THE GREAT GATSBY
Chapter Summaries
Chapter 1




Narrator/ “author” is Nick Carraway (from
Minnesota)
Says that he learned from his father to not judge
people, because if he tries to hold them up to his
moral standards, he will misunderstand them (he is
highly moral and highly tolerant)
Arrived in NY in the summer of 1922 to work in the
bond business
Rents a house in the West Egg community of Long
Island (fictional town, based on a real place)
Chapter 1




Communities called East Egg and West Egg
East Egg is high class, refined, old money
(conservative, aristocratic)
West Egg is home to the “new rich” (people who
made money recently and do not have social
connections)…lavish displays of wealth and poor
taste
Nick lives in a small West Egg house next door to
Gatsby’s mansion
Chapter 1




Nick lives in West Egg but is unlike his neighbors. He has
social connections and an aristocratic pedigree
(graduated from Yale and has many connections on East
Egg)
Drives to East Egg to have dinner with his cousin Daisy
and her husband Tom Buchanan
Tom and Nick both went to Yale and were in the same
“social club” (similar to a fraternity)
When Nick arrives to dinner, he goes inside to see his
cousin Daisy and her friend Jordan Baker (a
competitive golfer) lounging on a sofa
Chapter 1



Tom is not a nice guy. He tries to discuss a book called
The Rise of the Colored Empires with the crowd but no
one is interested. The book discusses racist, whitesupremacist attitudes that Tom believes in.
Tom abruptly takes a phone call and Daisy follows
after him. Jordan tells Nick that it is Tom’s mistress in
New York.
After a very awkward dinner, everyone leaves. Jordan
leaves because she has a golf tournament the next day.
Tom and Daisy both hint to Nick that they would like him
to start dating Jordan.
Chapter 1


When Nick gets home, he sees Gatsby for the first
time.
Gatsby is standing on his lawn with his arms
reaching toward a distant green light in the water
that may mark the end of a dock.
Chapter 2



Between West Egg and NYC, there’s a desolate,
depressing gray valley where New York’s ashes are
dumb (the valley of ashes).
Overhead is a huge billboard that has two huge,
blue spectacle-rimmed eyes (an old advertisement
for an eyedoctor, Dr. T. J. Eckleburg.
The billboard seems to watch over everything
happening in the valley of ashes.
Chapter 2





A commuter train runs between West Egg and NYC
and makes several stops in the valley of ashes.
One day, Nick and Tom are riding the train into the
city and Tom forces Nick to follow him on one of the
stops.
Tom takes Nick to George Wilson’s garage. Tom’s
mistress, Myrtle, is Wilson’s wife.
Tom taunts Wilson and orders Myrtle to follow him
onto the train.
Tom then takes Myrtle and Nick to NYC.
Chapter 2




The trio goes to an apartment in Morningside Heights
that he rents so he can have affairs.
They have an impromptu party with Myrtle’s sister,
Catherine, and a couple named McKee (Mr. McKee is
pale and feminine and Mrs. McKee is shrill and
annoying).
During the party Catherine tells that she heard Jay
Gatsby is the nephew or cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm (the
ruler of Germany during WWI)
The group drinks excessively and Nick says he got
drunk for the 2nd time of his life at the party.
Chapter 2




The behavior and conversation of everyone at the
party repulses Nick and he tries to leave, but he is at
the same time fascinated by the spectacle (like a car
wreck)
Myrtle grows louder as she keeps drinking. Tom gives
her a new puppy as a gift, and she begins to talk about
Daisy.
Tom gets angry and warns her not to talk about his
wife. Myrtle starts chanting Daisy’s name. Tom hits
Myrtle and breaks her nose.
The party ends and Nick, drunk, leaves with Mr. McKee
and takes a 4 a.m. train back to Long Island.
Chapter 3







Gatsby is famous around NYC because he throws crazy,
elaborate parties every weekend at his mansion.
The parties are lavish and everyone wants to be invited.
One day, Gatsby’s chauffeur brings Nick an invitation to a
party.
Nick attends the party, but feels out of place.
No one at the party seems to know Gatsby, his personal
history, or the source of his wealth.
Jordan Baker is a party with her friend, Lucille, who thinks that
Gatsby was a German spy during WWI.
Nick also hears that Gatsby graduated from Oxford and once
killed a man in cold blood (tons of rumors circulate about him).
Chapter 3



Gatsby’s party is very luxurious. The guests are
impressed by Gatsby’s Rolls-Royce, his pool, his beach,
crates of fresh, imported oranges and lemons, buffet
tents in the gardens that contain a feast, a live
orchestra, and free-flowing liquor.
The party goes on and everyone gets drunker and
drunker. Nick and Jordan decide to go find Gatsby.
Instead, they run into a middle-aged man with huge
glasses (Nick names him Owl Eyes). Owl Eyes is sitting
in Gatsby’s library reading books.
Chapter 3




