Preview

How Does Fitzgerald Tell the Story in Chapter 9

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
517 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Does Fitzgerald Tell the Story in Chapter 9
HOW DOES FITZGERALD TELL THE STORY IN CHAPTER 9?

In the Great Gatsby, the last chapter of the novel is told two years later still from the perspective of Nick. Nick is writing two years later after the events with Gatsby, showing that a considerable amount of time has passed between its occurrence yet it is still fresh in Nick’s mind. The fact that Nick is still reminiscing about Gatsby and has written a book about him highlights the huge impact that Gatsby has had on Nick’s life. The strong connection that Nick feels has been created between Gatsby and himself is evident particularly in chapter 9 as it is apparent that Nick feels “responsible” for him. Even two years later Nick feels a sense of responsibility and loyalty towards Gatsby and that he is owed the truth instead of all the malicious lies which are created by the reporters, similar to that of all the party goers. The idea that nobody respect Gatsby the way he does leads Nick to believe that there was a “scornful solidarity between Gatsby and me against them all”. And so the start of his book begins two years later, the book that Nick hoped to clear Gatsby’s name with and right the wrongs that occurred that summer.

In the final chapter of the ‘Great Gatsby’, Fitzgerald creates a sense of finality for the reader suggesting “the party was over”. Through the use of the repetition of the word “last” Fitzgerald also demonstrates the end of Nicks experience with Gatsby. The reader acknowledges that Nick finds it hard to move on and accept Gatsby’s death as he tries to keep him alive through the creation of false memories as a result of his grief, believing Gatsby to have told him that “I cant go through this alone”. The obsession that Nick has with Gatsby is more evident as Nick tries harder and harder to create the funeral he feels that Gatsby deserves, however he was met with much disappointment by those who Gatsby had done so much for. During Nick’s attempts at assembling Gatsby’s funeral he

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The first paragraphs depict the personality change in Nick when considered maintaining the advice of his father to him. It is obvious that Gatsby presents a challenge to the way in which Nick is accustomed to thinking about the world. It is clear from the story opening moments that Gatsby will not be what he initially appears to be. Many aspects of Gatsby’s world are intriguing because they are slightly amiss—for instance, he seems to throw parties at which he knows none of his guests. The road from West Egg to New York City exemplifies decay. It is a "valley of ashes," a place of uninterrupted desolation.…

    • 107 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In chapter 3 Fitzgerald introduces us to the main character of his book, and we finally get an insight into what Gatsby is like (albeit through the eyes of Nick Carraway) during the party he throws. Even though we meet the character himself, Fitzgerald continues to entice us with rumours of Gatsby, which is significant because it shows just how artificial his entire life is – he couldn’t dispel the rumours even if he wanted to.…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Annotated Bib Lynn

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Lynn, David H. “Creating a Creator.” Readings on The Great Gatsby. Ed. Katie de Koster, 154-62. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1998. Print Author David H. Lynn argues that the distinction between character and personality suggested from the earliest pages of “The Great Gatsby” reveals just how fully responsible Nick is for his creation of Gatsby, the romantic hero. He claims that Nick fleshes Gatsby onto a skeleton of public gestures as this is someone whose essential romantic hopefulness is expressed in his behavior. Fitzgerald’s audiences’ relation to Gatsby is mediated by Nick, so the perspective on Daisy is divided, with Gatsby performing as a narrator of her own magnificence, while Nick provides a less glorified account. Lynn says that although Gatsby's personality shows that he is honest in regards to his private intentions, readers must remember that the Gatsby being discussed is largely Nick’s creation. If there is curiosity about Gatsby's hidden nature, it is because Nick believes in the sympathetic understanding he has for Gatsby. Nick responds to Gatsby's extravagant parties with strangers, his flashy materiale, and immense egoism with imaginative sympathy because he believes these traits are born of a romantic hopefulness that he shares. From their first meeting, Nick translates Gatsby's gestures with authority, as if his response was directly resulting from Gatsby's intended effect. Lynn argues that Gatsby’s behavior is always at the fine line between the grand and yet absurd of dramatics, as well as the defiant public gesture often embodying that of the ideal self-image pursued by romantic heroes as they define themselves against the communal protocol. Gatsby's extravagance is given form and meaning only in Nick's imagination; he comes alive when Nick first glimpses the intensity of his dream through Gatsby’s wild, routinely gatherings. Lynn informs that both Nick's ambivalence towards Gatsby and the inevitable discord…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Chapter One: The narrator of The Great Gatsby is a man from Minnesota named Nick Carraway. He starts off the story by stating that he learned from his father to not judge other people because he could make the mistake of misunderstanding someone. Nick characterizes himself as highly moral and highly tolerant. He briefly mentions Gatsby. In the summer of 1922, Nick moved to New York to work in the bond business. He rented a house on a part of Long Island called West Egg. The West Egg is home to those who have recently become come rich while the East Egg is conservative and snotty. Nick lives right next door to Gatsby’s mansion. Nick graduated from Yale and has many connections on East Egg. One Night Nick drives…

