Francis Scott Fitzgerald

adaptation by Cristina Gioli
 A great classic of American literature. Through the rise and fall of a fascinating young man, the novel shows the decadence of the “Jazz Age” America of the 1920s.
 Both tragic, romantic hero and criminal, Gatsby believes that money is the key to reach success and happiness, but above all to make his impossible dream of love come true. Despite his faults, he is passionate and sincere, while the other characters move through life superficially, irresponsibly and seem incapable of real feelings.
 In this story, Fitzgerald presents us with all the contradictions of the period: the thoughtless way of living of the prosperous classes in the 1920s, the poverty of the lower classes and the illusory quality of the “American Dream”.
 
 Teacher's Resources available online: Answer Key - Audioscripts - Key to Summing-up Activities.
 
 Attraverso l’ascesa e la caduta di un affascinante giovane, il romanzo tratta la decadenza dell’Età del Jazz nell’America degli Anni ’20.
 Allo stesso tempo eroe tragico/romantico e criminale, Gatsby crede che il denaro sia la chiave per il successo e la felicità, ma soprattutto per rendere reale il suo impossibile sogno d’amore.
 Con questa storia, Fitzgerald ci mostra tutte le contraddizioni del periodo: l’avventatezza delle classi più agiate, la povertà delle classi più basse e la qualità illusoria del cosiddetto sogno americano.

Chapter 1 – First Impressions

Extension: The Jazz Age

Chapter 2 – Parties, Meetings and Revelations

Extension: The American Dream

Chapter 3 – A Reunion

Extension: American literature in the 1920s

Chapter 4 – Death of a Dream

Extension: Modernism

Chapter 5 – The Tragedy

Extension: The Themes of The Great Gatsby

Summing-up activities

Glossary

Myrtle and her husband are poor, but they would like to belong to an upper social class.Thus, Myrtle plays the role of the lady when she is in the apartment with Tom, but hers is only a delusion2: she will never belong to Tom s class and is little more than a toy to him. Success. Old or new, money is the necessary ingredient to reach success. Everybody goes to Gatsby s parties because he is fabulously rich; for the same reason he will temporarily reconquer Daisy s love. He lost her when he was a poor young man; she will fall in love with him again when she sees how rich he has become. Gatsby believes that money will give him happiness, but it is not so. Money is the key to his success, but his success is only temporary. Honesty and morality. All the events and characters are described by a first-person narrator, Nick, who gives a moral judgement on them and can be considered a sort of mouthpiece3 for the author himself. At the beginning he tells us that he left New York and went back to the Middle West because the standards of morality he found in the city were inferior to his own. In the course of the novel, in fact, we see that all the characters lack honesty or behave badly, in one way or another: Gatsby carries on criminal activities with Mr Wolfsheim,Tom has affairs, Myrtle is an adulterous wife, Jordan cheats on the golf course. And Daisy, in her selfishness, cowardice and lack of loyalty, is probably the worst of them all. She is beautiful and fascinating, but, like Tom, empty and incapable of real love. Tom and Daisy are privileged but have done nothing to deserve their privileges. They behave irresponsibly but are never punished; they have a sort of immunity given them by their money and their established social position.Their actions, however, will have tragic consequences for Gatsby, Myrtle and Wilson, that is those who do not belong to their class, but have come into contact with them, hoping to be accepted and loved. The corruption of the American Dream. When Nick, in the end, goes back to his native town in the Middle West, he wants to return to a more honest world, in which the traditional moral values (represented by the West) have not yet been corrupted by the materialism of the big city (represented by the East, dominated by a desire for money at all costs). The whole novel, therefore, can be read as a demonstration of the illusory quality of the American Dream, which has been distorted4 producing a society in which the privileged are false, empty and careless, and the poor are victims. 2. delusion: something that is believed to be true but is not. 3. mouthpiece: someone who expresses the opinion of another person. 4. distorted: changed for the worse. 98 

S U M M I N G - U P AC T I V I T I E S WORKING ON THE TEXT 1 Choose the correct option. a. Who is the narrator of the novel? 1. Gatsby. 2. Tom. 3. Nick. b. Who is Tom? 1. Nick s cousin. 2. Daisy s husband. 3. Jordan s lover. c. Who is George Wilson? 1. A friend of Nick s. 2. The owner of a garage. 3. A rich man. L. Di Caprio as Gatsby in d. Daisy is  the 2013 film adaption 1. beautiful and happy. by B. Luhrmann. 2. unhappy, but generous and active. 3. fascinating but empty. e. Tom is  1. kind and understanding. 2. strong and arrogant. 3. simple and friendly. f. Myrtle is  1. vulgar but sensual. 2. delicate and gentle. 3. indifferent to Tom s money. g. How did the party in Tom and Myrtle s New York apartment end? 1. Everybody had a good time. 2. Tom hit Myrtle. 3. Myrtle s sister had an accident. h. Who went to Gatsby s parties? 1. Only a selected group of his friends. 2. Only people who had been invited. 3. People who knew about the party and just went there. i. What did Gatsby tell Nick the first time he spoke about himself? 1. That he was the son of poor people from the Middle-West. 2. That he was the son of a very rich family. 3. That he was a self-made man. 99 

Narrativa inglese, livello B2 intermedio, il romanzo di Francis Scott Fitzgerald narra la decadenza dell’Età del Jazz nell’America degli Anni ’20.

The Great Gatsby - Collana RAINBOWS

Level B2 • Intermediate - Collana RAINBOWS

The Great Gatsby

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