Nick and Jordan sit at a table outside around midnight
to watch the entertainment. There is a handsome young
man at the table that Nick recognizes.
The man introduces himself as Jay Gatsby and he and
Nick realize that they served in the same division during
the war.
Gatsby has a weird way of speaking. It’s very
elaborate and formal and he calls everyone “old
sport.”
Nick is fascinated by Gatsby and notices that Gatsby
doesn’t drink. Instead, he separates himself from the
party and watches his guests from the steps.
Chapter 3




Around 2 a.m., a butler tells Jordan that Gatsby needs
to speak to her. Jordan comes back from meeting with
Gatsby and says that she has just heard something
extraordinary. She does not tell Nick what it was.
Nick says goodbye to Gatsby and on his way, he sees
Owl Eyes trying to get his car out of a ditch.
Nick then describes his everyday life. He works in NYC,
takes long walks, and meets women. He dated a girl
from Jersey but then begins to date Jordan Baker.
Nick knows that Jordan is dishonest (she cheated in her
first golf tournament) but is still attracted to her.
Chapter 4




At the beginning of the chapter, Nick lists all the people who
attend Gatsby’s parties (the nation’s most wealthy and
powerful people)
Nick the describes a trip to NYC he took with Gatsby to
have lunch.
On the drive to the city, Gatsby tells Nick about his past and
says that he is the son of wealthy, deceased parents from
the Midwest. When Nick asks which city, Gatsby says San
Francisco.
Gatsby lists his accomplishments: educated at Oxford,
collected jewels in the capitals of Europe, hunted big game,
awarded medals in WWI by multiple European countries
Chapter 4



Nick doesn’t believe Gatsby, so Gatsby shows him a
medal from Montenegro and a picture of himself
playing cricket at Oxford.
As Gatsby is driving them to the city, a cop pulls him
over for speeding. Gatsby shows him a white card and
the cop apologizes for bothering him.
At lunch, Gatsby introduces Nick to Meyer Wolfshiem,
who claims he was responsible for fixing the 1919
World Series (players from the White Sox were
accused of throwing the series against the Reds)
Chapter 4



Wolfshiem is shady and has ties to “underground”
business connections.
This makes Nick think that the source of Gatsby’s
wealth may be unsavory and that Gatsby may have
ties to organized crime.
After lunch, Nick sees Jordan Baker who tells him
that, during her mysterious conversation with
Gatsby, Gatsby revealed that he is in love with
Daisy.
Chapter 4




According to Jordan, during the war, Daisy lived in
Louisville, Kentucky. All the military officers in town
were in love with her, but she was in love with Lieutenant
Jay Gatsby.
Gatsby left for war and Daisy chose to marry Tom, but
on the night before their wedding, she received a letter
from Gatsby that caused her to drink herself to
numbness.
Daisy remained faithful to her husband, though her
husband did not do the same.
Jordan adds that Gatsby bought his mansion in West
Egg so he could be close to Daisy.
Chapter 4



Nick remembers the night he saw Gatsby with his
arms outstretched to the water and realizes that the
green light was at the end of Daisy’s dock.
Jordan says that Gatsby asked her to convince Nick
to arrange a reunion between Daisy and Gatsby.
Gatsby is afraid Daisy will refuse to see him, so he
wants Gatsby to invite Daisy to tea. Gatsby intends
to come to tea as well, and force Daisy to see him.
Chapter 5




Nick comes home from the city one night after a date
with Jordan. Gatsby’s mansion is lit up brightly, but the
house is silent.
He sees Gatsby walking across the lawn toward him.
Gatsby seems desperate to make Nick happy (invites
him to Coney Island and for a swim in his pool).
Nick realizes that Gatsby is nervous because he wants
Nick to agree to his plan of inviting Daisy over for tea.
Nick agrees to help Gatsby.
Chapter 5




Gatsby is overjoyed, and offers to have someone mow
Nick’s lawn, and offers him a chance to get in on some
of the non-shady business that Gatsby is involved in.
Nick declines and is slightly offended that Gatsby
wants to pay Nick for arranging a meeting with Daisy.
The day of the meeting, Gatsby has someone cut Nick’s
grass and sends over a bouquet of flowers.
Gatsby is worried that Daisy won’t feel the same about
him.
Chapter 5



Daisy arrives to the party, but Gatsby
disappeared. Then, there’s a known at the door
and Gatsby enters.
The reunion is very awkward at first. Nick then
leaves them alone and after half an hour, Nick finds
them very happy. Daisy is crying tears of joy and
Gatsby is beaming.
Gatsby invites Nick and Daisy over to see his
possessions.
Chapter 5




Daisy is overwhelmed, and when he shows her his
collection of English shirts, she begins to cry. Gatsby
tells her that he stares at the green light on her dock
and dreams about their future.
Nick is worried that Daisy won’t live up to Gastby’s
vision of her.
Gatsby then calls in a man named Klipspringer (a weird
man who lives at Gatsby’s mansion) and he begins to
play the piano for them.
Nick realizes that Daisy and Gatsby have forgotten he
is there and leaves quietly.