    • 2943 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Everything readers learn about Jay Gatsby and the other characters’ lives, behaviour and personal stories throughout the novel is explained from Nick Carraway’s point of view, from what he is able to experience with them. However, Nick’s tale may not include all the details about the events of the story, it is altered by his feelings towards others and in fact, readers doubt whether it is reliable or not since they are not able to have another perception of the story because he is the only one telling it. Nevertheless, there are some reasons why readers can say that Nick’s version of the events is not sincere at all since he cannot avoid relating what happens in a very personal way, mentioning what he wants and avoiding what he does not want to be known.…

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the classic novel, The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a young man discovers concealed secrets from his neighbor, relatives, and close friends. At one point in the book, located on page fifty-five, Nick, the main character who is on a journey of mysteries, shows a fond interest in the peculiar acts of his neighbor Gatsby. Questions arise in Nick's mind. Why was such a popular man such a loner all at the same time? On this particular page, Nick questions these ideas. The passage reveals to the reader a sad sympathetic story behind the so-called "Great Gatsby" using tone, imagery, and diction giving the reader a more obsolete and clearer vision of Gatsby.…

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the main character, Gatsby, has many different sides of his character, which are shown in different parts throughout the novel. The reader understands him to be a very versatile man who feels emotion deeply, but doesn’t show it on the outside nearly as much as he should. Gatsby meets a man named Nick who moves in next to him and becomes the narrator of Gatsby’s great story. Nick helps the reader understand what is happening and conveys the judgmental tone and social stratified theme through his detailed descriptions of Gatsby’s character using diction, detail and syntax.…

    • 726 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Like McInerney’s narrator, Gatsby tries and fails to satisfy his longing with money. Fitzgerald uses a peripheral narrator, Nick Carraway, to paint Gatsby’s heartache from the viewpoint of the one other person who knows his past, giving the audience a unique insight into the “constant, turbulent riot” in his heart (Fitzgerald, 99). At one point, Nick comments, “I saw him opening a chest of rubies to ease, with their crimson-lighted depths, the gnawings of his [Gatsby’s] broken heart” (67). While Gatsby himself might try to hide his feelings to maintain his public façade, Nick’s unbiased narration reveals his true nature and his belief that wealth can buy happiness. Later, after Gatsby learns that Daisy did, in fact, love Tom, Nick remarks, “He left, feeling that if he had searched harder, he might have found her” (152).…

    • 1112 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fitzgerald provides the image of a young wealthy man who literally lives the dream. Moments full of admiration and hope conveys Nick’s perspective of Gatsby. In the last passage of The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald offers one last piece of imagery referring to Nick’s admiration of Gatsby. “Those gleaming, dazzling parties of his were with me so vividly that I could still hear…

