The great gatsby

while the great gatsby is a highly specific portrait of american society during the roaring twenties, its story is also one that has been told hundreds of times, and is perhaps as old as america itself a man claws his way from rags to riches, only to find that his wealth cannot afford him the privileges enjoyed by those born into the upper class. the central character is jay gatsby, a wealthy new yorker of indeterminate occupation. gatsby is primarily known for the lavish parties he throws every weekend at his ostentatious gothic mansion in west egg. he is suspected of being involved in illegal bootlegging and other underworld activities.
the narrator, nick carraway, is gatsbys neighbor in west egg. nick is a young man from a prominent midwestern family. educated at yale, he has come to new york to enter the bond business. in some sense, the novel is nicks memoir, his unique view of the events of the summer of 1922 as such, his impressions and obser...