ASSIGNMENT:
I. Read Chapters 7, 8 and 9 on your own, continuing to highlight and mark the text II. Complete a Literary Response Journal for each chapter, choosing 5 of the options on the sheet. III. Blog your reaction to the end of the novel on this thread (minimum one paragraph, with one Ch.9 quote) IV. Write a potential thesis statement for your essay on the novel. The available "lenses" are: VISUAL-CINEMATIC: Imagery, Symbolism and Connections to the Film version HISTORICAL-BIOGRAPHICAL: The Jazz Age, Prohibition, F. Scott Fitzgerald, etc. EXISTENTIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL: Philosophical themes focusing on identity, meaning, dreams MARXIST-FEMINIST: Issues of Class and Gender in the novel Remember to go from the Lens to a Question to an Answer, which becomes your Thesis Statement! And be original. There have been a million essays written about this book - What do YOU have to say?
68 Comments
Olivia Nooney
12/26/2013 11:53:59 am
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/1/2014 06:17:05 am
GREAT quote, one of my favorites in the book. It really sums up one of the major themes, the corrupting power of wealth and its ability to destroy a person's character. The ironic thing is that this immunity from EXTERNAL consequences has major internal ones - Daisy and Tom are both riddled with internal conflict because of their money. Daisy wants to leave Tom but won't because of his money and the social status he provides her, not to mention the consequences she WOULD face in terms of the scandal it would create if she did leave. And Tom is bored with life because he gets everything he wants, leading him to treat everyone terribly and destroy the possibility of real relationships for himself. They smash up the outside world because they are smashed up inside.
Reply
Liv Winnicki
12/27/2013 10:29:26 am
Normally I read books extremely fast, but I knew i was going to adore The Great Gatsby so i took my time and savored it. Everyone kept saying i would hate Daisy and Gatsby by the end but i didnt. Fitzgerald went into such detail over why Gatsby was the way he was. He just had a goal and was too determined and full of pride to ever give up, and i think that is a beautiful thing, not a stupid thing. At least he died, and knew he tried his hardest. But i did not like the way that Daisy just went off and disappeared. i wish there was an explanation of if she knew or didn't know if Gatsby was dead. The last line really got me. "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that is no matter-- tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... and one fine morning---- So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past" Fitzgerald wrapped up the book so perfectly with that line. Bringing us back to how Gatsby lived relentlessly in past when he should have been moving foward and moving onward. The metaphor he used was so beautiful. And the entire books writing style leaving me wishing I could write as well as him
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/1/2014 06:13:03 am
The thing that makes his style so great is the ability to use all that detail, imagery and metaphor to make you SEE the invisible forces that shape our lives. The green light becomes desire made manifest, just as the boats in the last line become our lives seen from the point of view of time's "ocean," the sea of past and future through which the present flows. Gatsby tries to go against that current. It's really, really deep philosophical stuff, expressed not through complex philosophical language, but beautiful and dreamlike poetic visions. This
Reply
Mya Alexice
12/29/2013 02:28:58 am
I've written several pages on how the ending of the book could be interpreted as the end of Nick's confession of love to Gatsby, but I don't think I have space for a five page rant, so I'll just examine the tragic end to their "platonic" relationship.
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/1/2014 06:25:05 am
I think it's important to refuse to romanticize Gatsby, especially in light of the fact that he tries his best to romanticize himself. He's a Romantic in the sense of Romanticism, a creative idealist who instinctively projects auras of perfection around the objects of his desire. Only for him, these objects are associated not with nature as in WIlliam Wordsworth, or the imagination and the past as in Poe; instead they are objects of material luxury and symbols of aristocratic status, with Daisy as their embodiment.
Reply
Amy Cavallo
12/30/2013 04:45:48 am
When I reached the end of The Great Gatsby, I was content with its closing. I believe that the way Fitzgerald concluded the novel was both ironic an poetic. First of all, Tom's mistress gets killed by Tom's wife. And no one, besides Nick and the reader, actually realizes the connection. I was almost laughing at the irony. Additionally, Gatsby could've revealed that Daisy was the one driving the car when Myrtle was killed. But, he didn't because he wanted to protect her. Gatsby knew that people would be searching for his car its owner and could've taken the blame off of himself. However, he didn't because he refused to put the love of his life, Daisy, in any kind of danger. In my opinion, that's real love. When Wilson arrives, after finding out from Tom that the yellow car is Gatsby's, I knew what would happen. Gatsby made the ultimate sacrifice for the person he loved.
Reply
Mr. Biggs
12/31/2013 03:20:37 am
A great potential essay topic, the "spirit of Gatsby" as the spirit of the 20s. Especially appropriate since a few years after Gatsby died the stock market crash would have happened. If Gatsby isn't a person, just a "spirit," what does that say about the flesh and blood man?
Reply
Haley Watson
1/1/2014 03:12:21 am
I feel the ending of The Great Gatsby wasn't very ironic. After Chapter 7, Gatsby and Daisy's future together did not look hopeful. It was more predictable that Daisy stayed with Tom than left with Gatsby. Gatsby knew after the car crash he wouldn't be with Daisy, he just didn't want to admit it. I think Fitzgerald had Gatsby murdered because what else would Gatsby do without Daisy?In Chapter 9, Gatsby's father says,"He was only a young man, but he had a lot of brain power here…He'd of help build up the country."However, if Gatsby were alive at this point of the story, ALL of his intentions would be towards Daisy. Then Gatsby would find out Daisy went away with Tom and he'd become very depressed. He wouldn't get inspired to earn more business and money, or find a new love. I wouldn't have been surprised if Gatsby had killed himself.
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/1/2014 05:58:45 am
There is an "ironic" aspect to the ending, namely the fact that the murderer and mistress of Myrtle go unpunished and actually help her husband kill the scapegoat (Daisy's bad driving in Gatsby's car and Tom's revelation of Gatsby's name to Wilson are the major causes of the fatal gunshot). But you're definitely right about the inevitability of the ending, which becomes clear at the end of Chapter 6, when Nick realizes the hopeless nature of Gatsby's dream. He literally can't live without the dream, though, because Jay Gatsby is a product of the dream, not the other way around. It is what sustains the false identity, its motor and projector at once. He couldn't have helped do anything else because it was only the fantasy of status and wealth, epitomized in Daisy, that drove James Gatz to achieve his "greatness."
Reply
Cat Ishimasa
1/1/2014 03:18:29 am
I loved this book so much. I already knew the ending but it was still great to read again. Overall I love the symbolism of the different types of lighting and how they relate to the scene being played out. Foreshadowing was something else I noticed throughout the novel. I first really noticed it in Chapter 3, when Nick and Jordan are out driving and Jordan insists, "It takes two to make an accident" (pg 58). And Nick's response of, "Suppose you met somebody just as careless as yourself" (pg 58). I think these quotes really touch on the personalities of Daisy, Gatsby, and Tom alike. They're all so lost in their dreams that they won't stop until it's too late. Also if you know how the book ends, you realize this foreshadows Myrtle's death.
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/1/2014 06:04:22 am
Their driving styles mirror their primary personality traits...
Reply
Aliyyah Godsey
1/1/2014 08:41:20 am
The ending of The Great Gatsby is one that will always be remembered. The first time ever read Gatsby story I truly thought it was a cute love story gone bad, but now that I've dissected the story and somewhat understand what F. Scott wrote, I see it's so much more. This story is a hazard light to those who believe that fame, money and fancy things is more important than family and love. Knowing F. Scott's life with his wife, Zelda I feel as though Gatsby dying in the end is more significant the many realize. F Scott in many ways mirrored Gatsby, so I wondered what is F. Scott really saying about the life he and Gatsby both lived. It was really heartbreaking to read and see how nobody cared enough to come to Gatsby's funeral. " it grew upon me that I was responsibe, because no one else was interested". While he was alive everyone loved him and wanted to be his friend. Gatsby so desperately wanted this unrealistic image that he only kept artificial people around him, people who lied and used him.
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/3/2014 05:55:03 am
You and I have a REALLY similar view of the novel, Aliyyah, especially in terms of Daisy's predicament. Great points.
Reply
Ava Merz
1/1/2014 08:52:14 am
This was one of the best books I have ever read in school. Fitzgerald did a great job setting the moods in each chapter (especially Chapter 7, when he used heat), illustrated imagery and connected the book to the real world. I didn't think Gatsby, Wilson nor Myrtle would die. I predicted that Daisy and Gatsby would live together happily, like how most books end. Unfortunately, I was really hoping this would happen. But, the way Fitzgerald put everything together at the end was perfect and understandable. I never predicted the ending like that, and Fitzgerald made a truly great ending. I feel bad that Gatsby died, but he honestly was a crazed man who was bound to live a horrible, lonely life without Daisy; because.... you cant RECREATE the past! So, it was for the best of him. I felt awful when I realized that Gatsby truly didnt have any friends. They were so rude and stubborn, and this mad me outrageous. Meeting Mr. Gatz in the end put a smile on us readers though, as it gave us relief and reasurance that Gatsby wouldn't be alone, which was one of his biggest fears. I thought the last line of the book perfectly wrapped it up and retold the major meaning of the book, as it was written, "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." This is the AMERICAN STRUGGLE. The boats are the future trying to move forward as the current brings us back to the past. It is almost saying as if it may be impossible to forget about the past. We can't recreate it, but we can at least remember it.
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/5/2014 12:46:05 am
I like the idea of the boats torn between future and past as the American struggle. We keep chasing a dream that no longer seems possible. Recent economic studies have confirmed that it is hard to move from lower-class to upper-class in America, harder than it is in Europe. It seems like if we return to the American dream we cannot simply try to repeat what was possible in the past, but must reinterpret and recreate that dream in the face of a new reality.
Reply
Gabby Amorelli
1/1/2014 09:26:34 am
Overall, I really enjoying the book and I'm really trying to not sound negative about anything but, it didn't live up to my expectations.(sorry Mr. Biggs) Everyone always raved about the book and it wasn't amazing. Fitzgerald seemed to put all the action towards the end of the novel and all the confusing mystery leading up to it. I knew that something tragic had to happen just like all the books. However,it was very predictable to me that Daisy ended up with Tom. Throughout the whole novel and was extremely timid and naive with few exceptions. I know this is very cheesy but, I know theres a quote that says, " if you really loved the first, you wouldn't let yourself love the second." Daisy admits that she loves both which makes everything Gatsby says completely not true. Maybe she didn't love Tom as much but, staying with Tom was the easiest decision to make with the least consequences. Plus, Tom and Daisy had a child together and were already married.
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/5/2014 12:51:52 am
Gabby, I actually agree about the story structure. It is definitely a predictable novel, although I sort of feel it is meant to be that way. Although as a lot of people have commented on here, some readers really do believe Daisy and Gatsby will get together despite the hints Fitzgerald drops that it's not gonna happen. I think that gives readers a little bit of the experience of stubborn hope that defines Gatsby as a person. For the more cynical reader, like you or me, it's obvious that the fairy tale is not going to happen, but this makes the novel still very tragic because it's like a slow-motion car crash.
Reply
Mike Hanlon
1/1/2014 09:26:48 am
To be honest I was not thrilled by Gatsby. The plot was interesting and I liked the characterization. However I feel the storyline was not what I expected. I was really hoping for a justice is served to the greedy yet realization happens and Daisy and Gatsby don't end up together. But understanding their love was too one-sided and Daisy only wanted money. But no I am now constantly annoyed that the "man" Tom is lives on happy with his wife and money. Gatsby a man who actually worked for his life dies yet some old money, cheating, closed-minded, jerk can get away. None the less it does show the corruptness of the American dream and our country in general.
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/3/2014 06:10:25 am
The fact that Tom lives on is the novel's ultimate critique of our country and our political landscape. Money is like a wave that breaks through all the moral boundaries that used to dam it, flooding the society with greed and corruption.
