Important Themes and Plot Setting in Chapter 1 of The Great Gatsby

"Where there's smoke there's fire" by Russell Patterson showing a fashionably dressed flapper in the 1920s.

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Background Information on the Author and Setting

The Great Gatsby was written by American novelist and screenwriter F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald was well known for his novels depicting the grandeur of the Jazz Era. The Great Gatsby is a fictional novel set in the height of the jazz age post World War I in the United States. After the war there was a period of financial prosperity, as depicted in the novel. This period is also referred to as the ‘Roaring 20s’. Throughout the novel Fitzgerald depicts various themes: the American dream, corruption, wealth, forbidden love, destiny, social class, and marriage. The Great Gatsby is considered Fitzgerald’s most revered and influential piece of work. 

Chapter 1: Into the Eggs

The chapter opens with the main character and narrator, Nick Carraway, reminiscing on his childhood, and moving from Minnesota to New York. He moves into a neighborhood called West Egg, where the ‘new money’ populace lives. On the other hand, East Egg is home to aristocratic families who come from generational wealth. His house is across the lawn from Jay Gatsby, who he describes as ‘gorgeous’. Gatsby’s house is a colossal mansion that Nick compares to the Hotel de Ville in Normandy, as it has a marble pool and a forty-acre lawn. He explains he named his book after Jay Gatsby and the events that involved him in the summer of 1925. 

Daisy Buchanan is Nick’s distant cousin who lives across the bay. Fitzgerald emphasizes Daisy as a ‘distant relative’ to suggest that Nick and Daisy do not have a close relationship. Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan who is a wealthy businessman; Nick describes Tom’s football career in college as the peak of his seemingly dull life. Tom is a very large, aggressive man. His wife Daisy is a very slow-witted woman who, from Nick’s perspective, laughs too often to truly be happy. Tom and Daisy represent the societal norms of the 1920s with Tom being the unfaithful domineering man, and Daisy the submissive, daft housewife.  When Tom and Daisy’s daughter is introduced, Daisy details how she views being a woman in her era: “I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”

Daisy and Tom invite Nick for dinner in their Georgian-style colonial mansion. Tom’s family came from money and he spent it frivolously. When Tom greets Nick he tells him about the string of ponies he bought for his enjoyment, and points out Nick’s lack of strength compared to his brute force. Nick describes Tom’s eyes as ‘arrogant’ and his manner as hard and superlicious. Tom is a manipulative and forceful man, and to this point uses his force to move Nick around and grab him by the arm. He was feared by others growing up because of his large size and intense mannerisms; however, Nick saw Tom as a rather dull individual who uses force to get his way. Tom knows this and subtly tries to undermine Nick throughout the novel because of this fact. When Tom asks Nick about his job, he rudely points out how the company he works for is not prominent enough to be a household name.

As Nick walks into the lavish foyer he finds two women laying on an enormous couch: Daisy and Jordan Baker. Jordan Baker is Daisy’s close friend, and is often described as aloof and somewhat drowsy. Nick details how Jordan and Daisy are simply present and are not fazed or entertained by their company.

Jordan asks Nick about his residence in West Egg and suggests that she knows a fellow named Gatsby. To this Daisy replies with a surprised gasp, and alludes to a deeper relationship with Jay Gatsby than she is willing to admit. 

Tom abruptly mentions a book he has recently read, ‘The Rise of the Colored Empires’ by Goddard. He asks Nick if he has read this book and beckons to him. ‘The Rise of the Colored Empires’ entails racist Social Darwinist rhetoric that seems to be convincing to Tom. Tom details that they are the ‘dominant race’ and have to watch out for the other colored races. The conversation of Tom’s book is interrupted when he gets a call from his mistress during dinner. Jordan explains that Tom has a woman whom he sees on the weekends. Daisy is aware that Tom is unfaithful but is unable to say or do anything to stop him. As such, she is evidently not happy in their marriage but has nowhere else to turn to because Tom provides her and their daughter food and shelter. She explains that the day of their wedding, Daisy nearly backed out of her marriage with Tom. 

After dinner, Nick returns to his home in West Egg to see a mysterious figure across the lawn. He sees Gatsby’s silhouette in the dark admiring the stars. Nick glances at the dock to see a flashing green light and turns back to see that Gatsby has vanished into the night. 

Article Written by student Author Natalie P.