THE GREAT GATSBY - WEEK 10 CHAPTER 9

THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald

It's time to wrap up The Great Gatsby! I hope you have enjoyed the twists and turns that have popped up along the way. I also hope that this book gave you some pause to think about what in life you are pursuing and the value or worth of those pursuits. As I said before, Fitzgerald doesn't come out and tell us the "rights or wrongs" of his characters' actions, but he does let the consequences naturally come to light. With that being said, let's take a look at this last chapter and then lay The Great Gatsby to rest.

On the morning my high school literature class discussed this last chapter, most of the teens had one question on their mind. Is Gatsby really dead? After all, he talks to Nick in this chapter, doesn't he? Yes, Gatsby is dead. The talking that occurs is in Nick's brain. Everyone has deserted Gatsby, and he's begging to not be left alone. Nick strikes out to find someone to mourn his passing. Daisy? Gone. Guilty- but gone. Wolfshiem? Can't get mixed up in the situation when someone's been killed. Business associates? Silence on the line. Party Attenders? No where to be found.

Three people show up to mourn Gatsby. Nick, Gatsby's father (who loved him and was proud of him despite Gatsby leaving), and the man with the owl-rimmed glasses who oohed and awed over the real books in the library. I have thought about why he showed up and my guess is he saw something real and genuine in Gatsby that day.

This chapter is written two years after the events happened and Nick reminiscences back to his college days. Coming back home to the west on the trains for the holidays, the knowing of each other and stepping back into their place of comfort - this is home. Not the east. Nick knows none of them actually made it as an easterner. So back to the west he goes, but before he does he says goodbye to Jordan.

Thoughts on Nick's run in finally with Tom? Did you wonder who put Wilson on to Gatsby? My heart ached as I read, " They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made..." There are a lot of Toms and Daisys in the world today.

The book ends with a juxtaposition of the Dutch explorers' future when they discovered the land the story takes place on and Gatsby's hope for his future with Daisy. The only problem? One group was moving forward to new dreams with everything they had. The other was desperately trying to resurrect a dead past with everything he had.

So what are you chasing? Is it worth the pursuit? Are you doing it with people who are your true friends? Just a few thoughts for a snowy, January day.