An Interview with Nick Carraway

For this entry, I have the greatest pleasure of interviewing the now famous but still humble, Nick Carraway.

How are you today Mr. Carraway?

(N.C)- Well Edward, I’m glad to be here with you today and please, call me Nick!

Okay Nick, sorry to be so formal, I just thought that a big shot like you would prefer it that way. Say, it’s been a while since I’ve put up an entry on this blog, why don’t you tell my readers how well you’ve been doing for yourself in the bond business?

(N.C)- Sure Edward. After moving back home from West Egg, I partnered up with some other young men who were into the bond business and we opened up a small office. Business was so successful that we brought it to New York and bought a large building on the end of 42^nd Street; business is doing extremely well.

You’re a bit too modest Nick; you were named New York Time’s ‘Best New Business Man of the Year’! Now if you don’t mind, I would like to ask you some questions about your time here in West Egg. What did you think of Jay Gatsby?

(N.C)- Gatsby was a great man, and more importantly my friend. I never approved of him throwing large parties and such because it was his way of proving himself, and it wasn’t necessary. He died trying to prove himself to Daisy and the rest of the world but he was better than them all.

Were you upset when he was murdered?

(N.C)- Of course I was! How could I not be upset that my friend was killed? What made me even more upset was the fact that virtually no one cared enough about him to come to his funeral. Everyone took advantage of him by going to his parties, but when it came to the simple gesture of paying respect to him at his funeral, no one did! This shows how discourteous people have become.

You were briefly in a relationship with professional golfer Jordan Baker, correct?

(N.C)- Yes I was

What caused this relationship to end?

(N.C)- I broke up with Jordan Baker just after Gatsby was murdered. This was a very confusing time for me; I just wanted to get away from the East and away from all the sadness. Part of me still loved Jordan but I knew our relationship wouldn’t last, we were just too different.

Okay, my last question is: do you think your success and the wealth that you have gained from it has changed your social class?

(N.C)- That’s a very interesting question. If you determine social class by the way I live my life, then my answer is no. I live in a regular sized home and I don’t spend my money on unnecessary things. I’m obviously not struggling to pay bills or afford to feed myself but I think I live a pretty humble lifestyle. I live the way I did before I was wealthy, I keep to myself and I’m not trying to prove myself to anyone as Gatsby did. I think Gatsby is the reason I live and think this way - I saw what his need to prove himself did to him and I don’t want my life to end the same way.

I would like to take this time to thank you again for coming here and speaking to me. I wish you continued success and I hope that we meet again one day.

(N.C)- The pleasure was all mine Edward! I’m sure we’ll meet again!

 

 

 

 

Gatsby's Murder

Yet again, another piece of sad news to share with you - Jay Gatsby has been murdered! Wealthy party host Jay Gatsby was found dead in his pool in the afternoon at his home in West Egg. He was shot by George Wilson, the owner of a garage in the valley of ashes whose wife was just recently killed in a hit and run incident. Wilson’s body was found at the scene of the crime; he killed himself shortly after murdering Gatsby - what a sick man!

Poor Gatsby, he ultimately died a lonely man; he had no real friends that I knew of and I heard that his love Daisy moved away with her husband. What a sick world we live in! Everyone who attended Gatsby’s parties and took advantage of the kind hospitality he offered them will probably mutter some sort expression of fake sadness about his death at their dining tables and then they’ll go back to living their sad lives. When it comes to Gatsby’s funeral, I’ll be damned if anyone actually shows up. You see, no one actually cared about Gatsby; they enjoyed his cocktails, his music, and his home but they couldn’t care less about who the host was.

Right before Gatsby’s passing, I learned about some of his background and who he was. Gatsby was an American dreamer as we all are. He came from a hardworking but poor family and fell in love with Daisy when he was stationed in her home town during the war. After he had returned from the war, Gatsby continued to dream of a reality where he and Daisy were together. In Gatsby’s dream however, he had to be rich to be suitable for Daisy so he spent years trying to become wealthy and to become someone of higher class. I think that he was successful in switching classes although I am not sure how he obtained his wealth. Gatsby achieved the American dream, to be rich, extravagant, and popular. But Gatsby’s experience has showed us what the American dream really has to offer, and its nothing.

