The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel by F.

The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, set in the Jazz Age on Long Island. It follows Nick Carraway’s account of the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his doomed pursuit of Daisy Buchanan.

What it is

The Great Gatsby is a tragedy and modernist novel published in 1925 by Charles Scribner’s Sons. It is narrated in the first person by Nick Carraway and centres on Jay Gatsby, a wealthy man obsessed with reuniting with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan. The story takes place during the summer of 1922 in Long Island and New York City.

Why it matters

The novel is widely regarded as a classic of American literature and a sharp critique of wealth, social class, materialism, and the American Dream. Though it received mixed reviews at first, it later became highly acclaimed and is now a defining portrait of the Roaring Twenties. In Canada, it is commonly taught in English literature courses as a key modernist text.

Key details

The plot ends in tragedy after Gatsby’s past and the Buchanan marriage collide. Major themes include romantic idealism, moral emptiness among the wealthy elite, and the false promise of the American Dream. The novel has been widely adapted and its characters, especially Gatsby, remain enduring figures in popular culture.