This chapter is the saddest of them all. It shows what was achieved throughout the novel and how it all comes crashing down. Gatsby, in this chapter, still has the hope that Daisy will come and be with him. To the reader, it's quite evident that this will not happen unfortunately. Nick Carraway on the other hand understands what is going on. He tries to feel better by talking with Jordan Baker, but it really does not get him anywhere. Earlier he had visited Gatsby in the hopes of talking with him, in which they did, but the conversation leaned towards how he longed for the days in Louisville in 1917 where Daisy and him had been loving life together. Unusual for Nick, he suggests that Gatsby "move on" from Daisy and live how he wants to live. But Gatsby refuses to do such a thing and tells Nick why, just like a Romeo and Juliet story. The story is moved up to show the literal things that had actually occurred on the day of Myrtle's death. It became apparent that Mr. Wilson had found out about Myrtle's affair. Myrtle actually had ran into the street that night because she had thought that the yellow car driving was actually Tom's. Wilson then infers to himself that whoever was in the vehicle was obviously the person having the affair. Because rumors had spread profusely, he came to the conclusion that Gatsby was that man. And without using fact, Mr. Wilson goes to Gatsby's home while Gatsby is in his pool for the first time, and shoots him to death. Unfathomably, Nick goes to Gatsby's house and sees Gatsby's body in the pool. But instead of screaming or shouting like an actual human being, he keeps cool, calm, and collected with himself thinking about Gatsby's life without Daisy. A very sad plot-end in my personal opinion. All that work built to get the girl he loved, only to have it fall down and bury him underneath it.
Ironically in this chapter, Tom Buchanan begins to suspect that Daisy Buchanan, his wife, is having an affair and he also finds out that his mistress is moving away with her own husband. So it is okay for Tom to have a mistress but gets mad for Daisy having an affair? But it makes more sense now because Tom is losing both sides where as the girls are just losing one. Still pretty stupid. Anyways, scene shifts to Gatsby because Gatsby is apparently no longer hosting his immense parties that everyone in the city went to. In fact, he got rid of a lot of his employees working at the mansion and kept only a few loyal servants. The majority of the time however, is spent with Gatsby and Daisy having their affair in the big mansion. As Tom begins to suspect more and more, he decides to invite Gatsby and Nick for lunch at Tom's large mansion. The point of this is to setup the big confrontation between Tom and Gatsby. Because Tom's mistress is leaving, he needs to at least keep hold of his wife. This was the point. In a plan made by Gatsby, Daisy was supposed to tell Tom that she never loved him and that she wanted to be with Gatsby. This did not work. She was conflicted, because she loved both. The situation does not get better when Gatsby and Tom begin to actually fight figuratively and somewhat literally each other over this girl that they both want. The "lunch" ends, Daisy runs out screaming, and Gatsby drives away in his yellow car. Oddly enough, during the night, Gatsby drives into the industrial wasteland and, without seeing in front of him, runs over Myrtle! Myrtle dies and the problem influxes. Gatsby speeds off without checking on Myrtle. Later on, Tom, Nick, and Jordan drive through this part of town and see a big commotion in the middle of the street, and to Tom's anguish, he finds out it is the body of his mistress. Witnesses tell him that the car that hit her is yellow, and inferring largely, Tom figures it must be Gatsby who ran her over. Back at the house, Nick finds Gatsby and Gatsby tells Nick his truth that Daisy was with him and that she was the one who ran Myrtle over. But because Gatsby cares about Daisy so much, he decides that he will take the blame. Uh oh. To me, the point here is to setup a foreshadowing of the last chapters unfortunately. What comes up, must go down.
This chapter centers around the literal truths of Mr. Gatsby. Everything he has said in the past was essentially a lie to cover up his life and background. Nick founds out more information from Gatsby. It is mentioned that Jay Gatsby was actually born as James Gatsby to a poor, farming family from the mid-west. Once grown up, he traveled to the Great Lakes and met a very wealthy man named Dan Cody who was on his yacht and was headed towards a giant storm that would have killed him were it not for Gatsby to arrive on the scene. Because Dan Cody appreciated Gatsby so very much, Cody allowed Gatsby to become a sort of apprentice to him. He taught Gatsby everything he needed to know such as, "how to talk, how to dress, and how to make money". Again, Gatsby knew that Cody had a large amount of money to his name, and if he was on good terms with Cody, Gatsby might inherit the money. This plan was interrupted when Cody's mistress did not allow Gatsby the inheritance and instead was given $25,000 for compensation. This did not fret Gatsby what so ever, as he made it his life mission to become very wealthy just like Dan Cody. The reader also, by now, knew that Gatsby was indeed in World War II, and beforehand had been together with Daisy. However, Gatsby was so caught up in the war that Daisy never received any notice of him being alive, so she married a wealthy man that the audience already knows as Tom Buchanan. When Gatsby comes back from the war and sees that Daisy has moved on, he sulks into a depression and lonely lifestyle. He essentially stalked Daisy and her husband to New York and bought the house across the lake and hosted these parties in the hopes of getting Daisy to come to just one of them. To me, this is a very deep commitment for Gatsby. He truly does care for Daisy, and wants to be with her again, but he just can't seem to catch a break...until now. Unfortunately for Gatsby, it is said that Daisy wasn't sure if she wanted to go back with Gatsby even now. Gatsby even goes to Nick towards the end of the chapter and tells him that Daisy did not like the party at all. Gatsby is getting more anxious; is he going to just lose his sanity if his dream girl won't commit to him?
|
AuthorJustin Lavergne Archives
May 2015
Categories |