Literature Analysis 2

The novel opens as Nick Carraway moves to New York, right next door to Gatsby. Gatsby is rich and extravagant, throwing huge parties that are known by everyone. It turns out that his parties are only to impress Daisy Buchaanan, a woman he was once in love with, who lives across the lake from his house. Daisy happens to be Nick's cousin, and Nick brings Daisy over to Gatsby's house for tea. They quickly rekindle their relationship and begin having an affair, as Daisy is a married woman, although she doesn't know that her husband is also having an affair in the city with a woman named Myrtle. One day Gatsby looks at Daisy with so much passion that Tom realizes what is going on and gets angry, forcing everyone to go to New York to a hotel. At the hotel, all of the secrets come out, and Tom says that Gatsby is a criminal. Daisy comes to the conclusion that she needs to stay with Tom. Tom has Gatsby drive Daisy home, and on the way, Daisy drives and hits Myrtle. Myrtle's husband believes Gatsby killed his wife, and so kills him and then himself. Nick moves away to remove himself from the whole situation.

The theme is the corruption of the American dream. What used to be about happiness, success, invention, and curiosity is now solely controlled by money and greed. The characters want instant pleasure without work, and are willing to give up what is truly important in order to find what they believe will make them happy. Gatsby, for example, believes Daisy is his dream, when in reality she is nothing special, and leads to his ultimate demise.

The tone of the novel changes, as it is told in first person point of view. At some points Nick is very bitter about Gatsby and what is going on, where other times he is happy and admiring all that is going on. 
- He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. 
-Gatsby, pale as death, with his hands plunged like weights in his coat pockets, was standing in a puddle of water glaring tragically into my eyes
-There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams--not through her own fault but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything.