The Great Gatsby: Realism F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby has been labelled a masterpiece, and perhaps even one of the greatest novels of all time. In order to be revered as a classic, a novel must have one or more qualities that place it above the rest. One of The Great Gatsby's best qualities is Fitzgerald's incredible use of realism. This realism is evident in the development of plot, setting, and characters throughout the novel. The Great Gatsby is well known for its deeply entangled plots and sub-plots. At first Fitzgerald used realism to develop these plots by choosing plots that would be beleivable to readers.