Reply
Ricky Wild
1/1/2014 09:29:29 am
The conclusion of this book, made the book for me. It made the book more interesting, provided irony, and gave the book a plot twist. Fitzgerald ended this novel leaving me sad, angry, and a bit confused. Though I felt these ways, I loved the entire book! In the end, I loved Gatsby and hated Daisy. Jay Gatsby truly was great because he made himself somebody from nobody, chased his dreams, and gave up his life for his love. Daisy can only be seen as the opposite because she didn't do anything of significance for others and only pleased her greedy self. Though I don’t want to, I found Tom justified in his actions. He was allowed to earn his girl back and permitted to tell Wilson where Gatsby lived. For Nick, I can only imagine him dreaming about Gatsby forever as it seemed he did the whole novel. Nick acted as a pawn for Gatsby without knowing. Maybe it was the “dust in his eyes” (178) or Nick’s want to learn more. I saw this when Nick imagines Gatsby saying, “Look here, old sport, you've got to get somebody for me. You've got to try hard. I can’t go through this alone.” (Fitzgerald 165). In brief, it seems as if Nick was a slave to Gatsby, yet more important.
Reply
Quinn Schembor
1/1/2014 09:35:27 am
The ending of the Great Gatsby was totally unexpected to me, but all worked out perfectly. When Gatsby was shot, I couldn’t believe what I was reading. From the moment that Gatsby and Daisy were reunited I thought that they were destined to be together and thought that they would eventually live “happily ever after”. The way that F. Scott Fitzgerald set up the ending was for a specific purpose. To me, that purpose was to demonstrate that sometimes there is no such thing as a happily ever after. When Daisy did not attend Gatsby’s funeral, I was furious. They were in love when they first met, then lost each other, but managed to fall in love all over again. When I was reading the book I didn’t understand, and still don’t understand, how Tom and Daisy could just move away and carry on with their lives like nothing even happened over that summer. When Myrtle and Gatsby both died, I didn’t think too much of it at the time, but now I see how they were related in some way. Tom was cheating on Daisy with Myrtle, and Daisy was cheating on Tom with Gatsby. When they both died, Tom and Daisy eventually went on with life as if nothing had happened between them. This showed how even though they were cheating on each other; they didn’t want to leave each other because of one common thing - money. This showed how much they cherished being rich, almost more than life itself.
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/5/2014 12:35:33 am
The whole novel plays with the "fairy tale" feeling of Daisy and Gatsby's romance. It is a fairy tale to Gatsby, for whom the "happily ever after" seems inevitable. I would go even farther and say the purpose of the end is to shatter any remaining belief in happily ever after the reader may have. Those endings aren't just SOMETIMES impossible, they ALWAYS are. Is the American Dream the same sort of impossible fairytale? That's up to you to decide.
Reply
Jose Montealegre
1/1/2014 09:55:09 am
I don't frequently say that I loved the book I've just read, but i can truly say that I loved reading every word that Fitzgerald implemented in this masterpiece. The way that he described everything made me visualize them perfectly. I swear I felt that i was part of that crowd sorrounding Myrtle's dead body when i was reading chapter 7. I wasn't hoping for Gatsby to die, but i thought it was pretty funny how Gatsby just had to use his pool that day, knowing he had not used it even once in the summer. Overall, I loved how Fitzgerald was able to connect everything and actually make sense. It was very tragic and predictable how nobody came to Gatsby's funeral, which showed how artificial his life really was. You would expect all of those people t:hat came to his parties to come to the funeral but, most of them didn't even know who he was. Those people were almost like clothes and jewelry because Gastby was just wearing them to impress Daisy. I also loved how the author gave little spurts of information at the end of the book to leave the reader questioning whether it was actually Gatsby and Daisy who killed Murtle. An example would be when Nick saw the taxi driver and thought thay maybe it was him that was driving Gastby and Daisy home. Gatsby was so close for his dream but unfortunately you can't repeat the past.
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/5/2014 12:37:55 am
This is a great comment: "Those people were almost like clothes and jewelry because Gatsby was just wearing them to impress Daisy." The transformation of people into objects, ornaments, is a core theme in the book. When you pull out a dollar bill, every nearby object becomes a possible product. It seems that when money is the constant factor acting as the middleman in every relationship, the same happens to people...
Reply
Mikey Brewer
1/1/2014 10:01:46 am
I saw the movie The Great Gatsby before I read the book written by F Scott Fitzgerald. While I was reading the book I kept thinking back to the movie, comparing and contrasting the differences. I was actually glad whenever I found something in the book that they didn’t include in the movie, like in the last chapter when Jay Gatsby’s father, Henry Gatz was introduced. I really enjoyed reading this book more than I enjoyed most other books because of the way F Scott Fitzgerald uses a ridiculous amount of imagery whenever he describes anything. The ending makes everyone despise Tom and Daisy because of the way Tom lies to Wilson and because of the fact that Daisy never really loved anyone, she just loved their money (It’s kind of like that episode of SpongeBob where Gary kept going to Patrick because Patrick had that cookie in his pocket, and as soon as Gary ate the cookie he went back to SpongeBob).
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/3/2014 05:56:37 am
Poor Gatsby, when his cookies were gone, no one liked him anymore.
Reply
Anya Carney
1/1/2014 10:13:55 am
I LOVE the Great Gatsby. The movie was amazing, and I expected just as much from the book. From seeing the movie, I already knew what the ending was like, but I wished it would have been different. If you think about it, all movies are the same, well, the ending at least. There is always a happy ending--the guy gets the girl, the city is saved, the villain is defeated. But, with the Great Gatsby there really wasn't a happy ending. The hero didn't get the girl, the love of his life, but he was murdered instead. And Nick ended up basically going crazy. While I was reading, all I could think was, "What kind of person writes something like this?!?". But in reality, it is brilliant. No one I've read before has written something with such an awful ending, but yet so thought-provoking. One part of chapter nine that really got me thinking was on page 179 when Fitzgerald writes, "Probably it was some final guest who had been away at the ends of the earth and didn't know that the party was over". This made me think, "which party?". And by this I mean, the ongoing parties that Gatsby threw that never seemed to end in Nick's eyes? The season of summer? Or the party that was Gatsby himself--Gatsby"s life? All 3? And then, along with Gatsby's life, the parties, and summer, the book was also over. Fitzgerald seemed to just have everything symbolize each other and to me it just made sense. It was horrible, but at the same time Great.
