The Great Gatsby Timeline of 1922

The Great Gatsby Timeline

late July

July 1st

late August

Spring of 1922

CLIMAX

• The next day, Gatsby called Nick on the phone and invited him to lunch at Daisy's house the following day.

• One Saturday, Gatsby's party did not happen
• Nick visited Gatsby and found his entire staff replaced

• Gatsby, Nick, Jordan, Daisy & Tom have lunch at the Buchannan's house
• Tom sees Daisy say I love you to Gatsby (not really, but...)
• They all drive to the city
• In a hotel room, the affair becomes the topic, and the nervous Daisy does not agree to leave Tom
• Daisy drives Gatsby's car home; she hits and runs over Myrtle, killing her
• Tom sees his dead mistress at the garage
• Wilson grieves
• Tom & Daisy have a private, intimate conversation
• Gatsby is left waiting outside the house, should Daisy need him, which she does not

Seeking an occupation in the bond business, Nick Carraway moves to New York:

"Father agreed to finance me for a year, and after various delays, I came East, permanently, I thought, in the spring of twenty-two" (3).

• One afternoon, Nick and Tom visit Myrtle in the Valley of Ashes

"It was a few days before the 4th of July"

(Nick, Chapter 2

= about three weeks after their first dinner)

• They have a small party in an apartment.
• In a drunken confusion, Nick witnesses a collection of things.

• One morning, Gatsby appears at Nick's door:

"Good morning, old sport. You're having lunch with me today and I thought we'd ride up together" (64).

• On the car ride, Gatsby tells Nick stories:

"Well, I'm going to tell you something about my life. I don't want you to get a wrong idea of me from all these stories you hear" (65).

• During the lunch, Nick meets Mr. Wolfsheim, "a small, flat-nosed Jew" (69).
• At afternoon tea with Jordan, Nick hears about Daisy & Gatsby's past, and agrees to arrange a meeting at his house:

"He wants her to see his house" (79).

day after day after climax

day after climax

• reporters and policemen swarm Gatsby's mansion
• a letter is sent to Wolfsheim

• Nick goes to see Gatsby in the morning and gives him a compliment
• Tom tells Wilson it was Gatsby's car
• Tom & Daisy leave for an undisclosed location
• Wilson shoots Gatsby, then himself, around 4pm
• Nick discovers Gatsby's body; the garden

July

August

June

September

May

mid-August

mid-July

Early Summer

early September

late July

• Nick visits Mr. Wolfsheim who refuses to attend the funeral
• Gatsby's father shows Nick his son's childhood schedule
• Gatsby's funeral

• Gatsby and Daisy reunite and ignite their past relationship at Nick's house
• Gatsby, Daisy, and Nick go next door to see Gatsby's mansion and see his piano, bedroom, shirts, etc.

" 'They're such beautiful shirts,' she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds" (92).

• One Saturday morning, Nick receives an invitation from Gatsby to his party that night
• At his first party, Nick finds Jordan, and he personally meets Gatsby for the first time
• Jordan has a private discussion with Gatsby

(summer solstice = June 20th; = June 6th)

• Nick visits Gatsby and is surprised to see Tom and two others visiting:

"For several weeks I didn't see [Gatsby] or hear his voice on the phone - mostly I was in New York, trotting around with Jordan - but finally I went over to his house one Sunday afternoon" (101).

• The following Saturday night, Tom & Daisy and Nick attend Gatsby's party:

"Perhaps Tom's presence gave the evening its peculiar quality of oppressiveness" (104).

• Daisy & Gatsby have a private conversation.
• Gatsby tells Nick he wants to relive the past:

"I'm going to fix everything just the way it was before" (110).

Nick has his first dinner with Daisy, Tom, and Jordan:

"In two weeks, it'll be the longest day in the year!" (11).

- Daisy, Chapter 1

Nick sees Gatsby for the first time on the docks, reaching for the green light:

"he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling" (21).