Great Gatsby Chapter 9 notes

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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:  ‘…as he lay in his house and didn’t move or breathe or speak, hour upon hour, it grew upon me that I was responsible, because no one else was interested – interested, I mean, with that intense personal interest to which everyone has some vague right at the end.’  So, it is Nick who shoulders the final responsibility for Gatsby.

Nick begins the chapter commenting on the impact of these events – remember he is writing from a retrospective stance two years later:  ‘After two years I remember the rest of that day, and that night and the next day, only as an endless drill of police and photographers and newspaper men in and out of Gatsby’s front door.’  These seem to be the only people interested – the media.  They are not interested in the man Gatsby, but rather the fabrication of the man, the lies and the gossip which go hand in hand with his own self-constructed image.  Essentially the media contributes to the corruption of the American Dream.

Nick ‘wanted to get somebody for him’.  He feels loyal and protective towards Gatsby  and so begins an avid search to do just this.

But he tells us ‘no one arrived except more police and photographers and newspaper men.’  Perhaps, one need look no further than at the history of the original image fabricators, the dream creators of Hollywood to learn of the pitiful and lonely existences of their more fragile stars.  Strip away the veneer of glamour and wealth and all that really prevails is the very stark and harsh Valley of Ashes.

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All of this reinforces Nick’s loyalty:  ‘I began to have a feeling of defiance, of scornful solidarity between Gatsby and me against them all.’

Nick begins to catalogue the callousness of the people who cannot hide their indifference to Gatsby’s death.

Wolfsheim declares ‘I cannot come down now as I am tied up in some very important business and cannot get mixed up in this thing now.’  A pathetic euphemism for really saying he cannot be bothered – it’s not that important.

Next, there is Klipspringer who claims ‘Well, I certainly try…’ when asked to attend ...

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