The Great Gatsby Chapter 9

Question #1A What makes Nick assume responsibility for the funeral arrangements? There is no one else to do it. The rats have escaped the sinking ship.

Question #1B Specify the things that he does. He makes calls and sees to the arrangements with the morticians. He tries to get people to attend the funeral.

Question 2A What version of the tragedy appeared in the paper? The papers called Wilson a deranged madman.

Question 2B How would you account for the fact that this version went unchallenged and uncorrected? Tom’s influence accounts for the fact that all of the details never come out.

Question #3 Discuss the significance of Gatsby’s boyhood program for self-improvement. Gatsby always dreamed of making something of himself.

Question #4 What is the significance of including the scene with Jordan Baker? It brings Nick some closure. We learn that Nick, too, has been “careless” in his relationship with Jordan.

Question #5 What moral judgment does Nick make about Tom and Daisy? Tom and Daisy were “careless” people. Tom and Daisy smash anything or anyone that gets in the way of what they want.

Question #6 Explain the significance of the last page of the novel in relation to Gatsby’s dream and the American Dream. While the American Dream was once land and freedom, it now seems to be only money and power.

Overview This chapter covers Gatsby’s death and burial. It also covers Nick’s subsequent departure for the Midwest later that autumn. Nick is in the East, but his heart is no longer there.

Gatsby’s Funeral Nick tries to bring everyone together for Gatsby’s funeral. Tom and Daisy have gone away, leaving no address. This mirrors Wilson’s desire to get Myrtle away from there after he discovers the affair. Wolfsheim is contacted by letter, but he doesn’t want to be involved. He avoids any hint of scandal.

Visitors The only visitors to Gatsby’s house are policemen, photographers, and newspapermen. Henry C. Gatz of Minnesota, Gatsby’s father, is on the way. Klipspringer has a social engagement in Westport. The only “friend” who attends the funeral is Owl-Eyes.

Bankrupt Dream Nick sees the desertion of Gatsby as evidence of the moral and spiritual bankruptcy of the people. Gatsby’s pursuit of a false dream may have brought some of this on himself. In the end, his devotion to his dream has left him alone. Gatsby’s story end with the funeral.

Gatsby’s Father He has loved his son all of these years. He is proud of his boy Jimmy. He is totally unaware of the darker side of his son’s life. He brought a book (Hopalong Cassidy) with a daily schedule for self-improvement on the flyleaf.

Nick’s Future Nick talks about himself and his preparations to return to the Midwest. He ends his relationship with Jordan. He, at first, refuses to shake hands with Tom when he sees him on Fifth Ave. He blames Tom for Gatsby’s death. Tom told Wilson that Gatsby owned the car. Tom does not know that Daisy was driving.

“Careless People” Nick sees Tom and Daisy as “careless people” who “smashed up things and people and retreat back into their money… letting other people clean up the mess they made.”

Last Night On Nick’s last night in West Egg, he walks over to Gatsby’s and erases an obscenity someone has scratched on the steps of the deserted house. He walks down to the beach. As the moon rises, he thinks of what the island must have looked like to the Dutch sailors seeing it for the first time in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was new then – pure and unspoiled. It was a “fresh green breast of the New World.”

Dreamers Nick realizes that men have always been dreamers and that they must have some object or person to fix their dreams upon. In the early days of the Republic, this continent was a land of infinite possibilities. This land and its unlimited horizons were worthy of the dream.

American Dream The American Dream is democracy at its finest, the hope for equality and self-fulfillment. Gatsby’s dream – symbolized by the green light – is the same dream that brought the Dutch sailors to the New World. Gatsby believed in the dream and Nick will always love him for it.

Gatsby’s Dream What Gatsby never understood is that his dream was already behind him. Unable to find a person or object commensurate with his capacity for wonder, Gatsby finds Daisy who is an unworthy and shallow substitute for the real dream.

Prediction Knowing what we know of American history, how is the outcome of this novel symbolic of what occurs in the decade following the Roaring Twenties?