Chapters

• Chapter One

  Nick Carraway is a Yale graduate who has returned from WW1 and moves to New York to become a bonds salesman. He moves to the Long Island suburb, West Egg, renting a small house next to the mansion owned by Jay Gatsby. West Egg is full of newly rich people, but across the bay on East Egg is where the old money lives. After a dinner with his cousin Daisy, her husband Tom, and friend Jordan Baker in East Egg, Nick sees Gatsby staring across the bay at a green light. 
• Chapter Two

  Nick goes with Daisy’s husband, Tom, to the city. On the way they stop in the Valley of Ashes where Tom visits his mistress Myrtle, and he tells her to meet them later. They all get drunk in the city that night, and Tom ends up hitting Myrtle after she taunts him about Daisy.
• Chapter Three

  Nick receives an invitation to one of Gatsby’s parties where he hears scandalous rumours about his neighbour. He spends most of the night with Jordan, wandering through Gatsby’s house where they meet Owl Eyes in the library. They fall into a conversation with Gatsby himself, who appears charming and personable. At one point, Gatsby goes off alone with Jordan and tells her something, but she won’t tell Nick. 
• Chapter Four

  Gatsby and Nick go into the city to meet one of his business partners, Meyer Wolfsheim. On the way, a police man catches Gatsby speeding and attempts to pull him over; Gatsby flashes a white card and the policeman moves on. Wolfsheim’s suspicious demeanour makes Nick wonder if Gatsby is involved in organised crime. When Tom arrives, Gatsby quickly disperses. Later, Nick goes to tea with Jordan who tells him how Jay and Daisy were romantically involved before he was sent to war. Gatsby wants Nick to arrange a meeting without telling Daisy he’ll be there.
• Chapter Five

  Nick agrees to invite Daisy over for tea so Gatsby can see her. At first, Gatsby is debilitatingly nervous when he sees Daisy, so leaves, but comes back to front door, drenched from the rain. At first, they are awkward with one another, but when Nick leaves them alone their bond is rekindled. Gatsby invites Daisy and Nick to his mansion, where he ends up dancing with Daisy, and Nick realises they’re enraptured with each other.
• Chapter Six

  Nick learns about Gatsby’s past. His real name was James Gatz, and he grew up poor on a farm in North Dakota. He found a mentor in a wealthy man named Dan Cody who left Gatsby $25,000 after he dies. Although, Gatsby was unable to collect it for petty legal reasons. Nick attends another party but with Tom and Daisy this time; no-one enjoys themselves.
• Chapter Seven

  Nick and Gatsby have lunch at Tom and Daisy’s. It is tense as reflected by the boiling heat and Tom suspects that there is something between Gatsby and Daisy. The group drives into the city in separate cars where Tom confronts Gatsby. Daisy admits she loves Gatsby, he refuses to believe that she ever loved Tom, but she did. Tom reveals that Gatsby is involved in illegal businesses. Daisy and Gatsby drive home together, hitting and killing Myrtle on the way. Gatsby tells Nick that Daisy was the one driving the car, but he will take full responsibility.
• Chapter Eight

  Gatsby tells Nick that he posed as an affluent man when he first met Daisy because he was madly in love with her and wanted to be with her. By the time he had returned from war, she had married Tom. The day after Myrtle’s death, George Wilson hints that he knows how to find the person who killed his wife. Later, Gatsby is found dead in his pool, and Wilson’s lifeless body is lying in the grass nearby.
• Chapter Nine

  Nick meets Gatsby’s father, Henry Gatz, and has an emotional conversation with him about Gatsby’s potential for greatness. Later, Nick is appalled when hardly anyone shows up to the funeral. He is even more appalled when he runs into Tom of Fifth Avenue and realises Tom told George that Gatsby was responsible for Myrtle’s death.