Hi Everyone:
In our first days of class, I suggested that the most difficult or
seemingly odd scenes in a book can often be a route to some of the
book's deepest meaning. We also noted that The Great Gatsby is unique
in how restrained and mysterious the language of the text can be.
In this blog post, describe the strange scene that you selected and (using your notes)
explain how this scene may connect to one of the conflicts or tensions
that we noted in class. You can also write about why the scene is so
different or unusual -- what sets it apart? You can speculate or offer
several alternative interpretations; keep in mind that you are not
expected to explain precisely and definitively what everything means, as
long as you offer some possibilities and impressions. Look at the "Advice for Annotation" page for guidance.
This post is due on Thursday.
ReplyDeleteA scene in “The Great Gatsby” that I found to be odd was when nobody showed up to Gatsby’s funeral. It was strange to me because Gatsby seemed to have an overflowing amount of friends at his parties and for nobody but his dad to show up at his funeral was just weird. I have two theories about why this might’ve happened. The first being the the people associated with Gatsby might’ve somehow figured out that he killed Myrtle and turned their backs on him. My other theory that I tend to believe more is that all the people at those parties were just using Gatsby to have fun parties, make rich friends, and use his house. They were just taking advantage of him and didn’t care about him but his money instead.
I found that chapter 7 was difficult to understand. There was a lot going on. The characters all change in this chapter and I was kind of confused by it. I think this is the climax.
ReplyDeleteA scene in the book “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald that I found puzzling was that the only people to attend Gatsby’s funeral was Nick, Owl Eyes, a few servants, and Henry C. Gatz, Gatsby’s father. I thought this was weird because when Gatsby threw a party hundreds of people would go. Even one of his best friends Meyer Wolfsheim did not show up to the funeral. I think that there are many reasons nobody went to Gatsby’s funeral. I think that some of the party guests were like Meyer Wolfsheim and connected to him in illegal dealings so they could not be seen at his funeral or they would be connected with him. Another reason is that some of the people just liked to party with him they weren’t really his friends, they just liked him for his nice house and money.
ReplyDeleteThe scene that I selected from “The Great Gatsby” that I found strange was when Nick went to lunch with Gatsby in New York. The part that makes it different from the rest of the book is the character Meyer Wolfsheim who seems to have a very weird past. It is an odd scene because they talk about an old restaurant across the street which they call “The old Metropole”. They comment about this place saying that it is “Filled with faces dead and gone. Filled with friends gone now forever.” This part confused me making me ask myself, what had happened to them? They also talk about Rosy Rosenthal who was shot outside the restaurant. This led me to ask, why was he shot? Rosy made Mr. Wolfsheim seem more creepy because why would he have been hanging out with someone who was killed in what looked to be a relatively well planned out killing. another part that made this scene stand out was when Mr. Wolfsheim confuses Mr. Carraway for a man looking for a business connection. Upon hearing this, Gatsby tells Meyer that “This isn’t the man”. The last part of the scene that made Wolfsheim seem weirder was when Gatsby tells Nick that Mr. Wolfsheim is the man that “fixed the World series back in 1919.” Overall, I found this scene was very different from the rest of the book.
ReplyDeleteA scene in the “Great Gatsby” I found odd and that stood out to me was the scene where Nick finds Gatsby in the pool dead. I think Wilson killed Gatsby by shooting him with a gun but I am not too sure. It would make sense that he did because Gatsby took the blame for Daisy for Myrtle’s death. Daisy and Gatsby were driving and Daisy killed Myrtle with Gatsby’s car. Gatsby took the blame to protect Daisy from any sort of consequence. I think Wilson found out that it was Gatsby who killed his wife and killed Gatsby. I am not too sure because this was kind of confusing.
ReplyDeleteThe book, "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, had many strange scenes. One of the scenes that really stood out to me was Myrtle's death. I understand that it was Daisy who ran her over that night but why? I get Myrtle was the mistress with her husband but killing her was very strange and I did not expect it to happen. Daisy must've been caught up in the moment because of the huge argument Gatsby and Tom had before they left. Daisy saw how angry Gatsby got and it really scared her. On the way home she was still flustered and uneasy so when Myrtle ran in front of the car thinking it was Tom she was just, once again, caught up in the moment, and did not stop. How couldn’t Gatsby turn the wheel in time? Did he want Myrtle dead too? Why were they driving Tom’s car? Why not his own car? This scene also took place right in front of the billboard with the blue eyes, was that for a specific reason? As you can see I have many questions about that scene. It was very strange to me. It also bothered me how Tom lied and told George, Myrtle’s husband, that Jay Gatsby was the one cheating with his wife and that he killed her. This made him so mad that he went to Gatsby's house and shot him. I cried. After killing Gatsby he then killed himself. There is another scene that also stood out to me as strange. It was the scene of Gatsby’s funeral and no one showed up. Not even Daisy, which really made me upset because Gatsby took the blame for her. He basically died for her. His last words were even her name. I don’t understand after all that happened she ended up fleeing with Tom. After everything Daisy and Gatsby went through, she didn’t even show up to the funeral? No one did? After all the parties he threw for everyone and out of all the people that attended, no one went to his funeral? Those two scenes stood out to me and really made me think more than any other part of the book.
ReplyDeleteA scene in “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald that I found confusing was the scene that introduced the character of Meyer Wolfsheim. All Gatsby really explains about this character was that he “fixed” the 1919 World Series. Nick and Gatsby are eating lunch with him and after that he is never really in the novel again. What I took away from this scene is that Wolfsheim was related to Gatsby’s illegal activities. It was said straight out in the text that he had already been involved in other illegal situations, so the fact that he is acquaintanced with Gatsby, and that it was revealed that Gatsby was a bootlegger, means he was most likely involved. It is not like Wolfsheim was really a friend of Gatsby because he could not even be bothered to show up to his funeral. I feel like Wolfsheim was only involved with Gatsby from a business standpoint.
ReplyDeleteThe scene that I was confused by in “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald was when Nick goes to New York with Tom and his mistress Myrtle. Throughout the scene Nick try’s to escape this awkward situation but Tom wants him to stay. It made no sense to me why Tom would bring Nick to meet his mistress when Nick has relation to Daisy, Toms wife. I would have thought that Tom would want to keep this private, and try to keep this aside from his marriage with Daisy, so he does not ruin his relationship. Also, this scene was very hard to decipher because of its confusing wording and different situations Nick was in. Overall, this scene was confusing and very unusual.
ReplyDeleteBefore I read “The Great Gatsby”, I already knew the ending. The person that told me this information also tried to explain it to me, and even after having read the book cover to cover, I still don’t understand Gatsby’s death. Daisy was the one that ultimately killed Myrtle Wilson in the car accident, but it just doesn’t make sense to me why Wilson would kill Gatsby. I’m not sure if I missed the part of the book that explains it or whether or not it was even in it. I would assume that if people did find out that Daisy killed Myrtle, Gatsby would take responsibility for it, but even so the ending just seemed rushed and I couldn’t figure it out. Another thing that I didn’t understand was why no one came to Gatsby’s funeral except Nick, Gatsby’s father and some of his servants. With all of his party guests, I was surprised not one of them showed up, but then again he was a mystery so not many people probably got to know him enough. These are just a few of the scenes in “The Great Gatsby” that I thought were strange and I would like to know more about.
ReplyDeleteA scene in the book "The Great Gatsby" that was puzzling was Gatsby's funeral. He had many people at his parties, yet not many people showed up to his funeral. The people at his parties probably liked him for his money, not for who he actually was.
ReplyDeleteIn the book "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scout Fitzgerald there was one scene that was confusing and hard to imagine for me and that was Gatsby death scene. Fitzgerald uses such descriptive language through out the book but this scene felt under told and rushed through. I did not even realize Gatsby was dead until his funeral scene because it was so undertold. It was hard to imagine for me maybe because I imagined Gatsby pool indoors. It was hard to think that Wilson could find out where Gatsby lived, sneak into his huge gated house unseen, search every room still undetected until he found him in the indoor pool and shoot him. I realized after the book said that Wilson was found out on the lawn dead that the pool was meant to be outside but still confuseing for me. Also after Gatsby death Nick still hears him in his head for a few pages and after the under told death it was hard to understand that Gatsby had in fact died. Maybe Fitzgerald wanted Gatsby death to be mysterious and weird like Gatsby life was or because Myrtle death which Gatsby was a part was also rushed and mysterious.
ReplyDeleteFrom the book “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, I found not one scene, but multiple scenes that included Jordan Baker very confusing. I don’t understand what role she has in this story. From the text, we figure out that she is a pro golfer, an old friend of Daisy’s, and that she takes part in Nick’s love life. We don’t know anything about her family, but I believe she mentioned her aunt once. Although she doesn’t show up in “The Great Gatsby” often, in one scene, Nick described Jordan as a dishonest and careless girl. If this is her personality, why would Nick even want to be associated with her? What really separates her from the rest of the characters is that she is so different from the rest. She doesn’t care about love, her only interest is in the glamour of her time. Perhaps she was just included in the story so Nick could learn about Jay Gatsby? If so, does she play any other role?
ReplyDeleteA strange scene in “The Great Gatsby” was when Gatsby’s dead body was discovered, along with Wilson's. I find it peculiar that none of the servants, butlers,or even the gardeners thought the gunshots at Gatsby’s house should be investigated or at least make sure that he was nowhere near the line of fire. Although many of them may not have heard them, why didn’t the chauffeur who did tell any of the others while they worked? Is it such a normal situation to hear gunshots that you wouldn’t feel the need to check on others around you? Either way, the servants and others only began to question the situation when Nick raced over from the station. It seems as though they didn’t care for the man who employed them even to make sure he wasn’t the one who was shot. Wouldn’t one of the jobs the servant’s or butler's be accountable for be the well-being of Gatsby?
ReplyDeleteAs I read "the Great Gatsby" over the summer, I didn't really understand what was going on. So, in a way you could say I found the whole book confusing. I just know that Gatsby was killed, and just some other parts.