Reply
Sean Provost
1/1/2014 10:24:26 am
The book was... interesting and it was the best book we read so far. I predicted the ending would happen the way it did, except i thought Tom would be the killer not a man named Wilson. Wilson killed Gatsby because he believes that God wants him to get revenge for Myrtle's death. At the end of the book everybody ignored Gatsby's funeral, even Daisy. "The minister glanced several times at his watch, so i took him aside and asked him to wait for half an hour. But it wasn't any use. Nobody came." (Nick, 174). Even after Daisy claimed her love for Gatsby she didn't attend his funeral and she wanted to stay with Tom even before his death. The only people who attended his funeral was his father, Henry C. Gatz, some servants, Nick, and Owl eyes. I believe the message of the book is to choose your friends wisely and don't lie because it comes with negative consequences.
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/3/2014 06:02:01 am
Wow, imagine if Tom had been the killer! You could see it happening if they fought in the hotel, or if Tom hunted him down after Myrtle's death and got away with it by paying off the cops (or maybe paid off Gatsby's mob enemies to do it for him). I never thought of that, but it's an interesting alternative.
Reply
Jazz Graham
1/1/2014 10:29:50 am
The ending of The Great Gatsby was tragic and heart-breaking, at least for me. I've been rooting for Gatsby since I discovered his love for Daisy, and all the hardships he has faced to experience that love once more.
Reply
Matt Reardon
1/1/2014 10:30:38 am
In a sense, I believe Gatsby represents what would happen if one could accomplish the American Dream. It is seen as an imaginary drive to succeed, but it escapes our minds that it is not identifiable whether or not you can achieve it. You can only chase dreams for so long. It is very interesting how Gatsby's death made a big connection to Tom. Gatsby had been after Tom's wife for 5 years, and believed that he was meant for Daisy more than Tom. On the night Gatsby goes for a swim, Wilson is the one who kills him. Myrtle was the fuel for Wilson's actions, but Gatsby meant nothing to Myrtle. It was Tom who should have been killed. Ultimately, I pictured the character's lives as falling down from place to place. From the start, they begin up top and gradually fall to different events and people; as if they were hitting branches on a tree. They constantly fall through life, and fall until they have nothing else to land on. Nick says that he, "Found himself on Gatsby's side, and alone." (164). This shows the downfall to chasing dreams, and how people must always keep reality ahead of them.
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/5/2014 12:42:02 am
Interesting comments, Matt. Which is better, the chase or the fulfillment? For most people I think the chase, the lead-up or anticipation, is better than the actual thing (think of waiting for presents vs. Christmas morning after their unwrapping). You can't chase dreams forever, because eventually they either die out or come true, and either way you lose that feeling of pursuit, of "constantly moving upward," as Gatsby talks about in the film version at the end of Chapter 6. I love your image of the characters falling, hitting branches on the way down. Nick seems unwilling to move for fear of falling, while Gatsby over-optimistically takes his fall to be a movement in the opposite direction.
Reply
Adel Soliman
1/1/2014 10:47:18 am
I found the ending to be expected in an unexpected way. I clearly saw that Daisy and Gatsby would never be and the predicted the death of Gatsby coming. That much I felt was obvious only for the sake of a good story line implying that if Gatsby lived, got the girl, and lived happily ever after, the story line would not be as good. The death of Myrtle was unexpected and until the death of Myrtle, I had no idea how Gatsby would've died. After the death, I figured that Wilson would contribute to Gatsby's death. Finishing up the last sentence of the book, I thought to my self, "Is that it?" I personally found the ending to be rather boring and uneventful. I enjoyed how the ending completely connected to events that happened earlier in the book such as Tom dating Myrtle, then her seeing Tom in the Yellow car and going out to talk to him when Daisy was behind the wheel. Other than being able to connect parts of the book, the ending, especially chapter nine was uneventful making the book a bit dull. One part of chapter nine i found very interesting was when Mr. Gatz told Nick, "If he'd lived, he'd of been a great man. A man like James J. Hill. He'd of helped build up the country." At first, I found it odd how Gatsby bought his father a nice house and himself a castle yet his father didn't know how he got all his money. The way he was talking to Nick seemed like he had no idea about Gatsby receiving his money through illegal activity. I then laughed at Mr. Gatz saying that he would help build up the country when it's Gatsby and his partners that are ruining the country and corrupting the system. In total, The Great Gatsby was an alright book. Not too exciting yet not completely dull.
Reply
Sophia Mazzini
1/1/2014 11:13:02 am
I loved the ending of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald because I feel it did a good job of showing Nick's personality. Nick seems to be the only logical thinker throughout the novel, and chapter nine exemplifies the way he thinks through his interactions with Mr. Gatz, Meyer Wolfsheim, and Tom Buchanan. At the end of the story, Nick sees Tom and says "I shook hands with him; it seemed silly not to, for I felt suddenly as though I were talking to a child" (179). I think this perfectly shows the ignorance of the other characters throughout the novel as well as Nick's maturity level compared to theirs.
Reply
Brian Chamberlain
1/1/2014 11:18:58 am
When we were first assigned this book I went in expecting not to like it but as I continued to read i became more and more caught up in the book along with the movie. I absolutely loved the book and I can't wait to finish the movie. I really liked Gatsby throughout the book and was sort of rooting for him to get Daisy back during the book. In Chapter 8 when he died, I was actually very upset. I think I liked Gatsby so much because he knew as a child that he wanted to be rich and successful and he ended up doing exactly that, even if it wasn't in the most honest way. I also really admired how much he loved Daisy and all he did for her. He moved to West Egg just so he could be close to Daisy and to keep an eye on her, he also threw hundreds of parties hoping that she would show up to one. His commitment to her is what makes the book so great. Overall I loved the book but if I could change one thing I would make Daisy and Gatsby fall in love again at the end.
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/3/2014 06:07:26 am
Every time I read it part of me wants Daisy to call and get back with Gatsby. There is obviously some potential there - with Gatsby is the only time you see Daisy happy - but she ultimately doesn't share his commitment, and maybe she couldn't; maybe it was just too much. But I agree he doesn't deserve what he gets, he's not a terrible person. I actually see him as kind of a Peter Pan figure, permanently innocent, unable to grow up. He was an innocent kid who walked smiling with his "uncorruptible dream" into a world of corruption and was destroyed because he couldn't handle that world.
