Question: How does the ending shape your overall
interpretation of the novel? What themes stand out to you? Speculate on why
this work is an American classic that is still studied and remembered (and
filmed- need I say Leo D.)
Answer:
Personally,
I think the novel is amazing, albeit incredibly sad. The part that stood out to
me the most was the funeral and its attendants (or lack there of). Gatsby was a
celebrated, hospitable, giving man during his life and he was honored by Nick,
a man he knew for a few months, Owl Eyes, a man who he barely knew and vice
versa, and his father. It’s sad to think how many people were only around to
take from him and how they stopped showing up once he had nothing more to give.
It shows how a true friend can be worth a million fake ones in the long run.
His empty funeral makes me pity Gatsby even more and be disgusted by all the
characters who used him.
Another
part of the ending that surprised me was Tom. The ending made me dislike him a
little bit less. While he’s still a selfish, money centered man who cheats on
his wife, I did feel sorry for him for a moment when he said, “”And if you
think that I didn’t have my share of suffering- look here, when I went to give
up that flat and saw that damn box of dog biscuits sitting there on the
sideboard, I sat down and cried like a baby. By god it was awful—“”
(Fitzgerald, 179). I still don’t agree with his course of actions throughout
the novel, but it was shocking to see him as a human with emotions and sorrow.
There
are a few main themes in The Great Gatsby.
One would obviously have to be money. It plays a main factor throughout the
entire story. For example, it was Gatsby’s dream to become wealthy and the
money, once he gained it, never helped him. It allowed him to see Daisy again,
but, since it led to his death and she didn’t care for him, it probably
would’ve been better if that never happened. It kept his house filled with
people at his parties and on his beach, but they didn’t care for him. They
weren’t his friends. They were people who took advantage of his hospitality and
didn’t bother to show up at his funeral. One of the only people who loved him
and cared for him was his dad and his dad was poor and wouldn’t have cared if
Gatsby was too. It simply shows that the old proverb is right: Money can’t buy
you happiness.
Another
strong theme is ‘Old Money’ verses ‘New Money’. Old Money being defined us
people who come from wealthy families and are given their money and New Money
being people who have earned and worked for their money. This theme is so
involved with the novel that it effects everything from the people to the
setting. The novel is set mainly on the West Egg and the East Egg, but they
could easily just be renamed the New Money Egg and the Old Money Egg,
respectively. An example of New Money would be Gatsby, who was born poor and
worked for his money. An example of Old Money would be Tom, Daisy and Jordan.
The novel seems to suggest two things about these groups: Old Money doesn’t
like New Money and Old Money consist of cold selfish people.
It’s
easy to see that Old Money has no tolerance for New Money. New Money is very
flashy and like to have fun with their money, which is evident in Gatsby. He
buys expensive cars and hosts costly parties. His parties were described as, “There
was music from my neighbor's house through the summer nights. In his blue
gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the
champagne and the stars… At least once a fortnight a corps of caterers came
down with several hundred feet of canvas and enough colored lights to make a
Christmas tree of Gatsby's enormous garden. On buffet tables, garnished with
glistening hors-d'oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin
designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold. In the main hall
a bar with a real brass rail was set up, and stocked with gins and liquors and
with cordials so long forgotten that most of his female guests were too young
to know one from another.
