Reflection for Chapter 8

For me chapter 8 was the most crucial, interesting and yet the most important chapter of the whole book. It starts out like the rest of the chapters, the reader learning about the characters pasts. This time Gatsby is telling Nick and the reader about Daisy’s younger days and the love they had for each other. We learn about Gatsby’s feelings towards Daisy and how they never actually changed, even with years passing by and people changing, we learn that Gatsby has always stayed constant, still loving Daisy like the first day they met. Daisy symbolizes everything that Gatsby has, especially because he became what he is know because of her.

The first nice girl that Gatsby meets is Daisy and she is the only person he has to lie to about his income. Even though Daisy promises Gatsby that she will be waiting for him after the war finishes, Gatsby comes to learn that during the time he was gone, Daisy has already married someone else. He is crushed with sadness and lives through the rest of his life by dreaming about the days Daisy and he would spend together. Losing Daisy makes him feel like he has lost the entire world. He suffers with the pain and can only live through life simply by just dreaming about her and the life he would have with her. The author also uses seasons and the weather to work with the events that go on. For example, Gatsby and Tom have a heated argument in the hottest day of summer and Gatsby’s murder occurs on the cold day where it feels like autumn is ready to kick in.

The death of Gatsby, for me was the most dramatic part of the book. More than anything the vivid description of Gatsby’s motionless body floating on the water had great imagery and the reader could image the devastating, scene happing in their heads. The descriptions used by the author really affect the reader because it is hard to say good-bye to the rich extravagant; especially after one starts to have feelings about the cliché “happily ever after”. I think Gatsby’s death in particular really shifts the ending that we imagine is going to happen. This is both a bad and a good thing I think, since it makes the book more interesting and really drags the person in it to read the book but, also lets the reader know that this book is actually not the typical book we were expecting it to be.