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Chapter Analysis
For AS and A Level

The Great Gatsby — Chapter 1 Geography and Morality are linked
Fitzgerald uses the chapter to set the scene:
It’s made clear all events have already taken
place and all characters are introduced
...
By mentioning both mythical and real people in the first chapter, Fitzgerald hints that myth and reality will be mixed
throughout the book
...
He tells
Nick about a book which argued the idea that
white people were at threat from other races
...
However, it is clear that he is mocking racism
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Light also used
...
When Tom’s mistress phones ‘the glow
faded’
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The shift from natural to artificial light as they
move inside reflect that Nicks romantic views
of Tom and Daisy have been shattered
...
He gives both
locations different moralities which encourages the reader to compare
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Old fashioned and represents family values, demonstrated by Nicks first few pages
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Tom is
’aggressive and ’hulking’, not the traditional polite and well mannered that they are portrayed
...
The Buchanan marriage has an appealing surface but their foundations
highlight their despair and Daisy’s looks and wealth indicate she is bored, cynical and holds an
empty interior
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Home to the new rich where most residence don’t have family wealth or aristocratic
breeding
...
E
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Sexism
In some ways Daisy and Jordan seen independent and satisfied
...

However, the society in the novel is very sexist
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g Tom suggests Jordan's freedom should be restricted ‘they oughtn’t to let her run around the country in this way’
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This also hints at although she ignores Tom’s infidelities, she’s upset by them
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Nick gets a glimpse Gatsby’s deep longing
A lonely ‘figure’ reaching out towards a ‘single green light’
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His longing is so desperate that he is ‘trembling’
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Which would suggest is
the most important aspect of his character
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Gatsby’s stretched out arms suggest he is stretching and striving to achieve his goals The green
light is represents Gatsby’s dream of being with Daisy
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The Great Gatsby - Chapter 2
Basic Summary

New York represents wild and selfish behaviour and the pursuit of pleasure
...
The drunken debauchery
of Myrtle’s party illustrates the city’s lack of moral depth - people can feel they can act
how they want without fear of the consequences
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New York apartment
...
‘He knew
Her sister and the McKee's attend
They all get drunk
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He is practised in his seduction and conveys confidence
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refuses to divorce Tom because she’s a catholic
...
Demon-

strating that Tom lied to Myrtle because he doesn't want to leave Daisy
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Working classes are treat badly

where Daisy’s knuckle injury was an accident
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It’s easy
for Tom to hurt Myrtle, highlighting the superiority that the upper classes hold over the
lower ones
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Giving Tom power over Wilson
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He says she has a ‘mincing shout’
and ‘flounced around her flat’
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Wilsons-Myrtle resents and despises Wilson
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She thinks' he is beneath her ‘he wasn’t fit enough to lick my
shoe’
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McKee’s-Mr McKee has photographed his wife ‘a hundred and seventy times’, which
could suggest he is obsessed by her image but not her as an individual
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Alcohol as a negative influence
Alcohol seems to be a part of life in New York
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Nick describes Tom as ‘tanked up’ and then claims his behaviour ‘bordered on violence’
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Alcohol lowers inhibition, after drinking she sits on ‘Toms lap’ with
no discretion
...
This Deeply
contrasts with the narrative style and highlights the loss of control caused by alcohol
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It’s bleak and barren nature provides contrast to the loudness and brightness of New York and the
beautiful exterior of both the eggs
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The TJ Eckleburg’s advertisement looks out indifferently at the desolation
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‘Ashes’ are bleak
and connotes death
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Lists
Fitzgerald gives long lists of
the objects to show the huge
scale of decay
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The image of ‘transcendent effort’ shows how all the men’s energy
is taken up in just existing
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The Great Gatsby – Chapter 3
Summary-Nick receives an invitation from
Gatsby, and visits his neighbours mansion for
the first time
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HE MEETS GATSBY, not what he expected
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After the party Nick gives a brief description
of his life in NYC and his developing relationship with Jordan
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The poetic language used to describe the party lends a magical atmosphere to the parties
...
The list brings together
sound, taste and sight
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The party seems to increase in pace as the evening progresses, and Nicks perception changes throughout
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Later on, Nick becomes more involved and focuses on people
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The wild excess and drunken decadence of Gatsby’s parties suggests that Fitzgerald wanted to give a
sense of both the depravity and hedonism of the wealth in 1920’s America, There’s a sharp contrast
between the guest’s bad behaviour and the magical surroundings
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The Oddball that is Owl Eyes
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The author uses Owl eyes to highlight the tension between reality and appearance
in Gatsby’s life
...

Furthermore, he emphasises the importance of appearance within the egg community
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He compares Gatsby to David Balasco, a Broadway producer known for realistic sets, as if Gatsby is an entertainer or illusionist
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Owl Eyes mutters to himself ‘If one brick was removed the whole library would collapse’, Fitzgerald uses this quote to show that if one part of
Gatsby’s illusion falters then he will be exposed and he will fall apart
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Owl Eyes was involved in a crash
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This foreshadows Gatsby’s
involvement in Myrtles death
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he seems to be popular man
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company, others easily engage in ‘enthusiastic meetGatsby stand’s ‘alone’ at the
ings’ despite they never
edge of his Party
...

He doesn’t drink, flirt and
he grows ‘more correct as
Nick describes the party as a the fraternal hilarity in‘spectroscopic’, which is the creased’
...
However, Nick sound’ has died away,
is dressed in white, making Gatsby is shown to be in
him stand out in the crowd
...
This echoes the
Nick’s dinner, ‘the gloomiest end of the first chapter
event of his day’ and the
where Gatsby was portrayed
‘gaiety’ and ‘intimate excite- as a lonely figure at the end
ment of others’ - Nick wasn't of the shore
...


Eternally optimistic,
vitality
Nick instantly takes to him
Charming, Warm, Inviting

Special, unique

He smiled understandingly — much more than understandingly
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It faced — or seemed
to face — the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favour
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Like a drug, you couldn’t
refuse him

Words that are circled, would suggest that the comments on
his formality of speech are hints at that Gatsby’s features
are part of a deliberately crafted persona
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Summary Gatsby shows Nick an authentic looking medal and a photo from Oxford which seemed to prove his
Nick makes a list of some of the people who
persona was not an act
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liar, before suddenly giving the story creditability
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wants a favour from Nick, but before that he wants to build a rapport
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Nick meets Jordan for dinner and she explains that Gatsby and Daisy used to be in
love

The Great Gatsby—Chapter 4

Criminal Connections
Nick portrays NYC as if it was clean of corruption, saying it looks like ‘sugar lumps’
...
When getting pulled over by the police, he brandishes a white card and then
gets off free
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When they meet
Wolfshiem, Gatsby’s involvement with the
criminal underworld is strongly implied
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Gatsby’s association with Wolfshiem implies his wealth his built upon crime
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Even Tom is there, which
shows even those of the established families
still ignore the prohibition law– NY’s corruption has spread throughout society
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Jordan becomes the narrative
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Fitzgerald contrasts Daisy’s behaviour with Gatsby’s, for instance while Daisy is briefly distressed
about the letter
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Where as Gatsby is consistent in his
loyalty and romantic nature
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He was ‘delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendour’
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Also, her story also indicates that the characters haven't changed
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Tom began cheating early in their marriage, having an affair with a chambermaid
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Daisy, is easily led
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The Great Gatsby—Chapter 5