By seven o'clock the orchestra has arrived, no thin
five-piece affair, but a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and
viols and cornets and piccolos, and low and high drums… The bar is in full
swing, and floating rounds of cocktails permeate the garden outside, until the
air is alive with chatter and laughter, and casual innuendo and introductions
forgotten on the spot, and enthusiastic meetings between women who never knew
each other's names.” (Fitzgerald, 39-40). On the other hand, Old Money people
are very prim and proper. For example, when we first meet Daisy and Jordan,
they are sitting with their noses turned up in the air in a manner that is so
proper that Nick describes it as, “… as if she were balancing something on it
which was likely to fall.” (Fitzgerald, 8). When Old Money witnesses New
Money’s behavior, they’re normally offended. An example of this is when Daisy
attends one of Gatsby’s parties. Nick states, “But the rest offended her-and
inarguably, because it wasn't a gesture but an emotion. She was appalled by
West Egg, this unprecedented "place" that Broadway had begotten upon
a Long Island fishing village-appalled by its raw vigor that chafed under the
old euphemisms and by the too obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along
a short-cut from nothing to nothing. She saw something awful in the very
simplicity she failed to understand.” (Fitzgerald, 107). It is clear that Old
Money is unable to understand New Money since Old Money grew up in wealthy
families and were taught to act in a certain way. The problem between them is
that Old Money won’t accept New Money because they act differently.
The
people of Old Money have a lot more flaws than their inability to accept people
who act differently than them. Their main issue seems to be that the entire lot
of them are selfish, shallow people. There are numerous examples of this
throughout the novel. In chapter two, Tom selfishly forces Nick to meet Myrtle
without consulting with him despite Nick not wanting to. He takes no time to
consider that it might be uncomfortable to Nick to witness his cousin’s husband
cheat on her or that Nick may have preexisting plans. Another example comes
from Jordan Baker and her driving skills. Nick says, “”You’re a rotten driver,”
I protested. “Either you ought to be more careful, or you oughtn’t to drive at
all.”
“I am careful.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Well, other people are,” she said lightly.
“What’s that got to do with it?”
“They’ll keep out of my way,” she insisted. “It
takes two to make an accident.”” (Fitzgerald, 58). Jordan is so careless and
unthoughtful of others that she can’t even bother to drive correctly or not
drive at all. She risks getting into a car accident or possibly hitting
somebody and it doesn’t even faze her. She just expects everyone else to get
out of her way so that they won’t crash. It’s an extremely self-centered
sentiment. There selfishness is shown quite heavily towards the end of the
book. Daisy is selfish when she jerks around Gatsby’s feelings and when she
lets him take the blame for the hit and run. She’s also selfish when she has
Gatsby sit outside her house all night to ensure her safety and then doesn’t
even attempt to say goodbye to him or Nick before she leaves town. She never
even attends Gatsby’s funeral after claiming to have loved him. Nick refers to
Tom and Daisy and says, “It was all very careless and confused. They were
careless people, Tom and Daisy--they smashed up things and creatures and then
retreated back to 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...“ (Fitzpatrick, 179). This seems to be something that could be said
about most of the Old Money in The Great
Gatsby. The whole novel seems to insinuate that people who have never worked
for their money, people who never felt the burning of needing something that
they didn’t have the means to get, were left cold, shallow and selfish.
It’s
not surprising that this novel is revered by many and still popular in our
culture today. It’s the kind of story that changes people’s perspectives on
things. It shows you how things aren’t always black and white. For example, if
you heard that a man was a bootlegger and was very illegal and there was a lot
of mystery and suspicion surrounding him in a story, it’d be easy to assume
that he was the ‘bad guy’ or antagonist. This story however shows that Gatsby,
a man that earns his money in an illegal business, is still a good guy while
the Buchanans, a couple from wealthy families and such, play the ‘villain’ role
much better. This novel also depicts the saying “Life isn’t fair”. This is shown
when Gatsby is murdered for things he never did while the guilty people get
away free. Then to have Gatsby, a man who was always hospitable and kind, have
a funeral with three attendants certainly seems wrong as well. The Great Gatsby is a timeless tale that
covers themes regarding money, injustice and people not always being as they
seem. It takes place in the 1920s with their lavish clothes and parties (for
the rich at least). It has romance between Daisy and Gatsby, Nick and Jordan
and Myrtle and Tom. It’s a realistic and moving story involving some main
characters that you get to know and love. The writing is beautiful and
captivating. It’s no wonder that it’s still popular today in both the literature
and cinematic worlds!
