The Great Gatsby, Chapter 6 summary

What happens

1. A reporter’s visit prompts Nick to explain Gatsby’s original name, poor background, invented identity, and years serving Dan Cody.
2. Cody leaves Gatsby twenty-five thousand dollars, but Gatsby receives nothing, while Ella Kaye obtains the remaining fortune.
3. Tom Buchanan visits with two riders, who leave Gatsby behind despite the woman’s invitation to supper.
4. Tom accompanies Daisy to Gatsby’s next party, where she enjoys time alone with Gatsby but dislikes the gathering.
5. Tom questions Gatsby’s wealth and resolves to investigate, while Daisy says Gatsby owns drugstores.
6. Afterward, Gatsby insists he can restore the past, and Nick recounts Gatsby’s memory of kissing Daisy five years earlier.

In this chapter

What to notice

Gatsby rejects Nick’s warning and treats recovery of the past as possible. His demand reaches beyond winning Daisy to undoing the years between them.

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