The Great Gatsby Commentary on Chapter 9
The Great Gatsby Commentary on Chapter 9 In The Great Gatsby, Chapter 9, the last chapter of the novel, is used by Fitzgerald to create a sense of finality for the reader suggesting "the party was over". Fitzgerald repeats the word "last" to do this, which relates to Nick's, the narrator, end to his experience with Gatsby. Nick is writing two years after the events with Gatsby, showing that a substantial amount of his life has passed, with Gatsby still fresh in his mind. However, as Nick is a self conscious narrator, writing a time after the event, the information presented to the reader could be biased, as shown by Nick who thinks of him self as "one of the few honest people that I have ever known". Therefore, the reader does not receive a clear picture of the events that occur in Long Island, which Fitzgerald uses to create the theme of disillusion throughout the novel. On the other hand, Nick as a writer can be seen as isolated, just as Gatsby was throughout his life, due to the extravagant parties with non-invited strangers and a friendless funeral. Fitzgerald therefore emphasizes Gatsby's hopeful obsession of meeting Daisy ever again, by hoping she would attend his materialistic parties, however by his death, he was only described as a "poor son-of-a-bitch". The reader feels that Gatsby was indeed this as he had dedicated part of his life in trying to reignite his love
Great Gatsby Chapter 9 notes
CHAPTER NINE Fitzgerald draws his novel to its conclusion. This chapter allows him to make his final comment on the corrupt and destructive side of the American Dream. On one level it could be said that Gatsby represents the success story of the American Dream - the epitome of the stereotypical ascent from 'rags to riches'. He drives his own fortune and prosperity acquiring great wealth and material possessions; but , ultimately, his dream fails anyway. Fitzgerald makes it abundantly clear just how distorted the collective vision of society had become with regard to the accumulation of wealth and the influence of mass media - represented by the eyes of T J Eckleburg. Such materialistic goals had overtaken the more altruistic and virtuous pursuits inherent in the original interpretation of the American Dream. In this chapter the reader senses Nick's great sense of despair, disillusionment and disgust. He is appalled by the behaviour he encounters in his preparation for Gatsby's funeral: 'I found myself on Gatsby's side and alone.' After all the parties he had thrown for a countless trail of guests who paraded through his house 'Nobody came.' The reader has now experienced Nick's journey, his voyage - note the sea imagery to which he refers in the final lines of the novel. It is interesting to note just how much Nick has matured as a result of his experiences:
Structure in Chapter 1,8 and 9 of The Great Gatsby
Structure in Chapter 8 of The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald begins chapter eight with 'I couldn't sleep all night...frightening dreams.' This creates the tension at the beginning of the chapter. Fitzgerald does this in order to prepare the reader for the worst outcome; the death of Gatsby. From Nick's diagesis about his restless night, the reader can understand the honesty of his relationship with Gatsby as he as a character can sense that there is something wrong. Beginning the chapter with the fog-horn 'groaning incessantly on the Sound...' surprises the reader as this is a sound that has not been mentioned up until this point of the narrative. The fact that this sound is not usual, also implies that the something out of the ordinary is going to happen, increasing the tension in build up to the crux of the narrative. Fitzgerald chooses to have the death of the protagonist in the penultimate chapter of the novel in order to present the reader with a mimesis, that is, that the death of Gatsby leaves the novel with no purpose to carry on. The chapter ends with 'It was after we started... and the holocaust was complete.' Nick describes the death of both Wilson and Gatsby as the 'holocaust'. This is symbolic of the two characters as one could argue that they were the most innocent of the characters in the novel, yet neither of them managed to fulfil their idea of the American
Summary of "The Great Gatsby" Chapter 9
