Title: The Great Gatsby
Genre: Drama, Romance
Year: 2013
Summary: Nick Carraway, a
Yale University
graduate and
World War I
veteran, is a depressed and disillusioned
alcoholic staying in a sanatorium for treatment of
his alcoholism. He talks about a man named Gatsby, describing him as the most
hopeful man he had ever met. When he struggles to articulate his thoughts, his
doctor suggests writing it down, since writing is what brings him solace.
In the summer of 1922,
Nick moves from the
U.S. Midwest to
New York, where he takes a job as a
bond salesman. He rents a
small house on
Long Island
in the (fictional) village of West Egg, next door to the lavish mansion of Jay
Gatsby, a mysterious business magnate who holds extravagant parties. Nick drives
across the bay to East Egg for dinner at the home of his cousin, Daisy Buchanan, and
her husband, Tom, a college acquaintance of Nick's. They introduce Nick to Jordan
Baker, an attractive, cynical young golfer with whom Daisy wishes to
couple Nick.
Jordan reveals to Nick
that Tom has a mistress who lives in the "valley of ashes," an industrial
dumping ground between West Egg and
New York City. Not long after this revelation,
Nick travels with Tom to the valley of ashes, where they stop by a garage owned
by George Wilson and his wife, Myrtle, who is Tom's
lover that Jordan mentioned. Nick goes with Tom and Myrtle to an apartment that
they keep for their affair, where Myrtle throws a vulgar and bizarre party that
ends with Tom breaking her nose as she taunts him about Daisy.
As the summer
progresses, Nick receives an invitation to one of Gatsby’s parties. Upon
arriving, he learns that none of the guests at the party, though there are
hundreds, have ever met Gatsby himself, and they have developed multiple
theories as to who he is. Nick encounters Jordan, and they meet Gatsby,
who is surprisingly young and rather aloof, in person. Gatsby seems to take a
liking to Nick and the two become mutual friends. Their friendship develops
after Gatsby takes Nick out to dinner, with his mysterious friend Meyer
Wolfshiem. Through Jordan, Nick later learns that Gatsby knew Daisy from a
romantic encounter in 1917, and is still madly in love with her. He spends many
nights staring at the green light at the end of her dock, across the bay from
his mansion, hoping to one day rekindle their lost romance. Gatsby’s extravagant
lifestyle and wild parties are an attempt to impress Daisy in the hopes that she
will one day appear at Gatsby's doorstep. Gatsby now wants Nick to arrange a
reunion between himself and Daisy. Nick invites Daisy to have tea at his house,
without telling her that Gatsby will be there also.
After an initially
awkward reunion, Gatsby and Daisy reconnect, and they begin an affair. Shortly
after, Daisy and Tom attend one of Gatsby's parties, where Tom grows
increasingly suspicious of his wife's relationship with Gatsby. Throughout a
luncheon at the Buchanans' house, Gatsby stares at Daisy with such undisguised
passion that Tom realizes Gatsby is in love with her. Though Tom himself is
involved in an extramarital affair, he is deeply outraged by his wife's
infidelity. He forces the group to drive into New York City, where he confronts
Gatsby in a suite at the
Plaza
Hotel. Tom asserts that he and Daisy have a history that Gatsby could never
understand, and he announces to his wife that Gatsby is a criminal whose fortune
comes from bootlegging alcohol and other illegal activities. This pushes Gatsby
to his breaking point, and he has an explosive outburst of anger, much to his
own dismay. After this incident, Daisy realizes that her allegiance is to Tom,
who contemptuously sends her back to East Egg with Gatsby, attempting to prove
that Gatsby cannot hurt him.
When Nick, Jordan, and Tom drive through the valley of ashes, however, they
discover that Gatsby’s car has struck and killed Myrtle, Tom’s lover. They rush
back to Long Island, where Nick learns from Gatsby that Daisy, wanting to calm
her nerves, had been driving the car at the time of the accident. However,
Gatsby intends to take the blame. Despite the events that occurred at the Plaza,
Gatsby is convinced that Daisy will call him the next day. That night, he
reveals to Nick that he was born penniless, and his real name is James Gatz. In
the morning, Nick leaves for work while Gatsby decides to go for a swim before
his pool is drained for the season. He asks for the telephone to be brought down
to the pool, still waiting for Daisy to call. The night before, Tom tells
Myrtle’s husband, George, that Gatsby was the driver of the car. George jumps to
the conclusion that Gatsby had also been Myrtle's lover, and he retrieves a gun.
Back at the mansion, Gatsby hears the phone ring, and believes it to be Daisy.
As he is climbing out of the pool while looking hopefully across the bay at
Daisy's mansion, he is abruptly shot and killed by George, who immediately turns
the gun on himself. It is revealed that it is Nick on the phone, and he hears
the two gunshots.
When Nick calls the Buchanans to invite Daisy to Gatsby's funeral, he learns
that she, Tom, and their daughter are leaving New York. Only the press, whom
Nick chases out, attend the funeral. The media accuse Gatsby of being both the
murderer and lover of Myrtle, leaving Nick as the only one who knows the truth.
Evidently disillusioned with his fascination for the East Coast, he soon moves
back to the Midwest to escape the disgust he feels for the people surrounding
Gatsby's life, as well as the moral decay and emptiness of the wealthy of the
East Coast. Back in the sanatorium, Nick finishes his memoir and titles it, "The
Great Gatsby."
Title: 笑功震武林/ Xiao Gong Zhen Wu Lin
