In chapters 8 and 9, Gatsby still has hope that Daisy will choose him. He had fallen in love with her five years ago because of her youth, vitality, money, and popularity. All the boys wanted to have her, when Gatsby went away to war she promised that she would wait for him to get back and then they would get married. However, she met Tom a man of considerable wealth and married him for his money leaving Gatsby with nothing. He still loved her so much that he decided to change his name and earn his wealth all so that Daisy would love him, he needed to become “extraordinary” because that is what Daisy is. Everything he did was for Daisy because ever since he met her, he already felt as if they were married and he was undoubtedly loyal to her. As Gatsby spoke of her he seemed to be falling deeper into love with her. Gatsby patiently awaited Daisy to reach out to him, and Nick stayed with him. Gatsby decided to go swimming in his pool while Nick went to work. Mr. Wilson crept up and shot Gatsby and then shot himself. So, both Jay Gatsby and Mr. Wilson died at his pool. After that Daisy and Tom moved away without telling Nick where they were going, completely cutting off all connections. Nobody knew the real truth about Gatsby except for Daisy and Nick. He loved Daisy so much that he was dead until he found her again, then when he realized that she changed and he cannot have her, he died again. Their relationship was not healthy in the first place. Daisy chooses Tom because of his money and social status, that is why she did not wait for Jay. True love is not about money, elaborate houses, and expensive clothes. It is about each others hearts and how they do not care what they own because their true happiness lies within each other. This classic novel is a book on how money cannot buy you happiness and true love, it lies deep within the heart that does not need materialistic things to make them happy. In this story, all the characters were pretty immoral they all believed that fame and fortune is the key to happiness, none of them truly loved each other, they just used each other to get what they want. However, Nick is an exception to this because he never seemed to care about the material things of the world. He owned a humble small home and when Gatsby died he moved away from West Egg because he could not deal with all the horrible and immoral things that go on there. I think his father taught him strong morals, humbleness, and honesty, which is how Nick can see through all the elaborate things that everyone else thinks it the best thing in the world and he can truly see and understand the difference from right and wrong.
In chapter seven, everything starts to unravel. Gatsby stopped throwing outrageous parties because he did not need to anymore, he already had Daisy’s attention and that’s all the company he needed. He also fired all of his servants because he did not want anyone to gossip, Daisy came over a lot and he could not have the word getting out of their affair. Gatsby asked Nick to meet him and Daisy at her house for lunch the next day. This was when Daisy was going to tell Tom that she was leaving him for Jay, so Daisy wanted everyone to be there for her during this hard time. At the luncheon, it became clear to Tom that Gatsby and Daisy had a much more intimate relationship that just friends. Right when Tom turned his back Daisy went right up to Gatsby, told him she loved him, and kissed him deeply. As the lunch progressed Tom could see that they were so madly in love as they were gazing into each others eyes. Tom abruptly forced everyone to go into town taking two separate cars, Tom stopped at Mr. Wilson for gas where he learned that he was taking Myrtle away because he found out she has been cheating on his with somebody. Tom is shocked and saddened as he realized Myrtle is leaving him as well as Daisy. When they get to the apartment Tom starts to attack Gatsby and the truth of their relationship comes out. Jay and Tom are arguing over who loves who and Daisy cannot seem to make up her mind. This fuels Tom because although he is upset that he loves another woman, but he can tell by her inability to choose that he can still win her over. Daisy is confused and frustrated and after more aggressive quarrels Daisy and Gatsby leave to go home and on the way home their car hits Myrtle killing her instantly because it all happened so fast and he was unable to stop. Tom sees the wreck on his way back to the house with Nick and Jordan, Everything is in chaos and Mr. Wilson is sobbing in sadness. Tom quickly realizes what happened and is so shocked and upset that he realizes that he loved Myrtle more than he thought he did and now she is gone too. Daisy was the one driving the car as Gatsby reveals to Nick and the chapter ends with observing Daisy and Tom together as they seemed to be conspiring together and in agreement. Nick does not tell Gatsby this because he still believes that she will choose him over Tom. Gatsby is covering up for Daisy because Myrtle’s death was actually Daisy’s fault and not Jay’s, this shows his undying