Love, Marriage, and final thoughts

After reading this chapter there were a lot of things that annoyed me. First, this chapter was very depressing, especially Gatsby's funeral" About five o'clock our procession of three cars reached the cemetery and stopped in a thick drizzle..."( Fitzgerald 174) Gatsby having thrown all these parties, and all these business connections, a person would think he would have some friends or just ANYONE who loved him. But sadly this was not the case. The only people who actually cared for him and showed up at his funeral, were Nick and his father. Not even Daisy showed up! But then again I'm not entirely sure if Daisy ever found out that he had died. Nick had tried to contact them, but the butler had said that both she and tom left with luggage. This was another thing that bothered me. If Daisy Truly loved Gatsby like she had said, then she would have left Tom. She would have  gone to his funeral, or better yet she could have saved his life.However, she chose to stay with Tom. She chose to continue her superficial life, and fake love, instead of the loyal and true love of Gatsby. The only people who TRULY cared were Nick and his father.Now Gatsby's father, I think, was not entirely in reality. I think he was in a sort of denial stage. At one point he kept talking about a picture of the house his son had sent him. It seemed that the picture was the reality and reality was the dream. I don't think he could truly believed that his son was dead. It was easier for him to just stare at the picture.  Now, after reading this entire book, I have to say that I actually really enjoyed it. I loved the drama, the mystery behind Gatsby himself, even the little strange and non-important characters like Wilson and Owl-Eyes. I just really enjoyed everything about this book. I would honestly recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

Wilson's Insanity

In the last chapter, I had believed that Gatsby was loosing his mind. However in this chapter I think Wilson is the one who lost his mind. After the death of his wife, Wilson sort of goes into a quiet angry rampage.  He continually states, that he can find the person who owned the car, and he does but it doesn't exactly go as he planned. But before he actually does find Gatsby, he sits in his garage with his friend having flashbacks of Myrtle. In fact in one scene he says "I told her she might fool me but she couldn't fool God. I took to the window.......and I said 'God knows what you've been doing, everything you've been doing.'"( Fitzgerald 159) During this rant he stood at the window and looked at the eyes of Doctor Eckleburg. Here the Doctor can be symbolizing God, as he looks over the town. Symbolizing that God, knows all and sees all. This insanity however came to a tragic end, with both Mr. Wilson, and Gatsby dead. At the end, Nick and some of Gatsby's servants see Wilson's body in the pool. At this point it is not 100% clear of how exactly he died, but I would guess suicide.I don't completely understand how Gatsby's dead. Maybe Wilson killed him thinking, that he was the one having the affair with Myrtle. I'm hoping everything will be cleared up in the next chapter.

Tom and Gatsby Showdown/ Death

Everything happens in chapter 7. Things that I NEVER saw coming, and things that would have come out eventually. Never in a million years would I have thought Myrtle, would be murdered (accidentally), especially not by Daisy. That one event came at a complete shock, but I think it will incur major conflicts in future chapters. Especially since Gatsby told nick he would tell the Police that he was driving.  Through this tragedy, Tom finally had an epiphany! He came to realize Daisy was having an affair with Gatsby. Though I wanted the men to throw punches in the showdown sadly that didn't happen. However, the showdown wasn't any less exciting. I think at this point in the book, Gatsby has lost his mind. At one point he said:" 'She  never loved you, do you hear?' he cried. ' She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved any one except me!'"( Fitzgerald 130). I think that this will be the turning point for Gatsby and Daisy's relationship. By saying this he basically declared unconditional love for Daisy, which was already known, but saying it aloud to others is a completely different  thing.  But I do not think that Daisy loves him as much as he loves her. Plus Daisy's accidental hit & run, will probably cause some issues between not only her and Gatsby but her and Tom as well. After all, Myrtle was Tom's mistress, and though he doesn't know who killed her,  I doubt he will forgive her if he ever finds out. Honestly, I don't think Tom will ever TRULY find out who killed her. I believe that Gatsby will be blamed, and no one will learn the truth at the end of this story.

Gatsby's True Background

In Chapter six we learn small, but true details of Gatsby's life. Evidently he didn't inherit money from his family, but from a man he had worked for. He had traveled around the seas, "...he was in turn steward, mate, skipper, secretary, and even jailor.."( Fitzgerald 100). I was surprised by this new detail of Gatsby. I had assumed that Gatsby had lied, or at least stretched the truth about his background. But I did not expect him to have been a sailor and have only earned $25,000. We also read of a past meeting, of Gatsby and daisy, which was most probably a moment of perfection for them. This past is what Gatsby is trying to recover. No matter how much he impresses Daisy, or how much he annoys Tom to his pleasure. Nothing will bring the past Daisy and their past love back. However, Gatsby doesn't seem to realize this. He believes, that he can and will repeat their past. As a reader, I can not see this happening. I believe that the two characters are still incredibly in love with each other. But this isn't enough. Daisy is married and has a child, and has money. Gatsby, in the past had nothing to be anymore noticed than the rest of the people daisy went out with, but instead he had all the love that no of the others didn't. Now I think it is some what of the opposite. He has the money, house, clothes, everything to make himself notice. He still  even has his love for daisy, which I think borderlines insanity. But Daisy's love isn't the same as is was, and it wont ever be again. I think this will complicate things in the future.

Gatsby's First Appearance

In this third chapter, Nick was personally invited to attend to Gatsby's party. The party was like any party in this book, drinking and dancing. However, I was rather amused by how many people showed up, though they were not invited. Friends of friends of friends who were invited showed up, making the entire scene chaotic in my opinion. When Gatsby  was first introduced to Nick, he was not what I had expected.  The way the other characters described him, " ' ..thought he killed a man'....'its more that he was a German spy...'"(Fitzgerald page 44), led me to picture him as this elusive and secretive man. But actually it was quite the opposite. Gatsby had this "genuine" or "real" air to him. He did not seem to be as superficial or materialistic as the rest of his guests. But to me he still seemed somewhat odd.The one thing that about Gatsby that i found especially odd was the fact that he kept calling nick "Old Chap" like they had been best friends forever, which was most definitely not the case. Even the way he was introduced to  Nick was odd. It seemed out of place, like a random little fact.  Just everything about Gatsby was mysterious. Fitzgerald is making the reader see Gatsby little by little, giving away nothing until most likely the very end. I think that the realness of Gatsby is going to be a mine focus in this book. Right now Nick and the readers are not entirely sure if Gatsby is just putting up a facade, and is really as superficial as everyone else, or is actually as real as he seems. However, another character, in Gatsby's library, explained in great detail how surprised he was that the books were real. Maybe these real books symbolize Gatsby's realness. It is  just one of the many possible characteristics of Gatsby, but no one will know until the end.

Introduction to characters

I started to read The Great Gatsby today, finished Chapter 1. I have to say that for an introductory chapter is was actually quite good. Fitzgerald did an amazing job describing the characters, especially Tom and Daisy. I found these characters very amusing. How daisy would gossip about a person as soon as they left the room; or how Tom had a  mistress in New York though he was a married man. All of these things, made the chapter fairly humorous. I could not believe how snobby these people were. The wife, didn't even care that Tom had a mistress! I can't even begin to try to understand these people. They have everything they could ever want, and yet they don't even care. Honestly I'm very interested to see how the rest of the book will turn out.