The Great Gatsby Chapter Summaries

Chapter 1 introduces narrator Nick Carraway, who moves from the Midwest to West Egg, Long Island, to learn the bond business. Nick is a Yale graduate and World War I veteran from a prominent family. He rents a small house next to a massive mansion owned by the mysterious Jay Gatsby, who throws extravagant parties every weekend. Nick visits his cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband Tom in the more fashionable East Egg. Tom is a wealthy, brutish former Yale football player who dominates conversations with racist theories about the "Rise of the Colored Empires." At dinner, Nick meets Jordan Baker, a professional golfer with a cynical attitude. The tension between Daisy and Tom is palpable—a phone call interrupts dinner, revealing Tom's affair. After returning home, Nick sees Gatsby for the first time, standing on his lawn and reaching toward a distant green light across the bay at the end of Daisy's dock. This moment establishes the novel's central symbol and Gatsby's yearning for something just out of reach.

Chapter 2 introduces the Valley of Ashes, a desolate industrial wasteland between West Egg and New York City. This gray, ash-covered area represents moral and social decay. Overlooking this wasteland is a faded billboard showing the enormous eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg, an optometrist whose advertisement has been forgotten. Tom Buchanan forces Nick to accompany him to the Valley of Ashes, where they stop at a garage owned by George Wilson. George is a lifeless, exhausted man who doesn't know his wife Myrtle is having an affair with Tom. Tom brings Myrtle to New York City for an afternoon party in an apartment he keeps for their trysts. The impromptu party includes Myrtle's sister Catherine and the McKees, neighbors from downstairs. The group drinks heavily. Myrtle begins acting as though she belongs to Tom's class, putting on airs and discussing interior decorating. When Myrtle repeatedly mentions Daisy's name, Tom breaks her nose with a violent blow, revealing his brutality beneath the veneer of sophistication.

Chapter 3 showcases one of Gatsby's famous parties. Nick receives a formal invitation—unusual, as most guests simply arrive uninvited. The party is spectacular: a full orchestra, elaborate buffets, champagne flowing freely, and hundreds of guests dancing and socializing. Most attendees have never met Gatsby and spread wild rumors about him: he killed a man, he was a German spy during the war, he went to Oxford. Nick searches for Gatsby at his own party and instead encounters Jordan Baker. Together they explore, eventually sitting with a man who seems familiar. After pleasant conversation, the man reveals he is Jay Gatsby. Nick is shocked—he expected someone older and more impressive. Gatsby is charming, calls everyone "old sport," and seems genuinely interested in Nick. During the party, Gatsby receives a mysterious phone call from Chicago. Jordan is summoned for a private conversation with Gatsby. Later, she tells Nick it was the most amazing thing she's ever heard, but won't reveal what Gatsby told her. The chapter ends with Nick observing the careless behavior of the wealthy guests and a drunk driving accident as people leave.

Chapter 4 begins with Nick listing the various people who attended Gatsby's parties that summer—a catalog of the wealthy and famous, many with criminal connections. One morning, Gatsby picks up Nick in his gorgeous yellow car and drives him to New York for lunch. During the drive, Gatsby tells his life story: Oxford-educated, wealthy family from the Midwest (all dead now), big-game hunter, war hero who collected medals from "every Allied government." Nick is skeptical until Gatsby produces a photograph from Oxford and a medal from Montenegro. They drive through the Valley of Ashes, and Gatsby's car is pulled over for speeding, but Gatsby shows a card to the policeman who immediately lets him go—suggesting Gatsby's connections with corruption. In New York, Gatsby introduces Nick to Meyer Wolfsheim, a business associate who fixed the 1919 World Series. This meeting reveals Gatsby's connections to organized crime. Later, Jordan Baker tells Nick the real story: five years ago, Gatsby and Daisy had a romance before he left for war. She promised to wait but married Tom instead. Gatsby bought his mansion specifically to be across the bay from Daisy. He throws parties hoping she'll attend. Jordan reveals that Gatsby wants Nick to invite Daisy to tea so Gatsby can "accidentally" drop by.

Chapter 5 contains the novel's emotional centerpiece: Gatsby and Daisy's reunion after five years. Following Gatsby's plan, Nick invites Daisy to tea. Gatsby, nervous and vulnerable, arrives early and is almost panicked. When Daisy arrives, the initial meeting is awkward and tense. Gatsby is so nervous he nearly breaks Nick's clock, a symbolic moment suggesting his attempt to stop or reverse time. Nick tactfully leaves them alone, and when he returns, the reunion has transformed. Gatsby and Daisy are radiantly happy, talking and laughing. Gatsby invites them to his mansion for a tour. He shows Daisy his enormous house, his gardens, and finally his bedroom, where he pulls out shirts from England and throws them in a pile—beautiful shirts of every color and pattern. Daisy begins to cry over the shirts, overwhelmed by Gatsby's wealth and the life she could have had. Gatsby dismisses his servants the next day, replacing them with associates of Wolfsheim's who won't gossip. The green light at the end of Daisy's dock, which seemed so significant when Gatsby yearned for her, now that she's real and present, has lost its enchantment. "Now it was again a green light on a dock."

