Ignorance

The final events in this chapter have really disappointed me. I could hardly believe that people wouldn’t show up to Gatsby’s funeral. This man threw the most extravagant parties, and let anyone and everyone come, you would think that people would be grateful enough come to the funeral. Nick felt the same way, he was astonished that people wouldn’t be lining up at the door to see this man in his final hours. Nick was trying to find absolutely anybody to come to this mans funeral. It was strange because Nick has mixed emotions towards Gatsby, but he feels need to be on his side and defend the dead man. Finally though Mr. Gatz (Gatsby’s dad), show’s up at Gastby’s door and tells Nick who he is. All this time Gatsby has lead us to believe that he has not had any contact with his family this whole time, when in turn he did! He sent his dad a picture of his house to show him how successful he has been, and he shows Nick to show how proud he was of his son. Later, at the funeral, owl-eyes shows up out of nowhere and his last words before he leaves are, “The poor son-of-a-bitch” (175). I believe that Fitzgerald put owl-eye’s at the funeral to signify that not everyone was superficial, and not everyone thought of Gatsby as a hollow shell, he actually had substance, and old owl-eye’s realized that. He saw when he was in the library that the books were real, and had been read, so naturally he thought of Gatsby as a real person, while other people just used Gatsby for his money, the way shallow people do. They didn’t see him for him, they didn’t really bother to know him either. After that, Jordan decides to break it off with Nick because she thinks he’s too wreck less, like her. He saw Tom before he (Tom) left for his vacation, and Tom ended up telling Nick that Wilson went to his house the day of Gatsby murder and asked who owned the yellow car that killed Myrtle, and Tom threw it all on Gatsby. So Tom is an access to murder, and he doesn’t feel any guilt about it, he and Daisy just decide to leave their dirty mess for everybody else to clean up. “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreat back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had mad…” (179). After that happened Nick decided that he was too squeamish for the east, so he was going to move back west. The very end of the story had so much symbolism, it’s hard to know where to start. Nick mentions when the island was very young that when the Dutch sailors came over they saw a lot of promise in this new land, it was their dream to go west to America, where they were promised that they could build themselves up from nothing and make a living. But ironically that was just the opposite for Gatsby, he moved out east to find Daisy and made cheap easy money, in-turn it destroyed him, his American dream was twisted into something that was not real, a fake reality. “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” (180) as for Gatsby this meant that no matter how hard he tried to have Daisy he just couldn’t get her because he already had her once and he can’t live in the past. No one can just simply live in the past, one must move forward in time the way it was meant to be. It was a very powerful quote to end with and it really stuck with me. This overall was one of the best books I’ve read this year, it’s very relatable even for being wrote back in the twenties, which makes it such a success (with me).

A tragic end...

Chapter eight has been one of the most tragic chapter in the book. This is right after Daisy accidently kills Myrtle, and everyone is a wreck. Poor Gatsby can’t sleep without knowing Daisy is okay. There is an on-going investigation about the murder of Myrtle Wilson. Everything is just a down right mess! In the beginning, in Gatsby’s house, there is a scene where the butler asks if he could close the pool for the season, but Gatsby says no. He says no because he hasn’t used the pool all summer, I found this a little strange and figured it was foreshadowing something bad. I thought it would portend to Gatsby committing suicide, but it was much worse. It then cuts to Wilson’s garage and Wilson is in bad shape, not talking much, rocking back in forth, it was like he completely shut down. Michaelis went over to watch him, and talk to him to try to figure out what happened. Michaelis was practically pulling teeth when he was asking Wilson questions, but suddenly Wilson just snapped. He went a little crazy in realizing his wife was having an affair. He had alleged that the man in the yellow car was the person who cheated on, and killed his wife. “’Oh, my God!’ again in a whisper—his comforter left several explanations in the air. ‘Then he killed her,’ said Wilson. His mouth dropped open suddenly. ‘Who did?’ ‘I have a way of finding out.’ ‘You’re morbid, George.’ […] ‘He murdered her.’ ‘It was an accident, George.’” (158) I was starting to make the connection between Gatsby not wanting to close the pool and Wilson going crazy “having ways of finding out” who killed Myrtle. He was looking for the fellow who owned the yellow car, and thanks to Tom earlier for driving Gatsby’s car and telling them they switched for the time being helped Wilson know who to look for. If, Tom had not have stopped at the crime scene in his own car (and talked to Wilson), Wilson might have thought it was Tom who killed his wife. But it any case, Wilson was on a man hunt for Gatsby. Once again, it skips back over to Gatsby’s house and he is about to take a swim in his pool for the first time that season. “He must have looked up at an unfamiliar sky through frightening leaves and shivered as he found what a grotesque thing a rose is and how raw the sunlight was upon the scarcely created grass. A new world, material without being real, where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about […].” (161) Everything that he built on stilts was falling and he had no choice but to helplessly watch. Everything that he had was for Daisy and she didn’t want it, and that was one of Gatsby’s greatest realizations. All he had took on a whole new look, nothing seemed real to him, he did not want to take in the fact that Daisy did not want him. He is a like a poor ghost, all he was living on was a dream; the problem with that is it is all based on chance. He could have his dream come true, and get Daisy, but it is not very likely due to her being married to a wealthy man (her kind of man). This made Gatsby very distraught. Then all of a sudden, “[…] like that ashen, fantastic figure gliding toward him through the amorphous trees. The chauffeur—he was one of Wolfsheim’s protégés--heard the shots—afterward he could only say that he hadn’t thought anything much about them. I drove from the station directly to Gatsby’s house and my rushing anxiously up the front steps wad the first thing that alarmed anyone. But they knew then, I firmly believe. With scarcely a word, four of us, the chauffeur, butler, gardener, and I, hurried down to the pool. […] The touch of a cluster of leaves revolved it slowly, tracing. Like the leg of transit, a thin red circle in the red circle in the water.” (161-162). Wilson found Gatsby and finished his business; as for Gatsby his life was cut short by an accusation. Now I’m just going out on a limb here, but I think Wolfsheim’s somehow involved in the murder of Gatsby. I think Wolfsheim wanted Gatsby dead, for some reason or another, and he told his protégés (that worked) for Gatsby to let him die somehow. So when they heard the shots they didn’t act upon it and waited for an outside party (Nick) to come over to see what was going on. Then the other became aware of the situation at hand, and rushed over to see what had become of Gatsby; and there was Wilson off in the garden, just standing there.