love for a woman he met in the past but is much different now. In chapter six we learn the true past of Gatsby, his true legal name is James Gatz the son of “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people”. Gatsby was always a self absorbed person and cared a lot about his social status. He worked to pay for his college tuition, but then dropped out because he was embarrassed that he had to pay for it by being a janitor, he then became a fishermen to try and sustain himself financially and he was basically scraping to get by. Until one day, he ran into Dan Cody to warn him of an incoming storm that would split his boat in two. Dan Cody invited Gatsby to pay him to go and travel with Cody to help manage the boat. Cody helped Gatsby create a complete new life for himself, which opens up many opportunities to make his dreams come true and become a wealthy man. In this chapter we begin to see the true Jay Gatsby, he is not the honest and generous man he seems like at the beginning of the book. He is a dishonest man who lies and cheats and is so obsessed with his own being and materialistic things that it pretty much consumed him. He is basically trying to ruin Daisy’s marriage with Tom, even though it is already a mess, so that he can have her all to himself. At this point of the book Gatsby seems like a very greedy, selfish, and dishonest man. In chapter five, it starts out with Gatsby worrying about making everything perfect for when Daisy comes and visits Nick. He gets the grass cut, decorates the whole house with dozens of flowers, and he orders in the best tea he can find and little cakes to come with it this is all in attempt to try and impress Daisy. He makes it very clear that the last thing he wants is to inconvenience Nick and repeatedly asks him what he prefers and what is best for him. Gatsby is usually a very calm and collected person, but clearly he is very nervous about this whole thing, which indicates that he is still in love with her. When Daisy got there Gatsby was so nervous he ran out of the room, but quickly got up the courage to go back and see her. It is evident that Gatsby and Daisy still love each other by the way they interact with each other. Finally Nick found a way to try and give them alone time to try and get over the awkwardness of the situation, when Nick returned it was like the room was transformed completely and they were happy to see each other, “They were sitting at either end if the couch, looking at each other as if some question had been asked, or was in the air, and every vestige of embarrassment was gone… but there was a change in Gatsby that was simply confounding. He literally glowed; without a word or a gesture of exultation a new well-being radiated from him and filled the little room” (page 89). Gatsby then bring Daisy to his house to give her a tour of his impressive mansion in hopes of winning her back because she chose money and materialistic things over love. He watched Daisy closely and even he seemed to be changing as he saw her awe when she looked from room to room. Daisy is the only one who knows Gatsby’s true past, she knows that he does not come from a wealthy family and Gatsby almost forgot about the lies he told Nick because he was so preoccupied with Daisy, “It took me three years to earn the money that bought it. I thought you inherited the money, I did, old sport, he said automatically, but I lost most of it in the big panic” (page 90). The chapter concludes with Nick leaving them alone in his mansion where sexual actions could have occurred, however, it is inconclusive. In chapter four, Nick seems to have an obsession with Gatsby because at the beginning of the book Nick speaks of how he kept track of everyone that has visited Jay and goes into detail about each one of them. One day Gatsby shows up and Nick's house and takes him to lunch. This is the first time Gatsby has reached out to Nick even though he attended two of his elaborate parties. Nick is curious about what Gatsby is up to and says he has little to say. Gatsby changes Nick's impression of him by starting to tell Nick about himself, like where he went to school and his part in the war. Gatsby changes the course of the conversation to that of Jordan Baker, he tells Nick that she intends to speak with him about "this matter". Nick is getting annoyed with Gatsby because he does not understand what is going on and does not like mysteries. Nick goes on to meet Jordan for tea and she tells him about Daisy's and Jay's past, that they used to see each other and Jordan finally figured out that he was that Gatsby that Daisy used to love. She also explains their strange meeting at the party that Gatsby was causally asking people if he knew Daisy and how he read the papers every day just to get a glimpse of his name. She also explains why she had to tell Nick about this because he was scared too because he has been waiting so long for this. Then she proposed Gatsby's request that Nick will invite Daisy over sometime and let Gatsby come, Nick accepts. In chapter three, we see Nick and Jordan’s friendship develop