Plot summary

In October 1917, Jay Gatsby, then an army officer, meets eighteen-year-old Daisy Buchanan in Louisville. They fall in love, but his lack of money and uncertain future leave their relationship vulnerable to separation.

After their romance, Gatsby goes overseas to serve in the war and is later sent to Oxford, delaying his return. In June after the armistice, Daisy marries wealthy Tom Buchanan, despite a drunken attempt to call off the wedding.

After returning to Louisville and finding Daisy gone, Gatsby pursues wealth and eventually establishes himself in West Egg. He buys a mansion directly across the bay from Daisy’s home, hoping to bring himself close to her again.

Nick Carraway moves East in the spring of 1922 and rents a modest house in West Egg beside Gatsby’s mansion. At dinner in East Egg, he visits Daisy and Tom, meets Jordan Baker, and later sees Gatsby standing alone by the water, reaching toward a distant green light.

On a Sunday afternoon, Tom forces Nick off the train at the Valley of Ashes and introduces him to his mistress, Myrtle Wilson, at her husband’s garage. The group goes to Myrtle’s New York apartment, where a drunken gathering ends with Tom breaking her nose after she repeatedly says Daisy’s name.

Nick is formally invited to one of Gatsby’s extravagant parties and meets its host for the first time. The guests trade wild rumors about Gatsby, while Owl Eyes marvels that the books in Gatsby’s library are real.

On a drive into the city, Gatsby offers Nick a polished account of his background and shows him a medal and an Oxford photograph. At lunch, Nick meets gambler Meyer Wolfshiem, who reveals that Gatsby is connected to the man who fixed the 1919 World Series.

Jordan tells Nick that Gatsby and Daisy were in love before the war and that Gatsby has spent years hoping to see her again. Gatsby wants Nick to invite Daisy to tea so that he can meet her there, without her knowing the plan in advance.