So is it possible to force your way into another social class? Yes, I believe it is possible with a lot of hard work. In Gatsby’s case, he was able to switch from lower Class to Upper Class and quite convincingly, I might add. I’m not too sure that Myrtle Wilson was able to switch classes because as hard as she tried, I could see that it wasn’t natural. Perhaps, in order to switch classes you must already have the virtues of the class.

 

The Death Car: Myrtle's Death

Good God! I’m not going to pretend that you all haven’t heard about the devastating event that occurred last night, because unless you have been stuck under a rock for the last few days you would have noticed it in all the major newspapers. If you have been stuck under a rock, it’s with sadness and disbelief that I announce to you the tragic death of Myrtle Wilson.

It was very late last night in the valley of ashes where a car struck and killed Myrtle just in front of her husband’s garage. Apparently Myrtle and her husband, George Wilson, were in the middle of a heated argument when the accident happened. The ‘death car’ was coming from New York, and going thirty or forty miles an hour when Myrtle ran out into the road and was hit. The yellow car showed no sign of slowing down and drove away after the incident.

As you all know, Myrtle will surely be missed by her husband Wilson who loved her very much. A source who witnessed the aftermath of the accident told me that he saw Tom Buchanan at the scene. He described Tom as being disarrayed and shocked. Tom’s reaction proves that he truly did have some feelings for Myrtle. I feel bad for Tom knowing that he has just lost his sweetie along with the fact that his wife, Daisy, has fallen in love for Gatsby. If anyone has any information regarding the vehicle or the driver of the vehicle that hit Myrtle Wilson please contact the police as soon as possible. I give my condolences to Wilson, Tom, and anyone else who cared for Myrtle; everyone please stay safe on the roads, there are some crazy people out there.

Social Standings

For this entry, I am going to be listing all the interesting characters that I have so far encountered or heard of and I will tell you what I think their social classes are at this point.


Nick Carraway

Nick Carraway comes from an affluent family and has been educated at Yale University. Although his family is wealthy, Nick is learning the bond business and is living in a small home in West Egg. I consider Nick to be of upper middle class.

Jay Gatsby

Although I know very little about Gatsby, I think I have enough info to determine his social class. Gatsby is obviously wealthy, evident by his large home and the extravagant parties that he hosts. According to rumours, he was educated at Oxford. I was unable to find any trace of wealthy family members so I presume that he is the first wealthy member of his family. I’m not sure how Gatsby obtained his wealth but he definitely earned it himself therefore I consider him to be of lower upper class.

Daisy Buchanan

 Daisy Buchanan - Nick Carraway’s second cousin and Tom Buchanan’s wife- comes from a wealthy family. She simply had money passed down to her so Daisy is of upper upper class.

Tom Buchanan

The egotistical and powerful Tom Buchanan is extremely wealthy. Like his wife, this money ran in his family and was simply passed down to him so he is of upper upper class.

Myrtle Wilson

Myrtle Wilson lives in the valley of ashes with her lifeless husband George Wilson. Although she tries to appear of high class when she’s around Tom Buchanan, there’s no denying what class she really belongs in - upper lower class.

George Wilson

George Wilson, the owner of a garage in the valley of ashes is definitely of upper lower class like his wife, Myrtle. George shows no capability of being able to improve his standings on the social ladder.

Jordan Baker

Jordan Baker is a long-time friend of Daisy’s and like Daisy, she comes from a wealthy family. Jordan Baker is a professional golfer and I consider her to be of upper upper class.

 

A Meeting in the Night

Big news folks! It seems we have another affair in our hands, that of Daisy Buchanan and the mysterious Great Gatsby! Is this Daisy’s way of getting back at her husband Tom for having an affair with Myrtle Wilson? I don’t remember any time when they could have met; when did they meet? I don’t know the answers to these questions; all I know is what I saw.

