A millionaire throws lavish parties for one woman who never comes—until she does.
Who drives the story
Midwestern bond salesman, war veteran, and our narrator, renting next door to Gatsby. He wants an honest vantage on the East and instead becomes the only person loyal enough to bury its most famous casualty.
Born James Gatz, a poor North Dakota boy who reinvented himself into a millionaire bootlegger to win back Daisy. He dies in his pool, taking the blame for a death she caused.
Nick's cousin, a Louisville debutante whose voice is "full of money." She rekindles her love for Gatsby, then retreats to Tom's protection the moment it costs anything.
Daisy's husband, an imposing ex-Yahoo football star with a mistress and a talent for cruelty. He exposes Gatsby's crime and points Wilson at him, then retires unscathed into his money.
A cool, insolent professional golfer with a cheating rumor trailing her. She tells Nick Gatsby's story, briefly becomes his girlfriend, and drifts away as the illusion collapses.
Tom's mistress, desperate to escape her marriage to a garage mechanic. She runs toward a car she thinks Tom is driving and dies under Daisy's wheels.
Myrtle's pale, worn-down husband, whom Tom calls too dumb to know he's alive. Grief and Tom's lie turn him into Gatsby's killer—and his own.
How they are connected
Midwestern bond salesman, war veteran, and our narrator, renting next door to Gatsby.
Born James Gatz, a poor North Dakota boy who reinvented himself into a millionaire bootlegger to win back Daisy.
Nick's cousin, a Louisville debutante whose voice is "full of money."
She rekindles her love for Gatsby, then retreats to Tom's protection the moment it costs anything.
He exposes Gatsby's crime and points Wilson at him, then retires unscathed into his money.
She tells Nick Gatsby's story, briefly becomes his girlfriend, and drifts away as the illusion collapses.
She tells Nick Gatsby's story, briefly becomes his girlfriend, and drifts away as the illusion collapses.
Tom's mistress, desperate to escape her marriage to a garage mechanic.
She runs toward a car she thinks Tom is driving and dies under Daisy's wheels.
Myrtle's pale, worn-down husband, whom Tom calls too dumb to know he's alive.
Myrtle's pale, worn-down husband, whom Tom calls too dumb to know he's alive.
Grief and Tom's lie turn him into Gatsby's killer—and his own.
Go deeper
The American Dream, inverted · Class you can't buy your way into · The past you can't repeat · Carelessness of the rich
Themes explainedThe full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.
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