Reply
Bridget Kelly
1/1/2014 11:26:53 am
Upon reaching the end of Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, I did not find the ending to be the most fulfilling, as it left me feeling somewhat hollow. However, I realize that this was in fact the author’s intention: he cannot allow Gatsby, a character who has come to represent the blissful ignorance that marks the 1920’s, to drive off happily into the sunset with Daisy and his yellow car. Instead, the death of Gatsby is short and jarring – it jolts to Nick and the reader away from the glitz and glamour that defined his life and shows them the grim reality that lies beneath. In the end, both the absurdly wealthy Gatsby and the tragic Wilson are in the same situation: the two are dead, starting their journey into nothingness. This “nothingness” for Gatsby is the idea of being forgotten: all his life he has built himself into being a somebody. As Nick finds after his death, he strove to create a persona that would be admired and remembered. This icon, which had earned him so many acquaintances in his life, is all but forgotten after his death.
Reply
Shannon Burke
1/1/2014 11:49:18 am
The Great Gatsby was hands down my favorite assigned book I have ever read and the ending was the icing on the cake. Fitzgerald really keyed into the atmosphere during the twenties in the last scene. The American dream was an idea that flourished during the time period because America was thriving and so many new immigrants wanted to come here and change their lives. The green light symbolized the American dream to me, or in Gatsby case we can compare the American dream to the dream of winning Daisy's heart. One quote that really sums up this is "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter- tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther..." But, the unseen problem is that chasing this dream can cause trouble. You do just about anything and everything to make your dream a reality and you don't care about the consequences because you would deal with them later. No matter what happened the day before, he would continue to push and pave his way to be in Daisy. To most, Gatsby had the perfect life consumed with alcohol and privacy. But, the only reason he had all of the things he has was to catch Daisy's eye. Throughout the book, we see the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. It dips out every few second but always seems to come back. It is like the American dream is not something handed to you, you have to work to find your path. This is why the American dream has died; our society has become so lazy that we don't see the point of chasing the dream that so many of our ancestors came here to do. But, like we see in the book, not all dreams have happy endings. Gatsby died chasing the dream. This proves the problem with chasing the dream is that you just end up chasing your own demise.
Reply
Samantha Quinn
1/1/2014 11:49:56 am
The end of then novel was not what I initially hoped for, but I thought it was clever. The numerous occasions which Tom and Daisy cheated on each other came back to haunt them. Myrtle came running out into the street at the sight of, Gatsby's car, the car Tom was driving in, resulting in her fatal death. George was furious and determined to find the killer. Tom gave him Gatsby's name almost as revenge for Gatsby killing his girl. The death of Gatsby and Myrtle made me curious as how everyone would move on in their lives. This might be the end of affairs for the Buchanan's leaving them to either rekindle their love or remain unhappy. I was surprised that only three people attended Gatsby's funeral. "They used to go [to his home] by the hundreds" yet none decided to return once more (174 Fitzgerald). He left a big mark on many people, it seems that his mark was only temporary or nonexistent. I would have like to have seen Daisy at his funeral to see if she what she really felt about him. For my essay, I have decided to make it psychological aspect. Gatsby remained caught up in the past especially when it came to Daisy's heart. The fear of reality can cause others to stay in the past, and do everything to make their ideal past a reality.
Reply
Lauren O'Brien
1/1/2014 12:00:23 pm
I have mixed feelings about the end of "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I feel the ending is depressing, and I am not usually a fan of tragic, unresolved closes. However, the end of the novel leaves a huge impact on me, and undeniably it leaves the same feelings with other readers. The novel concludes itself through exemplifying luxurious lifestyles are truly not what they seem- they are actually filled with fake people, or as Holden Caulfield from "The Catcher In The Rye" says, "phonies". This novel shows it is better to be humble, and live a more reserved life, than to be exuberant and flashy and egotistical. I am not one to dream of living a Beverly Hills lifestyle, but I can guarantee anyone who dreams of extreme wealth would think differently after reading "The Great Gatsby".
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/3/2014 05:59:50 am
Fitzgerald has this love/hate relationship with money and the lifestyle it confers. He was definitely a self-hating person to some extent, and an egomaniac in others: much like Gatsby.
Reply
Katie Carroll
1/1/2014 12:44:37 pm
I feel the ending was a little bit of a let down. I expected a huge twist at the end, not just a narrative about how Nick felt about the time that he spent in West Egg. Even though I wanted more, the ending followed the theme throughout the whole book that all good things have to come to an end. Gatsby's beginning is so grand and extravagant and eventually once we learn more and more about him, he begins to become less and less great. His life that seems so mysterious at the beginning turns out to be loveless and extremely lonely by the time of his funeral. I did enjoy the part in chapter 9 when Nick meets up with Jordan. I feel like when Jordan says,"You said a bad driver was only safe until she met another bad driver? Well, i met another bad driver, didn't I? I mean it was carless of me to make such a wrong guess. I thought you were a rather honest, straight foreword person. I thought it was your secret pride"(Fitzgerald 177) that she puts the entire book into one line. First, there is a strong influence of cars symbolizing wealth, power, and the American Dream and Jordan implies that all of them are "bad drivers" which i took as that they misconstrue the American Dream into greed instead of making a good life for your self and your family. Then she mentions that they aren't safe from other bad drivers, such as people like Wilson who tried to have the American dream by making a living for them self but ended up veering away from it. Jordan then makes a remark at Nick saying that he isn't honest and that his pride burns from something else other than honesty. I think this means that he, when Jordan first met him, prided himself on things such as being a hard-worker and now post-Gatsby he is just like the rest of them, sly, sneaky, and dishonest. Even though the ending was a little bit of a let down for me, I loved the rest of the book so much that it really didn't matter.
Reply
Gabby Recalde
1/1/2014 04:51:11 pm
The ending of The Great Gatsby did not come as much of a surprise to me. While I wanted Jay and Daisy to live happily ever after, I understand why they didn't. If there had been a fairy tale ending to this classic, all of the points that Fitzgerald was trying to get across. Upon hearing the plot basis of The Great Gatsby from various classmates, I became enamored of the seemingly romantic tale. However, after reading the book for myself, I realize that romance is not at all the main theme of the novel. The Great Gatsby is a cautionary tale of dream chasing and money. Like any cautionary tale, the book had to end unfortunately for the character going against the morals of the story. Since the book is a warning of the American Dream, Gatsby, the epitome the American Dream, must suffer. "Look here old sport, you've got to get someone for me. You've got to try hard. I can't go through this alone."(Fitzgerald 165) This quote perfectly describes how Gatsby's struggle for power leads to what he was avoiding in the first place.