Writing two years after Gatsby’s death, Nick describes the events that surrounded the funeral. Swarms of reporters, journalists, and gossipmongers descend on the mansion in the aftermath of the murder. Wild, untrue stories, more exaggerated than the rumors about Gatsby when he was throwing his parties circulate around New York. Feeling that Gatsby would not want to go through a funeral alone, Nick tries to hold a large funeral for him, but all of Gatsby’s former friends and acquaintances have either disappeared as Tom and Daisy, Meyer Wolfshiem and Klipspringer. The letter claims that he has a social engagement in Westport and asks Nick to send along his tennis shoes. Outraged, Nick hangs up on him. The only people to attend the funeral are Nick, Owl Eyes, a few servants, and Gatsby’s father, Henry C. Gatz, who has come all the way from Minnesota and is proud of his son. He also fills Nick in on Gatsby’s early life, showing him a book in which a young Gatsby had written a schedule for self-improvement. Sick of the East, Nick decides to move back to the Midwest. He breaks off his relationship with Jordan, who claims that she has become engaged to another man. Just before he leaves, Nick encounters Tom on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Nick initially refuses to shake Tom’s hand but eventually accepts. Tom tells him that he was the one who told Wilson that Gatsby
The Great Gatsby - Chapter 1
Read the beginning of the novel chapter 1 up to page 12 "Tom Buchanan in his riding clothes was standing with his legs apart on the front porch." How effective do you find this as an introduction to Great Gatsby. In your response you should pay close attention to voice, language and style. The Great Gatsby was written by F Scott Fitzgerald in 1925, and is set during 1922, a period tinged with moral failure of a society obsessed with class and privilege. Fitzgerald presents us with the conflict between the illusion and the reality of the American dream. The novel begins in the present tense, and is told through the eyes of Nick Carraway, the narrator and moral centre of the novel. His tale is told in retrospect. Nick Carraway is a young man from the Mid West, introducing himself as a graduate of Yale and a veteran of World War One. He begins the first chapter by relaying his father's advice: "Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the same advantages as you've had." He states that he is also "inclined to reserve all judgement" about people and be a tolerant listener; who is entrusted with people's secrets. This encourages him to withhold formulating opinions about people until he gets to know them, demonstrating his caution. Nick puts himself forward explicitly, as someone with an above average "sense of
The Great Gatsby - Chapter 3
The Great Gatsby - Chapter 3 In chapter three Nick tells us about the first party he attends at Gatsby's one friday night. He sees himself as the only guest who was actually been invited by Gatsby's chauffeur earlier in the morning. He describes all preparation on fridays before the party and on mondays after the party, e.g. gardeners cleaning Gatsby's property (p.37-39) Arriving at the party Nick doesn't know anyone he could talk to and can't even find the host, so decides to stop at the bar, where, a little later, he welcomes Jordan Baker. They end up in a conversation with three men and two girls talking about rumors about Gatsby (p.40/41). After a short time they leave the group to look for Gatsby, since they haven't met him yet. They don't find Gatsby, but the library, where Jordan and Nick meet a drunk man talking about the realism of the books. Leaving the house and sitting down on a table, Nick meets Gatsby, not knowing it is him (p.44). Gatsby, an elegant, young man with tanned skin and short hair, invites him to a short trip with his new hydroplane in the next morning. Gatsby leaves and after Nick has learned Jordan's rumors about him, they see him standing all alone on the steps of his backyard. When his butler delivers Gatsby's message to Jordan, that he wants to talk to her, Nick, alone, goes back into the house to observe young ladies and old men
Great Gatsby, chapter eight essay
English - Great Gatsby Practice Exam Essay Look again at chapter 8. Then, respond to the tasks. i) What do we learn about Wilson in this chapter? ii) How does Fitzgerald tell the story in this chapter? iii) Some critics see "The Great Gatsby" as a novel shaped by time and place, and, therefore, extremely modern. What do you think? What do we learn about Wilson in this chapter? First, the reader learns more information about Wilson's character and how the death of Myrtle had affected him, showing his love for her, while "George Wilson rocked himself back and forth on the couch inside". This suggests how deeply distressed he is; he is mourning her and trying to come to terms with what has happened. Also, Wilson "flinched and began to cry", this suggests his deep grieving. From this we can also infer that Wilson loves his wife dearly, as he is the only character in the novel who grieves over Myrtle. Secondly, Wilson starts to behave erratically as he is in deep shock, he mutters to himself and at last spoke and said that he took Myrtle to the window just before she died and told her how "God knows what you've been doing, everything you've been doing. You may fool me, but you can't fool God". This infers that he strongly suspects that his wife was having an affair. The "dog-leash" and the broken nose that she had the previous month is evidence of the affair. Also,
