Original 1925 dust jacket of The Great Gatsby by Francis Cugat: a face with eyes above a glowing city at night
Public Domain image via Wikimedia Commons. Creator: Original cover illustration by Francis Cugat (1893–1981) and published by Charle. All image credits.

Book in short

The Great Gatsby summary

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925

This Great Gatsby summary covers F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short, famous novel of the 1920s. A mysterious millionaire throws huge parties for one reason: to win back the woman he loved five years before.

Author
F. Scott Fitzgerald
First published
First published in New York on 10 April 1925 by Charles Scribner’s Sons. It entered the US public domain on 1 January 2021.
Length
9 chapters
Type
Novel, Jazz Age fiction
Read the book free
Project Gutenberg eBook #64317 (public domain in the US)
This summary
Story in about 2 minutes

The story in short

In the summer of 1922, Nick Carraway moves from the Midwest to New York to sell bonds. He rents a small house in West Egg, on Long Island. Next door stands an enormous mansion where a man named Jay Gatsby throws wild parties every weekend. Hundreds of guests come, but almost none of them know who Gatsby really is.

Across the bay, in wealthier East Egg, live Nick’s cousin Daisy and her husband, Tom Buchanan. Tom is rich, rude and openly unfaithful: he has a mistress, Myrtle Wilson, the wife of a struggling garage owner. The garage stands in a grey “valley of ashes” between Long Island and the city, watched over by a huge faded billboard of a pair of eyes.

Gatsby finally invites Nick over. Through Nick’s friend Jordan Baker, Nick learns the truth: Gatsby and Daisy were in love five years earlier, before Gatsby went to war. Gatsby bought his mansion to be across the water from Daisy’s house, and he stares at the green light at the end of her dock.

Nick invites Daisy to tea so Gatsby can meet her again. The meeting is awkward, then joyful. Gatsby shows Daisy his house and his piles of beautiful shirts. They start an affair.

Bit by bit, the truth about Gatsby comes out. He was born James Gatz to a poor farming family in North Dakota. He reinvented himself, and his money comes from shady business with a gangster named Meyer Wolfshiem.

On a burning hot day the group drives into Manhattan. In a suite at the Plaza Hotel, Tom confronts Gatsby. Gatsby insists that Daisy never loved Tom, but Daisy cannot say it. Tom exposes Gatsby’s illegal business, and Daisy pulls away.

Driving home in Gatsby’s car, Daisy hits Myrtle Wilson, who has run into the road, and Myrtle dies. Gatsby plans to take the blame. Tom tells the grieving George Wilson that the car belonged to Gatsby. Wilson goes to Gatsby’s mansion, and the next afternoon both men are found dead.

Almost no one comes to Gatsby’s funeral, apart from Nick and Gatsby’s proud old father. Daisy and Tom simply move away. Sick of the East, Nick goes back to the Midwest, thinking about Gatsby’s hope and the past that no one can repeat.

Spoiler note: this summary tells the whole story, including the ending.

Main characters

  • Nick Carraway: The narrator, a polite young man from the Midwest who is drawn into the lives of the rich.
  • Jay Gatsby: A self-made millionaire with a mysterious past, devoted to a dream of Daisy.
  • Daisy Buchanan: Nick’s charming cousin, the woman Gatsby loves, who chooses comfort over risk.
  • Tom Buchanan: Daisy’s wealthy, bullying husband.
  • Jordan Baker: A cool, careless golf champion and Nick’s love interest.
  • Myrtle Wilson: Tom’s mistress, desperate to escape her dull life.
  • George Wilson: Myrtle’s husband, a tired garage owner in the valley of ashes.

Themes

  • Love: Gatsby loves a memory of Daisy more than the real woman.
  • Ambition: Gatsby remakes himself from nothing, a picture of the American Dream and its limits.
  • Social class: Old money in East Egg looks down on new money in West Egg, and both ignore the poor.
  • The past: Gatsby believes he can repeat it, and the ending shows he cannot.

Key lessons from The Great Gatsby

  1. You cannot relive the pastGatsby builds his whole life around getting back one summer. Time moves on, and so do people.
  2. Money does not make you belongGatsby’s wealth never earns him respect from Tom’s world.
  3. Careless people hurt othersNick calls Tom and Daisy careless: they break things and let others clean up. Own your actions.
  4. Real friends show upAt the end only Nick stands by Gatsby. Popularity is not friendship.
  5. Don’t judge too fastNick’s father tells him to remember that others have not had his advantages. It is good advice for any reader.

Who should read it?

  • Readers who want a short classic: you can finish it in a weekend.
  • Anyone curious about the 1920s, jazz, parties and the American Dream.
  • Students reading it for school who want the big picture first.

Quotes from The Great Gatsby

Copied word for word from the public-domain text on Project Gutenberg, with the chapter each line comes from.

  • just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.
    The Great Gatsby, Chapter 1
  • that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.
    The Great Gatsby, Chapter 1
  • Can’t repeat the past?
    The Great Gatsby, Chapter 6
  • Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.
    The Great Gatsby, Chapter 7
  • So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
    The Great Gatsby, Chapter 9

If you liked it, read these next

Frequently asked questions

Is The Great Gatsby in the public domain?

Yes, in the United States. Its US copyright expired on 1 January 2021, along with all books published in 1925, so the original text is now free to read and share there.

What does the green light mean in The Great Gatsby?

It is the light at the end of Daisy’s dock. For Gatsby it stands for Daisy and for his hopes for the future, which always seem close but out of reach.

How does The Great Gatsby end?

After Myrtle’s death, George Wilson wrongly blames Gatsby, and both men die. Hardly anyone comes to Gatsby’s funeral, and Nick leaves the East for good.

When is The Great Gatsby set?

It takes place over one summer in 1922, in New York City and on Long Island.

Explore more

Sources

Checked for this page before publishing. Found a mistake? Tell us.

Published 2026-10-27. Last checked 2026-10-27.