The Great Gatsby Chapter 11 Summary

This chapter opens with a reporter at Gatsby’s door asking him if he had anything to say and wants to interview at random. It is explained that rumors are constantly going around New York about Gatsby. Nick knows mostly all about Gatsby’s personal life so he does not believe many or all of the rumors he has heard. Nick then begins to explain Gatsby’s personal life. It is explained that his legal name is James Gatz. He changed his name when he was 17 when he saw Dan Cody drop the anchor of his yacht into Lake Superior. It is also explained that Gatsby’s parents were “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people”. He actually had attended a small Lutheran college called St. Olaf’s in Minnesota. He only ended up staying there for two weeks then left.

Skipping ahead of where we left off last chapter, chapter 6 starts by giving us more background on Gatsby through Nick. We find out that Jay Gatsby is actually a made up persona from James Gatz, and his actual background seems to be in sharp contrast with that of Jay Gatsby’s. He spent his childhood in Minnesota where he met who seems to have played a major impact on Gatsby’s character, and older man named Cody, who took Gatsby under his wing and essentially brought Jay Gatsby to life. Another downside to Gatsby's American dream is that it has, in essence, stunted his growth, intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally.

Gatsby and Daisy had met years prior, but ended up going their separate ways. However, Gatsby remained in love with Daisy and longed for her affection. The two reconcile, and Daisy starts seeing Gatsby outside of her marriage with Tom. In this, Daisy is leading Gatsby on by making him believe he will attain his ultimate dream: a life with her. However, Daisy knows deep down she will not leave Tom for Gatsby. This is proven when a confrontation about the affair sparks between Tom and Gatsby, and Daisy attempts to defend Gatsby and stick up to Tom, but ultimately fails and retreats back to her husband. “Her frightened eyes told that whatever intentions, whatever courage she had had, were definitely gone” (Fitzgerald 135). Daisy’s carelessness shines through in leading Gatsby to believe she would abandon Tom for him, but fails to follow through. She recklessly broke the heart of the man who had been in love with her for many

Chapter seven starts with Gatsby changing his whole life around. He no longer hosts parties every week, he doesn't need to anymore because he has Daisy. He also fires his past servants and replaces them with workers of Meyer Wolfsheim, since he does not want any gossip around him. To Nick’s surprise, Gatsby was headed over to Tom’s house to have lunch. It is the hottest day of the year when this lunch is happening. The group hears Tom yelling at Mr.Wilson on the telephone. Gatsby sees Pammy, Daisy’s daughter and is somewhat irritated because he realizes how much more complicated the situation had become and the fact that there is living proof of Tom and Daisy’s love. Tom finds out about the affair when Daisy’s tone shifted when she spoke to

On the other hand, Gatsby epitomizes the corrupt American Dream as well. Gatsby is such a delusional idealist that even though Daisy is married and has a child, he believes that his dream will be realized the moment she admits that she is not, and never was, in love with her husband, Tom Buchanan. His devout confidence in self-invention leads him to construct a completely new identity that isolates him from others. Carraway comments on the fabricated persona when he notes, “[Gatsby] smiled understandingly—much more than understandingly [..] some time before he introduced himself I’d got the strong impression that he was

Following the war, Gatsby attempted to receive an education by studying at Oxford. From this point on, Gatsby dedicates him self to gain the love of Daisy back. He did this by acquiring millions of dollars, a gaudy mansion in West Egg, and his extravagant parties. As the group of friends, Nick Caraway, Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan, and Jordan Baker, travel into the city, Gatsby and Daisy make their love for each other obvious. Daisy and Gatsby ride in a car, separate from the group, to the city. Gatsby has the belief that Daisy is truly in love with him, and not with her husband. Upon arrival to the hotel, the group began sitting and conversing, when Gatsby tells Tom, “She never loved you.” This is referring to Daisy and Tom’s marriage. This is where a heated dispute begins and Daisy finally explains to Gatsby that, “Rich girls don’t marry poor boys.”

Gatsby’s dream of being with Daisy is completely shattered by Tom’s words and Daisy’s demeanor and actions. Tom reveals the truth about the persona that Gatsby had created, known as “Jay Gatsby.” Tom tells them all that Gatsby is a “common swindler” and a “bootlegger…and [he] wasn’t far from wrong” to assume; consequently, Daisy was “drawing further into herself,” for learning how Gatsby obtained his affluence changed her mind about wanting to be with him. Her intentions of leaving Tom vanished within her, as she told Gatsby that he demanded too much of her. When it all becomes too much to bear, Daisy resorts to calling to Tom to take her away demonstrating to Gatsby that she picks Tom over him. This was Gatsby worst nightmare: to have Daisy

When they first got married, the love that existed between Daisy and Tom appeared to be true. However, as their marriage progressed, realities including Tom’s multiple affairs depreciated Daisy’s love for Tom and her tolerance for their marriage. Tom’s affairs drove Daisy to start flirting with Gatsby. However, at the end of chapter 7, it started to become clear that Daisy was going to remain with Tom, rather than Gatsby. Gatsby tells Daisy that he wants her to say that she never loved Tom, but she struggles in doing so. When Gatsby says he wants to speak to Daisy alone, she responds, “Even alone I can't say I never loved Tom...It wouldn't be true." (133) This truly hurts Gatsby because she knows Tom will not take care of Daisy they way he would and that he just isn’t good enough for her. Whatever there was between Gatsby and Daisy seems to be coming to an end and Gatsby’s “presumptuous little flirtation is over.” (135) Tom and Daisy’s carelessness to their struggling marriage resulted in the unhappiness and heartache of

