ClassicNote on The Great Gatsby Short Summary of The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby is a specific portrait of American society during the Roaring Twenties, yet tells the quintessential American story of a man rising from rags to riches only to find that whatever benefits his wealth affords, it cannot grant him the privileges of class and status. The central character is Jay Gatsby, a wealthy New Yorker of an undetermined …showed first 75 words of 1380 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1380 total…fe in New York, Nick decides to return to the mid-west. Before leaving, Nick sees Tom Buchanan once more. Tom tries to elicit some sympathy from Nick, thinking that all of his actions were thoroughly justified. Nick leaves New York, realizing that Gatsby differed from all of his peers, for he had grand dreams and goals, yet was unable to transcend the boundaries and limitations that his origins and his past history had given him.