The Great Gatsby Dialectical Journal

Words: 1068
Pages: 5

The Great Gatsby Journal Entries Chapters 7-9

3/22/16; Chapter 7; What does money reveal about Gatsby?

Gatsby’s use of money leads readers to believe that he is the elegant person Nick leads them to believe. Readers are curious on how he became so wealthy but they do not really dwell on the fact. Neither does anyone else in the story as long as they are provided for at Gatsby’s great parties. However, in Chapter 7, Tom says to Nick, “I found out what your ‘drug-stores’ were...He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That’s one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn’t wrong.” (133) Gatsby acquired his wealth so he could be on the same level of wealth as Daisy, but it is how he acquired the money through criminal means that reveals his untruthful character. However, this does not mean he is a bad person. He did all of this for Daisy, who did not appreciate it in the end.

3/23/16; Chapter 9; What does time reveal
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He cares about people. By the end of the book, we see how bitter he has become after Gatsby’s death towards Tom and Daisy. He says, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy— they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they made…” (179) He is saying that Tom and Daisy pinned the blame on Gatsby for everything. Daisy let Gatsby take the blame for running over Myrtle and Tom let Wilson kill him. Nick was the only one who stood by Gatsby, believed him when no one else did. He followed his father’s advice not to judge people without knowing them. However, when he tried not to judge Daisy and Tom, he let their faults fly past him. By the end of the novel, he lets whatever he is feeling towards them