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Great Gatsby's Death

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the novel The Great Gatsby written by Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby seems to be misusing the past in order to enliven the present. The book is set in the early twenties after World War 1 when many writers were losing faith in America. I think that Nick is more of a candidate of the “Lost Generation,” rather than Gatsby because Nick finds it “impossible to remember,” (110) while Gatsby keeps hope of having Daisy as his own. What Nick is trying to remember is a story of true love. But Gatsby has love memories of the past before the war that were important and fond to him. That is why he kept them so close to his heart. The past is haunting Gatsby and preventing him from moving on. In the end, it actually causes Gatsby’s death.…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Even though he is the narrator of the book he does not have too big of a role in the storyline. Fitzgerald chose a great way to tell the story by using Nick as an observer of the story and also taking place in it at times. Nick gives the readers a better view on the story. However, while Nick is a spectator, his role is needed. Nick begins his story with an important point; that he has no bias in the favor of Gatsby when he says, “Gatsby turned out all right at the end, and it was what preyed on Gatsby...” Later in the book he admits that he believes every man to be worthy of some virtue and that Gatsby’s is honesty. Fitzgerald starts the book by giving us Nick's thoughts on the summer that the story tells. About a half of page long explains how Nick's experience with Gatsby and Daisy has ended his curiosity in the "abortive sorrows and short winded elations of men." (Page…

    • 1222 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In fact, when his close-minded self rejected Nick’s suggestion, “[Gatsby] ought to go away,” clarifies his perplexed mindset to strive for Daisy so both of them could be in love. Gatsby responded to Nick saying, “Go away now, old sport?” elucidates women's roles in the 1920’s, exemplifying how he wanted Daisy for status, not for love. Moreover, the power of love has revolved around Gatsby as “he was clutching at last hope,” which resulted in him sacrificing himself to the police if they ever asked about Myrtle’s death. Nick “couldn’t shake [Gatsby] free,” from his superiority because since he willingly let Daisy in his life in spite of never being together, additionally explained his desperate reaction to wait for Daisy the whole night the day before (148). To endure, Fitzgerald establishing a desperate tone can illustrate how one can feel hopeless in an era that was so…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Great Gatsby, Nick is partially true that Gatsby comes from his Platonic conception of himself, as like the philosopher Plato, Gatsby believes he can only become his true self by cutting off ties with his parents. He does this by lying about his past, the source of his wealth and even his name. The reason for him doing so is to hide the shame of his past, and to be reunited with the symbol of wealth and success, Daisy. However, Nick’s views are biased and subjective, thus his observation of Gatsby is limited. Gatsby also possesses certain fundamental traits that he couldn’t invent therefore he is not merely his own creation. Nick’s observations of Gatsby can be deemed somewhat true, as Fitzgerald’s novel offers sufficient evidence both supporting and denying his claims.…

    • 931 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Death brings denial, memories, remorse, and perspective. To Nick Carraway, who is utterly incredulous and lachrymose over Gatsby’s death, the passing-away of a dear friend is a period of reflection. Denial is the most prominent psychological aspect following one’s death. “Gatsby’s house was still empty when I left.” Fitzgerald implies that Nick is waiting upon Gatsby’s return — the return to normalcy. But the period of stagnation lingers and Nick continues to reminisce on the past. Fitzgerald invokes imagery by appealing to the five senses. Nick is trying to relive the condition of Gatsby’s infamous house parties by spending his Saturday nights in New York. The “gleaming, dazzling parties” draw out the visuals of a celebratory scene. The “music and the laughter, faint and incessant” excites the aural senses and characterizes the mood of the party.…

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This chapter begins with Nick talking to Gatsby after the horrible events of the night before. Gatsby tells Nick how he spent his night waiting for Daisy to see him just for her to ignore him the whole time. He then tells Nick about why he fell in love with Daisy, and why he is still so deeply attached to her. Nick then leaves for work, shouting to Gatsby reassuring words seeing as he is obviously lost and depressed. After Nick leaves we are told about the actions of grief stricken George Wilson. We are told that George believed that the driver of the car that killed his wife was Gatsby and George acts upon this information. He spends the day making his way to Gatsby’s house and upon his arrival kills Gatsby in his pool and then ends his own life.…

    • 256 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics