characters
millionaire and the owner of a luxurious mansion where he often hosts extravagant parties
Gatsby
"I hope she’ll be a fool, that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool."
daisy
Wolfsheim's cuff buttons
symbolize how weird this man is. It shows he is somewhat nice for having them, but he is very strange because they are made of teeth.
Prohibition creates a ‘new money’ class
Prohibition finances Gatsby’s rise to a new social status, where he can court his lost love
Exposition
Nick moves to West Egg and lives near his cousin Daisy. Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan and they have Nick over for dinner.
narrator of the story
nick
"Can't repeat the past? Why, of course you can."
Gatsby
pearl necklace
It represents how rich Tom is. It shows how Daisy doesn't want to get married to Tom.
The flapper was emerging
bobbed hair, shorter skirts and cigarettes dangling from their mouths as they danced the Charleston.
Inciting Incident
Gatsby and Nick meet for the first time, and Gatsby realizes Nick knows Daisy.
a married woman with a daughter who is reunited with her former lover Gatsby
Daisy
"Tom's got some woman in New York."
Jordan
Gatsby's mansion
symbolizes how hard this man has worked to impress Daisy. It represents his life.
A new consumer culture leads to a rise in advertising
the arrival of new goods and technologies came a new consumer culture driven by marketing and advertising
Rising Action
Jordan tells Nick how Gatsby and Daisy are more than what people think they are.
self centered golfer
Jordan baker
"...You're rude. Daisy's sitting in there alone."
nick
clock on the mantle
It symbolizes Daisy and Gatsby's relationship being "stuck" until Gatsby knocks it off.
The age of the automobile
The liberating potential of the automobile is clear as Gatsby’s flashy and expensive car becomes the source of his downfall.
Climax
Gatsby's secrets were uncovered, Daisy and Gatsby drove home. Daisy hit Myrtle, Tom's other mistress and killed her.
an inhabitant of New York's seedy underworld and a dead ringer for real-life
Meyer Wolfsheim
"I married him because I thought he was a gentlemen."
Myrtle
West Egg
symbolizes new money, or people who have to work to get their money.
depicts decay beneath the decadence
growing crime and corruption of the Prohibition era is strongly reflected
Falling Action
Myrtle's husband, George seeks revenge on Gatsby for having an "affair" with Myrtle and then killing her. Therefore, he kills Gatsby and himself.