The Great Gatsby
Chapter 1
In Chapter One, the book reveals a great deal about the setting and background. Almost all of the main characters are introduced: Nick Carraway, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, and Jordan Baker. Although Nick ,the narrator of the story, does not meet the mysterious Gatsby in this chapter, he sees him on his front lawn, looking at a faint green light over the bay.
Section 1:
Nick's Background
Nick comes from a fairly wealthy family in the Midwest. When he returned, he decided to move to West Egg and start in the bond business. He attended college at New Haven and then served in World War I. After his service in the military and his college education, Nick decides to move East. He moves to Long Island, New York, on a section of the island called West Egg. Although he lives in close proximity to several millionaires, he is fairly poor and lives in a small run-down house next to the enigmatic Mr. Gatsby.
Section 2:
The Characters.
Nick Carraway In this chapter, Nick attends a dinner party at the home of the Buchanans.
Tom Buchanan: Tom invites his friends Nick Carraway and Jordan Baker to dinner at his mansion. He talks about the superiority of the white race and receives a call from his mistress in New York
Daisy Buchanan: Daisy is Tom's wife and is present at the dinner party. She is very pleased to see her distant cousin Nick but seems depressed and unhappy. This might be due to the rumor that her husband has a mistress in New York City.
Jordan Baker: Jordan is a professional golfer. Although little is known about Jordan at this time, she is a good friend of Daisy and Tom's. Nick meets her at the dinner party
For more information on the characters, go to here
Section 3:
Plot summary of Chapter One
Tom and Daisy Buchanan live in the fashionable East Egg. They are extremely wealthy with an over-extravagant house and all of the comforts that money can buy. Nick is distantly related to Daisy, and he went to college with Tom. He has been invited over to the residency of the Buchanans for a dinner meeting with his "two old friends whom I scarcely knew at all" (11) as Nick stated. Nick meets Tom on the front porch and describes him as a strong figure with arrogant eyes and a cruel body. The reader begins to hate this character already. Once inside, his cousin Daisy introduces him to Jordan Baker. Nick is captivated with Daisy's strange voice, which has a beautiful quality that he cannot seem to identify yet. It is immediately obvious from the exchanges between Tom and Daisy that their marriage is strained. They argue frequently and about petty things. During their meal, the butler enters and informs Tom that he has a phone call. Without a word to anybody, he stands and leaves the table to get the phone. Jordan whispers to Nick that it is Tom's mistress in New York on the phone. The tension and dissatisfaction within the marriage is confirmed. However, if Daisy is aware of what is happening behind her back, she gives no indication besides a little bit of extra tension. Later, when Daisy and Nick are alone, she tells him that her only baby was born while Tom was not around. She feels that every thing is "terrible anyhow" and that she hopes her baby is a "fool-that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool." It is obvious that her marriage has weighed heavily on her and that she maintains a negative outlook on life because of it. Soon after, Nick leaves and returns to West Egg. Just as he is about to go to bed, he looks across the lawn and sees his neighbor, Mr. Gatsby, looking out over the bay at a distant green light at the end of a dock. When Nick looks again, Gatsby has vanished.
Section 4:
Symbols
Daisy herself is a symbol. The daisy is a beautiful yellow flower. Daisy is described as being beautiful, too, and her attitude is "yellow." Yellow symbolizes wealth but also arrogance and corruption.
The green light across the bay which Gatsby is so interested in is actually a light coming from Tom and Daisy's dock. Gatsby is very aware of this; in fact it is one of the reasons he purchased his fabulous mansion in such an odd place. Green is a symbol for hope and a better future.
For more information on symbols in The Great Gatsby, click on the flower below.
Section 5:
Setting
This chapter takes place at the fabulous mansion of the Buchanans in East Egg. The rich in the gilded age were known for showing off their wealth by buying excessively expensive houses, and Tom and Daisy are no exception.
Section 6:
Quotations
"When I came back from the East last Autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever" (6).
"I felt that Tom would drift on forever seeking a little wistfully for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game" (10).
"I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool-that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool" (21).
Go to Chapter Two of The Great Gatsby
Page last updated on May 26 1999.
Curator: Peter Telfer