'The Great Gatsby' reading journal, chapter nine

Nick opens the chapter by saying 'After two years, I remember the rest of that day...' which suggests two things. One is that he has acknowledged how far into the future he is recollecting the story, and two is that he has only recalled this part of the story at that time - it was something that he either forgot or decided to blank out for this period of time. During the testimony over Myrtle's death, Nick notes that her sister, Catherine, 'didn't say a word' - this is odd to me because as a living relative, you would expect to say something, weather it be a small or large comment. Is she hiding something? Or she too emotionally scarred to say anything? Arrangements for Gatsby's funeral then begin to take place, and what is most striking about this, is that Nick was 'responsible' for everything in the arrangement. The fact no one else was willing to help out say something about Gatsby - people were only interested in his parties, and him as a person. While this sounds heartful, I can't help but wonder if Gatsby brought this upon himself - he always stayed out of the limelight during his parties, so barely anybody had to chance to get to know him. People don't feel that their presence is needed. Nick, weather he likes Gatsby or not, has obviously been affected by him in some way - he says that he could hear Gatsby's voice, telling to "get somebody for me". Nick has become obsessive about Gatsby, and, despite his constant mind changing, he is still willing to complete everything that he asks him too. Nick then searches for contact numbers (Gatsby's parents), but in his drawer, only finds 'the picture of Dan Cody' that he saw earlier in the novel. This is such a strong indication of how detached Gatsby wanted to be from his parents - he really wanted to leave everything behind that could associate him with 'James Gatz'. He hated his previous personality so much to the point that he really was lonely, even when throwing large parties, he still became a social outcast by hiding all of the time.

Nick then searches for Wolfshiem, a character introduced earlier in the novel and associated with Gatsby's bootlegging. He receives a letter from him, where he says that he will not able to attended the funeral because he is "tied up in some very important business". When we were first introduced to Wolfsheim, it took place in a seedy, smoke-filled pub, which suggested that this what his personality was like, and this quotation makes his character even more assigned to this nature because it seems as he doesn't want to be there, or associated with death. But what could be possible get tangled up in? Gatsby is dead, and he had no involvement in his death whatsoever - why won;t he come to the funeral? Instantly, we are reminded of the seediness that Gatsby was involved with on his way to wealth when Nick answers a telephone call at his house. The caller talks about figures and statistics, and goes on about this until Nick mentions forcefully that Gatsby is dead, when he hears a 'quick squawk and the connection was broken' - the caller had to flee. Was this because of shock? Or, and what I think is more likely, because it wasn't Gatsby on the phone, and the caller wanted to hide his identity as quickly as he could, maybe thinking that Nick was a member of authority. We are then introduced to Gatsby's farther, and his name and reminder again of Gatsby's past identity (Henry C. Gatz), who upon arrival 'leaked continuously with excitement'. I have chosen to highlight this comment as it appears to be odd when thinking of what is happening in the story - he has learned that his son has died, so why would he be excited by this? The only thing that I can think of is that upon seeing his son's house, he is amazed to see how 'successful' his son has been, but still, equally upset over losing him. This is furthered when he notes that his 'grief began to mix with an awed pride' - understandably, he cannot help but be upset, but at the same time, seeing the large mansion that his son went on to inhabit has fascinated him. The most questionable quotation, however, comes from Nick when Henry asks him about his relation to Gatsby - "we were close friends". During chapter 5, it had became clear that Gatsby was only using Nick in order to become closer to Daisy - after their intimate moment end the end of that chapter, Nick eves feels that Gatsby 'didn't know me at all' at this point, plus, Nick is constantly changing his mind on how he feels about Gatsby, so saying that they were 'close friends' is, to an extent untrue. I say this as where Nick is taking responsibility for many of the funeral arrangements, he obviously cares about him in some from. Henry then comments that if Gatsby had lived, he of been a "great man" but would he have? the detachment from his family is made even clearer. Had his farther known about how Gatsby inherited his money and how he sold gran alcohol over the counter at a number of drug stores, I think that he would have thought differently of him...

