that she could not hide her sin from the eyes of God. Wilson goes to Gatsby's house, where he finds Gatsby lying on an air mattress in the pool, floating in the water. Wilson shoots Gatsby, killing him instantly, then shoots himself. Nick hurries back to West Egg and finds Gatsby floating dead in his pool.
Chapter 9
Writing two years after Gatsby's death, Nick describes the events that surrounded the funeral. Swarms of reporters, journalists, and gossips descend on the mansion in the aftermath of the murder. The only people to attend the funeral are Nick, Owl Eyes, a few servants, and Gatsby's father, Henry C. Gatz, who has come all the way from Minnesota. Sick of the East and its empty values, Nick decides to move back to the Midwest. Just before he leaves, Nick encounters Tom. Tom tells him that he was the one who told Wilson that Gatsby owned the car that killed Myrtle, and describes how greatly he suffered when he had to give up the apartment he kept in the city for his affair. He says that Gatsby deserved to die. Nick imagines that America was once a goal for dreamers and explorers, just as Daisy was for Gatsby. Nick senses that people everywhere are motivated by similar dreams. [Show Less]