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Gatsby was born dirt poor in a farm on North Dakota and his original name was James Gatz.
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He attended college at St. Olaf in Minnesota, although he dropped out after two weeks. He complained about the humiliating cleaning job with which helped him to pay the tuition.
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He worked on Lake Superior, fishing for salmon and digging for clams. One day, he saw a wealthy copper mogul's (Dan Cody) yacht and tried to warn him about a storm. Cody took young Gatz, who gave his name as Jay Gatsby, as his personal assistant.
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Traveling with Cody, Gatsby got to know (and like) wealth and luxury. Cody was a heavy drinker, and one of Gatsby’s jobs was to look after him when he was drunk. This gave Gatsby a healthy respect for the dangers of alcohol and convinced him not to become a drinker himself.
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When Cody died, he left Gatsby $25000, but Cody’s mistress prevented him from claiming his inheritance. Gatsby, then, dedicated himself to becoming a wealthy and successful man.
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After the death of Cody, he went to Daisy's house as one of the officers and fell in love with her. It was the first time he was in such a luxurious house with such a beautiful woman.
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in 1917, Jay Gatsby was requested to fight in the Great War
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When Gatsby comes back from the war, he starts to build the character of Gatsby, a wealthy man, who comes from a wealthy family and all the story he told some chapters ago.
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Jay Gatsby studied in Oxford due to a plan from the army
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After making his fortune out of nowhere (apparently), he bought a house with a clear sight of Daisy's house and organized huge parties so he could meet her again at one of them, but she didn't go to any of them.