The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is a novel that portrays the extravagant life of Jay Gatsby, a selfmade man who quickly changes from poverty to opulence and takes to extravagant parties in his sumptuous mansion. This life of merrymaking and hedonism raises questions over illicit liquor selling and consumption. Meanwhile, Gatsby’s main obsession is to win Daisy Buchanan’s heart again, but to no avail. In the end, he is shot to death by George Wilson. F. Scott Fitzgerald (18961940) published the novel in 1925. Unsuccessful upon publication, it gradually gained popularity to become a best seller and a masterpiece of American fiction. Set in the 1920s, the story questions the values of the American society after World War I, focusing on the emerging nouveaux riches community within the context of America’s economic boom and the Jazz Age. The novel also sounds the alarm about the evaporation of the promises of the American Dream.