CRITICAL APPRECIATION OF THE CONCLUSION OF THE GREAT GATSBY

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critical appreciation of the conclusion of the great gatsby

The conclusion of any novel should be both memorable for the reader and resonate with the main themes of the novel (i.e. the ultimate viewpoint of the author). “The Great Gatsby” manages to do this successfully, but only thanks to the last page of the novel, which contains exceptionally poignant and expressive writing. By the end of the novel, the main action of the novel (i.e. the passage between the confrontation of Gatsby and Tom at the Plaza Hotel and the deaths of Gatsby and Wilson) has happened: the novel has reached its climax, and now it is losing momentum fast. This leads to an inevitable feeling that the rest of the novel is somewhat of a formality, included merely to tie up the loose ends of the storyline. This lends this last section of a thought-provoking novel a rather artificial feeling, rather self-conscious and detached segment. By the time the reader reaches the very last section, the novel has lost the frenetic pace and contrast that characterised the chapters immediately preceding this conclusion and so the reader may be losing interest, meaning the ending is not memorable thus far. Fitzgerald has, though, worked very hard to emphasise many themes (Gatsby’s funeral is poorly attended, showing his lack of actual status, Tom’s defiance and indifference, showing the amorality of the upper classes) in the closing stages of the novel, even through the lack of action in these closing stages.

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In the very last section of the novel (from “Gatsby’s house was still empty when I left”), Nick’s reflection is highly melancholic and contemplative – Fitzgerald employs many aspects of narrative here to convey a sense of sombre finality. The lack of voice in this last section contributes to the feeling of loneliness (perhaps indicative of the true loneliness of Gatsby’s life, even during his rampant parties, let alone in his death) and allows the narrative to become focused on Nick’s brooding and pensive viewpoint. A good example of Nick’s viewpoint is the description of Gatsby’s mansion as a “huge ...

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