Chapter 9- What We Have Been Reading For

Every chapter of this book has surprised me in some way, and this chapter did not fail to do it.  This chapter was surprising, depressing, and eye opening to me.  I thought that a ton of people would be at Gatsby funeral, but sadly only reporters showed up.  The only people who went to his funeral that truly cared about him was his father, Nick, and the man with the owl eye glasses.  Its sad that "owl eyes" showed up to his funeral and didn’t even know who he was, when his friends such as Tom, Daisy, and Jordan didn’t even bother to show up.  I think Fitzgerald meant something by putting "owl eyes" in the end of the story but I do not know what it is.  In this last chapter I also found my favorite quote of the book.  "for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder" (180).  I think Gatsby had his own American dream but it was not a typically American dream.  The idea of the American dream is if you can work hard and are a good person you will be successful in life.  Gatsby's dream was getting rich quick and focusing his life on winning over Daisy.  I think this is what makes Gatsby such an interesting character.  I now see and agree that Gatsby is the most interesting and complex character in American literature.  I really enjoyed writing the blogs and how we read the book and then would discuss it in class.  I think this is what made me enjoy this book.  I would honestly always read every night and then I would look forward all day to discussing it in class.  Even though writing a blog does take some time, I enjoyed it too.  I though when writing the blog you could truly express how you feel about the book.  This whole experience and how interesting the book was made this by far my favorite book I have ever read.  Thank you for making this such an enjoyable experience for me.  I hope I am fortunate enough in the future to do something like this again with a book.  

Chapter 8- Wilson's Rage

Chapter has to be the most significant chapter in the entire book.  The chapter starts by Nick trying to sleep but he can't because he is worried about Gatsby.  I noticed that Nick is the only character in the book that has a true relationship with Gatsby.  Daisy and Gatsby do have a relationship but in my opinion their relationship is real to Gatsby but not real to Daisy.  Nick is in bed and hears Gatsby taxi pull into his drive way at four in the morning.  Nick feels compelled to go see Gatsby and ask him what happened.  Again, I noticed that Nick truly cares about Gatsby and that they have one of the only real relationships in the book.  At this point in the story Fitzgerald shows a very important symbol that relates to Gatsby.  Gatsby house is very empty, dirty and dark.  This symbols the way Gatsby life is going.   Gatsby and Daisy are basically over because she does not admit that she has never loved Tom.  Gatsby is starting to realize he has wasted five years of his life trying to obtain Daisy.  Nick tells Gatsby maybe he should go somewhere and lay low for a while but Gatsby wont listen.  Nick says, "He wouldn’t consider it.  He couldn’t possibly leave Daisy until he knew what she was going to do.  He was clutching at some last hope and I couldn’t bear to shake him free" (148).  Gatsby can not understand that him and Daisy can never be together.  Daisy is too artificially and fake for anyone but Tom.  I did not expect the book to go this way at all.  I thought Gatsby and Daisy would end up together and the book would have a happy ending.  In class when we talked about symbols, one of the most significant symbols was that Gatsby thinks he can control time.  I did not understand this until I read this chapter.  Gatsby servant asks him to drain the pool because the leaves will start falling soon.  Gatsby realizes that he hasn’t used his pool al summer.  The only reason Gatsby even has a pool is to impress Daisy.  Now he realizes he has wasted five years of his life chasing after Daisy; now he has acquired all this wealthy and his Manson and now he does not know what to do because now Daisy is gone.  When I was reading this part of the book the entire book finally made sense to me.  Gatsby finally decides to uses his pool.  I thought this part was very ironic because the first day Gatsby realizes he cant control time and needs to live in the moment, he dies.  Wilson kills Gatsby.  This part of the book really surprised me because Wilson was never a major part of the book.  I hope something big happens in chapter nine.  This book has amazed me in each chapter.  I never know what to expect with this book.   

Chapter 7- The Fight

To  me Chapter 7 has by far been the most exciting and most dramatic chapter so far in this book.  In the beginning of the chapter we find out that Gatsby has fired most of his servants.  He does this because he does not want anyone gossiping about how him and Daisy have been seeing each other.  I would have done the same thing if I was Gatsby.  I have looked at Gatsby differently since I found out that his entire life has been centered around Daisy and his obsession for his love.  I use to believe that Gatsby was a good role model because he was cool and very humble, but ever since in chapter five when he freaks out about meeting Daisy, I have thought less of him and this causes me to see him differently in the book.  Since I looked at him differently now I have now have developed different opinions about the story as I read.  In Chapter 7, Gatsby, Tom, Nick, Daisy and Jordan are all at Daisy's house.  They decide to go into New York to the Plaza hotel to have a few drinks.  Tom and Gatsby decide to drive there but Tom persuades Gatsby to let him drive Gatsby's car.  When I read this I was disappointed in Gatsby.  This shows to me that he is a push over and I do not respect this at all.  While they are at the hotel, Gatsby lets Tom call him out.  Tom confronts Gatsby about his entire life; he brings up Oxford and how Gatsby is a bootlegger right in front of everyone.  Tom says, "By the way, Mr. Gatsby, I understand you're an Oxford man"(128).  Gatsby says, "Not exactly" (128).  Tom continues to harass Gatsby and says, "Oh, yes, I understand you went to Oxford" (128).  I think Tom keeps trying to embarrass Gatsby in front of Daisy.  Tom wants Daisy to see that Gatsby is not who he really is.  Tom continues to make Gatsby feel awkward by asking him questions.  Gatsby finally explains that he only went to Oxford for five months.  Tom also calls Gatsby out on how he is a bootlegger.  This is when the fight really starts to heat up.  I really enjoyed reading this part because it has been what I have been waiting for all chapter.  Gatsby tries to get Daisy to say that she never loved Tom.  Sadly she cannot admit that this.  This truly shocked me as I read this.  This is when the book surprised me because I thought that Daisy would come out and say that she has always loved Gatsby.  This is when the book got very interesting.  On the way home, Myrtle Wilson runs out into the middle of the road and Gatsby car hits her.  The thing that is very ironic about this is that Daisy was driving Gatsby car.  I thought this was interesting because Daisy killed the woman Tom has been cheating on her with and Daisy never even knew who she was.  This intrigued me.  When Tom, Nick and Jordan arrive and see Myrtles death, Tom freaks out.  On the drive home, Tom shows emotion for the first time in the story.  He starts crying about the death of Myrtle.  I thought this was interesting because for the first time Tom displays emotion isn't even about the woman he is married too.  Tom seems more consider about Myrtle then about Gatsby and Daisy's affair.  This chapter has completely changed my view of the entire book.  I still can not decide weather if this is a good change or a bad change.  I hope the rest of the book is as dramatic as this chapter. 

