Chaos and Sorrow in the Great Gatsby

In the first six chapters of the book, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, we learn about the characters. For instance, Jay Gatsby is known as a wealthy man who throws whopping parties to attract a person named Daisy. Gatsby and Daisy were close 5 years prior before she married Tom Buchanan. She married Tom because he had money. So Gatsby wants to prove to Daisy that he has money too.

Gatsby's next door neighbor, Nick Carraway, who is the narrator of this story, becomes included in the lives of these characters. As the story continues in chapter seven, there are serious conflicts that reveal turning points in the story. For example, Nick glimpses through Gatsby for who he really is. Also, as Daisy and Gatsby continue to cover their relationship, Tom has his suspicions and eventually figures it out.

Finally, there's an unfortunate event that will change everyone's life. As chapter seven begins, Nick starts to perceive Gatsby as who he really is, rather than the one he's portraying to everyone else. He fires all of his servants so they won't gossip: I wanted somebody who wouldn't gossip. Daisy comes over quite often in the afternoons." So the whole caravansary had fallen in like a card house at the disapproval in her eyes. (Fitzgerald, pg. 114).

Gatsby also doesn't throw parties anymore. that the lights in his house failed to go on one Saturday night (Fitzgerald, pg. 113). Gatsby got what he wanted with those parties, which was Daisy's attention and love. Although many parties took place and many people came, none of the people were as important to him as Daisy, who lived across the lake. Knowing this, Nick sees through Gatsby's back story. As conflict goes on, many relationships are floating in the air; some known and some unrevealed. Daisy and Gatsby are a couple in the shadows until Daisy's husband, Tom, shines a light on their relationship. Tom was beyond himself when he learned about this: She had told him that she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw. He was astounded. (Fitzgerald, pg. 119).

Now that Tom knows about their relationship, he starts digging out Gatsby's past, finding rocks of information to break apart and make Gatsby crack. Tom says I've made a small investigation of this fellow. (Fitzgerald, pg. 122). The Great Gatsby Nick Mullen Tom forces Gatsby to admit he wasn't an Oxford man by saying that he only went there for five months. Tom eventually gets to his breaking point and confronts Gatsby about his relationship with Daisy. At this point, Daisy defends Gatsby by turning on Tom and tells him to have some self-control (Fitzgerald, pg. 129).

As relationships are finally being discovered, everyone is dealing with who did what to whom. This is a turning point where their lives will never be the same. In everyone's life there's always an unfortunate event or turning point. For the characters in the story, tragedy hit them as they didn't see it coming. In Nick's eyes, he gazes to the future when he says So we drove on toward death through the cooling twilight. (Fitzgerald, pg. 136).

In fact, there was a car accident and someone died. Myrtle assumes Tom is driving Gatsby's car as it's coming back from New York. Not realizing who's behind the wheel, she runs into the street to get what she thinks is his attention. Unknowing that it's Daisy behind the wheel, Myrtle gets hit by Gatsby's car and she dies. Daisy fails to realize not only has she killed someone, but her husband's girlfriend. Don't always take things for granted because you'll never know what could happen in the future. For Myrtle, it was letting her feet take action before her brain causing every character's life to never be the same.

Through the book, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald creates chaos and sorrow. Gatsby is revealed as who he really is, a liar making false claims to get someone he wants. Daisy is revealed as a murderer, even if it's unintentional. Tom is demanding and rude, and may have just lost both women in his life. And finally, there's Nick, a man thrown into everyone's lives, basically as a bystander, who isn't too thrilled for his future outcome when he says I was thirty. Before me stretched the portentous menacing road of a new decade. (Fitzgerald, pg. 135). Uhh, let's not forget Myrtle, who dies and thus has no story to tell. Through all the great times and sad times in life, one's story can never be perfect.

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