Jake, Reinvented

Jake, Reinvented is a retelling of the American classic The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and originally published in 1925. The Great Gatsby is set on Long Island near New York City and tells the story of Jay Gatsby, a self-made man committed to the unattainable dream of rekindling his past love with the upper-class beauty Daisy Buchanan. Through the eyes of World War I veteran Nick Carraway, the novel tracks Gatsby as he throws incredible parties to impress Daisy, who is unhappily married to the wealthy and unfaithful Tom Buchanan. While Gatsby nearly succeeds at winning Daisy’s heart, Daisy and Tom’s selfishness ultimately triumphs, setting off a chain of events that leads to Gatsby’s tragic downfall.

Korman connects his story to The Great Gatsby in a variety of ways. He begins with a dedication to Jay and Daisy—the central characters of Fitzgerald’s novel—and then follows with a direct quote from The Great Gatsby, which hints that Jake Garrett, Korman’s version of Jay Gatsby, is also doomed to fail in achieving his romantic dream. Korman models most of his characters’ names and personalities after Fitzgerald’s and makes playful allusions to the novel, such as by naming the high school F.