Sizzling Summers; Heated Tentions

Chapter seven starts out with Nick going to Gatsby’s and realizes that he has all new staff. Gatsby tells Nick it is because he has been seeing Daisy almost every afternoon and he doesn’t want people to gossip about it. After that Nick and Gatsby get invited to Daisy’s house. Like in the last chapter the weather is portending to some event. It is the hottest day of the year! It definitely parallels the friction between Tom and Gatsby. The whole time Tom, Daisy, Gatsby, Nick, and Jordan are together Tom hast to be to alpha male. At one point in the chapter Daisy decides they should all go into town and Tom tell Gatsby that he is taking Gatsby’s car and Gatsby can take his into the city. This is a clear sign of alpha male-ism. Gatsby is perfectly fine with it because he gets to spend more alone time with Daisy. Yet again when they are out Tom tries to go at it with Gatsby, and Gatsby snaps and fights back. Tom tries to reveal the “true” Gatsby in attempts to take control over the situation…which leads us to the conclusion that Gatsby made his money bootlegging. Finally Gatsby brings up his crazy notions; he had to balls to tell Tom that Daisy never loved him, she was in love with the Great Gatsby himself instead. “’Your wife doesn’t love you,’ said Gatsby. ‘She’s never loved you. She loves me.’” (130). This is where the fight for alpha male gets to be serious; Gatsby now wants to take role of alpha and take back what is his, Daisy. Sadly for the Gatsby Daisy isn’t willing to lie about her true feelings, she did in fact love Gatsby, but she also loves Tom, “I did love him once—but I loved you too.” (132). This rocked Gatsby to his core, he was extremely unprepared to hear this news, all along he thought she would admit to never loving Tom and leave him to go live with Gatsby. Tom was thrilled with this information though because once again was he in control, the true alpha male. After all of that they all left; Tom with Nick and Jordan, and Gatsby with Daisy. This is where the chapter had come to an almost unexpected halt, Tome passes by Wilson’s garage to discover his mistress, Myrtle, had been hit by a car and killed, he was devastated to say the least. To him both of his live had come crashing down, Daisy didn’t really want him, and his fantasy life with the mistress vanished. Too bad for Tom, Daisy was the driver who killed Myrtle on accident. I’m not quite sure what might happen next but I’m sure it will involve the cops, and an arrest of someone. Maybe the weather might be foggy/rainy and mysterious while the cops come to get the person who killed Mrs. Wilson. Maybe Gatsby will take the bullet for his beloved Daisy.

