The Great Gatsby Summary

Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby, moves to West Egg, Long Island, in the summer of 1922. He comes from Minnesota to work as a bond salesman and rents a small house next to Jay Gatsby’s grand mansion. Gatsby is known for hosting extravagant parties, yet he himself often remains apart from them, creating an air of mystery around him.

Nick visits his cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband Tom in East Egg, a district known for its wealthy residents. Here, he discovers that Tom is having an affair with Myrtle Wilson, who is married to a mechanic. Myrtle lives in the bleak “valley of ashes” between West Egg and New York City. During this visit, Nick meets Jordan Baker, a professional golfer and Daisy's friend. Jordan and Nick develop a connection.

Eventually, Gatsby and Nick meet. Gatsby confides in Nick, revealing his love for Daisy, whom he dated five years ago. Gatsby's rise to wealth includes illegal activities, all aimed at winning Daisy back. With Nick's help, the two rekindle their romance, though Daisy remains married to Tom, creating a complicated love triangle.

As their affair continues, Tom becomes suspicious of Gatsby’s motives and wealth. This tension builds to a heated confrontation at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, where Tom challenges Gatsby, exposing his criminal past. During this argument, Gatsby insists Daisy never loved Tom. However, Daisy admits she loved both men, leaving Gatsby shocked and heartbroken. The confrontation ends with Tom reasserting control, leaving Daisy torn between the two.

As tensions rise, tragically, Daisy accidentally kills Myrtle when she runs out into the street while driving Gatsby’s car. Though Gatsby offers to take the blame for the accident, Tom misleads George Wilson, Myrtle's husband. He tells George that Gatsby was driving, which ignites a chain of devastating events. George, motivated by anger and grief, takes revenge by tracking down Gatsby.

In a tragic twist, George Wilson finds Gatsby in his mansion and kills him in the pool before taking his own life. Following Gatsby's death, Nick is left to plan his funeral, only to realize that most of Gatsby’s social connections abandon him in death. The emptiness of seemingly glamorous lifestyles is revealed through the lack of true friends who show up to mourn him.

Disillusioned by the hollow values of the rich, Nick decides to leave New York and return to the Midwest. Before he departs, he reflects on Gatsby's enduring hope and ambition, contrasting it with the cruel realities of an era filled with corruption and selfishness. The story ends on this note of lost dreams and the darker side of the American Dream, leaving a lasting impression about the pursuit of wealth and its ultimate futility.

At the end of The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is shot and killed by George Wilson. George mistakenly thinks Gatsby was the driver of the car that hit and killed his wife, Myrtle. After the tragic incident, George takes his own life, overwhelmed by grief and rage.

Nick Carraway, who tells the story, is left to sort out Gatsby's affairs. He feels a deep sense of loneliness and reflects on the moral decay present in the lives of the wealthy characters surrounding him. Gatsby’s dream of rekindling his past with Daisy seems more unattainable than ever.

The novel closes with Nick contemplating the American Dream and the relentless hope that people cling to. He thinks about the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, a symbol of everything Gatsby yearned for but never reached. Ultimately, the ending highlights key ideas of loss, illusion, and the unattainability of dreams in a world filled with emptiness.