as they see each other at one of Gatsby’s parties that Nick exclusively invited too. More information about Gatsby is revealed, but only through the mouths of others and there are various stories about him that are false rumors. Jordan was removed from the party by Gatsby’s butler to go speak with Gatsby for some unknown reason that will be discovered later on in the book. After Gatsby’s and Jordan’s secret meeting they entered the party together and this was Nick’s chance to finally introduce himself to Gatsby and thank him for the invitation. Gatsby and Nick exchanged polite conversation and then they said their goodnights. The chapter concludes with a conversation between Nick and Jordan and how Nick has always been an honest person, while Jordan is “incurably dishonest”. Jordan seems to be developing feelings for Nick as she says, “I hate careless people, that is why I like you” (page 58). Nick does not take the interest in her than he did for Mr Wilson, Mr. McKee, or Jay Gatsby, reiterating his homosexual tendencies. In chapter two we learn more about Nick as a person, he tends to be more interested in men. The way he describes woman is much more physically and dull, for example he describes Mrs. Wilson as a “thickish figure of a woman” (page 25). In contrast, Nick describes Mr. Wilson in much more intimate detail, “He was a blond, spiritless man, anaemic, and faintly handsome” (page 25). This reveals Nick Carraway’s homosexual tendencies. At the end of chapter two, there is an interesting conversation between Nick and Mr. McKee, “Come to lunch some day, Where? Anywhere” (page 37) this suggests that they are planning a date. The chapter concludes, “I was standing beside his bed and he was sitting up between the sheet , clad in his underwear” (page 38) this reveals that sexual actions could have occurred but it is very ambiguous. In this chapter we also learn more of Tom’s mistress, Myrtle Wilson. Tom told her that he cannot marry her and leave Daisy because she is catholic and does not believe in divorce, Nick affirms that is a lie. Mrs. Wilson and Tom’s relationship is not very deep and it seems to be that they are using each other only for sex and money, because Tom buys her dogs and then later on breaks her nose out of frustration with Myrtle. Chapter 1 Nick Carraway is the narrator of the novel The Great Gatsby, and he starts off the story by reflecting back into his youth to a conversation he had with his father, that is the reason why he decided to become a non-judgemental person. His father once told him, ““Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.” (page 1). This notion helps him understand those around him who are less fortunate than he is, so it can be inferred that Nick Carraway came from a family of decent wealth, like the middle class. Nick Carraway is a yale educated war veteran that became a bond-man after returning home, he then moved to West Egg to a small, humble home that was surrounded by rich, elaborate homes of self-made millionaires. He lived right by the water’s edge of the Long Island Sound, across the bay was East Egg. It is where the born millionaires live and it is much more fashionable than West Egg. His neighbor, Jay Gatsby, was a man whom he admired for his success and elaborate lifestyle. One night, he decided to go visit Tom Buchanans, who the is husband of his second cousin Daisy. As they were having dinner Tom got a suspicious phone call from, and as Tom is on the phone Jordan, Daisy’s friend, explains to Nick that Tom has a mistress. The evening there got uncomfortable, in a private conversation with Daisy she says, “that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (page 17). When Nick returned home he sees a shadowy figure at the bay that could be no other than Jay Gatsby. Gatsby’s arm was outstretched toward the dark water, which Nick said it was trembling as it reached to a little green light in the distance. This chapter introduces the story in a curious way, there are multiple characters within this character, Tom is cheating on Daisy and everyone knows about it. Daisy seems pretty unhappy with her life in East Egg and Gatsby is still an ambiguous character within the story. 1-6 done in socrative 6. Build an argument that explains how certain a reader may be that Hawthorne knew of and understood the power of rhetoric. Choose specific passages from the text to support your claims. (This one is all about rhetorical analysis. You're welcome!) Hawthorne was obviously not a fan of Transcendentalism, the story is about the complete opposite of nature, God, and bettering yourself to become closer to God. This story has a very dark tone to it, it is Dark Romanticism, not Transcendentalism. Dark Romanticism has a very pessimistic nature, so the main argument he is making is that people are not always good and humans have many secrets. So, his short story is not about nature and how to become a better person. It’s about the evils of mankind and that we all have our own dark and unspeakable secrets that we are ashamed of.
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