The main event which happens in the first chapter is the introduction of the narrator, Nick Carraway. He is the person who is related to Daisy which is why he is befriended by Jay Gatsby along with the fact that the two of them are neighbors. Nick is a wealthy man who graduated from Yale and he chooses to support all of the characters in the story. He is unbiased and the readers find out everything they need to know from his point of view.
At the beginning of the story Nick introduces himself as the man who has no prejudice whatsoever. He says: "Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had" (Fitzgerald 3). This means that he is the person who is tolerant and capable of understanding everybody. The other characters confide in him because he is a good listener and this chapter foreshadows the fact that Nick will be the catalyst of all the actions which happen throughout the story. He becomes good friends with Jay Gatsby and he visits Daisy who is his cousin. It is obvious from his description that Tom Buchanan is a man who is not fair and who likes to show off.
Nick Carraway shows the audience the location of the story and it is Long Island in New York. There are two places which are East Egg and West Egg and both of these are luxurious although West Egg is classier. Nick’s first neighbor is Jay and he lives in great luxury, but there is something very mysterious about him from the moment Nick introduces him. He says: “I snobbishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parceled out unequally at birth” (Fitzgerald 3). Nick means that people are born being kind or not regardless of their wealth. When Nick goes to visit Daisy, he describes Tom and the fact that the two of them are very wealthy. Tom haws an aggressive personality and he was an athlete in college, while Nick is the complete opposite. Another person who is introduced is Jordan Baker, a socialite, a model and a golf player. Daisy is a mother of a young girl and she is not happy about the fact that her only child is female because she is aware of the fact that girls are mistreated in the society.
Nick is a member of the higher classes and he does not respect people who only have money. When he first meats Gatsby, he describes him as “Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn” (Fitzgerald 3). However, he is wrong in his judgment and he meets Jay as the emotional person which he really is. When Nick mentions Jay to Daisy, she shows excitement which foreshadows the further course of events. There is also a suggestion that Tom is cheating on Daisy.
The fact that Daisy has a daughter makes it easier for her to explain her attitude towards the way she feels about the treatment of women in the society. On the other hand, Jordan is the quite opposite to Daisy and she is unlike other women in the society. The chapter ends with Nick returning home and seeing that Jay Gatsby is relaxing on his lawn while occasionally looking towards the house in which Daisy lives. Everything related to the main plot is introduced in the first chapter and Nick is the key figure.
Works Cited
Fitzgerald, Francis S. The Great Gatsby. London: Wordsworth Classics, 2001. Print.
