At the end of Chapter 9, where Gatsby is long gone, we experience an apparition of a man from the past. This is the second time in the novel that we see Owl-Eyes. We do not even know his real name and he just comes into the story all of a sudden. This not only surprises the reader but it also provides a third person in the funeral. Owl-Eyes' conversation with Nick gives us more information about the book than we get in any other part of the book.
At this point, Gatsby is dead and nobody that came to his house all summer, suddenly refuse to show up for his funeral now. Gatsby's father, Nick and Owl-Eyes are the only ones at the cemetery on this rainy day. And even though Owl-Eyes says only three things, he tells us something about all the characters in the story. Owl-Eyes' most significant trait in the book is that he only appears once before Nick met Gatsby and right after Gatsby was killed. Yet the words he uses tell us something about all the main characters. He says "Go on! Why my God! they used to go there by the hundreds." This is the sentence that the whole moral of the story rests in.
Ok, Ali, I want to know how "the whole moral of the story rests in" the sentence you quote. That's a rather comprehensive statement. Tell us more.
ReplyDelete