The Great Gatsby Quiz

The Great Gatsby is a novel by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, published on April 10, 1925. Set on Long Island and in New York City in the summer of 1922, the novel depicts the lavish lives of the wealthy during the Jazz Age while exploring themes of the American Dream, idealism, moral decay, class, and the impossibility of recapturing the past. Narrated by Nick Carraway, a Yale-educated Midwesterner who has moved to West Egg on Long Island, the story centers on his mysterious, fabulously wealthy neighbor Jay Gatsby, who throws extravagant parties in his Gothic mansion but pines for his lost love, Daisy Buchanan.

Characters and Symbolism

The Great Gatsby's memorable characters include: Jay Gatsby (originally James Gatz, a self-made man of obscure origins who has reinvented himself as a wealthy socialite to win back Daisy); Daisy Buchanan (Gatsby's first love, now married to Tom - Her voice is "full of money" according to Gatsby); Tom Buchanan (Daisy's brutish, racist, adulterous husband who represents old money); Jordan Baker (a professional golfer and Nick's love interest); and Myrtle Wilson (Tom's working-class mistress). The novel is rich with symbolism: the green light at the end of Daisy's dock (Gatsby's dreams and the American Dream), the Valley of Ashes (moral and social decay beneath the glittering surface of wealth), and the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg on a billboard (watching over a morally bankrupt world).

The Great Gatsby was not a commercial success during Fitzgerald's lifetime - He died in 1940 believing himself a failure, having sold only 20,000 copies. During World War II, the Council on Books in Wartime distributed 155,000 copies to soldiers. By the 21st century, it had become one of the best-selling novels in American history, selling approximately 500,000 copies per year. Multiple film adaptations have been made, including the 1974 film with Robert Redford and the 2013 Baz Luhrmann film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Test your Gatsby knowledge - Also try our Hemingway quiz and our To Kill a Mockingbird quiz.