Daisy and Gatsby...Amour

Finally Gatsby and Daisy meet for a second “first” time! This whole time Gatsby had been following Daisy; bought a grandeur house, and extravagant stuff to impress her. He was just hoping that Daisy would wander over to one of his shindigs and they would magically meet up and sparks would fly. Well, that’s not exactly how it happened but they did meet again, and sparks did eventually fly, it just took longer than he was expecting. When Nick invited Daisy over for tea she was thrilled. Meanwhile Gatsby had arranged for someone to tend to Nick’s lawn and bring over his own tea and tea set, even some flowers. That day was very rainy; when Daisy came over and Gatsby appeared out of nowhere she was shocked. They were both very nervous; I believe this was the author’s way of reflecting mood and weather. Once they warmed up to each other the weather lightened up and it was a sunny and beautiful day. Later in the chapter, “The rain was still falling, but the darkness had parted in the west, and there was a pink and golden billow of foamy clouds above the sea. ‘Look at that’ she whispered, and then after a moment: ‘I’d like to just get one of those pink clouds and put you in it and push you around’” (94). The weather was really showing their love, seeing as pink is one of the colors of love reflects the emotional tie between the two. I really liked how the two paralleled each other, it was very effective. Now I will be paying closer attention to the weather and the upcoming events. Something that really surprised me was Daisy’s materialistic views; she was so enthralled with all of the items his money bought. It’s like she wasn’t really interested in Gatsby at all. But further digging I realized that it was more of a symbol of love, not material love but her love for Gatsby instead of her husband, Tom. Seeing Gatsby’s house made her realize that she made a mistake when she married Tom, and that Gatsby is her one, true love. It got to a point, in Gatsby’s house, that Nick decided that it was best to leave the two lost lovers alone for a while, so he left for home on the sunny day.

Tom and the wonderful Myrtle

In chapter two, we are introduced to Tom’s mistress, Myrtle Wilson. Two words for this woman, obnoxious and shallow; shallower than any other character so far (more than Tom!). But I digress; first Tom takes Nick to meet the mistress. They drive through the Valley of Ashes to get to her, and when they do Tom walks around this garage very arrogantly, and act’s like he owns the place. He has no problem with ignoring the owner, George B. Wilson, rarely acknowledging him. When George’s wife walks down from up the stairs, Tom immediately indulges in her presence. The poor husband is clueless to the whole thing! And just when I thought it would not get any worse for George, Tom tells Myrtle to get on the next train. She willingly agrees, and then Tom and Nick leave without another word. Nick just watched this in a disgraced way, but at the same time he could not help but get more drawn into it. Once they meet Myrtle by the train they go tramping up to their apartment. They start to party a bit, and get a little tipsy, Myrtle decides to invite her sister and some friends to the apartment to party as well. They all end up getting drunk and Myrtle gets a little too out of control, “’Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!’ shouted Mrs. Wilson. ‘I’ll say it whenever I want to! Dai---‘ Making a short deft movement, Tome Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.” Tom was very explosive, and does not want to think of his wife when he is with Myrtle. He has tried to create a happier life and does not want the two lives to collide at any cost. This whole chapter was a mess, but it really helped show the distortion in the lives of the characters. They are all cynical in some way or another, even Nick at times; Nick is being pulled into the drama, slowly he is participating in their devious games. I’m starting to think that Nick might turn into an east-egger.

Meeting the Friends....

After I have read the first chapter, I found out a lot about the first four characters. I’ll start off with Nick, the narrator, he is a very intelligent character. He has learned to observe people, and to keep a reserved judgment. The second character that is introduced, is a real “hulk”. He’s supercilious, and very over-bearing. Nick had mentioned being roommates with him in college and having the same jock attitude. Even after college when he’s supposed to mature, he doesn’t; all he does is snobbishly put down people. During the dinner party he brings up a book that he was reading about race, and he has the audacity to make comments on the book saying that it’s science based. Everyone else seems to just go with it, even though their true opinions probably differ. On top of being a racist, he is a cheater; he has a mistress in some other place that he openly talks to, but behind closed doors or another room in front of his wife! Being that impudent is a shame. His poor wife Daisy just goes along with everything he does, she is very aware that her husband is cheating on her, but because she has so much money she tries not to let it bother her. This lady (Daisy) is a very effervescent, her words are described as, “It was a kind of voice that the ear follows up and down, as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again.” (Fitzgerald 9). It makes for an interesting way the two character personalities play off one another. Now the next character is Miss Baker, I’m not exactly sure why she is staying the summer with Tom and Daisy, but she came off as very arrogant at first. Once she warmed up to Nick, she became more settled and started offering some conversation. Towards the end of the dinner, Nick left for west egg for some rest that night. On his way home he notices little things here and there, like a cat stalking around the streets. But all of a sudden he sees a figure in the night, it’s Gatsby. “He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have swore he was trembling. I involuntarily glance seaward […] When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished” (Fitzgerald 20-21). As man as mysterious as the night, there must be a reason for this mysterious façade, but that will hopefully be revealed later in the book.