Literature11 The Great Gatsby: Analysis & Essays

The nineteen-storey Plaza Hotel in New York (built 1907) was considered a skyscraper at the time, and is used by Fitzgerald as the setting for the confrontation between Tom, Daisy and Gatsby, which leads directly to tragedy. Nick notes several landmarks of New York City, including Pennsylvania Station, Queensboro Bridge, the Murray Hill Hotel and the Metropole Hotel. However the elegance of these impressive locations is undercut by his comment on the sense of ‘haunting loneliness’ and exclusion felt in the midst of this busy and ‘restless’ splendour.