The Great Gatsby Chapter 6 Journal

George Angelopoulos 4˚

1. The Great Gatsby: Chapter 6, Pg. 97-111

2. Nick finally reveals the origins of the “great” Gatsby. Gatsby was born as James Gatz in North Dakota who didn’t even finish two weeks of college. He latter worked as a fisher, where he met the rich Dan Cody. Dan invited James, who gave himself the name Jay Gatsby, onboard as his personal assistant. Gatsby would watch out for him when he was drunk. Gatsby’s experience with Cody inspired him to stay away from alcohol, and inspired him to become as rich and powerful as Dan was. Back to the story line, Tom becomes suspicious of Gatsby. He goes over to Gatsby’s mansion for drinks, and of course his legendary parties. Gatsby wants Daisy the way she was in the past, but Nick reminds him he can’t have the same thing twice.

3.             a. Dan Cody

            b. “Cody was fifty years old then, a product of the Nevada silver field, of the Yukon, of every rush for metal since seventy-five. The transactions in Montana copper that made him many times a millionaire found him physically robust but on the verge of soft-mindedness, and, suspecting this, and infinite number of women tried to separate him from his money.” (99)

            c. Dan Cody was the bigger than life character, the “Gatsby” of his time. His wealth and social power were evident wherever he went. He treated women as annoyances because all they wanted was his money. He resorted to alcohol often, and relied on Gatsby to protect him, and to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid. His big physical description reflected how he lived his life, big and over the top. He was kindhearted though, and did give Gatsby a job, and even money in his will, although Gatsby never received the money.

            d. Dan Cody is the inspiration for the character of Gatsby. He is what Gatsby aspired to be, his role model, and really dictated Gatsby’s actions. Because of Dan, Gatsby became obsessed with the materialistic aspect of life, and failed to strive to be emotionally rich. This focus on one thing, money, caused Gatsby’s other aspects of life to fail, such as love. Although Dan was the inspiration for the wealth of Gatsby, he did little else. His abuse of alcohol, did however scare Gatsby away from the drink. Even the picture of Dan in Gatsby’s bedroom is big, symbolizing his bigger than life attitude. Dan caused a chain reaction that has turned Gatsby into what he is.

4. “The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself.” (98) Being able to re-write one’s identity and destiny is a key foundation for the American Dream. Just like Houdini, Gatz changed his whole image because he wasn’t happy with James Gatz. He wanted to become the “great” Jay Gatsby. This pursuit is much more noble than the pursuit for wealth. The American Dream, both then and now, is divided between materialism and idealism. This struggle between outer and inner wealth plays on the fact that most people aren’t happy no matter what they have. Gatsby thought he would be happy with wealth, but felt a hole in his heart for Daisy, and now that he is getting Daisy back, he wishes their relationship could be romantically like it was before Tom. There really is a never finished goal, which exists in Gatsby’s soul. The ability to change does not translate into the ability to be happy.