Nick however, does manage to get in to contact with one the attendees of Gatsby's parties - Kilpspringer. However, Klipspringer actually cares little about Gatsby's death and tries to reason for not coming to the funeral, and is putting attention on a "pair of shoes that I left there". Again this signifies how little Gatsby actually meant to his guests, but what is even more shocking is that Klipspringer's voice suggests no sympathy whatsoever. He just doesn't care. All he did at the parties was 'sneer most bitterly...on the courage of Gatsby's liquor' - he attended the parties purely to drink and do nothing else, not even thanking Gatsby for his hospitality, as would many of his guests over the course of that summer. Gatsby was known for the parties, and not for being Gatsby. In an attempt to convince Wolfsheim to attend the funeral, Nick drives to his office, where at first, he is denied entry and told that he is absent. Here, Nick is able to demonstrate to us that, while being an unreliable narrator who goes back on his word countless times about being judgemental, he is extremely observant and has good listening skills. He hears Wolfsheim whistling 'The Rosary' and knows straight away that the receptionist is lying to him. When talking to Wolfsheim about Gatsby's life, I was surprised to discover that he could speak in so much detail about him. Maybe Wolfshiem wasn't another dodgy to dealer to Gatsby, maybe they were, as he puts it "thick like that in everything". However, this loyalty is then shattered when Wolfsheim still refuses to come to the funeral. He decides instead to "let everything alone" about Gatsby's life, suggesting that he thinks when someone is dead, you have to forget about them. They are no more. However, maybe he was a true friend of Gatsby, and maybe he says this as (if they were as close as he suggested) living with the memory of him would be too difficult, so it is easier to forget, as if he never knew him. When Nick is driving back for the funeral, he notes that the sky had 'turned dark' and that the weather was 'in a drizzle' - a dark, saddening event is being set by this imagery, as if nature is aware of the miserable occasion is taking place. Again Nick converses with Gatsby's farther. Henry reveals that Gatsby was "very generous" with him, to the extent that he actually bought him a house. I think that this was caused by Gatsby's feeling towards his parents when he was a child - maybe he was so ashamed of how poor his parents were that he wanted to make them look better, again to remove any traces of his past as James Gatz. Henry then reveals to Nick a list that Gatsby had written when he was a child. it is written in an organised and precise fashion and it details what Gatsby would do each day and what resolutions to make in order to become a more sophisticated person. He has a had a dream for a long, long time, to be better than his parents. He told his farther that he "et like a hog" on one occasion. How farther phrases this suggests a contrast in personality between the farther and son, in terms of sophistication.

When Gatsby's funeral takes place, Nick comments that 'Nobody came', which once again show how much Gatsby (as a person) meant to people - barely anything. However, the 'man with the owl-eyed glasses' who appeared drunk in the large library at one of Gatsby's parties, has turned up, but why, of all people, has he? Perhaps he some secret attachment to Gatsby that we were unaware of? Nick also notes that 'Daisy hadn't sent a message or a flower' which opens up a number of questions for me. Did she even know that he was dead? At the start of the chapter, Nick mentions that the story was featured heavily in a number of newspapers, so I would have presumed that she would of heared something about it somewhere. Maybe, she was as fickle as she was at the start at the novel and hasn't really changed - she has the man with the money (Tom), what else does she need? It shows that she has no care towards Gatsby whatsoever - he was a lover, and now he's dead. Was she ever even affected by this? Nick then takes us back to a reflective state, saying that 'This has been a story of the West' - he, Jordan, Tom and Daisy were all Westerners, and , even though much of the story takes place on the East coast, He still feels as if it was a Western story because of the people involved. Nick moved to the West seeking opportunities, to mix with a higher class and be accepted as one of them, but after all of these events, it became 'haunted' for him, and he 'decided to come back home' to the West. He mentions that before he left, he ran into Jordan Baker one more time, when she revealed to him that she was engaged. He leaves her 'Angry, and half in love with her' - which I think shows his jealousy towards her engagement -he said before this that he didn't believe that she was engaged, but maybe he did this as he felt bitter over losing her. Nick also comments upon his final encounter with Tom Buchanan, and it appears as if he always been an arrogant, selfish man. He doesn't care about the outcome of the situation, and said that Wilson "had it coming to him". I strongly disagree with this. Tom was having an affair with his wife, so surely, Wilson had a very good explanation to be furious.

Just before Nick leaves West Egg once and for all, he looks out to the water, and comments that travelers, who discovered America would have seen this land as 'a fresh, green breast of the new world' - he refers, I think, to the American dream, and how from their point of view, anything would have seemed possible. This especially applies to his final comments on Gatsby - his dream, of meeting Daisy once again 'seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it'. It was right their in front of him, nothing seemed impossible. However, Nick then ends the story by suggesting that his dream was never going to happen, that it was 'already behind him' and maybe this is how he wants us to think of the American Dream - our dream can easily delude us, but, when this happens, all we can do is move on - 'so we beat on'. Something hasn't worked out. Instead of moaning about it, we put out chins up, take deep breaths and try to forget about it...