Chapter 4 starts off with Nick providing a list of all the guests who attended Gatsby’s parties in the summer and the irony is that none of them actually knew him. When Nick accompanies Gatsby on a trip into the city for lunch, he reveals the truth about his past. Gatsby states that he is from a wealthy family from the Midwest town of San Francisco, he graduated from Oxford, and declared himself a hero in the war. During lunch, Gatsby introduces Nick to his former business partner, Meyer Wolfsheim who apparently fixed the 1919 World Series. Based on the conversation, Nick begins to think that Gatsby is involved in an organized crime. When they leave the restaurant, they come across Tom Buchanan and as Nick introduces Gatsby to him, Gatsby becomes

As the summer goes on, Nick gets invited to one of Gatsby’s big parties. He meets Jordan at the party and they meet Gatsby himself, a young man, a great smile, and tells everyone “old sport”. Later on in the party Gatsby asks to talk to Jordan Baker alone. Nick learns that the parties were all to get and impress Daisy. Gatsby asks Nick to invite Daisy over to his to tea, so Gatsby can meet her. When Daisy and Gatsby meet each other for the first time in five years it starts off awkward, then they start talking to each other. Gatsby tells her about how rich he is now and invites her over to his house. Daisy and Gatsby then begin the affair between each other as their relationship grows. Later, Gatsby get invited to Daisy’s house where Tom starts

The beginning of chapter four starts off with Nick giving a list and describing the guests that come to Gatsby’s parties. The tone of this passage seems to be casual but amused. Nick starts ranting a list of endless names, each with a description about that person, while seeming very interested in who these people are and why they are at Gatsby’s party. He says it as if he has had a lot of time to analyze and group the different kinds of people at the party. He is able to group them apart from East Egg and West Egg. He tells a lot of background information about each person,like the fact the “young Brewer, who had his nose shot off in the war” or “Edgar Beaver, whose hair turned cotton-white one winter afternoon for no good reason at all” (Fitzgerald

“He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: ‘I never loved you’ ” (Fitzgerald Chapter 6). This is when it is very clear what Gatsby is trying to accomplish, his goal is to get Daisy to abolish all the experiences she’s had with Tom. Gatsby wants Daisy to follow his ideals and to try and spark their past together. Although Daisy is stuck between choosing Tom and Gatsby, she realizes that the past cannot be relieved, because she has experienced too much with Tom, and that Tom also has a major influence in her

"I love you now—isn't that enough? I can't help what's past." She began to sob helplessly. "I did love him once—but I loved you too." (84) Gatsby's obsession with her seems shockingly unilateral, and it is clear to the reader that she will not leave Tom for him. You can also see why this confession is a blow to Gatsby. He has dreamed of Daisy for years and sees her as his one true love, while she not even can marshal her love of Gatsby over her love for Tom. Gatsby is too desperate and obsessed, and does not understand that he must move on as it is impossible to get back Daisy. This can also be explained by Daisy’s as we get an insight at her real feelings. As she sad in the quote, she loved them both, and to her those were equal loves. But, she has not put that initial love with Gatsby on a pedestal the way Gatsby has. Unlike Gatsby, Daisy is more tragic, a loving woman who has been corrupted by greed. She chooses the security of money and comfort over real love, and therefore he will never get back

Gatsby’s claim to love Daisy is nothing more than wanting to complete his collection of the grand prize being a trophy wife. It became apparent to Nick that Gatsby wanted to repeat the past in order to win the award of a perfect woman. While reminiscing, Nick realizes Gatsby’s desire was that, “He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she go to Tom and say: ‘I never loved you.’ After she had obliterated four years with that sentence they could decide upon the more practical measures to be taken. One of them was that, after she was free, they were to go back to Louisville and be married from her house- just as if it were five years ago” (Fitzgerald 109). Gatsby’s relentless need to ‘get the girl’ blinds his ability to comprehend Daisy’s feelings of the situation. His want to shatter the Buchanan’s marriage

Gatsby replies that Daisy loves him and had never loved Tom to which Tom hastily objects. They begin arguing about who Daisy truly loves and whether she has ever loved Tom. In return he accused Gatsby of bootlegging and other criminal activities. At this point Daisy starts siding with Tom and Gatsby realises that he has been defeated. Gatsby had tried to lay out and create the perfect future but Tom had controlled the past by bringing back intimate memories. This is a very significant part of the book as this is when Gatsby’s dream, which parallels with the American dream shatters. Everything that he had worked for, the dream he had bound himself to was destroyed in that moment and that was what broke Gatsby and made him not so ‘great’ any more. “…Only the dead dream fought on as the afternoon slipped away, trying to touch what was no longer tangible, struggling unhappily, undespairingly, toward that lost voice across the room.”