'The Great Gatsby' reading jorunal, chapter eight

After the events of the previous chapter, we can see that Nick feels as if he is in a state of trouble. He did not sleep well that night, and talked of 'grotesque reality and savage, frightening nightmares', creating the impression that he is trapped by both states. Real life seems grim, and so does the world of sleep and dreams. Gatsby, however, is also in a state of his own. In fact, he was 'broken up against Tom's hard malice' which I think means that Tom has revealed so much about about him that he has destroyed the mental suit that Jay Gatsby, and has turned him back into young James Gatz (as mentioned in chapter six) - poor and struggling. While searching for cigarettes in Gatsby's house, in the dark, Nick accidentally land on some of the keys of the 'ghostly piano'. This in fact does create a ghostly image - the dissonant, echoing sound of the piano would sound so unnatural and disturbing, and this effect surrounds what lies ahead for Gatsby. Nick then shares the story of when Gatsby first visited Daisy's house five years earlier. Gatsby sees Daisy as the 'youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves' which suggests that her rich and wealthy up-bring has restricted Daisy's personality - maybe she only behaves like she does because she felt that she had too? By the sound of this, it is as if she could have been so much more than what she is. What Daisy was unaware of at this point in time, though, was that Gatsby was not in fact of the same class as her, though she though so. He had given Daisy ' a sense of security' by tricking her, which is something that he could not offer. Gatsby at this time time even hoped that she "throw me over" as if he was guilty that he tricked her. Daisy is attracted to nothing more than wealth, and she thinks at this time, that Gatsby is wealthy. But this comment brings up a new question - did Gatsby actually love Daisy? He knew that was not of the right class for her, so does he feel guilty that he has tricked her into this?

Nick describes that Daisy had been living in an 'artificial world' back then - she is attracted to ans bases her life upon false promises. As well as being caused by the luxuries that surrounded her, this was also caused with the hope that Gatsby would return sooner than he did from the war. She thought he would return and that they could be married, but no such thing happened. Then, Daisy moved on 'again with the season' and began to date many other men. Again, the weather and time has been a determining factor, like in the previous chapter - It has prompted Daisy to realise that she cannot wait patiently for Gatsby to return. However, Daisy wanted to make a more fixed move, something that would create a shape in her future, and that decision 'must be made by some force'. The force was was Tom Buchanan. His 'person and his position' attracted Daisy - she made a rash decision to marry him based on his wealth, in an attempt to forget about Gatsby and move on. Nick says that Gatsby used the last of his army pay to travel to Louisville in an attempt to find Daisy, but what my mind has suddenly turned to once is how much can we trust Nick. After all, he is telling this entire story based on memory, and by telling small stories like these, he is required to explore Gatsby's memories. How much of that is actually true? Nonetheless, nick reveals that he 'didn't want to leave Gatsby' in the state that he was in, so therefore he obviously does care about him a great deal, despite his ever-changing views on Gatsby's morals.

Before he lives him, Nick gives him a compliment ("You're worth the whole damn bunch put together.") and then says that he was glad that he said that because he 'disapproved of him from begging to end'. I was initialed confused to hear this from Nick because of how much detail and passion he had used when previously talking about Gatsby, he always seemed to speak highly of him. However, maybe he liked his as person, but he just didn't like his morals (having an affair with someone's wife), but if this was the case, Nick is barely one to talk (he mentioned that he had an affair himself in chapter three). We then learn that Wilson had interrogated some more the day after Myrtle's death. He asks his neighbor, Michaelis, to open a draw for him, in which he finds a dog leash made of leather and silver (purchased earlier in the novel by Myrtle) . I initially thought that George saw a reflection of how Myrtle treated him in this, but the leather and silver suggests that the dog that would have worn it would have wealthy owned and well treated (which Wilson was not), and maybe it was this that prompted him to track down Gatsby. Again, the weather plays a prominent part in determining characteristics, as I find that the 'grey clouds' that 'took on fantastic shapes' caused Wilson's mood to change. He had previously been quite and pushed down by the world, when the sun was shining, but with the greyness that has just emerged, (which sometimes indicates gritty conditions) has caused him to adopt this gritty personality.

The chapter closes with the death of both Gatsby and Wilson. Gatsby's death, I find, is met with a sense of irony. One his servants told him earlier that he was going to drain the pool today, but Gatsby told him not to so. He then tells Nick "I've never used that pool all summer?". The irony is created by the fact that the first time he uses his pool, he is shot dead. However, Wilson is also discovered to be dead at this point too, which imposes a scenario that is open to much interpretation - Wilson could have killed Gatsby, and then himself, or vice versa. Gatsby may have knew that Wilson was coming, so he possibly committed suicide, and prompted George to do the same. The reason why this situation is left open is because nobody actually witnessed this. The only piece of evidence to go by is 'the shots' that the chauffeur heard, meaning that we know there was gunfire, but who caused it exactly, is unknown.