How does nick characterize Gatsby's state of mind before he is killed?

Answer 1

(Jay Gatsby dies the day after Tom Buchanan confronts Gatsby about his affair with Daisy and Daisy kills Myrtle Wilson in a car wreck. Mr. Wilson, believing that it was Gatsby who killed his wife, takes revenge by going to Gatsby's house and shooting him. Gatsby's actual death scene is very brief in Fitzgerald's novel. All Fitzgerald mentions of it are shots that were heard and a small ripple of blood in the swimming pool where Gatsby lay.)

However, there is an important paragraph right before the shots were heard, where Nick Carraway (the narrator) describes how Gatsby must have felt in that time before he was shot. This whole paragraph before Gatsby is killed has an overall tone of despair and solitude. Nick says that Gatsby "had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream" (Fitzgerald 161). Gatsby basks in his solitude on the pool, for his one dream of being with Daisy has been broken by Tom Buchanan. The loss of a dream is a powerful blow to the whole passage, introducing an element of despair.

Further on, Nick continues with stronger imagery of Gatsby's surroundings: "He must have looked up at an unfamiliar sky through frightening leaves and shivered as he found what a grotesque thing a rose is...A new world...where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about" (Fitzgerald 161). Once again, solitude and despair are stringent elements in Nick's description of Gatsby's state of mind. The sky, leaves, and rose are all conveyed as dreary items in this last passage. Nick even goes to describing Gatsby's world as a world where dreams were simply "breathed" away, which is a very relevant description of how Gatsby must feel after the turmoil of the previous night.

Although this passage right before his death has a negative connotation to it, Gatsby's state of mind is still calm. He is simply waiting for a phone call from Daisy, during which time period Nick presumes that he ponders the world in which he lives in. However dreary and despairing Nick's characterizations of Gatsby are, there is nothing sharp or hurtful in the language. He uses subjects and objects that are typically associated with tranquility, such as the sky and a rose. His mention of "ghosts" is a simple passing remark about their drifting and does ruin the peace of the scenario he conjured up already.

Thus, overall, Gatsby is clearly wallowing in despair at this time, yet his state of mind still remains tranquil.

Works Cited:

F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 1925.

Answer 2

Nick characterizes Gatsby's state of mind before he is killed as one of hopeful anticipation, as he is eagerly waiting for Daisy's response to his request for her to come over. Despite feeling nervous and restless, Gatsby remains optimistic and has faith in his romantic vision of the future.