Saturday, June 21, 2008

The funeral

Why couldn't Nick get anyone to come to Gatsby's funeral?

17 comments:

Young Eui Hong said...
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Young Eui Hong said...

No one comes to Gatsby's funeral because everyone refuses to attend and some of them simply avoid contact and disappear. Nobody wants to get involved in the funeral. Basically, the entire murder case because anyone could become suspicious, especially Gatsby's closest friends and by not attending the funeral, everyone is free from blame or guilt. So, Gatsby's "friends" only give excuses to Nick and no one comes to the funeral. For example, Wolfsheim says he does not want to get involved in the funeral because he gets too sentimental, or that is what happened at the last funeral he attended.

kristeena said...
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kristeena said...

I disagree with what Young says becuase i think the reason that no one attends the funeral is because he had no friends. Nick is unable to get a hold of anyone to attend the funeral is because no one really cared that Gatsby had died. Like it says in chapter three, page 41, second paragraph "Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all" during one of the parties. This shows that although many people knew who he was, Gatsby didn't actually have any friends that cared for him accept for Nick. All the other people that Gatsby knew were either only his buisness partners or people that loved to attend his parties.

Min Jae said...

I agree with Young regarding the people not going to avoid suspicion and so on. But to the reason why people didn't go seemed to me slightly different. It seemed as the funeral was something that people didn't see Gatsby having. Since he was usually hosting parties and giving others a good time every time, people didn't associate him with death and the end of life. Basically, he was only there for one reason only, to host parties. He was used in a way and not cared about by others. This also has to do with the connections he had and him being someone from West Egg. People from that side lacked the norms which the East had and were more into partying and having a good time without truly caring about the connections made.

Unknown said...

When I encountered this chapter, this quote came to mind: "you do not know one's real intention when everyone is happy. The true personality of one is revealed only in bad situations."

Gatsby exactly fit into the quote because his weekly parties attracted those who wanted to have fun and alcohol. If fun and alcohol were taken away, nobody would attend anything hosted by Gatsby.

Da-Re Kim said...

When Gatsby dies, the only person who really is there for him is Nick. NIck who feels that he should do something for Gatsby, plans a funeral. When Nick tries to call people to come to the funeral he can not get anyone to come. Even though Gatsby held big parties, most of the people did not even know him or even like him. Gatsby really had no friends and I think its because he was to busy trying get Daisy back. Later, Gatsby's dad appears but no one esle does.

Unknown said...

Like I mentioned before, Gatsby's friends were never really true friends. They were just interested in the objects and opportunities he could offer to them. Come to think about it it's really sad. Gatsby must have felt so proud and grateful to have all the "friends" he did, when really they weren't thinking the same. They were probably just planning on more ways to take advantage and get things they wanted. Gatsby's only true friend was Nick and Nick realized that at the funeral.

Unknown said...

I agree with my classmates above in regard to Gatsby’s funeral. As Nick shows in the book he tries to have Gatsby’s friends at the funeral so Gatsby doesn’t have to go through it alone. But like Young Eui mentioned above, no one comes to Gatsby’s funeral because they either refuse to attend or some just simply avoid contact and disappear. They don’t want to get involved. Such person was Wolfsheim who refuses to attend as he tells Nick that his rule is to let everything alone. I think that this is just an excuse. It is true that some don’t want to get involved but the real reason is, like Kristeena mentions, the fact that Gatsby doesn’t have real friends. One reason that I think Gatsby didn’t have friends was because he was mysterious. No one really knew him. The fact that at the funeral only Nick, Owl Eyes, a few servants, and Gatsby’s father, Henry C. Gatz were there shows that Gatsby didn’t have many friends.

JinA said...

I disagree with Young, I don’t think that the reason people didn’t go to Gatsby’s funeral was to don't become suspicious of the murder case. I think the reason people didn’t go to Gatsby's funeral was that they didn't care. When Gatsby was alive, people were just using him for his money and luxurious parties, for example Klipspringer. Klipspringer seemed to live in Gatsby's house which makes readers assume that he was a good friend of Gatsby. However, Klipspringer was just taking advantage of Gatsby's money and hospitality. He even didn’t bother to go to Gatsby’s funeral, but just call Nick to send him the tennis shoes he left in the mansion. Although Gatsby knew a lot of people, no one did care about him or were his friends.

Maria S. said...