Reply
Gabby Recalde
1/2/2014 06:14:13 am
If there had been a fairy tale ending to this classic, all of the points that Fitzgerald was trying to get across would have been lost.
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/3/2014 06:16:05 am
Right ... Don't forget that Daisy's "maiden" name, Fay, literally means Fairy, and she is always wearing white and associated with flying, flowers, wings, etc. She is literally a fairy tale to Gatsby. If the book ended with them together, it wouldn't get across its real message: that fairy tales aren't reality, and the American Dream is unfortunately just such a fairy tale. Chasing money will lead to corruption and destruction.
Amy Thomas
1/1/2014 07:46:52 pm
Now that I sit back and think, I actually liked The Great Gatsby more than I expected. Sometimes the novel was a little too dense for me to understand but the discussions in class definitely explained everything. The ending of the novel was bittersweet for me for multiple reasons, more so bitter than sweet. I hated Tom because he was the one who told Wilson that it was Gatsby's car that hit Myrtle. Also, I hated the fact that it wasn't even Gatsby who was driving, it was Daisy. Then after she killed Myrtle, she and Tom just disappeared. It made me really upset, though, how NONE of Gatsby's supposed friends were willing to come to his funeral aside from Nick. Even Wolfsheim wasn't willing to come because he believes in "learning to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead." Sure, Gatsby wasn't the best man in the world, but he certainly deserved to have more people support him even after death.
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/3/2014 06:03:47 am
It's definitely tough to read because there is so much going on in every line, and some sections (like Gatsby's actual death) are extremely unclear. You have to step back from them and reread them with some knowledge of what he's trying to do, and then the lines and images come together like a puzzle to reveal the big picture into which they connect.
Reply
Jose Ramirez
1/2/2014 12:32:49 am
The novel was very interested and kept me interested with what was going to happen next. I was surprised on how Gatsby was considered only as a figure, not even as a person. The ending was very dark, sad, and shady, as for no one attended Gatsby's funeral. Not even Daisy, the person he had changed so much for. The ending made me change the way I saw Gatsby and Daisy. I wasn't sure how Gatsby would turn out in middle of the novel with all the lies he had said, but it turned out to be all for Daisy and just her. I found Daisy to be more of the opposite of what she seemed. She didn't seem to care much about actual love, but more just about money. The fact that Gatsby worked his way up to wealth just for Daisy tells that she's selfish and very materialistic. Gatsby kept living in the past, it kept him from looking at what was in front of him. He focused on getting rich to try to be part of the wealthy but as hard as he tried, he never would be able to reach that because he worked his way up from poverty. " Nick was the only one that actually cared about Gatsby and for the man he was, not for what he had. "I was sure there'd be a wire from Daisy before noon but neither a wire nor Mr. Wolfsheim arrived; no one arrived except more police and photographers and newspaper men" (Pg.165). No one actually cared of who Gatsby was, everyone was just like Daisy, only cared of what Gatsby had. The ending shocked me because hundreds of people would arrive at his parties but not a single person at his funeral. It comes to show how materialistic Daisy was and everyone else.
Reply
Ann Palma
1/2/2014 07:04:25 am
To be honest, the ending of The Great Gatsby was extremely predictable. It was evident throughout the entire novel that something drastic was going to happen to Gatsby, because of his tensional relationship with Tom. Yet, I was surprised that ultimately Gatsby ended up being murdered by George Wilson. Although, everything seemed to line up again after it was revealed that Tom was the one who told Wilson that the yellow car belonged to Gatsby. I think that F. Scott Fitzgerald figured that the reader would expect Tom to be the one to kill Gatsby, and in order to throw in a plot twist, he made Wilson the murderer instead. As for Gatsby's relationship with Daisy, in the beginning I thought that it might work out for them, but after the scene at the Plaza Hotel where she admits she loves Tom and Gatsby, their relationship was done and out the window. I used to feel sympathetic for Daisy because she was just like a little lost soul craving attention and stuck with the most obnoxious, arrogant man in the world. Nonetheless, let's just say now she's not even close to being my favorite character. The ending of the book makes her look just as careless and selfish as Tom is, not even having the compassion to go to the funeral of the man who dedicated pretty much his entire life to her and utterly worshipped her. I would describe the ending of The Great Gatsby as one where karma is nonexistent. Revenge for actions only happens in this book to the characters who don't even deserve it, and those that do get a "get out of jail free" card. Tom and Daisy walk out completely unharmed, innocent as rose, even though they're the people who mainly caused all the conflicts in the novel. When Nick sees Tom on Fifth Avenue after Gatsby's death, Tom has the nerve to say "And if you think I didn't have my share of suffering-look here, when I went to give up that flat and saw that damn box of dog biscuits sitting there on the sideboard, I sat down and cried like a baby. By God it was awful," (179). He knows his act is up, but still tries to pretend he is grieving Gatsby's death and does not feel one ounce of guilt for causing it in the first place. If I were to give F. Scott Fitzgerald a grade solely for the ending of The Great Gatsby, I would give him a B- only because nothing really completely shocked me to the point where I needed to go over and analyze the entire book to see where I missed some hints. I don't know, I guess I was just expecting more considering so many people told me that the ending was going to blow my mind. It was solid, but he could have done better. Sorry Fitz....:(
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/3/2014 06:12:30 am
We'll see if you enjoy the ending more after we discuss it. There are a bunch of cool things going on in the last couple pages that take some close reading to pick out, but which add a lot of thematic depth to the closing events. I agree that it's not a particularly exciting ending, very anticlimactic in fact, but there is some poetic stuff happening between the lines.
