Olszewski 1

Jordan Olszewski

Mrs. Gaff

International Studies English 10

18 April 2016

Biographical Analysis of The Great Gatsby

Many times, authors will represent part of themselves or their lives in their writing. They

do this by giving characters certain traits or using a certain story line. The famous author F. Scott

Fitzgerald was known to do this in many of his novels. In one book in particular, The Great

Gatsby, he represents his life in many different ways. To represent his life in the book, Fitzgerald

uses characters. Many characters, such as Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, and Tom Buchanan all

represent a portion or important characteristic in his life.

First, Fitzgerald represented himself in Jay Gatsby. The first way he did this was by

making Gatsby wealthy. This is a representation of Fitzgerald because he, too, was wealthy.

Fitzgeralds income was an average of $25,000, when at the time, a schoolteacher made around

$1,300 (Bruccoli). Gatsbys wealth is shown in his home and his parties. His home is described

as a mansion with a tower on one side, a marble swimming pool, and forty acres of lawn and

garden (Fitzgerald 9). Though Gatsby lives where mansions are popular, his home stands out

because of his wealth. Gatsbys wealth is also shown in his parties. He has extravagant parties

with enormous buffets, alcohol, full orchestras, and Broadway performers, and this costs a large

amount of money (Fitzgerald 43-44).

A second way Fitzgerald was represented in Gatsby was by Gatsby being in the war

(Fitzgerald 51-52). This represents Fitzgerald because he was commissioned as a second

Lieutenant in the war (Biography.com). He also served in the Army until the year 1918
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(Biography.com). In the book, Gatsby said he was in the seventh infantry until the year 1918

(Fitzgerald 52). After being in the Army, Fitzgerald moved to New York (Biography.com). This

is represented in Gatsby because he, too, moved to West Egg, which is in New York, after

leaving the war (Fitzgerald 9).

Next, Fitzgerald represented his wife, Zelda, in Daisy Buchanan. The first way Zelda was

represented in Daisy was that she broke her engagement with Fitzgerald while he was away

working in the advertising business (Bruccoli). This was represented in Daisy because when

Gatsby was away in the war, she left Gatsby and got married to Tom Buchanan (Fitzgerald 159).

The second way Zelda was represented in Daisy was by a quote. Zelda was quoted saying that

she wanted her daughter would be a beautiful little fool (Curnutt). This was shown in Daisy

because she, too, hoped that her daughter would be a foola beautiful little fool

(Fitzgerald 21).

Last, Fitzgerald represented himself in Tom Buchanan. He represented both his

accomplishments and flaws in Tom. An accomplishment that was represented was that Fitzgerald

went to Princeton University, which is where he wrote scripts for musicals for the Princeton

Triangle Club (Bruccoli). This was represented in Tom because he went to college at Yale, which

is also a prestigious university (Fitzgerald 10). A flaw that was represented was that Fitzgerald

had always been interested in football and had hopes of becoming a professional football player

ever since he was a child (Daniel). This is represented in Tom because he was a professional

college football player at New Haven (Fitzgerald 10).

To conclude, F. Scott Fitzgerald used characters to represent his life in The Great Gatsby.

He gave many features to Jay Gatsby to represent both his wealth and the part of his life when he
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was in the Army. He used Daisy Buchanan to represent his broken engagement and used a quote

from his wife, Zelda, in the book. Last, he used Tom Buchanan to represent accomplishments

and flaws from his life. These characteristics all show how a part of Fitzgeralds life was

represented through the characters in The Great Gatsby.

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Works Cited

Biography.com Editors. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d.

Web. 29 Mar. 2016. <http://www.biography.com/people/f-scott-fitzgerald-

9296261#synopsis>.

Bruccoli, Matthew J. "F.Scott Fitzgerald Centenary." F. Scott Fitzgerald Centenary. N.p., 2003.

Web. 3 Feb. 2016. <http://library.sc.edu/spcoll/fitzgerald/biography.html>.

Curnutt, Kirk. "Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald." Encyclopedia of Alabama. N.p., 15 Mar. 2007. Web. 30

Mar. 2016. <http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1120>.

Daniel, Anne Margaret. "'The Great Gatsby' Author's Football Obsession."'The Great Gatsby'

Author's Football Obsession. N.p., 8 May 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.

<http://www.nfl.com/news/ story/0ap1 000000168319/article/the-great-gatsby-authors-

football-obsession>

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Simon & Schuster, Inc. New York, NY: 1925.

Zeitz, Joshua. "F. Scott Fitzgerald and the Age of Excess." F. Scott Fitzgerald and the Age of

Excess. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2016. <https://www.gilderlehrman.org/ history-by-

era/roaring-twenties/essays/f-scott-fitzgerald-and-age-excess>.