The Great Gatsby, Discussion Director, Post 4, Pd. 1
OK, first off, I want to apologize for posting this late. Usually I’m able to post at my mom’s house, but this weekend I’m over at my dad’s house. His computer has been acting up a lot lately. He has a Windows 97 (Yes – a ‘97!) and I think it is on its last bit of life. The computer has been freezing up, crashing, and the internet is going haywire. Luckily, I should be able to comment fine tomorrow because I’ll be going back to my mom’s, so I can use my ‘08 iMac. So I’m really sorry about posting late, but due to unforeseen circumstances out of my control this was unavoidable.
So moving on to the discussion. Since this is the last post, I think I’m going to give my group a present and make this short, sweet and to the point (plus, I want to get this done in case the computer decides to throw a fit). Chapters 8 and 9 act as the conclusion to the book. Chapter 8 wraps up everything that happened in the few previous chapters, while 9 summarizes what little we have learned about Gatsby and Nick.
In Chapter 8, we learn about how Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship, but that’s not the part that I really wanted to talk about. The thing I’d really like to mention is Gatsby’s death/murder. This was a really interesting twist put on the story. Throughout the whole thing, I have seen Gatsby as the protagonist. And normally, the protagonists don’t die. So I for one was not expecting that. But when you think about it, everything that we’ve learned about Gatsby’s past and his actions thus far in the book have been leading up to this point (which would be why I called it the conclusion). This brings me to the first thing I would like everyone to answer. I want everyone to look back on every single thing that has happened throughout the book and create a list of events that caused Gatsby’s death. For example, Gatsby taking the blame for hitting Myrtle would be one of the final contributors in the list. Please, please, include chapter or page numbers if possible.
The second thing that I’d like to talk about is Gatsby’s funeral. Nick is placed in charge even though barely knew Gatsby. Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t the closest friends and/or family supposed to arrange the funeral? As we see in Chapter 9, Nick has a hard time finding anyone to come to the funeral and in the end barely anyone shows up. Even though hundreds of people have gone to Gatsby’s parties (most without being invited) none of them bothered showing up for his funeral. Question: What does this show about society today? Even though this isn’t a question I want answered, here’s something to think about – how is Nick’s personality reflected in the way he prepares for Gatsby’s funeral?
And that’s all I’m writing for today. But as a closing question, I’d like it if you guys could tell me what you think about the book. Did you like it or not? OK, now I am officially done. You guys don’t have to read anymore of my posts!
Erin B 
Category: Discussion Director 3 comments »
April 19th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
I think that society today is filled with people who are greedy and want to get to the top of the social ladder. This is what we see at Gatsby’s parties. Random people come and get in with out an invitation just to show that they are special and people should like them. I personally think that people in today’s world have moral’s that are there for themselves and nothing else. It goes to show how people have become very self-centered over the years.
As a whole I really enjoyed the book. At frist I didn’t like how it was set through Nick’s view but I think the point of view made the book different and interesting. It also gave us more insight to some of the other characters. Like in Chapter 2 when Nick goes with Tom into the city. If the book was set in Gatsby’s view we wouldn’t have known anything about Myrtle and who Tom really was. Over all I thought it was a great book!
I would also like to say that I never saw the murder/death of Gatsby coming at the end!!
~Lauren Gress~
April 19th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
I agree with Lauren. I think that its more common in celebrities and their lives than everyday people to want to get to the top of the social ladder. I think that some people just use people to get what they want and once they are no good to that person any more they just forget about them and move on. The type of people that came to Gatsby’s parties were the ones that just wanted to be seen, noticed, and talked about [any attention is good attention?] at Gatsby’s parties. There are people in the world like that who are selfish and just want to get ahead.
I thought that the book was really interesting. It was kind of like a modern-day soap opera. I think that book being written from Nick’s honest point of view gave it a unique twist on the plot and the characters. All of the characters were really interesting too. I think that the book was generally pretty good. I don’t want to sound morbid, but the plot twist at the end where Gatsby dies made the book a little more interesting. I think the book was very well written. Good choice whoever suggested that we read this book!
-Maddie Zinn
April 19th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
OK, since neither of you answered my question about the timeline, I’m just going to say that you should just think about it (it is no longer a question).
I agree with both of you two on the first question. I think we talked about something like this before and I felt as if they were taking advantage of Gatsby because of his money and generosity. Now that he’s dead, they don’t really care about him anymore. When you think about it, it’s kind of modern day politics (yes, I’m bringing politics into this). I know this isn’t true for all politicians, but a lot of them make a whole bunch of promises just to get popular with the public. But when they get into office, they never do any of the things they said they would. It just goes to show that everyone is trying to get to the top. Even though with Gatsby, it is slightly different, the people were all basically doing the same thing. They were using him to get what they wanted (a good time). I guess that this could be showing that there is always a little bit of greed in everyone, even Nick. Remember how at first he didn’t want to organize Gatsby’s funeral? After everything Gatsby did for Nick, he couldn’t even bring himself to make a funeral for him.
I also enjoyed this book. Maddie and Lauren both brought up that Nick’s point of view really made the story interesting. I agree with this as well. In some ways, Nick was less of a character and more of a guiding voice. He’s always there, but his perfect character gives the reader an (almost) omniscient insight into Gatsby’s world. He gets to travel places with all the characters like a real omniscient 3rd person narrator would. Also, Nick has a moral value of not judging people (remember, from the first page of the book) and so we can really decide for ourselves what we think of the characters. Since Nick is not biased we get the whole picture and not just the things he wants us to think. Imagine if it was from Tom’s point of view – Gatsby would be the villain and everyone would be happy that he was shot at the end. Even though Gatsby is not really a bad person, from Tom’s perspective it would look that way to everyone. So, yes, I did enjoy almost everything about the book.
Erin B