Yes, Gatsby tells Nick a version of his past in Chapter 4, claiming to be from a wealthy Midwestern family, an Oxford-educated war hero who traveled Europe, but this story is largely fabricated, with the real truth (that he's James Gatz, a poor farm boy who reinvented himself) revealed later through Jordan Baker and his own confessions to Nick, confirming his story was a self-created myth to win back Daisy.
Gatsby informs Nick that he went to Oxford. Nick doesn't believe him. Gatsby then says that he served in World War I and has received medals for his actions, which he shows to Nick. Gatsby shows Nick a photograph of himself at Oxford.
In Chapter Four, Gatsby educates Nick in his own personal mythology. He tells Nick that he is the son of wealthy parents, that he is a diamond collector, and that he has an Oxford education, along with various other lies. As the chapter continues, he reveals his intentions to steal away Daisy from her husband.
Even though he tries to make his story sound believable, what Gatsby initially tells Nick about his past is not true. He says that he comes from a wealthy family from Midwest while his family was actually poor. Gatsby says that he traveled all round Europe and studied at Oxford and that is also a lie.
After the lunch in New York, Nick sees Jordan Baker, who finally tells him the details of her mysterious conversation with Gatsby at the party. She relates that Gatsby told her that he is in love with Daisy Buchanan.
Gatsby reveals details of his and Daisy's long ago courtship. He was enthralled by her wealth, her big house, and the idea of men loving her. To be with Daisy, he pretended to be of the same social standing as her. One night, they slept together, and he felt like they were married.
Gatsby's extravagant mansion represents the overconsumption of the wealthy upper class in the 1920s. He owns a mansion far too big for his own good, all in an attempt to show off his wealth and win Daisy back.
Tom Buchanan is the main antagonist in The Great Gatsby . An aggressive and physically imposing man, Tom represents the biggest obstacle standing between Gatsby and Daisy's reunion. For much of the novel Tom exists only as an idea in Gatsby's mind.
Mansell Pattison's network schema suggests that Gatsby was a seriously deranged individual, in the range of a Skid Row alcoholic, an institutionalized psychotic, or a disabled borderline, whose efforts at resolution had run their course (1, 2).
However, given that the reader knows of Nick's infidelities, this passage does could make the reader ponder over Nick's honesty. His chief dishonesty, in my opinion, is that he's hiding from the main characters the fact that he is gay or bisexual.
American novelist Steve Erickson, writing in Los Angeles magazine, states that Carraway's fascination with Gatsby is less of his being in love with Gatsby than "Carraway, back from the war and back from the Midwest and wanting nothing more than to be Gatsby himself".
Only a handful show up to Gatsby's funeral, and Nick finally realizes the truth behind James Gatz, and the tragic reality of the ever-so-sought-after “American Dream”. Nick realizes that the East will forever be haunted for him because of all that he has witnessed there.
Lesson Summary
The moral of The Great Gatsby is that the American Dream is ultimately unattainable. Jay Gatsby had attained great wealth and status as a socialite; however, Gatsby's dream was to have a future with his one true love, Daisy.
In order to prove his story, Gatsby provides some evidence; he produces a photograph of himself at Oxford University and a medal that was awarded to him by Montenegro for his service in World War I.
The green light at the end of Daisy's dock in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is symbolic of Jay Gatsby's undying love, desperation and the inability to reach the American dream.
While it features complex characters and engaging symbolism, some readers find it slow-going or difficult to fully grasp, with mature content that makes it better suited for older teens or adults.
Unquestionably Nick had sex with McKee, but it's dry, unsentimental, nothing like the sex Gatsby wants to have with Daisy, or Tom with his mistress. Nick's "gayness" is a foil for Gatsby and the crowd.
It was quite negative and derogatory during the time of the story, commonly referred to as the Roaring Twenties. F. Scott Fitzgerald incorporates aspects of homosexuality in The Great Gatsby through the narrator, Nick Carraway, and his interactions with other male characters throughout the novel.
Many people tie Gatsby's obsessive pursuit of Daisy to the American Dream itself—the dream is as alluring as Daisy but as ultimately elusive and even deadly. Their relationship is also a meditation on change—as much as Gatsby wants to repeat the past, he can't.
Yet Daisy isn't just a shallow gold digger. She's more tragic: a loving woman who has been corrupted by greed. She chooses the comfort and security of money over real love, but she does so knowingly.
In perhaps one of the great ironies of the novel, Daisy kills Myrtle when Myrtle runs in front of Gatsby's car. It is a hit and run. The irony is that the wife kills her husband's mistress without knowing that it's his mistress. This irony leads the novel toward the conclusion.
Gatsby as a Tragic Hero
Parallels to Aristotelian tragic hero with a fatal flaw. Gatsby's flaws: inability to tell the truth, determination to recreate the past. Attempts to win Daisy, leading to tragedy. Lack of noble birth but reinvents himself with a fabricated history.
Daisy isn't really talking about—or weeping over—the shirts from England. Her strong emotional reaction comes from the excitement of Gatsby having the proper wealth, and perhaps remorse over the complexity of the situation; he is finally a man she could marry, but she is already wed to Tom.
So, the "blue lawn" is one of the terms used in that conclusion to reference the oceanic barrier between the Old World and the New World (the continents/civilizations) as well as the old world and the new world (as in the lives people create for themselves.)
He always knew that wealth and status were the keys to the life that he had always dreamed of having. Gatsby's dream was to repeat the past, and he felt the only thing in the way of him doing that was money and connections. Fitzgerald uses Gatsby's tragic end to question the very idea of the American dream.