The Great Gatsby Chapter 9 Summary

Chapter nine starts with Nick describing the rumors surrounding Gatsby’s and Myrtle’s death. Catherine clears Gatsby’s name from Myrtle. After Gatsby died, Nick called Daisy only to find out that they have left their house with no source of connection. Nick is trying to obtain guests for Gatsby’s funeral. Meyer Wolfsheim will not be attending due to him wanting to stay out of the public eye. Gatsby’s father arrives and fills Nick in on Gatsby’s early life. He explains that his son bought him the house he lives in now. He shows him a picture of Gatsby’s house. He also shows him Gatsby’s busy schedule that he had to try to improve himself every day. Klipspringer calls the house, not for Gatsby, but because he thinks he left a pair of shoes there.

“It was the man with owl-eyed glasses whom I found marveling over Gatsby’s books…” (Fitzgerald, Chapter 9,pg.175 ) This reoccurring symbol of the owl-eyed man represents that his wisdom and vision saw through Gatsby’s image. Only a handle full of people knew Gatsby’s true image and his past. The people who knew where Gatsby came from and his roots, have tremendous respect and admiration for him. This is why only three people attended his funeral. The others did not see through Gatsby’s image, they did not know his past. To them, he was just another rich guy who gained wealth through his family. To them, he was average, another face in a crowd. The group that knew the real Gatsby only knew how great he actually was, how different he was from anyone else. Gatsby was great, but he spent his whole life hiding the greatness. Gatsby perceived his current status great, but it was James Gatz who got him there. James Gatz was the foundation of his success and he is the key reason why Gatsby is so great. Not because of his colored suits or his huge mansion, but the journey he has been on to get himself here, this is what makes Gatsby great. The owl-eyed man saw Gatsby’s books and notices none of them were read. He did not know Gatsby’s past, but he saw through the image Gatsby tried to create. This gives a deeper meaning to Gatsby’s life. The owl-eyed man knew how great Gatsby was, just by looking at the effort he put into his image. Gatsby put so much time and effort into this image that he neglected making friends and getting to know people. His main focus was Daisy and only Daisy, nobody else mattered to him. The owl-eyed man creates almost a relieving mood because we see that Nick wasn’t the only one that got to know Gatsby. The fact that someone else respected Gatsby just as much as Nick, gives the readers relief that someone else knew the real Gatsby. I wish more people knew the story of Gatsby after he died, people would have been lining the