Friday, February 18, 2011

Chapter 9 pgs. 163-180

Chapter 9 is written two years after Gatsby's death. After Gatsby's death, the curious media swarmed his mansion. The turnout for his funeral was quite the contrary. The only people at Gatsby's funeral was Nick, Owl Eyes, Gatsby's father, and a few servants. Nick fed up with the people he is surrounded by decides to move back to the Midwest. Nick encounters Tom and refuses to shake his hand at first, eventually shaking it realizing he's "talking to a child." On the last night before Nick leaves he goes out on the beach behind Gatsby's house and ponders peoples motivations and dreams.

"It was Gatsby's father, a solemn old man, very helpless and dismayed, bundled up in a long cheap ulster against the warm September day."

Henry Gatz was very proud of his son. He was proud of his success and saves a picture of Gatsby's house. He is a proud father and has loving feelings towards his son even though Gatsby did not visit him much.

Henry Gatz gives us an idea of Gatsby as a child. He shows Nick a book Gatsby wrote as a kid for self-improvement. Henry believes all his son's hard work paid off in his success, when in reality Gatsby's fortune came from illegal business. Mr. Gatz is ignorant to his son's true self, and like Gatsby imagining Daisy, Henry imagines his son as the same way as he was when he was a child.

"Nobody came."
-These two words stood out to me because it showed how people really felt about Gatsby. People would use him for his extravagant parties but no one truly cared about him. He was also too caught up in his dream of Daisy, that he didn't make other friends or try to reach out to other people on a more personal level. Gatsby is an example that money cannot buy happiness. He died a lonely unhappy man who lost his dream.  

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