Chapter 1
Nick Carraway is introduced. He is a young man who sell bonds on Wall Street. Nick has just recently moved into a small house in between mansions in West Egg, Long Island. His neighbor is Jay Gatsby, a mysterious bachelor with new money. In the first chapter he goes over to his female cousin's house, her name is Daisy. Daisy is married to Tom, a friend of Nicks when he went to Yale. Tom is very rich and has a huge house in East Egg. Nick meets Jordan a professional female golfer who is friends with Daisy. They all have dinner but Tom leaves to talk to his mistress which makes Daisy mad. On his way back to West Egg he spots Gatsby looking out over the water at a green light which he reaches for.
Chapter 2
Tom takes Nick to the land in between New York and the Eggs which is describes as being a valley of ashes. This is where the doctor with blue eyes and yellow spectacles is shown on a billboard. Tom is taking Nick to see his mistress Myrtle. Myrtle is married to a mechanic named George who has no idea about what is going on. He tells her to take the next train which means to meet him at the apartment. On the way there tom buys Myrtle the puppy she has been wanting. When they get to the apartment there is a small party going on which makes Nick feel very uncomfortable and he tries to leave. Tom stops him and orders him to stay. Nick gets drunk for the second time in his life and hears how both Tom and Myrtle are not happy in their marriages. Myrtle is told to stop saying Daisy which she does not and Tom breaks her nose. Nick wakes up in his bed not remembering what went on the night before.
chapter 3
Nick talks about all the wild parties Gatsby throws and how people always show up uninvited but he got an invitation. At the party he meets up with Jordan and talks with her about Gatsby which she says she met him once. Lots of people at the party were saying he was a German spy during the war or that he has killed people, but some believe he is not even a real person because no one has seen him. A young man tells Nick that he looks familiar from the war and Nick doesn't know it is Gatsby until Gatsby introduces himself. They get interrupted as Gatsby get a call, but the decide to go on him hydroplane in the morning. Gatsby later calls Jordan over for a chat, after this chat Jordan talks about how everything makes sense now and that she wants to tell Nick but she cannot. Nick does not see Jordan for a very long time and then starts to see her again and that is when she tells Nick she likes him because he is careful unlike herself, she is a horrible driver.
Chapter 4
Gatsby takes Nick out to lunch in his brand new yellow Rolls Royce. He tells Nick that he was born in San Fransisco and his parents died. He went to Oxford University because it was a family tradition, and that he was a war hero, even showed Nick his medal, and the picture of him and his friends at Oxford. Nick now believes him. They go to a illegal bar that serves alcohol where they meet Gatsby's business partner a man with human molars for cufflinks and who fixed the World Series of 1919. Tom then walks in and as Nick tries to introduce Tom to Gatsby, Gatsby says hello and the dashes. Later Jordan tells Nick about when Gatsby and Daisy were deeply in love. Daisy gets mad at her parents because they will not allow her to say goodby. She later marries Tom, the night before the wedding she is drunk and wants to call the wedding off because she still loves Gatsby but she still gets married to Tom and they have a baby. Jordan then tells nick the plan about Gatsby dropping by during tea to see Daisy.
Chapter 5
When Nick arrives back at home Gatsby is waiting for him and for Daisy. Gatsby is very nervous about the circumstances of their meeting. When Daisy arrives she sees Gatsby and it gets very quiet. Nick then begins to talk to both of them and it gets very awkward. Gatsby asks to speak with Nick alone. Gatsby tells Nick about how nervous he is and how he wants to leave but Nick insists that Daisy is just as nervous. Nick leaves the two of them alone for a while and when he comes back Gatsby is glowing and Daisy is crying. They then explore Gatsby's house and it is very obvious he has all of this stuff to impress her. Nick then leaves the two of them at Gatsby's.
Chapter 6
In this chapter Nick tells us about Gatsby's past and how that it not his real name and he was born poor. Gatsby helped Dan Cody get away from a storm and they became friends. Gatsby was supposed to get Cody's wealth but his mistress took it. Anyways Nick is with Gatsby when Tom, Sloane, and Sloane's woman show up uninvited. Gatsby acts like a good host but is aggressive towards Tom about Daisy because he thinks he has her won. This makes Tom mad. Sloane's girl invites Gatsby to dinner but while he was getting ready them left him. Later on Tom and Daisy go to one of Gatsby's parties. Daisy and Gatsby sneak over to Nicks house for some alone time. Daisy does not like West Egg but pretends to be impressed when Tom starts saying bad things about the party. Tom wants to know the truth about Gatsby. Gatsby on the other hand wants Daisy to admit that she never loved Tom which is not true and Gatsby is struggling with uncertainty.
chapter 7
Gatsby locks himself in his room and fires all of his servants. Daisy comes around regularly for "fun". Nick is invited to Toms house where similar things as the first time Nick came happen. Gatsby shows up Tom goes to get drinks and Daisy kisses Jay and tells him she loves him. Gatsby sees Daisy's daughter which makes him a little upset. The tension is very high in the house so they decide to go into town and the of course bring alcohol. Tom takes Gatsby's car and Jay takes Toms car and this has to do with the man with blue eyes and yellow spectacles. Tom realizes that Gatsby and Daisy are having an affair and that Nick and Jordan knew about it the whole time. Tom gets gs at Wilson's station and they both know about their wives affairs but Wilson doesn't know Tom is the man. Myrtle from upstairs thinks Jordan is Toms wife. Tom realizes he is loosing control of his wife and mistress. The two cars meet up at a hotel in which Tom accuses Jay as not being an Oxford man and then calls Jay and Daisy out over the affair. That is when Jay tells Tom that Daisy never loved him and Tom gets into his feels. Daisy then breaks down and admits that she did at one point love him, but not anymore.Gatsby freaks out about this. He insists to Tom that Daisy is leaving him.
Tom reveals that Gatsby is a bootlegger, and Gatsby tries to deny it, but Tom is right.
Daisy begs to go, and they head home with Daisy and Gatsby together in Gatsby's car. As Tom, Nick, and Jordan pass by Wilson's they see that Myrtle had been struck by a car and killed. Tom says it is Gatsby's car and that he is a coward for not stopping when Daisy was the one who hit Tom's mistress. Gatsby waits at Tom's house to make sure he doesn't hurt her but he never does. Nick then sees that Daisy and Tom get back together.
Tom reveals that Gatsby is a bootlegger, and Gatsby tries to deny it, but Tom is right.
Daisy begs to go, and they head home with Daisy and Gatsby together in Gatsby's car. As Tom, Nick, and Jordan pass by Wilson's they see that Myrtle had been struck by a car and killed. Tom says it is Gatsby's car and that he is a coward for not stopping when Daisy was the one who hit Tom's mistress. Gatsby waits at Tom's house to make sure he doesn't hurt her but he never does. Nick then sees that Daisy and Tom get back together.
Chapter 8
This is when Nick discovers the truth about Gatsby. He learns about how Jay feels about Daisy and that he still has hope for them. Next Jordan and Nick have their little breakup. Meanwhile Wilson is going crazy and thinks whoever was driving the yellow car was the one having the affair with his wife. He ends up at Gatsby's house shoots Gatsby and the kills himself.
Chapter 9
Gatsby had tons of people come to all of his parties but didn't really have anyone come to his funeral. Nick decides to move west just like Tom and Daisy. Tom admits that he told Wilson it was Gatsby's car, but Nick cannot tell Tom that Daisy was the one who was driving. Before Nick moves west he talks to Jordan and tells her he never really loved her. The book ends with Nick staring out at the green light out in the water.