Narrator Nick Carraway relates details about his upbringing in an affluent Midwest family. He explains that, while they represent themselves as descendants of royalty, their origins only go back as far as a mid-19th century hardware store proprietor. Supported by family wealth, Nick graduated from Yale in 1915 and fought in World War I. Restless after the war, Nick forgoes returning to his home and moves to New York to pursue a career as a bond salesman. Instead of living in New York City, he decides to live in the nearby country town of West Egg on Long Island.

Nick lives at the end of West Egg closest to the more fashionable East Egg, located across the Long Island Sound. From his house, he can see the neighboring large home which turns out to belong to a man named Jay Gatsby. The house is a conspicuous and “colossal” ivy-covered home, with a marble swimming pool.

Nick has acquaintances in East Egg: his second cousin Daisy lives there with her husband Tom Buchanan, whom Nick knew at Yale. Tom was an excellent college football player and comes from a very wealthy family. Their home is a “Georgian Colonial mansion overlooking the bay” (6), covered in ivy like Gatsby’s.