Enlighten Me! The Great Gatsby

By David J. Nix

Perhaps you read The Great Gatsby, and want a refresher. Perhaps you read the novel, and require more clarification. Perhaps you didn't read it, and the test is tomorrow. Whatever your need, this guide is for you. It tells the story that the novel tells, but in one-quarter of the words and in contemporary language. Interspersed within this telling are in-line commentary and notes that provide historical context and cultural context, highlight important quotes, and identify motifs and examples of themes.

This guide differs from others by presenting themes, quotes, symbols, motifs, and characters in the context of the story. Other guides present such information out of context, which can be confusing. A quote or motif without proper context can be difficult to remember and understand. Context is everything!

Note: This guide cites The Great Gatsby twenty-six times.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David J. Nix
• Release date: May 3, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476420103

David J. Nix

David grew up in the borderlands of the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, a landscape that encouraged great imagination and a love of stories. As a veteran of hi-tech, David has published a number of articles in dry and dusty industry publications. He has also taught and mentored teens for over 20 years. His love of storytelling and resonance with teens led him to writing novels for young adults. David lives in the Hill Country outside Austin, Texas with his wife and three children.

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Enlighten Me! The Great Gatsby

David J. Nix

Published by David J. Nix at Smashwords

Copyright 2013 David J. Nix

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.

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How This Guide Works

I don’t know what circumstances bring you to this guide. Perhaps you read the novel, and want a refresher. Perhaps you read the novel, and need more clarification. Perhaps you didn’t read it, and the test is tomorrow. I don’t know, and I won’t judge.

Whatever your reason, let me explain how this guide works. In short, I tell you the story that the novel tells, but in fewer words and in contemporary language, with some commentary included in-line. In all, this guide is one-quarter the length of the original story, making it a quick read. Interspersed within this telling are various notes, shown in italics. These notes give you historical context and cultural context, highlight important quotes, and identify motifs and examples of themes. If you simply want to absorb the story as quickly as possible, just read the non-italicized parts. However, I recommend the italicized portions to give you extra understanding needed to grasp the story fully.

So how does this guide differ from most others? It presents themes, quotes, symbols, motifs, and characters in the context of the story. Most other guides don’t, which can be confusing. They leave it to you to fit all the puzzle pieces together. A quote or motif out of context can be difficult to remember and understand. Context is everything! By reading these things in context, you can better understand what they mean.

Disclaimer and Admonishment

Before launching into the summary, I must do two things. First, I must make a disclaimer. This book is not The Great Gatsby. The only portions of the novel contained within are selected quotes, represented exactly as the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, wrote them.

Second, I must admonish some of you. If you have not read the novel, I recommend strongly that you do. If not now, promise yourself that you will read it later. Fitzgerald is one of the great American novelists, this is one of the great American novels, and you owe it to yourself to experience it. You should own a copy of this novel for your personal bookshelf because it is perhaps the great American novel. Besides, it makes you look smart and sophisticated to any who see it on your bookshelf. Who doesn’t want to appear smart and sophisticated?

Why Does This Novel Matter So Much Anyway?

To understand the importance of this novel, take a little trip back in time with me. The main characters in this story were all born around the year 1900. At that time, people still traveled by horse and wagon. Dating was nearly unheard of and generally frowned upon. Instead, young peoples’ spouses typically were chosen through a process of father-led courtship. Most people were somehow associated with agriculture, and lived in the country. That doesn’t sound very enticing to most people these days. Most of us prefer a faster lane.

Then, everything changed almost overnight. Henry Ford began mass-producing automobiles for the first time in 1908. By 1912, cars were so inexpensive that most families could afford one. Two years later, World War I erupted, and soon millions of young Americans went to Europe to fight. They returned home after the war with a growing restlessness – and a desire to have more than the life of a country farmer. Young people flocked to the cities. The stock market soared. About that time, in a moment of pure absurdity, the United States government banned the sale and consumption of alcohol. This set into motion a new lifestyle of mixed sex partying, where anyone could date anyone, and sexual morals began to change. Meanwhile, older generations panicked and cried, Kids these days! The world is falling apart! Does that sound familiar? Every generation thinks the next one will bring about the end of the world. Please don’t make that mistake when you get old. Be nice to the kids!

In short, the characters of this novel represent the first generation of Americans that we recognize as modern – as relatively similar to us. Their attitudes, desires, social situations, and dreams closely mirror those we have today. When F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the novel This Side of Paradise a few years earlier, he became arguably the first to capture the pulse of this first modern generation. With The Great Gatsby, he raised his prose and storytelling to a new level. The result was a poetic novel that perfectly captured the frustrated restlessness of this first generation of our modern times. Nearly a century has passed since the novel’s publication, but the characters still seem as recognizable as people that we know today.

We call this age of exploding wealth, wild parties, and sexual revolution The Jazz Age. The author did not know then what would soon happen. A few years after the publication