Hello and welcome to "Read it and (Don't) Weep," the podcast that will help you breeze through your high school literature classes. Are you tired of struggling to understand the themes and characters in classic works of literature? Do you wish you could just read the condensed version and be done with it? Well, I’ve got you covered! I am your host, Jackey Taggart, and I taught high school English for almost 20 years. 

Join me each episode as I dive into the world of high school literature and break down the essential elements of each work. From Shakespeare to Steinbeck, I'll cover it all. My goal is to give you valuable insights and analysis on some of the most popular high school literary texts, as well as tips and tricks for acing your tests and essays.  Let’s start reading!

Welcome back!  In this episode, we are going to discuss Chapter 9 in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and finish our journey with this novel. If you have not read Chapters 1-8, it might be a good idea to read those chapters and listen to my other episodes before continuing.  

Chapter 9 starts with Nick’s recollection of the rest of the day after Gatsby’s death and the investigation that followed.  Michalis told the police of Wilson’s suspicions of Gatsby as Myrtle’s lover, but Catherine denied is saying Myrtle was never unfaithful to her husband.  Why would Catherine lie?  Well, she was probably trying to preserve her sister’s reputation since Michaelis’ account made Wilson a mad man.  Nick was left to answer questions related to Gatsby as no one else was interested.  

Nick tried to call Daisy to tell her what happened, only to find out that she and Tom had left town with no forwarding address. This goes along with their character – whenever things get messy, they pack up and leave the mess for someone else to clean up.  But Nick is still surprised.  Nick also tries to contain Meyer Wolfsheim, who only sent a brief note of condolence with his apologies for not coming to Gatsby’s side, as he had some important business to take care of. Again, not surprising.  When Nick goes to see him the morning of the funeral, he says, “I can’t do it – I can’t get mixed up in it.”  Due to the nature of their business, Wolfsheim does not want to be connected with Gatsby, which includes attending his funeral.  This emphasizes the superficial relationship between the men. 

Quick side note here – do not read anything into the name of Wolfsheim’s company, “The Swastika Holding Company.” Fitzgerald published this novel in 1925, years before the swastika became widely associated with the Nazis.  If you research the origins of the swastika before the Nazi party, you will learn it was a popular, decorative image. 

Nick does receive a telephone call from Chicago later the next day but is shocked when he realizes it is a business call, not a condolence call.  When Nick tells the caller that Gatsby is dead, the caller hangs up on Nick. Lastly, Nick receives a phone call from Klipspringer, the border.  Nick is like, FINALLY! Someone who cares about Gatsby, but sadly no.  Klipspringer is sorry that he cannot attend the funeral, but I think I left my tennis shoes there and I and helpless without them.  Can you mail them to me?  Seriously?!?!?  A man, a friend, has died and all you can think about is your sneakers? 

Why is any of this important?  Well, it emphasizes two separate themes in the novel.  The first is the superficial relationships within the novel.  Gatsby's wealth attracted many people to his parties, but when he died, no one was there for him. This highlights the emptiness of the relationships he formed; these people were only interested in his wealth and the benefits they could gain from his parties, not Gatsby himself. Not even Daisy came, and she was supposedly in love with him only a few days prior to his death.  Only Nick, the true friend, is there for Gatsby in the end. This is the second theme emphasized here.  Remember back to the beginning of the novel – Nick is inclined to reserve judgment, and he is one of the few honest people he knows.  Nick's efforts to gather people for the funeral contrast starkly with the selfishness and indifference of other characters, further establishing his role as the moral compass in the novel and his personal growth in his understanding of the East Coast society and its values, or lack of values.  Nick cannot believe that no one is there for Gatsby at the end besides him. 

But there is someone else!  Gatsby’s father, Henry C. Gatz, sends a telegram asking the funeral to be delayed until he can arrive.  So, Gatsby’s family is not all deceased, and they are not from San Francisco, but Chicago – much more Midwest that San Francisco! This part always breaks my heart.  Henry Gatz is a man who loves his son, was proud of his accomplishments, and felt his son was a great man.  He is devastated by his death but thankful to meet his close friend, Nick. 