Reply
Samantha Reynolds
1/4/2014 02:03:19 am
I really enjoyed reading this novel, although there were certain times I got so angry with some of the characters it was a great book. I was very shocked on how it ended, it was so sad that Gatsby died and no one even cared. Not even Daisy attends his funeral, he had done everything he could for her and in the end he dies. Gatsby changed his whole life for her; the least she could have done was send flowers. It really had me look at things completely different, it made me question if Daisy was going to even leave with Gatsby. When it comes down to it Gatsby did everything he could to work his way up to Daisy’s level, only thing is Daisy never looked at it like that she just looked at the money. It really shows how shallow and materialistic Daisy is, but you can see where she gets it from being that’s how everyone looks at her. I honestly felt bad for him because he had to work to get the money he has, and no one gave him credit because he wasn't born in to wealth. With everything happening it shows that Nick is a good friend to Gatsby, “Look here, old sport, you've got to get somebody for me. You've got to try hard. I can’t go through this alone.”(pg.165). This quote is actually very powerful, it’s what drives Nick to find people to come to Gatsby funeral, and although it doesn't work he tried his best. It really caught me by surprise that only owl eyes came to the funeral, but everyone would come to his parties. It just shows how two-faced humans can be.
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/4/2014 11:31:14 pm
Two-facedness, appearance vs. reality, is a huge theme here. The fact you can't tell which of the two faces is more "real" some of the time adds another layer of complexity. This could be the seed of a cool thesis.
Reply
Mike Rice
1/5/2014 03:36:58 am
Overall the end of the book was exhillirating and nerve racking. It was rather strange but completely had me thinking "what the heck is goin on". One thing I found shocking was the fact that Daisy was driving and that Gatsby received all the blame. It just proves how terrible and cutthroat the people that lived in East Egg were. I mean Tom and Daisy just fled and handled the situation like cowards. Tom's life was spinning out of control with Daisy leaving and Myrtle but the reason Tom fled was because he was scared. Wilson ended up killing Gatsby but really the whole situation wasn't even his fault.
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/5/2014 05:47:05 am
Right, there is no justice in this book. The innocent are punished and the guilty go free. Is Fitzgerald telling us society is completely corrupt? Or that money is more powerful than morals?
Reply
Zack Sabat
1/5/2014 03:55:58 am
Chapter 9 in The Great Gatsby was very interesting to me. It showed many people being two-faced and selfish (Wolfshiem and Klipspringer especially). However, what I found most interesting was a quote from Mr. Gatz, "[Gatsby] Told me I et like a hog once, and I beat him for it." (Fitzgerald 173). This made me more curious about Gatsby's childhood, but even more so, his family. You don't know this for certain, but you can think that having abusive parents may have been his real cause for running away and not his search for wealth. It also reassures us that his parents, or at least his father, isn't very well educated because he says "et" instead of "ate". Overall, Mr. Gatz is a very interesting character when looked at in depth.
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/5/2014 05:47:44 am
Definitely, Zack - it's a shame they took him out of the film!
Reply
Pat
1/5/2014 05:43:59 am
The Great Gatsby was by far the best book we’ve read this year. The ending was very predictable but the way in which F. Scott Fitzgerald explained it using Nick was genius. I think Nick is one of the best characters I’ve ever come across in a novel. In the beginning of the novel he says that people always tell him their secrets and he doesn’t care yet we see Nick entranced by the secrets he doesn’t know about Gatsby. Nick goes against what he sees himself as just to get back to that original ideal Nick he strives for. Nick is so insignificant the whole book and you don’t realize it until he says in a perfectly placed moment, “I Just remembered that today’s my birthday.” It is the one moment in the book Nick can snap just like everyone else and flip out on Tom and Jordan but instead he establishes his role in their lives a different way. We all now how extravagant Daisy, Jordan, and Tom are. They make a big deal out of everything. If they were truly Nick’s friends they would have thrown a huge party for him but they just use him the whole book and Nicks remembrance of his birthday is his realization of this. In a way, Nick is Gatsby’s only real friend. Even though Gatsby calls everyone old sport in the book he actually means it when he says it to Nick. Even when they first met they had an old friend sort of connection. Gatsby calls Nick old sport the whole book but there is a point on page 154 when Nick says he’ll call up Gatsby, Gatsby responds with “Do, old sport” to me this is the first time Gatsby actually means it. Plus it is the last time he calls Nick old sport before he dies. I think friendship is a twisted and interesting theme in The Great Gatsby.
Reply
Katie Peter
1/5/2014 05:46:55 am
Throughout reading the novel I read line by line just like I would any other book, but in Gatsby, every character's personality and habits had a very distinct label every time they came along,,,all except for Gatsby. It seemed as though every time Gatsby opened his mouth my opinion of him changed. He was a liar, a romantic, a psycho, a stalker, a friendly neighbor, and entertainer, a demanding person, a greedy person etc. Mostly throughout the whole book I thought badly of him but it wasn't until the last page when Nick explains what made Gatsby different from everyone else, that I actually liked Gatsby. Although Jay Gatsby was a crazy, unrealistic person, what made him unique was that he was always optimistic about his dreams of becoming a wealthy successful person, living a happy life with Daisy. Even though everyone around him thought that Gatsby would never achieve this goal, he stuck to his carefully planned out life with a passion to achieve. Sadly everyone's sickeningly practical expectations of Gatsby's life came true, he didn't live the fulfilled life he had planned out. My prediction is that that was what drove Nick to become mentally ill, was the fact that all of their realistic thinking killed Gatsby and his dreams. After all, Jay Gatsby wouldn't have ever existed without dreams.
Reply
Mr. Biggs
1/5/2014 05:50:57 am
This is a pretty awesome thesis in the making here! Gatsby exists as a dream or within dreams, so he can't be pinned down "logically" - he's always changing, always becoming, whereas everyone else has confined themselves to their habits and identities, which are defined that their narrow self-expectations. While they are predictable, Gatsby never is, except in his tirelessness. This makes him erratic and crazy in one sense, but allows for his optimism and contagious, inspiring energy. That passion is absent from the more practical but also less alive people around him, and it's as if he can no longer exist in a world that destroys dreams so relentlessly.
Reply
Jack Anderson
1/5/2014 08:48:34 am
The ending to The Great Gatsby confused me at first. It was one of those moments where I actually had to put the book down and stop to think about what I just read. When I finally pieced the whole who killed who together was when I became shocked. Basically F.Scott Fitzgerald completely just toyed with my reactions. You think since there's a little more of the book to read that the finale wouldn't happen just yet, then it does, and when it does it happens so quickly and swiftly that you stumble over comprehending the whole thing. One thing that really stuck with me as I read Chapter 9 was the fact that Wilson was "reduced to a man "deranged by grief" (164). This kind of upset me because I really think Wilson got the short end of the stick. He was practically the only honest and good man in the novel and in the end it was all for nothing because his memory is defiled by the crooks he left behind him.
