The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby Chapter Nine
TASK 82
the sort of person Gatsby might have turned out to be, had he not
reinvented himself.
Gatz’s revelation of Gatsby’s ‘schedule’ demonstrates the
extraordinary determination of the young ‘Jimmy’ to better himself. It
could also be seen as demonstrating his perfectionism, a
perfectionism that extended into all areas of his life, so that he wanted
his relationship with Daisy to be utterly perfect as well, not shoddy and
adulterous. Unfortunately, Daisy did not share this idealism. She was
to show herself to be content with the imperfect world and the way of
life of the East.
Make notes on the description of Henry Gatz and his relationship with
his son.
Gatz appears tense and nervous, tugging at his ‘sparse grey beard’.
He is ‘helpless and dismayed’, clearly nervous in the alien
environment. The reader can not help but make comparisons with
Gatsby and wonder whether he would have turned out like this man.
Gatz is clearly proud of his son: ‘when he looked around him now for
the first time and saw the height and splendour of the hall and the
great rooms opening out from it into the other rooms, his grief began
to be mixed with an awed pride.’ Gatsby has remained in contact, if
distant, over the years. Gatsby has been financially generous to his
parents, buying them the house they live in the West. Such acts of
generosity do not, however, suggest closeness: even the use of the
name Jimmy suggests that his father does not know what kind of
person his son had grown into.
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