I agree a little with everybody. Gatsby didn’t have any friends. His parties were social events, people went to have fun or to interact with the other guests, not for Gatsby. He didn’t have many real friends except for Daisy, Nick and Wolfsheim. Wolfsheim cared about Gatsby in a friendly business level but when Gatsby died murdered it was better if he wasn’t seen involved with someone murdered, could be bad for business. Daisy wasn’t there no matter how much she had loved him once. If she showed any interest in wanting to assist his funeral it might destroy her “perfect” safe life with Tom; also she had to forget about Gatsby, it was easier just to forget those past few months had happened and being at his funeral would make things too real. Nick stuck at Gatsby’s side because he is somehow different from all those rich self-centered people. Nick felt an obligation to Gatsby because he was one of the few people who had seen Gatsby in all his true colors, Nick understood differently. Then one more person attended Gatsby’s funeral, besides his father. The owl eyed man Nick had seen in Gatsby’s library. I think it gives it a kind feeling in the end, makes it feel like Gatsby wasn’t completely doomed to a sad lonely funeral, that one more person gave a little more hope to continue.

Norberto said...

Gatsby never had any friends. First of all, it wasn’t his intention. He was only searching for Daisy’s attention, that was his only concern and true goal. I think that too many people went to his funeral. He didn’t even focus on making a friend to spend time with him or to go for a drink. He befriended Nick because he wanted help with Daisy. The only exception was his father; if it comes to family matters I think that the family should always be present during matters like this. People could have gone for respect, but I think that they felt it was of no importance and didn’t assume it was necessary. Most of them didn’t even know Gatsby, and they were only interested in what he had to offer. But since he had nothing to offer this time, they had no desire to attend his funeral.

Unknown said...

I’d have to disagree with Young about how people did not want to be involved with Gatsby’s affairs. Gatsby, although he seemed as though he were popular, did not have any friends except for maybe Nick. He seemed to have friends because of the parties he threw, but all the people who showed up turned out to be people who took advantage of his money and hospitality. In the end, all Gatsby had left was Nick, the guy from the library, and his family: his father.

Daniel said...

I think people didn't come to Gatsby's funeral simply because they didn't really care that he died. Most people knew him as a millionare playboy who threw a lot of partys, but not much else. The people who did know him didn't really want to go to his funeral because, they wanted to forget about him. It really shows that Gatsby's only true friend was Nick.

B said...

I agree with what others have said above, but I believe one point in particular is missing. Not only do none of the characters wish to be suspects of a 'murder case' but moreover, they struggle to confront the very concept of death itself. After the world war, the shortness of life and the brutality of mortality became starkly evident, resulting in the drastic ideological change of the American Dream- from self-betterment and a the luxury of happiness, to a commercialized, materialistic view of social status. An avoidance of death can be observed in the fact that Myrtles ravaged corpse was described anatomically rather than sympathetically by the characters shows how they struggle to confront death on an emotional level. In regards to Gatsby's funeral, the avoidance of death can be witnessed through the lack of guests, all of whom decline Nicks invitation with flimsy excuses in order to avoid making an appearance. Only Gatsby's Father, a few servants and 'Owl Eyes'(the drunk man in the library seen previously in the book) attended and this shows how only those who distance themselves, or are completely oblivious to such a glittering world of glamour and immorality are able to see value true ideals, and are able to attach emotional importance to the concept of death.

GEORGE GUEST said...

I think it was all the fakeass bitches loving Gatsby's parties. It is shown through out that the upper class people who attend his parties are hollow. It is also shown that most of the people who attended his parties were not actually invited. Daisy who Gatsby proclaimed his love for proved that she lacked substance and was simply attracted to wealth (which is why she remains with Tom regardless of his affairs)so she was not going to attend. The owl eyes man is the real mystery, what relationship did he have to Gatsby or was he just showing respect? As far as Mr Wolfsheim go's, i believe he was only interested in Gatsby's well fair when he could make money from him.

Unknown said...

When one man calls Nick and asks for his shoes that he left at Gatsby's party, Nick states that he feels the man implied that Gatsby's death was justified. In other words, everyone who knew about Gatsby's parties knew that he was a bootlegger/or involved in "business rendered." I believe Gatsby's own father read about his son's death in a Chicago newspaper - implying Gatsby is a national figure (Possibly pertaining to the 1919 World Series fix). So maybe no one wants to come to the funeral because they feel it's related to the criminal scene ect.