Reply
Will Cronin
1/5/2014 08:57:54 am
The Great Gatsby was overall a fantastic book that had me excited to find out what happened in the end. Honestly, it was a bit predicable though once I read the end of chapter 7 and I was told the ending beforehand. But other than knowing the end, the way F. Scott Fitzgerald explained the end through Nick was astounding. One of my favorite parts in chapter 9 was when Nick is laying on the beach the night before he leaves. He imagines the island with no houses and considers what it must have looked like to the explorers who discovered the New World centuries before. He thinks, "its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby's house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams" (Fitzgerald 180). He imagines that America was once a goal for dreamers and explorers, just as Daisy was for Gatsby.
Reply
Tara
1/5/2014 09:06:58 am
This has definatly been one of my favorite books I have read in school so far. The ending, in my opinion, really shows the true colors of each of the characters. My feelings definatly changed about Daisy the most. By the end I cannot stand her. The fact that she wouldn't take the blame for hitting Myrtle with the car, and also had the nerve to not show up to the funeral shocked me. She knew all the lies about Gatsby in the papers weren't true, yet she decided to run away with Tom to try and preserve her "perfect" life. I can see why Nick went crazy because everything suddenly turned upsidown in his life and he couldn't deal with the lies and drama anymore.
Reply
Brandon Alvaro
1/5/2014 11:28:39 am
Iam not one to completely devote myself to reading vigorously in books that are assigned in school, but there are exceptions, and this book is definitely one of them. I kept my eyes glued and my mind running about these symbolic characters and ideas, all the way up to the last main event. The Great Gatsby would have not achieved such high prestige without its tragic ending. It was the perfect way to conclude a dramatic high end drama. What struck me the most was when Gatsby had parties, people would come by the hundreds to party at his palace, but when he died, not one person came to the funeral. When Nick's final sentence said, "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past" (Fitzgerald 180), this is the greatest use of words in the book. It explains that we are constantly reaching for the past to be brought back, and make things the way the were, but we still know that will never happen.
Reply
Eric Banal
1/5/2014 11:41:55 am
A couple weeks before we started reading The Great Gatsby, I had actually saw the movie. But I was kind of confused by the movie, so reading the book really helped me to understand what I had saw on screen. Even though I had known the ending of the story the entire time we were reading it, I still enjoyed reading the ending and it cleared up all my questions. I actually thought that Tom was the one who shot Gatsby and I thought that all along until I read the ending and realized that Wilson shot Gatsby. On page 179, when Nick says, "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and retreated back into their money". As soon as I read that, I thought of Bonnie and Clyde. Maybe Tom and Daisy are somewhat the Bonnie and Clyde of love. But whatever they are, I spent most of the book liking Daisy and by the end, I ended up hating her for the reason that SHE hit Myrtle and she didn't even go to Gatsby's funeral. The Great Gatsby was an intense, heartbreaking, and well explained book credited by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Reply
Samantha Havens
1/5/2014 12:13:36 pm
Overall, this novel is by far the best novel I have yet to read for a school assignment. Although I have seen the movie a few times, the book made everything make more sense to me and I actually understood it. That is why the books are always better than its movie, the book gives you time to realize the meaning behind the story and actually understand everything. Chapter nine did an amazing job of wrapping the story up and making sense of the whole book, it also said a lot about each character. I never dis-liked Daisy because apart of me felt bad for her. She seemed like the type of girl who seemed like she has it all, a rich husband and grew up with a wealthy family. On the inside she is 100% insecure about herself because in the end she chooses to go with a husband who has never been loyal to her and she just stays with him for show, not love. Daisy is a good representation of a lot of girls in todays society. It also makes complete sense why Nick never belonged in West Egg and it made him go insane for that reason. Gatsby was a very amazing man in Nicks eyes. I agree with that, Gatsby was a believer since the day he was born. After all, "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us,"(Fitzgerald 180). He always had faith in one day finding Daisy and making her fall for him all over again even after she left him for Tom. For that I agree with Nick, I think Gatsby was an amazing man.
Reply
Grace Giffen
1/5/2014 07:49:21 pm
I had never expected the end of Great Gatsby to be what it was. I had assumed that it would be another fairy tale ending with Daisy and Gatsby riding off into the sunset or something of that sort. The sad part for me would be the symbolism of the ending. Jay dedicated his life to her, and since she wouldn't accept it, it was just thrown away. "I called Daisy half an hour after I found him, called her instinctively and without hesitation. But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken their baggage with them" (Fitzgerald, 165) Daisy had realized that Gatsby's death was her fault and didn't want to face the guilt she had so she simply ran away. When nobody but Nick showed up for Gatsby's funeral, it made me want to cry. Gatsby threw parties every weekend for everybody who wanted to come, had plenty of "coworkers", and none of them cared to show their respects. This revealed what Gatsby's obsession had done to him; he shut out everyone else and refused to let anyone but Daisy and Nick into his life.
Reply
Elijah Sullivan
1/6/2014 01:00:10 pm
When it comes to any story I read, I have my own opinion on how things should end regardless of how it actually did. I had seen the movie before I read the book so I pretty much knew the whole plot from the beginning including what happens at the end. When I saw the movie I didn't put as much thought into Gatsby and Daisy's relationship as I did when we read it, although I think that is from class discussions more than actually reading. Because of this I stand behind my idea of an alternate ending 100x more than I did when I watched it and even then I wanted it to end differently. In my alternate ending I would have liked to see what Wilson's reaction would have been if he knew Daisy hit Myrtle. I'm certain he would not have killed Daisy and I wish he knew Tom was sleeping with Myrtle so that he would kill Tom instead. (I hate Tom with a passion by the way.) I then would want Daisy to run away with Gatsby and for them to discover real love for each other instead of their wealth. Call it cliche but that is what I wanted and I'm sure Fitzgerald wrote it so that people would want or suspect an ending at least similar to that. One thing that particularly made me mad is that Daisy hid from Nick and refused to talk on the phone with him. "I called up Daisy half an hour after we found him, called her instinctively and without hesitation. But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
AuthorMr. Justin Biggs Archives
August 2016
|