Chapter 5- Finding out About Gatsby

In my opinion this is the most important chapter in the book so far.  This chapter reveals a lot about Gatsby and his love for Daisy and also displays many symbols.  In this chapter Gatsby tells Nick to invite Daisy over for tea so he can see her and reconnect.  Gatsby does this because he has a crazy obsession with her.  Before she gets to Nick's house, Gatsby does not act like his cool and self-confident self.  He acts nervous and has doubts about his plan.  Nick describes Gatsby's emotions and actions by saying,  "Finally he got up and informed me, in an uncertain voice, that he was going home" (84).  Gatsby says, "Nobody's coming to tea.  It's too Late!" (85).  Nick has to talk some sense into Gatsby and convinces him to stay.  This is a side of Gatsby that we have never seen before.  Nick is very shocked by how he is acting.  I was very shocked reading this because this is a completely new side of Gatsby.  This changed my whole opinion of him.  I thought he was a sly and fearless man, that could handle anything.  When Daisy arrives at Nicks house it is very awkward at first.  Gatsby and Daisy just stare at each other when they first meet, this make it very awkward for Nick.  Nick did the same thing I would have done which was leave the two alone.  When Nick comes back into his house it is more awkward then when he left, Daisy is crying.  If I was Nick I would have felt very strange in this situation.  Gatsby wants to show Daisy his house and invites Nick along.  Gatsby wants to show Daisy his mansion because he worked his whole life to impress her and his money is what he has to show.  This makes me think Gatsby is a stalker and is psychotic.  When I found out that he worked his entire life to earn his money to impress Daisy I was very surprised.  This changes the entire book for me, I did not expect the books plot to be like this.  

Chapter 2- Tom and Myrtle's Apartment

In Chapter two the reader can see how the rich people of west and east egg act.  Tom takes Nick to a sketchy part of town to pick up his girlfriend, even though he is married.  When Nick was walking with Tom they go into a dirty garage and Nick thought the dirty and messiness was just a cover but it wasn’t.  He thought above the dirty garage had really nice apartments above it.  I thought it was very strange that Nick did not say anything to Tom about how sketchy the situation was.  If I was Nick I would have confronted Tom about having another girlfriend.  I also think it was very strange how Myrtle acts once she is away from the garage.  When Tom, Nick and Myrtle are going to their other apartment, Myrtle acts completely different.  She acts like she is rich when is with Tom.  Nick notices this but does not say anything.  If I was Nick I would not have said anything either because I do not want to be hated by someone like Tom.  When Tom hits Myrtle this is a symbol of what kind of man Tom is.  Tom hits Myrtle because she keeps saying Tom's wife's name.  When she keeps repeating Daisy in his face he hits her.  This shows that he has this completely different life because he is unhappy with Daisy and his old life.  This also shows how shady Tom is and how he uses his money to escape his old life.  I have noticed with this chapter and the first that other minor characters always bring up Gatsby.  Nick always tells the people the same thing too.  Mr. McKee said,  "Really? I was there at a party about a month ago.  At a man named Gatsby's.  Do you know him?" (32).  Nick responded with  his usually answer, "I live next to him" (32).  Nick never says anything more because he knows nothing about Gatsby.  Nick just wants everyone to know he lives next to him.  I am looking forward to reading when Nick does meet the Great Gatsby.    

Chapter 1

I just finished reading the first chapter of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  I can admit at first I was pessimistic about reading this book because I am not a strong reader.  Now that I have read the first chapter, I am excited to read this book.  I really enjoy the writing style by Fitzgerald.  I especially like the main character/narrator, Nick.  I commend Fitzgerald for the way he introduced and how he built Nick as a character.  While I am reading, I like to notice how Nick is a non-judgmental man.  I like this because I can relate him to one of my very good friends.  Nick's non-judgmental factor in the story is very interesting to read about because all of the other characters are judgmental and pompous.  Nick is invited over for dinner to Tom and Daisy's house.  Nick is friends with Tom and Daisy, Tom was a very successful athlete and business man, but now his success is declining.  When Nick is leaving Tom and Daisy's house, they ask Nick about how he was engaged.  Nick is not engaged, but this is just another example of how the rich will make up and spread rumors.  "Of course I knew what they were referring to, but I wasn’t even vaguely engaged.  The fact that gossip had published the banns was on of the reasons I had come East.  You can't stop going with an old friend on account of rumors, and on the other hand I had no intention of being rumored into marriage" (19).  Nick explains how the rumors in New York spread because rich people love to gossip and talk about others.  I thought the most exciting part of the chapter was when Nick saw Gatsby.  This is the first time Gatsby has been introduced in the book.  He seems like a very mysterious character.  "When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness" (21).  This part of chapter one makes me want to read the story even more.