The Great Gatsby: Plot Summary (OCR A Level English Literature)

The Great Gatsby: Plot Summary

One of the most important things you can do in preparation for the exam is to “know” the plot of The Great Gatsby thoroughly. Understanding the plot of the story is vital because it serves as the narrative backbone, allowing you to connect with larger ideas such as themes and characterisation. It will also help you gain confidence in finding the most relevant references to support your response.

The following guide is divided into:

• Overview

• Chapter summaries

Overview

Published in 1925, The Great Gatsby is narrated by Nick Carraway, who is a recent graduate from Yale University. He moved from the Midwest to New York after World War I to work in finance. Set against the backdrop of the Roaring Twenties, Nick narrates events that happened two years prior when he was living in New York, in an area called “West Egg”. Nick becomes entangled in the affairs of his neighbours, especially the mysterious and wealthy Mr Gatsby.

Jay Gatsby is known for hosting extravagant parties in the hope that his first love, Daisy Buchanan, will attend. Daisy is married to the extremely wealthy Tom Buchanan and she is also the narrator’s cousin. Gatsby’s relentless pursuit of wealth and social status is driven by his desire to win back Daisy and he befriends Nick in order to get close to her. Nick is introduced to Gatsby’s world of luxury and excess, and the novel highlights the contrast between illusion and reality as well as the pursuit of the American Dream. 

Nick is invited to Daisy’s house for dinner where he meets Daisy’s friend, Jordan Baker, whom he forms a close relationship with. He also meets Tom, Daisy’s husband, who went to university with Nick. He is a large man who has inexhaustible wealth. It is clear that Daisy is unhappy in her marriage and that she knows that her husband is having an affair.

At Gatsby’s request, Nick asks Daisy over for tea at his cottage. When she arrives, she meets Gatsby and the reunion is initially awkward, but he then takes her to his mansion and it is clear that she still has feelings for him. This encounter leads to more meetings and Gatsby and Daisy rekindle their romance. Tensions rise as Daisy’s husband, Tom, discovers the affair, which leads to a heated confrontation. Gatsby's sole desire is for Daisy to deny that she ever loved Tom and to divorce him, so that they can finally be together and erase the years that they did not spend together. Daisy confesses that she cannot deny ever loving Tom as she did love him once. This upsets Gatsby, but he does not believe it and feels that Daisy has been manipulated.

As Daisy and Gatsby leave a hotel to return to Daisy’s home, they accidentally kill Tom’s lover, Myrtle, in a roadside collision. Not stopping to check if she survived, they make their way back to Daisy’s house. Gatsby, blinded by his love for Daisy, decides that he will take the blame for the hit and run. Nick breaks up with Jordan after the incident as he is disgusted by what transpired. Meanwhile, Myrtle's husband, George, wrongly believes that she had been having an affair with Gatsby and, in his rage, shoots Gatsby at his home and then kills himself. 

At the end of the novel, Tom and Daisy Buchanan leave New York and give no forwarding address. Nick frantically tries to find people to attend Gatsby’s funeral and to find any one who is linked to him, but is unsuccessful. Two people attend his funeral and one of them is Gatsby’s father. Nick then also leaves New York disgusted by the wealth and the life that people lead there and moves back to the Midwest.

Chapter-By-Chapter Plot Summary

Chapter 1

• The reader is introduced to the narrator, Nick Carraway, who moves to West Egg, Long Island, to work in finance

• He talks about how he was a soldier during World War I and gives some details about his past and his family

• He moves into a cottage where his wealthy neighbour, Jay Gatsby, throws extravagant parties

• Nick attends a dinner at his cousin Daisy Buchanan’s house 

• He meets Daisy’s husband, Tom Buchanan, who is Nick’s old friend from Yale University and is also introduced to Daisy’s friend, Jordan Baker

• It is evident that there is some tension in Daisy’s marriage and that Tom may be having an affair

Chapter 2

• Nick describes the desolate area between West Egg and New York City known as the “Valley of Ashes”

• Nick is introduced to Tom’s mistress, Myrtle Wilson, who is also married

• They all go to an apartment that Tom uses for his affair, and they are joined by other people, including Myrtle's sister

• Myrtle provokes Tom by repeating Daisy’s name and Tom breaks her nose as a result

Chapter 3

• Nick receives a personal invitation from Jay Gatsby to his party

• At the party, he meets Jordan Baker again and also meets Gatsby

• Nick comments on Gastby’s house and lavish lifestyle

• Gatsby and Jordan meet privately to discuss something:

  • Jordan tells Nick of this, but not what was discussed 

Chapter 4

• Gatsby visits Nick’s cottage for the first time and appears restless

• He takes Nick out to lunch and uses the opportunity to tell him about his wealthy family and his Oxford education

• Nick is introduced to one of Gatsby’s acquaintances, Meyer Wolfsheim

• Nick also meets Jordan Baker, who tells him about Daisy and Gatsby’s romance

• Jordan tells him that Gatsby wishes to be invited to his house for tea and that he wants Daisy to also be present

• Nick kisses Jordan

Chapter 5

• Gatsby and Nick talk early one morning about his plan to meet Daisy at Nick’s cottage

• Daisy and Gatsby meet at Nick’s cottage on a rainy day

• The meeting was initially awkward, but it is evident when Nick reenters the room that Daisy had been crying

• Gatsby asks Nick to accompany Daisy to his mansion

• At the mansion, Gatsby shows off his wealth to Daisy, who appears impressed

Chapter 6

• Rumours continue to circulate about Gatsby and a reporter even travels to Gatsby’s mansion in order to try to interview him

• Nick stops his recount of the story to relate Gatsby’s history, which he learned before writing his book

• Gatsby’s real name was James Gatz:

  •  He was born on a farm and was from a poor family

• One summer, Gatz met a wealthy man named Dan Cody, who made Gatz his personal assistant and changed his name to Jay Gatsby

• Gatsby fell in love with the life he experienced with Cody, but when Cody died, he was left out of the inheritance:

  • However, his time with Cody gave Gatsby a desire to become wealthy and successful

• Nick then continues his recount by writing about an occasion when Tom visits Gatsby at his house and Gatsby tells Tom that he knows Daisy

• Tom and Daisy attend one of Gatsby’s parties, but it is evident that Daisy does not enjoy it

• Tom tells Daisy that Gatsby is a bootlegger which infuriates Daisy

• Gatsby is upset that Daisy did not enjoy the party and he wants her to leave Tom and marry him

• Nick tries to tell Gatsby that he cannot change the past, but Gatsby is adamant that he can and that he can restore what he lost

Chapter 7

• Daisy visits Gatsby regularly and he dismisses his staff to prevent gossip

• Nick and Gatsby have lunch with the Buchanans on the hottest day of the year

  • Tom realises that Daisy and Gatsby are in love

• They drive into New York:

  • Nick, Tom and Jordan drive in one car and Daisy and Gatsby drive in another

• Tom and Gatsby swap cars

• Tom stops for fuel at George Wilson’s garage:

  • He is Tom’s mistress’ husband and he tells Tom that he plans to leave the city and move west with his wife

• They all arrive at the Plaza hotel where tensions rise and Tom and Gatsby have a confrontation

• Gatsby tries to make Daisy admit that she never loved Tom and that she only ever loved him:

  • However, Daisy is unable to do this

• Upset at what transpired, they all leave to return back to their homes with Gatsby and Daisy in one car

• Myrtle, Tom’s mistress, is killed by a hit and run

• Gatsby spends most of the night in the Buchanans’ garden to keep an eye on Daisy:

  • He tells Nick that Daisy was the one driving the vehicle, but that he has taken the blame for Myrtle’s death

Chapter 8

• Nick visits Gatsby in the morning and Gatsby talks of his love for Daisy and his past with her

• Gatsby decides to use his swimming pool and tells a reluctant Nick to go to work

• Gatsby waits for a call from Daisy, but she never contacts him

• George Wilson, Myrtle’s husband, mistakenly believes that Gatsby was the man who was having an affair with his wife:

  • In his rage, he travels to Gatsby’s mansion where he murders him and then kills himself

Chapter 9

• Nick tries to contact the Buchanans to let Daisy know Gatsby’s fate, but they have left New York and have not left a contact address

• Nick tries to arrange Gatsby’s funeral, but has no success finding any friends of Gatsby’s:

  • Meyer Wolfsheim declines the invitation to the funeral

• Only a couple of mourners attend, including Gatsby’s father, who speaks proudly of his son’s achievements

• Later on in the year, Nick meets Tom Buchanan, who admits to telling George Wilson that the car that killed Myrtle belonged to Gatsby

• The novel concludes with Nick reflecting on Gatsby’s empty mansion and his disillusionment with the American Dream