Prof John McRae Lecture

This chapter is narrated entirely in retrospect and goes over the deaths after 2 years. Nick organises Gatsby’s funeral and calls different people to attend.

• On page 170, Nick discloses his feelings towards Tom and Daisy. “I couldn’t forgive him or like him, but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness…” This line sums up the flaws of society and that social class. The rich people of East Egg are carefree and careless. They take no social responsibility.
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• It is interesting the fame Gatsby receives even after his death. There are rumours and stories being spread about Gatsby even after 2 years. McRae argues there is a lot more to this story about the taxi driver. Nick says “perhaps he [taxi driver] had made a story about it all his own. I didn’t want to hear it and I avoided him when I got off the train.” McRae claims that the fact that Nick doesn’t want to hear other perspectives on the incident proves that he is only describing to us his perspective. He only cares about his perspective and not others. This once again discounts his supossed ‘truthfulness’ and ‘honesty’.
• McRae stresses Nick’s use of contradictions and suppositions as being that of a fantasist. “One night I did hear a material car there, and saw its lights stop at his front steps. But I didn’t investigate. Probably it was some final guest who had been away at the ends of the earth and didn’t know that the party was over”. Nick says that he didn’t investigate the scene, but then continues imagining some scenario of the man. Though he has no idea of the incident he continues to talk about it. McRae claims that this is what a fantasist would do. This might be showing the influence of Gatsby on Nick.
• Nick calls Gatsby’s house, a “huge incoherent failure”. McRae argues that this sums up the entire novel and is a description of Gatsby himself. Gatsby is the incoherent failure.
• McRae argues that Fitzgerald undermines Nick as a narrator through the use of suppositions. Nick: “On the white steps an obscene word, scrawled by some boy with a piece of brick, stood out clearly in the moonlight, and I erased it, drawing my shoe raspingly along the stone”. This arouses questions to the reader. What word? Why does Nick mention this word but never tell us? How can he assume it was ‘some boy’ who drew the word? Nick constantly makes up stories of what he thinks has happened.