It was late last night at Gatsby’s home where I saw the two of them exit Gatsby’s car and quickly but quietly enter his home. Usually in a situation like this, I wouldn’t be so quick to assume that the two people in question are engaged in a relationship, but the way Gatsby embraced Daisy was different. When Gatsby got out of the driver’s side of his car he was abnormally quick in running to the other side to help Daisy out. As soon as he got to Daisy he clinched on to her as if he were afraid she would fly away and would be out of his grasp forever. I don’t know, perhaps I am looking at things a bit too closely; nevertheless, I saw something more than just friendship between them.

I certainly hope that Daisy truly loves Gatsby; I would hate to see such a respectable man made a fool by false love. I’m not trying to suggest that Daisy is trying to take advantage of Gatsby; I’m just trying to highlight Daisy’s instability. Daisy’s husband is cheating on her and she knows it; it’s hard to blame her for wanting to grasp on to the nearest wealthy gentlemen who flashes her a smile. Gatsby’s probably the perfect man for Daisy to have an affair with if her intent was to make Tom jealous. I’m not surprised that Daisy selected someone of High Class to have an affair with since she and her husband are of High Class. Unlike her husband, I don’t think that Daisy would be able to associate herself with a person of Lower Class. She seems like the type of person who looks down upon less fortunate people and would feel as if her social status decreased if she were to have an affair with a lower class individual.

I suppose Tom deserves to be cheated on, but Gatsby doesn’t deserve to have his heart broken so I sincerely hope that Daisy is thinking with her heart and not with her self-centered mind.

Tom & Myrtle's Affair

I looked more indepth at the cheating scandal between Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson and found some interesting info. If you’ve read my other posts then you know that Tom has a wife named Daisy. Well I just found out that they have a baby! This makes Tom’s relationship with Myrtle even more sickening! If you were close friends with the Buchannan’s you might not have even known that they had a baby. I heard that Daisy has a troop of nannies taking care of her child all the time and that she rarely even speaks to it.

My sources tell me that Daisy is aware of the fact that her husband is having an affair but she probably has no idea who he’s having an affair with and I doubt that she suspects someone from such a low class like Myrtle. Imagine if Daisy found out that Tom was cheating on her with a Lower Class woman from the valley of ashes! Would Daisy be relieved that he wasn’t having an affair with one of her friends or someone of the same social class as her? Or would she be outraged at the fact that her husband found delight in someone so far   below herself?

It’s interesting that Tom chose to have an affair with someone so low in the first place. Maybe it was the fact that it was easier to keep their relationship a secret that appealed to him. Perhaps he enjoyed the company of a woman who was beneath him, an exciting change from Daisy. Even if this relationship was revealed to the world I’m not too sure that it would even have an effect on Tom’s social standing. I mean everyone would probably focus on Myrtle and how she’s a piece of garbage for ripping apart a family, but regarding Tom - I think they would look at him as a tricked victim. Nevertheless, I think everyone in this situation is guilty. It seems that morals have been stripped from this society, and for all I know, Daisy could be having an affair with someone too.  

Gatsby's Party

   I heard about a man by the name of Gatsby who holds the most extravagant, most luxurious, and most out of this world parties on West Egg. Last night I decided to experience this for myself and determine whether or not these parties were really what people described them as.  I’ll tell you right now, the descriptions of Gatsby’s party don’t do it justice! Gatsby’s party was fabulous!

