You’ve no doubt seen the meme featuring Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, raising a champagne glass at an extravagant Long Island party. Handsome and suave, with clear blue eyes and wavy blond hair, he embodies the elegance and sophistication of the 1920s — worlds away from a desolate farm in rural North Dakota.
But that is precisely where Gatsby’s story began — not within the novel’s timeline, but in the imagination of author F. Scott Fitzgerald, who created him a century ago.
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Since its publication in 1925, “The Great Gatsby” has become one of the most enduring novels of all time, still selling around 500,000 copies a year — more than many New York Times bestsellers.
Gatsby’s story has been told on film four times: 1949, 1974, 2000 and 2013. In addition to DiCaprio’s in 2013, Robert Redford’s 1974 performance stands out.
When you’re portrayed by the likes of DiCaprio and Redford, that indeed makes you North Dakota’s most famous fictional character.
But what exactly do we know about Gatsby’s North Dakota days, and what other famous fictional characters come from the Peace Garden State?
North Dakota boy created by Minnesota man
Long before the lavish soirées and the green light at the end of Daisy's dock, Jay Gatsby was simply James Gatz, the son of impoverished Lutheran farmers in North Dakota. While Fitzgerald never details exactly where Gatz is from, Sarah Vogel, a former agriculture commissioner and author of “The Farmer’s Lawyer,” said there are some clues in the book.
In her essay for , she said Gatsby would have been born around 1890. Twenty years earlier, what was then Dakota Territory saw an influx of Protestant (Lutheran, Mennonite) and Catholic Germans from Russia. Most would become farmers.
“Half of North Dakotans today have German/Russian roots,” Vogel wrote. “One of the common last names of the Volga Germans was Götz, pronounced Gatz.”
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The highest density of German Russians is in the south central part of North Dakota. So was Gatsby from Ashley, Wishek or Strasberg? Would he have been raised on sausage and kuchen and become good friends with Lawrence Welk? We don’t know. But it’s fun to imagine.
“Gatsby never admits to being from North Dakota (was he ashamed?) and instead he spins an improbable tale about his origins, claiming to come from a wealthy Midwestern family, all of whom are conveniently dead. No one believed him,” Vogel wrote.
Even in the middle of the extravagant parties on West Egg, Gatsby didn’t fit in among the other elite as much as he wished he would have — something Fitzgerald himself was said to feel. Maybe Gatsby’s North Dakota origins were a reflection of Fitzgerald’s own experiences with ambition, reinvention and the longing to belong.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, who was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, had a deep understanding of the Midwest. Though he spent much of his life in the East, his Midwestern roots heavily influenced his writing.
He may have chosen North Dakota as Gatsby’s birthplace because it represented both the rugged, hardworking spirit of the American heartland and the sense of isolation that Gatsby would later feel among the elite of New York.
North Dakota's Fictional Hall of Fame
Jay Gatsby is an impressive No. 1 on the list of North Dakota’s top fictional characters. Who can even come close? How about this eclectic mix of folklore, dark comedy, toys and comics?
Paul Bunyan
Minnesotans' screams will probably be deafening at the suggestion that Paul Bunyan could be on a list of North Dakota characters. After all, there are statues of Bunyan and his ox, Babe, in at least six Minnesota cities, including Brainerd and Bemidji.
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However, the folklore of Bunyan includes tall tales of how he cleared all the trees from the forests of both North Dakota and South Dakota. A story in The Duluth News Tribune from Aug. 4, 1904, detailed “the year Paul Bunyan lumbered in North Dakota.” (But Minnesota, I think you still have this one.)
Hanzee Dent
Fans of the television series “Fargo” will recognize Hanzee as the complex and stoic enforcer whose ties to North Dakota run deep. According to Fargo Wiki, “He is a Native American activist and freedom fighter who was born in South Dakota and moved to a boarding school in North Dakota to learn the white way of life. Furthermore, in 1975, he was sentenced to life for the death of two FBI agents.”
Low-Light (G.I. Joe) and Mentallo
Are you ready for a toy and cartoon character to hit the list? For those who grew up with action figures and Saturday morning cartoons, Low-Light stands out as the G.I. Joe team’s night operations expert. According to GI Joe’s Fandom page Jopeddia, Low-Light’s real name is Cooper G. MacBride and he was born in Crosby, North Dakota. Fans suggest his North Dakota origins might explain his cool demeanor under pressure.
Diving into the comic book realm, Mentallo is a Marvel Comics character known for his telepathic abilities. According to his fan page biography, his real name is Marvin Flumm and he was born in Watford City, North Dakota, where he once worked as a shoe salesman.
By no means is this an exhaustive list. Who did I miss? Let me know.
In the meantime, happy 100th birthday to “The Great Gatsby.” Check out the including a live reading of the book, 100 years to the day it was published.
Hi, I'm Tracy Briggs. Thanks for reading my column! I love going "Back Then" every week with stories about interesting people, places and things from our past. Check out a few below. If you have an idea for a story, email me at tracy.briggs@forumcomm.com.
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