Knowra The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby A 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald about Jay Gatsby’s pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, set amid wealth and social change on Long Island. Its critique of the American Dream is conveyed through Nick Carraway’s narration.
Nick Carraway : The novel’s narrator, a Midwesterner who rents a house beside Gatsby’s mansion and observes the Buchanans’ world. His selective, retrospective narration determines how Gatsby and the other characters are presented.
Frame Narrative : A story structure in which one narrator presents another story or a past sequence of events. Nick’s account frames Gatsby’s story as a recollection written after the events.
F. Scott Fitzgerald : An American novelist and short-story writer whose works include The Great Gatsby and Tender Is the Night. Fitzgerald wrote the novel and drew on his observations of wealth, ambition, and social status.
Old Money : Wealth inherited across generations, often accompanied by established social connections and status. Tom and Daisy’s inherited position contrasts with Gatsby’s newly acquired fortune and outsider status.
Harlem Renaissance : A flourishing of African American literature, music, and art centered in Harlem during the 1920s and early 1930s. The novel’s brief depiction of a racially mixed group reflects the period’s racial anxieties and cultural change.
Jay Gatsby : A wealthy Long Island host who reinvents his past and pursues Daisy Buchanan. His self-invention and desire for Daisy drive the novel’s central plot.
Unreliable Narrator : A narrator whose account is limited, biased, or inconsistent with the events described. Nick’s admiration for Gatsby and his selective judgments complicate his claim to objectivity.
Jazz Age : A period of American cultural change and popular prosperity during the 1920s, associated with jazz and mass consumption. The novel’s parties, music, and consumer culture reflect the era Fitzgerald called the Jazz Age.
New Money : Recently acquired wealth, especially when contrasted with established inherited fortunes. Gatsby can buy lavish possessions but cannot gain the social legitimacy the Buchanans inherit.
Great Gatsby criticism : The body of literary analysis examining the novel’s form, history, class relations, race, and themes. Critical readings have challenged and expanded interpretations of the novel’s treatment of the American Dream.
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