ReplyDeleteA scene that I had difficulty understanding in “The Great Gatsby” was the funeral of Jay Gatsby. The most confusing factor was that just about no one showed up to mourn his departure. Throughout the whole book, he seemed to have a great amount of ties to many people, as well as the vast groups that show up to everyone of Gatsby’s parties on his own residence. Another character I was stunned to find had not showed up to the funeral, was Daisy. For the most part, his death was her doing. Gatsby had taken the full blame for killing Myrtle, by striking her with his car, when the reckless driver was Daisy in the first place. Also, an additional contribution that left me puzzled, finding her non appearance, was that she seemed to have a great desire towards him and as I read through all of the chapters leading up to this scene, she seemed to care for him very strongly, sometimes even more than her own husband, Tom. During this scene in particular, I had many questions running through my head about where everyone of his peers and closer friends had been and if he was really the loyal person everyone made him out to be. I believe he was used mostly for his wealth and his ties to booze.
ReplyDeleteMany scenes in "The Great Gatsby" were confusing or strange to me. In the last chapter when nobody shows up to Gatsby's funeral, this confused me because Gatsby was always having parties and his house seemed to almost always have people in it. But the people that attended were probably not there because they liked or even knew Gatsby, it was because they wanted to party and use his house. Even though this may be so, it does not make sense that none of the people that really knew Gatsby would come. It just seemed strange he did not have any friends or even people that knew him besides his father, Nick, Owl eyes, and a couple servants. Another reason could be that the other people that knew him did not want to be publicized by all of the media and reporters around covering the murder story. People like Wolfshiem and other people Gatsby worked with, would not have wanted to be associated or linked to Gatsby in order to protect themselves.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I read "The Great Gatsby" over the summer which seems so long ago, I can still remember briefly a scene that I did not particularly understand. Throughout the whole book Gatsby throws these spectacular parties with large amounts of people at them. In the final chapter of the novel, Jay Gatsby dies. At the funeral, no one shows up, not a single guest besides the minister and Gatsby's father. Now you may ask yourself why the funeral was not overflowing with guests and people mourning his death. At first I was very astonished at this because it seemed that Gatsby was a well respected man with many friends in his life, but then I started to think more and more about it and I came to the realization that the reason no one showed up to his funeral was because all of his party guests were not actually his friends. They probably couldn't even tell you his middle name if you asked. The Ugly truth behind it all was that of all of the hundreds of guests that came to enjoy the party, they were all using Gatsby to drink his booze. Once he died all it meant was they had to go somewhere else to get booze and hey didn't really care how or even that he died, all it meant for them was that there were no more parties to drink at and have a good time.
ReplyDeletecould make a whole list of things I don't really understand about the book, however, one thing that really stood out was when Nick found Gatsby dead in the pool. The first question I asked myself was, why would you hide a dead body in the pool? But in all seriousness, I have no idea if I read the book quite clearly, but if Gatsby was killed for taking the blame for Daisy for Myrtle's death, why did he take the blame for Daisy to risk getting killed?
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ReplyDeleteA scene in "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald that I found confusing was the part when Nick joins Tom and Myrtle on their trip to New York. Throughout this scenes there were characters mentioned who I didn't recognize and they weren't very well introduced. Characters would speak I wasn't able to figure out who was who or what they were talking about. I simply didn't understand what was happening throughout the whole scene. Nothing made sense.
ReplyDeleteThe scene in which Dr. T.J. Eckleberg’s eyes stare down upon the valley of ashes from a billboard puzzled me. I questioned the importance and relevance of this billboard concerning the story line of the book. However, I knew F. Scott Fitzgerald must have included this scene because it had significance. Although I am not sure of the underlying importance of this particular scene, I have a few interpretations.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleberg represent America in the past; at a time when people’s morals were more important than their social and economic standings. The billboard was intended to bring business to an eye doctor in the past. It is now useless, but the eyes still look over the dumping ground of ashes. The eyes symbolize a decline of integrity in value in the lives of Americans. Gatsby, for example, illegally sells alcohol because his main concern is wealth and social class.
The valley of ashes lies between East Egg and West Egg. The events that take place in the valley are mundane and only the poor characters of the book live here. Those living in the valley have a desire to move, but can’t. This circumstance illustrates that the American Dream is not always reachable. The fact that the valley is in between these two affluent locations may indicate that the sullen mood has spread to the wealthy people on either side. The demeanor of those living in West and East Egg exudes confidence and happiness, unlike how they actually feel. It is not clear what Fitzgerald meant of this particular scene, but it provides several symbols that can relate to the characters of the book.
Overall throughout the book I found many parts to be confusing, mostly because it was a hard book to get into, but the oddest and most confusing scene in the book was when no one showed up to Gatsby's funeral. This is odd because it seemed like in the beginning of the book he did many things for people, he threw elaborate parties in which many people attended, and he was always with people, but no one could attend his funeral. All in all this book left me with many questions and confusion.
ReplyDeleteA scene I found confusing in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" was Jay Gatsby's funeral. What I found odd was how such a popular person like Gatsby could have so little people at his own funeral. My theory is that the people that he invited to his parties did not like Gatsby for who he was, but for his wealth and entertaining parties. So upon hearing about his death, these people completely forgot about him and moved on.
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