The Great Gatsby Study Guide

The Great Gatsby Summary

While The Great Gatsby is a highly specific portrait of American society during the Roaring Twenties, its story is also one that has been told hundreds of times, and is perhaps as old as America itself: a man claws his way from rags to riches, only to find that his wealth cannot afford him the privileges enjoyed by those born into the upper class. The central character is Jay Gatsby, a wealthy New Yorker of indeterminate occupation. Gatsby is primarily known for the lavish parties he throws each weekend at his ostentatious Gothic mansion in West Egg. He is suspected of being involved in illegal bootlegging and other underworld activities.

The narrator, Nick Carraway, is Gatsby's neighbor in West Egg. Nick is a young man from a prominent…

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Posted By eric c #312325 at May 23, 2013 8:29 AM

The Great Gatsby, side-street drugstores

I'd like to know if the word "side-street" in the following excerpt from the chapter Seven of The Great Gatsby is an equivalent of "side-street" in the sense of "underhand", "secret", "sleazy":

“I found out what your ‘drug stores’ were.” He turned to us and spoke rapidly. “He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That’s one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him and I wasn’t far wrong.”

Thank you.

The Great Gatsby | Answers: 1

Posted By danielle f #316389 at May 22, 2013 9:24 AM

How do Jay Gatsby form the great gatsby and John Proctor from the crucible compare?

three examples. when they both die, how does it compare?

The Great Gatsby | Answers: 1

Posted By megan h #324875 at May 22, 2013 12:12 AM

how does nick meet Tom's mistress

Tom's mistress

The Great Gatsby | Answers: 1