The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald & Jake Reinvented Gordon Korman

Jen Salvail

Callie Verderosa

Characters in Gatsby

Jay Gatsby: Jay is the protagonist of the novel. He lives in West Egg and throws incredible parties, but is mysterious to Nick until Nick learns about Gatsby’s life and how he is driven by wealth and social status to win back Daisy, after he left her for WWI.

Nick Carraway: Nick is the Narrator of the novel. He explains that he is understanding of morals, values, and does not judge others based off of his own views. Nick is Daisy’s cousin, which allows him to be involved in the parties and meet Gatsby.

Daisy Buchanan: Daisy is Nick Carraway’s cousin, and the love of Jay Gatsby’s life. Gatsby went off to war, and Daisy, although promising to wait for him, married Tom Buchanan. Daisy is caught up in luxury and wealth, and is concerned with social status instead of people. This is proved in the end by her actions, she lets Gatsby take the blame of Myrtle’s death, and doesn’t attend Gatsby’s funeral.

Other notable characters Tom Buchanan: Daisy’s husband. Extremely wealthy

and concerned with social status like Daisy. He is a hypocrite, and inconsiderate as a character. He has an affair with Myrtle, whom he treats horribly.

Myrtle Wilson: Tom’s lover, married to George Wilson.

George Wilson: Owns a car/auto shop in the Valley of Ashes. Married to Myrtle, and although he is considered “lifeless” by Myrtle, he is a dreamer.

Meyer Wolfsheim: Gatsby’s friend whom bootlegs illegal alcohol, with Gatsby to make money.

Jordan Baker: Nick’s love interest, Daisy’s friend. Nick considers her a “new woman” of the 1920’s, but she also has character flaws

Gatsby plot overviewThe novel is set in 1922. Nick Carraway acquires a job in New York City, but lives in Long Island in the West Egg. His neighbor is Jay Gatsby who lives in a mansion much larger than his small house and Gatsby throws huge parties every Saturday night. Daisy Buchanan is Nick’s distant cousin and also Tom Buchanan’s wife and lives with Tom in the more wealthy part of Long Island- the East Egg. In addition, Tom Buchanan attended Yale University with Nick. At dinner one night, Daisy and Tom bring Jordan Baker to meet Nick, and they start a relationship, even though Jordan lives a much more luxurious lifestyle than Nick. Tom takes Nick to New York City one day to meet his mistress, Myrtle Wilson for a small get together. Eventually, Gatsby invites Nick to one of his parties and Gatsby explains to Jordan that he knew Daisy previously and loved her and he had been hosting all these parties to get her attention.

Gatsby convinces Nick to invite Daisy over for tea without Daisy knowing that Gatsby would be there. After a surprise run in, they fall back in love with one another, but Tom Buchanan soon realizes Gatsby’s infatuation with his wife and confronts Gatsby even though Tom has a mistress. Tom explains to Daisy that Gatsby is a criminal, and therefore Tom is better, but he sends the two of them back to East Egg on their own. On the way, Gatsby’s car hits Myrtle Wilson, Tom’s mistress, but it was Daisy who was driving the car. Even though Gatsby ends up taking the blame, Tom proceeds to tell Myrtle’s wife that Gatsby killed Myrtle so Myrtle’s husband finds Gatsby and kills him. Nick holds a funeral for Gatsby and ends up moving back to the Midwest.

Context of the time in Gatsby Fitzgerald wrote Gatsby in 1923-24 and it was

published in 1925 as a novel Set during the Summer of 1922

1920’s: Jazz Age, “Roaring 20’s” Prohibition

Evident through characters like Wolfsheim

Plot overview of Jake Reinvented Jake Garrett is new to town and new to F. Scott Fitzgerald

High School. His way of becoming popular is by scoring himself the position of long-snapper on the football team and throwing huge parties every Friday night for the kids at his new high school. His plan all along is to impress his long-lost lover, Didi who is now the girlfriend of quarterback Todd Buckley who is undoubtedly the most popular kid in school. Didi is secretly spending time with Jake, but still manages to maintain her reputation and appears as Todd’s flawless girlfriend in public. Jake’s past of being a math nerd who played chess at his old school comes out at his final party, which is the biggest one yet. The damage that is done to Jake’s teammate, Nelson, and his dad’s house lands Jake in court and causes him to move to Texas with his mom.

Central Conflicts and Themes of Jake Reinvented Central Conflicts:

Truth vs. Falsehood Identity vs. Anonymity

Main Themes: Maintaining a reputation Finding love vs. faking love Hiding one’s past Creating meaningful relationships Starting fresh Finding one’s identity

Notes on Gordon Korman, author of Jake Reinvented  Gordon Korman was born in Canada and now

lives in Long Island, New York with his wife and three children. He currently has 70 books out. His first book was created out of an English assignment when he was in 7th grade and came out in 1978. Korman enjoys writing books for children where he is able to incorporate sports. He writes books that appear in a series as well as books that stand alone like Jake, Reinvented.

http://www.gordonkorman.com/

Criticism for Gatsby “Gatsby has been adapted once as a play, twice as a

television production, and three times as a feature film. Though some reviewers and moviegoers despised the 1974 release, it was, like the others, a reasonable good stab at a work that resists adaptation”

“Gatsby 1974, 1949, and 1926 were, for ardent fans of the novel, failures. Fair minded readers know that a good adaptation will always interpret a novel, not slavishly reproduce it. Fitzgerald himself knew that. “My only fear is that you have been too loyal”- Fitzgerald

Leff, Leonard. "The Elusive Gatsby." Opera News 64.6 (1999): 50. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.

“In one way or another they all represent an assault upon nature, and as the tale unfolds the idea of nature insulted and abased is raised to the level of a general metaphor”

“The people in Gatsby have not consciously renounced nature. They have only ceased to perceive its limits. They think continually in terms of fertility, but the forms of it that they wish upon the world either altogether specious, or else “forced.”

Westbrook, J.S. "Nature And Optics In The Great Gatsby." American Literature 32.1 (1960): 78. Humanities International Complete. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.

Other Adaptations of Gatsby Book Adaptations:

The Double Bind (2008) Chris Bohjalian (Later years of Tom and Daisy)

Daisy Buchanan’s Daughter (2011) Tom Carson The Late Gatsby (2012) S.A. Klipspringer- Vampire

adaptation

Film Adaptations: 1926, silent film (…one of the only “faithful”

adaptations) 1949, 1974, 2000, and 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaBVLhcHcc0

Other Adaptations of Gatsby Theatre Adaptations:

The Great Gatsby Musical (2012) London- Joe Evans and Linnie Reedman

Other adaptations include computer games, television episodes, opera, radio broadcasts, songs, and bands.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gatsby