Chapter 6 interrupts the present narrative to reveal Gatsby's true past. A reporter shows up asking questions about Gatsby, and Nick takes the opportunity to tell readers the truth: Gatsby was born James Gatz to poor farmers in North Dakota. At 17, he met Dan Cody, a wealthy copper mogul, and reinvented himself as Jay Gatsby. He worked for Cody on his yacht for five years, learning the manners and tastes of the wealthy but inheriting nothing when Cody died. Tom Buchanan, along with a man named Sloane and a woman companion, stop at Gatsby's house while horseback riding. Tom is suspicious and condescending. The woman insincerely invites Gatsby to dinner, but Tom and his friends leave before Gatsby can join them, revealing the social gulf between old and new money. The following Saturday, Tom and Daisy attend one of Gatsby's parties. Tom is contemptuous of the new-money crowd, and Daisy is appalled by the vulgarity. Gatsby can't understand Daisy's reaction. After they leave, Gatsby tells Nick he wants Daisy to leave Tom and pretend the last five years never happened. Nick tries to tell him "you can't repeat the past," but Gatsby insists "Why of course you can!"

Chapter 7 is the novel's climactic chapter where everything falls apart. It's the hottest day of summer. Gatsby has stopped throwing parties now that Daisy visits regularly. Tom becomes suspicious of Gatsby and Daisy's relationship. The group—Tom, Daisy, Gatsby, Nick, and Jordan—decide to go to New York City to escape the heat. Tom insists on switching cars with Gatsby. Tom drives Gatsby's yellow car with Nick and Jordan, while Gatsby and Daisy take Tom's car. On the way, Tom stops at Wilson's garage in the Valley of Ashes. George Wilson tells Tom he's discovered his wife is having an affair (though he doesn't know with whom) and plans to move West. Tom realizes he's losing both his wife and his mistress. In a suite at the Plaza Hotel, Tom confronts Gatsby about his relationship with Daisy. The confrontation becomes heated. Gatsby demands Daisy tell Tom she never loved him. Daisy can't fully commit, saying she loved both Tom and Gatsby. Tom attacks Gatsby's credibility, revealing his bootlegging and criminal connections. Daisy, overwhelmed, sides with Tom. Gatsby and Daisy leave together in Gatsby's yellow car. On the drive back, Daisy is driving when Myrtle Wilson runs into the road. Daisy hits and kills Myrtle but doesn't stop. Tom arrives to find the accident scene and subtly points George Wilson toward Gatsby.

Chapter 8 begins the morning after Myrtle's death. Nick finds Gatsby at his mansion, still waiting outside Daisy's house all night to make sure Tom doesn't hurt her. Gatsby tells Nick the full story of his romance with Daisy: how he met her in Louisville before the war, how he let her believe he came from the same wealthy background, how they fell in love, and how she promised to wait for him. Gatsby explains that when he returned from the war, Daisy had married Tom. He began his criminal activities specifically to accumulate the wealth he thought would win her back. Nick tries to convince Gatsby to leave town, but Gatsby can't abandon his dream. Nick goes to work but can't concentrate, leaves early, and yells to Gatsby "They're a rotten crowd. You're worth the whole damn bunch put together." This is the last time Nick sees Gatsby alive. The narrative shifts to George Wilson in the Valley of Ashes. Devastated by Myrtle's death, he becomes convinced that whoever owned the yellow car was also Myrtle's lover. Tom had told him it wasn't his car. Wilson traces it to Gatsby. That afternoon, Wilson walks to Gatsby's mansion. Gatsby is floating in his pool—he hadn't used it all summer and finally decides to swim. Wilson shoots Gatsby, killing him instantly, then turns the gun on himself.

Chapter 9 concludes the novel with Gatsby's funeral and Nick's reflections. Nick tries to organize the funeral but struggles to find attendees. Hundreds came to Gatsby's parties, but only three people come to his funeral: Nick, Owl Eyes (a party guest who actually read Gatsby's books), and the minister. Gatsby's father, Henry Gatz, arrives from Minnesota, proud of his son's success but unaware of the criminal source of his wealth. Daisy and Tom have left town without a word. Nick runs into Tom Buchanan in New York. Tom reveals he told George Wilson that Gatsby owned the yellow car, essentially directing Wilson to kill Gatsby. Tom shows no remorse, believing Gatsby deserved it. This conversation disgusts Nick and confirms his judgment of Tom and Daisy as careless people who "smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money." Nick decides to move back to the Midwest, disillusioned with the East and its moral emptiness. Before leaving, he has one final encounter with Jordan Baker, who is now dating someone else. The novel ends with Nick's meditation on Gatsby's dream, the green light, and the American Dream itself. He reflects on how we're all "boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past," always reaching for futures that recede before us.