How does The Great Gatsby end?

Myrtle Wilson is killed by Gatsby’s car with Daisy at the wheel. George Wilson, told by Tom that the car was Gatsby’s, shoots Gatsby in his swimming pool. Gatsby’s funeral is attended by only three people, and Nick moves back West.

Does Daisy choose Gatsby or Tom?

She goes back to Tom. At the Plaza Hotel she admits she loved Tom once but loved Gatsby too, and when Tom reveals Gatsby’s criminal ties she cannot continue. She leaves town with Tom after the accident.

When and where is The Great Gatsby set?

The story takes place in the summer of 1922 on Long Island, in the fictional towns of West Egg and East Egg, with scenes in New York City and the Valley of Ashes between them.

Nick Carraway narrates. He is Daisy’s cousin, Gatsby’s neighbor and the one person who sees all sides of the story.

What does the green light mean?

It burns at the end of Daisy’s dock across the bay and Gatsby reaches toward it from his lawn. For Gatsby it stands for Daisy and for a future he can almost touch. Nick returns to it in the closing pages.

Story summary

The Great Gatsby summary

In the summer of 1922 a young bond salesman moves next door to a mysterious millionaire whose enormous parties hide a single, stubborn hope.

The Great Gatsby is set on Long Island in the summer of 1922. Nick Carraway, a young man from the Midwest, rents a small house in West Egg, next to a marble mansion owned by Jay Gatsby. Across the bay in East Egg live his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom Buchanan. Between the two sides lies the Valley of Ashes, a gray wasteland watched over by the faded eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg.

This is a story about money, longing and the gap between how things look and what they are. It follows a small group of people through parties, a hot afternoon in a New York hotel and a tragedy in the valley. Readers who like classic American novels, Jazz Age settings and tragic love stories will find it here.

Main characters

The plot

Spoilers from here on, including the ending.

Nick moves East

Nick settles into West Egg in the summer of 1922. He has dinner with Daisy and Tom in East Egg and meets Jordan Baker, a professional golfer. Daisy tells him she hopes her daughter will grow up to be a beautiful little fool, and Jordan whispers that Tom has a woman in New York. Late that night Nick sees his neighbor, standing alone on his lawn, reaching toward a green light across the bay.

The valley and the parties

Tom takes Nick to meet his mistress, Myrtle Wilson, whose husband George runs a garage in the Valley of Ashes. At an afternoon party in a New York apartment, Myrtle shouts Daisy’s name and Tom breaks her nose. Nick then attends one of Gatsby’s legendary parties, meets Owl Eyes in the library, and at last meets Gatsby himself, who greets him with a smile and the words “old sport.”

Gatsby’s story

Gatsby drives Nick to the city, tells him a grand story about his past, and introduces him to Meyer Wolfsheim. Jordan then tells Nick the real reason for the parties: Gatsby loved Daisy in Louisville in 1917, and he bought his mansion to be near her. He asks Nick to invite Daisy to tea.

The reunion

On a rainy afternoon Gatsby and Daisy meet again, awkwardly at first and then with joy. Gatsby shows her his house and his shirts, and Daisy cries. Nick learns that Gatsby was born James Gatz in North Dakota and was taken in by the yacht owner Dan Cody. Gatsby throws one more party for Daisy, but she is uneasy among the guests and Tom grows suspicious.

The Plaza Hotel

On the hottest day of summer the group drives to New York. Tom stops for gas at Wilson’s garage, where Myrtle sees Jordan and takes her for Tom’s wife. In a suite at the Plaza Hotel, Gatsby tells Tom that Daisy has never loved him. Tom replies by exposing Gatsby’s bootlegging, Daisy loses her nerve, and Tom sends her home with Gatsby, certain that the affair is over.

The accident

Myrtle runs out of the garage and into the path of Gatsby’s yellow car, which does not stop. Daisy was driving. Gatsby waits outside the Buchanans’ house to protect her and says he will take the blame, while Tom and Daisy talk quietly in their kitchen.

The ending

Tom tells George Wilson whose car it was. Wilson walks to Gatsby’s mansion and shoots him in the pool. Only Nick, Gatsby’s father Henry Gatz and Owl Eyes attend the funeral. Months later Nick meets Tom, decides to return to the Midwest, and spends his last night on Gatsby’s beach thinking about the green light and the way people keep reaching for the past.

Themes

The past: Gatsby believes he can recreate his romance with Daisy exactly as it was five years earlier. The story shows how much of a person’s life is bound up in a moment that cannot be repeated.
Wealth and class: East Egg, West Egg and the Valley of Ashes mark three different places on the ladder of money. Tom’s inherited wealth protects him from consequences, while Gatsby’s new fortune never buys him acceptance, and the Wilsons are left with ash.
Illusion and reality: Gatsby’s parties, his library of uncut books and even his stories about himself are partly stage sets. The novel keeps asking what is real beneath the show, and whether anyone can tell.
Carelessness: Nick sums up Tom and Daisy as careless people who smash things up and then retreat into their money. The story weighs that against Gatsby’s hope, which is naive but sincere.

Questions about The Great Gatsby

How does The Great Gatsby end?: Myrtle Wilson is killed by Gatsby’s car with Daisy at the wheel. George Wilson, told by Tom that the car was Gatsby’s, shoots Gatsby in his swimming pool. Gatsby’s funeral is attended by only three people, and Nick moves back West.
Does Daisy choose Gatsby or Tom?: She goes back to Tom. At the Plaza Hotel she admits she loved Tom once but loved Gatsby too, and when Tom reveals Gatsby’s criminal ties she cannot continue. She leaves town with Tom after the accident.
When and where is The Great Gatsby set?: The story takes place in the summer of 1922 on Long Island, in the fictional towns of West Egg and East Egg, with scenes in New York City and the Valley of Ashes between them.
Who tells the story?: Nick Carraway narrates. He is Daisy’s cousin, Gatsby’s neighbor and the one person who sees all sides of the story.
What does the green light mean?: It burns at the end of Daisy’s dock across the bay and Gatsby reaches toward it from his lawn. For Gatsby it stands for Daisy and for a future he can almost touch. Nick returns to it in the closing pages.