Even though Gatsby’s father is a minor character who is only introduced in the final chapter, he is significant.  He shares a book of Gatsby's from his youth with Nick, which contains a self-improvement schedule. This is an allusion to Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography. In this work, Franklin laid out a schedule and a set of virtues that he tried to live by to better himself. His methodical approach to self-improvement and his ambition are seen as an embodiment of the American Dream, as he rose from modest beginnings to become one of the most influential figures in American history.  Gatsby tries to emulate Franklin’s success by following his dedication to self-discipline and self-improvement. 

However, whereas Franklin's pursuit of self-improvement is often viewed in a positive light, Gatsby's single-minded pursuit of wealth and status (all for the love of Daisy) ends up being shown as empty and tragic. Mr. Gatz, Gatsby’s father, is unable to understand that Gatsby's wealth and status did not bring him happiness, emphasizing the novel's critique of the American Dream. Gatsby spent his whole life working to achieve material wealth and social status only to die alone. 

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Gatsby’s funeral is sad for several reasons.   Note the weather: it is raining, which conveys the sad, dismal mood. Second, the only people to attend the funeral are Nick, Mr. Gatz, the minister, a few servants, the postman, and at the very last moment, the owl-eyed man arrives.  Remember him from Gatsby’s party in the library looking at the books?  He was impressed that Gatsby had real books, not cardboard fake books.  The owl-eyed man is the character who sees things as they are – reality. Through him, readers can “clearly see’ Gatsby’s tragedy.  Gatsby wasn’t just an illusion; he was a real person who has come to a tragic end.  This can be contrasted with all the other characters and their superficial relationships with Gatsby and each other.  

As the novel comes to its conclusion, Nick becomes very philosophical.  He says, "I see now that this has been a story of the West, ...and perhaps we possess some deficiency in common which made us subtly unadaptable to Eastern life." What does this mean? Well, during this time, New York was seen as the center of wealth, with its glitzy and extravagant lifestyles.  It is considered the city that never sleeps you know.  Conversely, the Midwest was slower and connected with more traditional values.  For me, I see this as a contrast between materialism and romanticism.  Gatsby went off in search of his dream, which embodied itself as Daisy Buchannan.  But in the East, Gatsby needed to be selfish and ruthless in his ambitions (hinting at some of the illegal ways he may have attained his wealth working with Wolfsheim); however, it is his loyalty and integrity that lead to his downfall. 

So, Nick is done, fed up with the corruption of the east and decides to go back home. 

Before he leaves, he breaks up with Jordan, and then sees Tom one afternoon in New York City.  In this brief but tense conversation, Nick learns that it was Tom who sent Wilson after Gatsby to save himself.  A they part, Nick reflects that “They, meaning Tom and Daisy, were careless people – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money…and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”

Nick returns to West Egg to pack his things and leave.  He looks out at Gatsby’s empty house and reflects on all that has happened in the last few months. As the novel concludes, Nick thinks:

“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter – tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…And one fine morning – 

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

These lines always give me chills, they are so powerful! This is the reader’s last image of the green light as a symbol of hopes and dreams for the future.  But we are no longer reaching for Gatsby’s dreams, we are reaching for our own unfulfilled dreams.  If we continue to hold onto the past, we can never fully attain our future goals and dreams.  Even though we continue to move forward, we will continue to reflect on our past, boats against the current.  In spite of Gatsby’s tragic ending, the novel ends positively reminding us all to continue working towards our future goals by not letting ourselves be trapped in the past. 

I hope you enjoyed this series on The Great Gatsby.  Tune in next time when I begin discussing a new piece of classic literature.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Read it and (Don’t) Weep. Be sure to subscribe to the show so you will be notified when new episodes are released. If you liked today’s show, please leave a review so others can discover my show.  If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes, drop me an email at readitanddontweep@gmail.com, or reach out to me on social media. I would love to hear from you. The links are in the show notes.  

Thank you for listening.  I am Jackey Taggart and remember to read it and don’t weep. 

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