Chapter One of Great Gatsby
Write about the ways in which Fitzgerald tells the story of the Great Gatsby in Chapter One... The Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald during the 1920's, a period renowned for the moral failure of a society fixated with class and privilege. This obsession was dubbed "The American Dream" and through the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald presents us with the conflict between the illusion and reality of the dream. Chapter one is very significant as it lays the foundations for the conflict and essentially prepares the reader for upcoming events. The novel begins in the present tense and is told through Fitzgerald's mouthpiece, Nick Carraway. It quickly becomes obvious to the reader that Nick is the narrator and moral focus of the story. His narration begins with some self-analysis, desperately trying to pin down pertinent aspects of his character. He relays his father's advice, to show tolerance towards others, and to reserve judgement, adding that 'reserving judgement is a matter of infinite hope.' This self-analysis that begins the account confirms to the reader that Nick is also a participant in the story as well as a narrator. He has his own specific characteristics. As the novel progresses we learn more about his character, soon discovering that Nick Carraway is an intelligent young man from the Mid West, introducing himself as a 'graduate from Yale' and a veteran
Great Gatsby Chapter 5 notes
Great Gatsby Chapter Five Why might Ch. 5 be described as a pivotal chapter? • Ch. 5 reveals just how long Gatsby has been dreaming about rekindling his romance with Daisy - 5 years. Before this point we have been gradually getting to know Gatsby not fully sure of who he is and from here the reader follows his downward spiral as 'his count of enchanted diminished by one'. • This chapter also makes Gatsby's dream a reality and it is clear that because the chasm between the dream and the reality has become so great that the dream, his idyllic, perfect image of Daisy is doomed to fail and disappoint him. The past and the passage of time is a dominant force in this novel. When is it brought up in this chapter? Think about symbolism here. • ' "It's too late!" ' Gatsby exclaims. This is highly significant to his desperate attempts to repeat the past, to conjure up the Daisy he knew five years ago. • '...the clock took this moment to tilt dangerously...whereupon he turned and caught it with trembling fingers and set it back in place' This symbolises/represents Gatsby's vain attempts to stop the passage of time in order to retrieve the past. You should also note that it is a 'defunct mantelpiece clock'. It does not work. It has stopped at one moment in time just as Gatsby's life has stopped. He is trapped in the past, fuelled only by his over-elaborate dream -
Great Gatsby Chapter 6 notes
CHAPTER 6 "He smiled understandingly - much more than understandingly ...picking his words with care." How does this description of Gatsby relate to what we find out now in CH. 6? • Nick's attitude to Gatsby is ambiguous. Here two images of Gatsby are presented: the eternal romantic, charming and eloquent gentleman; the other is uncultured, common bordering on ridiculous, who is careful in not revealing his social deficiencies: "...this quality was continually breaking through his punctilious manner in the shape of restlessness." Significantly, in CH. ^ it is revealed that Jay Gatsby, ostentatious and glamorous is, in fact, James Gatz - much more common. 'Jay Gatsby' is, therefore, his own creation. • This passage from CH. 3 highlights just how precarious this self-constructed image is - how utterly dependent it is on the impression of the observer and his/her ability to enter into Gatsby's world of make-believe and invention. It is worth noting that Fitzgerald chose his characters' names with care - a 'gat' is a slang term for a pistol, and so Gatsby's name is an effective pun at a time of bootlegging and gangsters, and indeed foreshadows how he is killed. "The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God - a phrase which if it means anything, means just that - and he must be about His
