Well... Gatsby died. Is it bad that I am not upset at all? (I'm upset that Leo is leaving the movie, but that is about where the emotions stop) I mean, he is a magnetic character. The fantastic things that surround him draw me to him. However, Nick reveals this grandeur in such a way that it does not quite settle in my stomach. Gatsby relies on a kind of masculinity that reduces him to nothing more than a psychopath - repeated antisocial behavior, egotistical, and poor impulse control. I have digressed.
Let's chat about his death. George Wilson? The poor, incompatible, dense mechanic? He's the one who gets to kill Gatsby? He is a product of delusion and emotion, which only combine to make the unimaginable effortless. What seems unfair is that he has no idea what he is doing and, yet, will only be to blame. Perhaps this is Fitzgerald's draw on the American Dream. The desire for more, more, and more can only stop in death. I wonder if Fitzgerald is claiming that the death of the American Dream will be a result of the people who wish to pursue it most. Wilson was going to move West (new money); he was working his way to the top - legally; he already had the girl, he just needed the cash. But when it all fell apart, did he go after those who stole the dream from him? Or was he really after the thing we all chase in life?
I have so many questions.
Nick's almost, kinda, sorta last words to Gatsby were, "They're a rotten crowd...You're worth the whole damn bunch put together," followed by his thoughts of, "It was the only compliment I ever gave him, because I disapproved of him from beginning to end"(154). Well all I have to say to that is B freakin S. Either Nick is lying right then, or he lied to us at the beginning of the book when he said Gatsby was exempt from his scorn. And this definitely proves that he is lying when he says he's the most honest person he knows. Unless the only people he knows are pathological liars, which just makes me think that he could have made this whole thing up. I mean I know Fitzgerald made it up, but Nick is in that world so he's making it up. Nevermind I have confused myself.
Overall, Chapter 8 revealed many things to me:
One) I don't like Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanon, or really Nick Carraway. The only people who have stayed relatively loyal to their characters are Jordan Baker and George Wilson. Myrtle had to go and die so she's out of it, and Tom I never really liked in the first place
Two) Secrets are power
Three) Gatsby will always be reaching for something - maybe even in death
Four) I really want to know how the book ends
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