Chapter 9

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Watching Gatsby's funeral through Nick's eyes, we see vividly the sadness of the event. Though his life was entirely dedicated to the enjoyment and serving of others, no one cares to take the time to celebrate or mourn his life unless they could make money or fame off the rumors surrounding his death. Nick finds himself disgusted with society and especially the two people that he blames for the Great Gatsby's demise: Tom and Daisy. "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 made..." (Fitzgerald, 179). Nick concludes that he will never understand their actions, nor does he want to. As the novel concludes we see what type of person Gatsby was. His self-improvement schedule and backstory shock the reader because they know that it was only the imagined love of a woman that brought on his demise.