Gatsby and Daisy are presented sympathetically
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The clock is broken,
significantly time has stopped for Gatsby as he
is living in the past
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He
try’s to present himself and his home as luxurious to appeal to Daisy
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Nick contrasts Daisy’s and Gatsby’s priorities, while Gatsby is ‘consumed with wonder’ Daisy hardly
notices his possessions
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Fitzgerald describes Gatsby differently to how he has before
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His carefully considered language is almost forgotten,
even his well rehearsed ‘old sport’ is almost lost
...
Old sport’
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He tells her not to bring Tom
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back they agree to go to Gatsby’s mansion
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Her elegant exterior breaks
Daisy alone
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She cries ‘stormily’, suggesting she is overwhelmed with deep emotion
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is also revealed, she admires the ‘sparkling’ and pale gold odour’ of flours
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Fitzgerald uses this to suggest their reunion
However, Nick tends to analyse Gatsby’s emotions at a deep level, but describes Daisy in a shallow
will not have a happy fate, its marred by
‘pouring rain’ and a ‘damp mist’
...
He describes Gatsby as being ‘at an inconceivable pitch of intensity’, whereas
twice in the novel
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‘Daisy took the brush with delight
and smoothed her hair’
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Connotations of death, sorrow and
ism
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The re-creation of Gatsby
GG seems determined to re-create himself as
an European aristocrat
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This corrupts the core of the American dream,
instead of wanting to celebrate the determination of the American working man, Gatsby
seems to want to be part of the high society
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‘He was running down like an over wound clock’
In this passage Nick describes Gatsby’s realisation
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An ‘expression of bewilderment returned on Gatsby’s
face’, ’Daisy tumbled short of his dreams’ due to the ‘vitality of hid illusion’
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The Great Gatsby - Chapter 6
Summary: We learn about Gatsby’s
past with Dan Cody
Class prejudices become clear
Daisy attends one of his parties
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James Gatz to Jay Gatsby
The order of Nicks narrative of Gatsby allows the reader to understand who Gatsby
was and who he is now
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Dan Cody was a selfmade millionaire whom Gatsby was influenced by
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the savage violence of the
frontier brothel and saloon’ Gatsby followed
Cody’s pursuit of wealth though immoral
means
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For the
older Gatsby she became the person that
represented the American Dream and everything he hopes to achieve
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As his death was caused by the
treachery of a woman he loved
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He doesn’t realise that the invite to dinner wasn’t to be accepted
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Gatsby is courteous and welcoming offering
them refreshments
...
Nick realises that
Gatsby thought ‘they cared!’
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Tom is contemptuous towards Gatsby and is appalled that Daisy is associated with anyone from
that ilk
...
they meet plenty of crazy fish’
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Despite his wealth, he will forever be seen as working class and will never be good enough for
Daisy
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Nick feels
Tom’s attendance has brought the party a ‘quality of oppressiveness’ and unpleasantness’
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Daisy is ‘appalled’ at the behaviour of the drunken
guests and is sadly resigned at Tom’s involvement with them
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She even offers him a ‘golden
pencil’ to make him clearly know she understands what he is doing
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He says it is ‘invariably saddening to look through new eyes at things upon
which you have expended your own powers of adjustment
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Gatsby wants to rediscover the past of him and Daisy
Fitzgerald displays both affairs in an entirely different light
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This is a parody of Tom’s shameless public flirting
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The account of their first
kiss is written in poetic prose: ‘incomparable milk of wonder’, turning-fork that had been struck upon a
star’
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Nick is
aware of the ‘appalling sentimentality’ that reeks strongly from Gatsby
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Nick’s second-person perspective is written in
the past perfect tense
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The Great Gatsby - Chapter 7
Summary: Gatsby stops hosting parties and replaces
his servants to stop any gossip from being leaked
about him and Daisy
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Tom finds out that G and D are in love
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In NYC, Tom confronts Gatsby and accuses him of
being a bootlegger
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Daisy and Tom drive home, Daisy kills Myrtle
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Gatsby tells Nick it was Daisy driving but he will take
the blame
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At lunch Daisy openly flirts with Gatsby, she even kisses him in front of Nick and Jordan
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She inadvertently reveals to Tom that
she loves Gatsby, ‘you always look so cool’
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Her actions have startled Tom, he asked Nick and Jordan whether they saw the flirting and without
saying what he thought he clearly knows Daisy has been unfaithful
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Here, his reactions are impulsive and instinct driven
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Fitzgerald uses the meeting to
juxtapose both men who’s wives are having an affair
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Where as Wilson’s discovery of the
affair has made him physically sick
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However, both seem to treat there wives as possessions
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This also symbolises she has no control over her
was over’ when Gatsby ends his parties
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gerald gives Gatsby the new literally identity
as the Tramalchio of the American Dream
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who built his own fortune and gained a deHe then goes onto call him ‘Mr Nobody from Nowhere’ to emphasise how unimportant he thinks
gree of power
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Tom can’t bare that Daisy is attracted to Gatsby with him being of ‘new money’ and lacking
and his story ends with his guests acting out an upper class breeding
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So
‘sneering at the family’ being the first step to ‘intermarriage of black and white which is symbolic of
Nick’s mention could be foreshadowing
the breakdown in order
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Tom claims that
Gatsby’s funeral
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Fitzgerald stresses the importance of time in the confrontation
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However, Tom evokes history between them to re-ignite her feelings for him
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Myrtle’s death is described in shocking language: ‘her left breast was swinging loose like a flap’
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The narrative
shifts back to first person in order to describe the reactions to her death
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Gatsby is emotionally detached, waiting for a sign from
Daisy
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Heat in chapter 7 parallels the rising animosity
‘The next day was broiling, almost the last, certainly the warmest of the
summer’
‘The straw seats in the car hovered on the edge of combustion’
‘Relentless beating heat’
The past few chapters have been building up to this moment
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The Great Gatsby – Chapter 8
Summary: Gatsby waits all night outside the Buchanans’ house in case Daisy needs him
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Gatsby tells Nick the truth of their relationship
Nick goes to work where he gets rang by Jordan
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Nick describes events after Myrtles death, and hints
that Wilson is headed to Gatsby’s house
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Wilsons body is found nearby
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Fitzgerald uses many narrative techniques to build suspense
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Nick uses a series of incomplete accounts
to increase the tension
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We find out Gatsby is dead
but how? Fitzgerald puts the reader onto a cliff-hanger
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George thinks the eyes have
meaning but Michaelis tries to persuade him
otherwise
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He has idealised her for so long that
he’s lost sight of who she actually is
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In the shallow, materialistic world that Fitzgerald portrays, the dreamers inevitably lose
out to privileged men like Tom
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The bright colours of summer are replaced with ‘grey’ light and ‘blue leaves’
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He is faithful to her to the end
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Wilson kills him because he believes
Gatsby is responsible for Myrtles death
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Daisy
‘turned out the light’ when Gatsby was waiting for her, Gatsby describes the scene ‘wanly’ without
Nicks poetic flourishes
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g green light
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He insists on using the pool even
though his timing is inappropriate
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The Great Gatsby – Chapter 9
Summary: Nick describes the events of the funeral and
the events after his death
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Tom reveals he told Wilson that Gatsby was driving
the car that killed Myrtle
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Nobody really changes
Arguably one big tragedy of the novel is that
nobody changes
Tom and Daisy leave town and carry on like
nothing has happened
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Jordan has still tried to resume her cold exterior and Nick suspects she is lying when she
tells him she’s engaged
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The image of boats in the ‘ceaseless’
tide captures the mix of futility and hope
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Gatsby’s funeral
Nick emphasises with Gatsby and see’s himself as the only person ‘on Gatsby’s side’ and tries desperately to ‘get somebody’ for Gatsby’s funeral
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Her silence and absence suggests her vast carelessness, materialism and shallowness
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He claims it is better to
show friendship whilst alive
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Gatsby’s father, Henry C
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However, even he is taken in by the grand display of Gatsby’s material success and
is proud of his sons achievements despite him not realising his son never achieved his actual dreams
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Nick see’s the green light as ‘unattainable
dream’
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Combined ‘orgiastic’ and ‘orgasm’ This
encapsulates the idea of wild and uncontrolled activity and sexual climax
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It eluded
us then, but that’s no matter — to-morrow we will
run faster, stretch out our arms farther
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So we beat on, boats against the
current, borne back ceaselessly into the past
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Gatsby tried to relive the past with Daisy but escape his past life in the
West
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Nick suggests that this is a universal problem - ‘we’ all try to fight against the ‘current’ of time

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