Sunday, November 11, 2012

An Empty Room for a Well Known Man

The final chapter of the book takes place at Gatsby's funeral. I was astounded at the number of people who attended. Only a hand full of people showed up to show their gratitude for Gatsby. However, Henry Gatz, Gatsby's father was there; I found this rather interesting. We didn't hear much about Gatsby's parents throughout the book until now. Mr. Gatz talks about how proud he was of his hard working son and that he knew Gatsby would be a success even when he was young. I find it ironic that Gatsby is not the person his father thinks he is. His father talks so highly of him for becoming wealthy, what he doesn't know is how Gatsby earned that money; illegally.

After the funeral it seems as if everyone cuts ties with each other. Nick moves back to the Midwest and leaves the engaged Jordan Baker behind. He comes to the collusion that Daisy, Tom and Jordan are all entirely wrapped up in themselves and have no cares about anyone but themselves. They makes messes and leave them for others to clean up.

I really enjoyed the book. I like how Fitzgerald threw in unexpected twists that kept things moving. It made the book a lot more fun to read. There were some parts when i didn't want to put the book down, especially nearing the end. The beginning was a bit dry but definitely worth getting through to get to the more intriguing chapters.

The Tragedy in West Egg

Wilson, still dwelling on his wife's death, tries to figure out who it was that killed her. The only information he has so far is that the driver was driving a yellow car. After doing some more research he comes to learn that it was Gatsby's car that hit Myrtle. By the end of chapter 8, Gatsby as well as Wilson himself are both dead. I think that is was an unexpected twist to the story. I would have never expected that Gatsby would die. My thoughts on Gatsby were that he may leave the West and go somewhere else where he wouldn't worry about Daisy. After being rejected for Tom, he could finally move on with his life and start a new chapter with someone else.

When I finished chapter 8, I was extremely surprised. Especially because not only did Wilson kill Gatsby, but himself as well. However, in this chapter I finally realized what the green light that Gatsby always stared at is. It was the light at the end of Daisy's pier. I found that quiet interesting. I think that there will be a lot of people at his funeral, just lie they were at his parties. However, I do not think that Daisy will go. I don't think she will want to be there to be honest.  

Gatsby Comes Clean

In chapter 7, Gatsby sort of comes clean with his lifestyle. Now that he has Daisy, he calls off all of his parties. It turned out that Gatsby used the parties he threw to lure Daisy in, now that he has her there is no need for them anymore. It prevails that all of Gatsby's success was for Daisy. The only reason he became rich was so Daisy would come back to him. 

Gatsby has convinced himself that he is the one Daisy has always wanted. He does not truly believe that she loves Tom. When they are in the city he attempts to get Daisy to admit that, but she won't. Gatsby makes comments to Tom regarding Daisy leaving him. He believes that Daisy is really his again and the two of them can pick up where they left off five years ago. However, that is not the case. I do not believe that Daisy will leave Tom. One she could not admit that she didn't love Tom. Also because Tom and Daisy have a child together, this was  hard for Gatsby to grasp as well. I predict that Daisy will stay with Tom ans it is possible for her and Gatsby to be friends if anything.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

The Story Behind James Gatz

Throughout the first five chapters, Gatsby remains a mystery. However, in chapter six his story begins to unravel itself. At one time he was a student as well as a custodian at St. Olaf college in Minnesota. He worked as a janitor to pay for his tuition. Two weeks in, he dropped out. He wanted to be big and rich now. The question of how he became so wealthy still has not been answered. Cody left Gatsby $25,000 when he died but he never received the money. So where did all his money come from? I think that Gatsby secretly has a job that brings in large sums of money and that is where all his money comes from. Being that he does not have a degree because he is a drop out, not many people would hire him. He must have something of his own going on.