Well, what do you know? My last post for Gatsby....
*Michaelis:
--He remains with Wilson at the end of Chapter 8 for some time but then leaves back to his home only to come back to check on him again and discover that he wasn't there anymore. And, we find out he went and killed Gatsby because he thought he killed his wife Myrtle, and then he killed himself too.
--Michaelis attempts to comfort Wilson as best he can but, despite them being neighbors for presumably some time, he doesn't really know much, if anything, personal about him.
>> "Michaelis didn't see anything odd in that and he gave Wilson a dozen reasons why his wife might have bought the dog leash." (pg.166) i.e: one of many attempts to comfort Wilson
--He then listens to Wilson tell him all about how he's going to find the man who killed Myrtle as well as listens to Wilson ramble on about the all knowing eyes of T.J Eckleberg (i.e: "God").
--After Wilson disappears and murders Gatsby, the police question Michaelis about Wilson.
>> "The police, on the strength of what he said to Michaelis, that he 'had a way of finding out,' supposed that he spent that time going from garage to garage thereabouts inquiring for a yellow car." (pg.168)
--He is only mentioned briefly in the beginning of Chapter 9.
>> "When Michaelis's testimony at the inquest brought to light Wilson's suspicions of his wife I thought the whole tale would shortly be served up in racy pasquinade..." (pg.171)
--So other than keeping Wilson company as he slowly fell into grief-driven madness, Michaelis didn't really play any other major parts in the end of the book. Perhaps if he had been with Wilson all through-out the night, perhaps if they had been better neighbors and had felt they could rely on each other in times of grief and tragedy, than maybe the book would have ended differently but, who's to know?
*Meyer Wolfsheim:
--Nick sends word to Wolfsheim of Gatsby's death and upcoming funeral but other than a letter of brief condolences and a long list of excuses as to why he cannot get mixed up in the mess right now, Wolfsheim really shows no signs of being greatly touched by the death.
>> "Let me know about the funeral etc do not know his family at all." (pg.174)
--That's incredibly impersonal but it seems as was the case with many people who "knew" Gatsby. Maybe if Gatsby weren't so obsessed with getting the past he had with Daisy back, he'd of realized how lonely his life truly was. He was always surrounded by people but he never could call a single one of them "friends."
--Nick goes into NYC to see him and is told by Wolfsheim's secretary that he went to Chicago but big surprise, at the mention of Gatsby, Wolfsheim's appears from the back of the building. He says he "made" Gatsby what he was and that he knew he could "use him good."
>> " 'We were thick like that in everything-' He held up two bulbous fingers '-always together' " (pg.179)
--So close, but he refused to come to his funeral.
>> " 'I can't do it-I can't get mixed up in in,' he said' " (pg.180)
>>" 'Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead,' he suggested. 'After that my own rule is to let everything alone.' " (pg.180)
--Absolutely disgraceful but hey, he's a 1920's gangster! He didn't get to live so long doing what he does by making friends and crying at their funerals, right? He's worried for his own skin. Who can blame him for that?
*Owl Eyes:
--Surprisingly he makes an appearance in this chapter, during the funeral scene. He came running up to the grave plot in the pouring rain.
>> "Dimly I heard someone murmur 'Blessed are the dead the rain falls on,' and then the owl-eyes man said 'Amen to that,' in a brave voice.
We straggled down quickly through the rain to the cars. Owl Eyes spoke to me by the gate.
'I couldn't get to the house,' he remarked.
'Neither could anybody else.'
'Go on!' He started. 'Why, my God! they used to go there by the hundreds.'
He took off his glasses and wiped them again outside and in.
"The poor son-of-a-bitch,' he said." (pg.183)
--I think he summed it up pretty well if I do say so myself. All those people would of made it to Gatsby's parties rain or shine, but nobody could be bothered to come to his funeral.
-Kelli <3
*Michaelis:
--He remains with Wilson at the end of Chapter 8 for some time but then leaves back to his home only to come back to check on him again and discover that he wasn't there anymore. And, we find out he went and killed Gatsby because he thought he killed his wife Myrtle, and then he killed himself too.
--Michaelis attempts to comfort Wilson as best he can but, despite them being neighbors for presumably some time, he doesn't really know much, if anything, personal about him.
>> "Michaelis didn't see anything odd in that and he gave Wilson a dozen reasons why his wife might have bought the dog leash." (pg.166) i.e: one of many attempts to comfort Wilson
--He then listens to Wilson tell him all about how he's going to find the man who killed Myrtle as well as listens to Wilson ramble on about the all knowing eyes of T.J Eckleberg (i.e: "God").
--After Wilson disappears and murders Gatsby, the police question Michaelis about Wilson.
>> "The police, on the strength of what he said to Michaelis, that he 'had a way of finding out,' supposed that he spent that time going from garage to garage thereabouts inquiring for a yellow car." (pg.168)
--He is only mentioned briefly in the beginning of Chapter 9.
>> "When Michaelis's testimony at the inquest brought to light Wilson's suspicions of his wife I thought the whole tale would shortly be served up in racy pasquinade..." (pg.171)
--So other than keeping Wilson company as he slowly fell into grief-driven madness, Michaelis didn't really play any other major parts in the end of the book. Perhaps if he had been with Wilson all through-out the night, perhaps if they had been better neighbors and had felt they could rely on each other in times of grief and tragedy, than maybe the book would have ended differently but, who's to know?
*Meyer Wolfsheim:
--Nick sends word to Wolfsheim of Gatsby's death and upcoming funeral but other than a letter of brief condolences and a long list of excuses as to why he cannot get mixed up in the mess right now, Wolfsheim really shows no signs of being greatly touched by the death.
>> "Let me know about the funeral etc do not know his family at all." (pg.174)
--That's incredibly impersonal but it seems as was the case with many people who "knew" Gatsby. Maybe if Gatsby weren't so obsessed with getting the past he had with Daisy back, he'd of realized how lonely his life truly was. He was always surrounded by people but he never could call a single one of them "friends."
--Nick goes into NYC to see him and is told by Wolfsheim's secretary that he went to Chicago but big surprise, at the mention of Gatsby, Wolfsheim's appears from the back of the building. He says he "made" Gatsby what he was and that he knew he could "use him good."
>> " 'We were thick like that in everything-' He held up two bulbous fingers '-always together' " (pg.179)
--So close, but he refused to come to his funeral.
>> " 'I can't do it-I can't get mixed up in in,' he said' " (pg.180)
>>" 'Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead,' he suggested. 'After that my own rule is to let everything alone.' " (pg.180)
--Absolutely disgraceful but hey, he's a 1920's gangster! He didn't get to live so long doing what he does by making friends and crying at their funerals, right? He's worried for his own skin. Who can blame him for that?
*Owl Eyes:
--Surprisingly he makes an appearance in this chapter, during the funeral scene. He came running up to the grave plot in the pouring rain.
>> "Dimly I heard someone murmur 'Blessed are the dead the rain falls on,' and then the owl-eyes man said 'Amen to that,' in a brave voice.
We straggled down quickly through the rain to the cars. Owl Eyes spoke to me by the gate.
'I couldn't get to the house,' he remarked.
'Neither could anybody else.'
'Go on!' He started. 'Why, my God! they used to go there by the hundreds.'
He took off his glasses and wiped them again outside and in.
"The poor son-of-a-bitch,' he said." (pg.183)
--I think he summed it up pretty well if I do say so myself. All those people would of made it to Gatsby's parties rain or shine, but nobody could be bothered to come to his funeral.
-Kelli <3
4 comments:
Sounds good. Its interesting how there always seems to be a reoccurring theme. People say the "know" someone, but in reality have no real connection.(Gatsby's guests not coming to his funeral/Michaelis and how unaware of how Wilson is) I think this might be a tie to the corruption of the American Dream for ideal American Dreamers would have known their friends better.
You summed up everything pretty well. I also thought that maybe if Gatsby didn't obsess over Daisy so much he would of had people at the funeral because he would of actually made a social life. He was so caught up in being with her and doing everything in his power to bring back the past that he died without living his life to the fullest.
I agree with Misha. I still think you dislike Gatsby, because I thought this was the part where we feel bad for Gatsby, not criticize him for never making real friends! Haha whatever is your opinion I guess.
If Owl Eyes sees things for the way they are and says "the poor S.o.B" then Fitzgerald isn't making a moral lesson out of Gatsby for being one of those creative/right-brained types (dreamer) but rather showing the consequences of the careless rich on people like Gatsby.
It's sad how people like Wolfsheim who were actually close to Gatsby and actually had a connection with him don't show up to his funeral but Owl Eyes does. Owl Eyes even shows compassion towards Gatsby.
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