Selfish People

All the problems in the Great Gatsby is caused by selfishness. For example, Daisy shows selfishness because she doesn't care about anyone except herself. She is very beautiful and rich but she still wants more. Both Tom and Gatsby love Daisy, but she seems to get a thrill out of it, but she never thought about how Gatsby or Tom felt about this situation. Also Jordan Baker is considered a selfish person because all she does is gossip about others, which makes her self centered.

Parties at Gatsby's lawn, most of the people there are examples of selfish people. The people at his party are rich and don't care about anyone except themselves. They go to parties to enjoy themselves and not care about Gatsby's property. The people who are uninvited show up and gossip about him which exemplifies selfishness.

The Men of Gatsby

Jay Gatsby

Nick

Tom

In the great Gatsby, each man represents different goals, characteristics, and social level. They are all different men coming together so it makes “a small community”, which shows the society at the time, they are mainly Nick Carraway, Tom Buchanan, Jay Gatsby, and George Wilson.

Nick, first of all, is the narrative of the novel. He represents pure “new money”. He earned all by himself. But that way he doesn’t have much social activities until he met Gatsby.

Gatsby is“new money” too, but with all the complex background. He represents the illegal activities which made him a lot of money. He is also a dreamer. We can say he is a successful American who achieved his American dreams: being wealthy, powerful, and educated. He is a person full of memories, which represents the society at that time is always remembering the old times and doesn’t realize it is past.

Tom represents “old money” he has a powerful background, wealthy family. So that’s why Daisy wants to be with him. At the time women were not looking for true love, but men who can give them what they want.

Source: Dennis Lee

The Women of Gatsby

Myrtle

Jordan Baker

Daisy

In the Great Gatsby, there are three main women who play a major role in the novel. There is Myrtle Wilson, Jordan Baker, and Daisy Buchanan. All these women play a different part in this book but have allot in common. They all lie, cheat, drink, gossip, and they all are careless women who only care about themselves. Jordan is a independent women, but as her relationship grows with men, she starts to lie and gossip. Also Daisy and Myrtle are both married, and both of them cheat on there husband because of there discomfort.

Jordan Baker is an independent woman who plays golf. She is always gossiping about Tom and Daisy's relationship. Myrtle is married to George Wilson who is a mechanic , and also lives a low standard life. The only reason Myrtle married him was because he was a gentlemen. As the novel goes one, she finds herself living in a low life situation. Later she ran onto the street and was ran over by Daisy. Lastly there is Daisy who is married to Tom. As the novel goes on, Daisy starts having an affair with Jay Gatsby. When Tom finds out, he is outraged. Jay Gatsby mans up and tells him that Daisy never loved him and she only wanted to stay with him.

Source:http://www.directessays.com/viewpaper/90034.html

The Green Light

The Green Light is a symbol and also a metaphor in the noval. Situated at the end of Daisy’s East Egg dock and barely visible from Gatsby’s West Egg lawn, the green light represents Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for the future. Gatsby associates it with Daisy, and in Chapter 1 he reaches toward it in the darkness as a guiding light to lead him to his goal. Because Gatsby’s quest for Daisy is broadly associated with the American dream, the green light also symbolizes that more generalized ideal. In Chapter 9, Nick compares the green light to how America, rising out of the ocean, must have looked to early settlers of the new nation.

It also represents represents Gatsby's ultimate aspiration: to win Daisy's love. Nick's first vision of Gatsby is of his neighbor's trembling arms stretched out toward the green light (26). Later, after Daisy and Gatsby's successful reunion, a mist conceals the green light, visibly affecting Gatsby. Nick observes, "Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever....Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one" (98). This image suggests Gatsby realizes he must face the reality of Daisy, rather than the ideal he created for her.

Source: http://www.novelguide.com/thegreatgatsby/metaphoranalysis.html

Dan Cody

As time goes by, a reporter was curious of Gatsby's past and reveals"Dan Cody." Gatsby was originally born in North Dakota, on a farm. His original name was James Gatz. He also attended college there but dropped out after being humiliated for his janitorial work that paid for his tuition. After he dropped out, he worked at Lake Superior where he fished for Salmon and clams.

One day while at work he spotted a yacht which was owned by Dan Cody. Dan was a wealthy and rich man. Dan warned Gatsby of a storm that was approaching and took him into his services as a personal assistant on his journey's in the yacht. After he took him in, he names him Jay Gatsby. He was in charge of taking care of Dan when he was drunk. When Cody died, he left money to Gatsby but his mistress did not allow the money to go to him. After this incident he was committed to work hard and become a wealthy man.

Source:http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gatsby/section6.rhtml

The Great Gatsby film versions

The Great Gatsby is a 1974 American romantic drama film distributed by Newdon Productions and Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Jack Clayton and produced by David Merrick, from a screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola based on the novel of the same title by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The film is the 3rd filmed version of the novel.

The film won two Academy Awards, for Best Costume Design (Theoni V. Aldredge) and Best Music (Nelson Riddle). It also won three BAFTA Awards for Best Art Direction (John Box), Best Cinematography (Douglas Slocombe) and Best Costume Design (Theoni V. Aldredge). It won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress (Karen Black) and received three further nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Bruce Dern and Sam Waterston) and Most Promising Newcomer (Sam Waterston).

Cast:

• Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby A.K.A. James Gatz
• Mia Farrow as Daisy Buchanan
• Bruce Dern as Tom Buchanan
• Karen Black as Myrtle Wilson
• Scott Wilson as George B. Wilson
• Sam Waterston as Nick Carraway
• Lois Chiles as Jordan Baker
• Edward Herrmann as Ewing Klipspringer
• Sammy Smith as Comic
• Kathryn Leigh Scott as Catherine
• Vincent Schiavelli as Thin Man
• Roberts Blossom as Mr. Gatz
• Beth Porter as Mrs. McKee
• Howard Da Silva as Meyer Wolfsheim
• Patsy Kensit as Pammy Buchanan

Source: http://www.contactmusic.com/new/film.nsf/reviews/thegreatgatsby

East Egg vs. West Egg

East Egg

Map of Both Eggs

Gatsby Mansion

East Egg and West Egg are both prefect size ovals and are separated by a bay. There are many things that were different between these two eggs. East Egg is known for being more fashionable group, and is known to be the "old money" because the people that lived there already had money. West Egg was where all the newly rich people lived, also known as "new money" because the people there worked hard and made earned their money.

In the Great Gatsby, Daisy and Tom are perfect examples of people that live in East Egg because both of them were born and raised in a wealthy family and lived in the upper class. The people in East Egg are known to be spoiled, and to have no mortality. As for West Egg, where Jay Gatsby and Nick lived, there life styles were way different then East Egger's. Jay Gatsby represented "new money" because he had recently made his money threw corrupt business dealing. People in West Egg were honest people with morals. But as the story goes on, it seems like West Egg was trying to fit in with the East Egg by spending money on not needed items.

Source: http://www.bookrags.com/essay-2006/5/23/94857/9061