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=WELCOME to the LIT CIRCLE DISCUSSION FOR: = =The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitsgerald=

Author Biography
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, born in 1896, was the son of a failed salesman and a wealthy mother. The family lived comfortably on her inheritance, which allowed Fitzgerald to attend a private school his family would otherwise not be able to afford. Fitzgerald attended Princeton University but never graduated, joining the army shortly before WWI ended. After the war he met Zelda Sayre, who changed his life by forcing him to publish in order to make enough money to marry her. His first successful novel was //This Side of Paradise.// Set mainly at Princeton, it was the first of his semi-autobiographical works. The success of this novel enabled Fitzgerald to marry Zelda and they lived an extravagant life as young celebrities. The Fitzgeralds were known to be drinkers and partiers with a volatile relationship. In 1924 the Fitzgerald moved to France where Zelda began her spiral into madness, begun with a love affair with an aviator. During this time, Fitzgerald wrote //The Great Gatsby//. Fitzgerald was convinced the novel would be a classic, but it came out when the depression hit and was not successful. Zelda resided at an asylum for most of her life and Fitzgerald began another volatile relationship with a movie columnist named Sheila Graham. Fitzgerald, however, refused to divorce Zelda and their love for each other has become legendary. Falling to alcoholism, Fitzgerald never attained the success he desired and he died of a heart attach in 1939. Zelda perished in a fire in 1948.

Novel's Purpose
To evaluate the role of money and the effect of hope and unrealistic dreams on people during the Jazz Age of America.

Blog #1: Chapters 1-3
Group members present: Fred, Wilma, Barney, Betty The novel begins with a first-person narrator named Nick Carraway that wants the reader to know his narration should be trusted. In these first three chapters, Fitzgerald introduces us to the main characters: Daisy Buchanan, Nick's second cousin who comes from a very wealthy background and is described as a "golden girl"--the kind of girl every man wants but few can every have; Tom Buchanan, Daisy's arrogant and unfaithful husband, who is very rich and a Yale graduate; Jordan, Daisy's rich friend who seems snobby and plays golf; Myrtle, Tom's mistress whose husband owns an unsuccessful car shop; and Jay Gatsby, who is viewed as incredibly rich with a secretive personality. These first three chapters seem to establish Nick as a bit of an outsider to the extravagant lifestyles of his neighbor and cousin. As an outsider, Nick observes that Gatsby throws elaborate parties he is not interested in participating in, that Tom is a brutal racist, and that Jordan is quite dishonest, although he still likes her. Fitzgerald seems to be setting up some kind of confrontation between the worlds of the average person and the extremely wealthy. As a group, we do not understand why Daisy would stay with Tom when he is cheating on her and why Nick would like Jordan even though she seems fake.


 * 1) Supercilious: (Adj.) -having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy.
 * 2) Conscientious: (Adj.) -meticulous; careful; painstaking; particular.
 * 3) Wan: (Adj.) -of an unnatural or sickly pallor; pallid; lacking color.
 * 4) Facet: (N) -aspect; phase; side.
 * 5) Strident: (Adj.) -having a shrill, irritating quality or character.