English Literature Homework
Reading Journal – ‘The Great Gatsby’ Chapter Eight and Nine

Point of View
Chapter 8 is very interesting because the point of view used changes from Nick to Gatsby. Gatsby is telling the story to Nick and Nick narrates it but there are some sections where it jumps to Gatsby making a speech.

Use of Time
The order of events jumps from the present to the past in the first four sections of Chapter 8. It makes it more dramatic and thrilling (jumping from one scene to another different one at different time zones).

Characterisation
Nick – growing affection for Gatsby (wanting to warn him, ‘I didn’t want to leave Gatsby’)
Gatsby – obsession with Daisy (his huge dreams/obsession end up in his death), this could suggest how naïve he really was and nothing was ever going to come out of it. We find out more about what Gatsby was really like when his father reveals his past but only after his death does this happen.
Daisy and Tom – ‘They were careless people… They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money’
Daisy – the fact that she didn’t tell Tom that she was the one who caused Myrtle’s death suggests how incredibly selfish she is. She let Gatsby take the blame while she escaped with Tom, pretending nothing ever happened and hiding the unhappiness she feels inside with him.

Action Progress
The last four sections jumps from four different scenes that Nick doesn’t witness – all leading up to Gatsby’s death. This is an interesting technique that Fitzgerald uses and the readers are bound to think – how could Nick retell these events accurately when he wasn’t even there? You could argue that this technique doesn’t really work as such. The first of these four sections contains Nick’s conversation with Jordan. This suggests that Nick has a different life and other things to do than stay with Gatsby. The one time he’s not there by his side, something bad occurs. It then jumps to an account of George Wilson and his friend. Their conversation mirrors Wilson’s need for revenge because he has nothing else to live for now that Myrtle’s death.

Themes
Friendship – between Gatsby and Nick. Nick’s the only one who attended the funeral but this could just be perceived as sympathy or loyalty. The lack of friendship between Gatsby and the people he was meant to be friends with is seen.
Relationships – most relationships are broken in the end; Tom and Myrtle, George and Myrtle, Daisy and Gatsby, Nick and Jordan. The relationship of father and son is reinstated between Gatsby and his father but only at his death.
Death/Love – You could argue that Gatsby, Wilson and Myrtle all died for love.

Settings
Gatsby’s house – ‘his house had never seemed so enormous to me as it did that night’ – use of setting to imply how enormous Gatsby’s dream was and how it was so out of place. Gatsby, even Nick, Daisy and Tom all belonged in the West and moving to the East gave them great consequences. They were all trying to be someone they’re not.

Ideology
Higher class – Daisy and Tom prove the theory that the higher class at the time could get away with whatever they want. Daisy manages to escape from the death she caused and Gatsby took the blame because of their selfishness. Even Daisy’s supposed love wasn’t enough for her to want to share the blame with Gatsby.