 

When I arrived at Gatsby’s house on West Egg, I was speechless. Before I even got out of my car I saw the coloured lights lighting up Gatsby’s beautiful, large home. I felt a little nervous to enter the party uninvited, but a couple of my friends had told me that they often came without invitation. I pulled myself together and walked into Gatsby’s garden which was full of people in colourful dresses and suits, dancing and having a good time; it all seemed like a large smear of wonderful colour. I looked for Gatsby himself to apologize for coming uninvited and to introduce myself but he was nowhere to be found. I don’t think that I would have been able to recognize him even if I spotted him in the crowds. This seemed to be the case with the majority of the guests who attended Gatsby’s parties. No one knew who he was, what he looked like, or where he came from. It seemed that no one actually was in anyway related to Gatsby, as a friend, a family member, a colleague, or even as a friend of his colleague. This made me wonder why Gatsby held these parties in the first place, if it wasn’t to have fun with his friends and it wouldn’t be to impress the public. Gatsby impresses the public with his house alone and I don’t think that a wealthy man of his class has anything to prove. I can’t help but feel that everyone took advantage of his hospitality, myself included.

Nevertheless, I had the most amazing night of my life and I’m sure everyone else did as well. The music, the food, the cocktails, it was a thrill ride for the senses. In a way it’s hard to blame everyone for wanting to get away from their stressful realities, to become whoever they want, and to forget about any form of social class holding them back or restricting how they act. Everyone felt free last night, and Gatsby provided us with this opportunity. I just hope Gatsby got whatever he set out to get by doing so.

 

 

A Private Gathering

The elevator boy

Today began as a very boring and tedious day for me, with nothing unusual. I spent the day writing free-lance articles for various small newspapers in New York, all of which I am sure you have never heard of. My free-lance work is, of course, how I make a living; I obviously do not obtain money from the blog you are reading right now because none of you pay me! This is fine, however, as I take pleasure in writing these intriguing entries and as a matter of fact, boy do I have one for you today!

After I had spent hours writing uninteresting newspaper filler, I drove down to New York to pick up some of my belongings from a former colleague from the New York Times. I arrived at a strip of apartment houses on 158^th Street where my former colleague lives and I picked up the small box of files and work supplies that he was holding for me. Just as I put the box in the trunk of my car and began to leave, I noticed a young elevator boy struggling to carry a box full of straw and other various items up the stairs to the apartments. I leapt up and immediately offered my assistance, which he politely accepted. We got into the elevator of the apartment building and began to rise.

This is the point in my day where it changed from dull and ordinary to very interesting. The elevator boy and I entered one of the apartments and he took the box from my hands and disappeared. It seemed that I had walked into a private gathering; one could say a small party. The room was crammed with large pieces of fine furniture, the air was filled with smoke, and five or six people were in the room having passionate conversation. I felt awkward and imposing so I immediately decided to leave.  However, just as I turned around, a woman’s hand grabbed my arm and pulled me toward one of the large sofas. I quickly took a glance of the other guests to see if they were surprised to see a stranger amongst them, but to my surprise, it seemed that they either didn’t care or they didn’t notice me.

I recognized the woman who had pulled me into the room; it was Wilson’s wife from the garage in the valley of ashes! She was different, however, almost a different person entirely. The way she acted, the way she spoke, and the way she moved about the room was full of confidence, full of sophistication. It seemed that Myrtle – as I learned her name to be - had switched from lower class to higher class. I overheard some very interesting conversations full of gossipy tidbits. Apparently, Myrtle is having an affair with a man by the name of Tom Buchanan. Tom was at this gathering and I gathered that he is an extremely arrogant and wealthy man. Whiskey was passed around and I went against my better judgment, taking a share of it to look less out of place. I suppose everyone was intoxicated, and that is why no one noticed that I was in attendance. I learned that Tom lived in East Egg in an enormous house with his wife Daisy. Good God, do people have no morals these days, having affairs whenever they feel glum! I recognized Nick Carraway as one of the guests but I think he was too drunk to even wave his hand at me. At some point during the gathering a large commotion began between Myrtle and Tom resulting in Tom breaking Myrtle’s nose! The confusion gave me the opportunity to escape unnoticed and I took it - what a night!

 

 

First Impressions

          West Egg, East Egg, and the valley of ashes intrigue me a great deal, and are so different from New York despite the fact that they’re so close to it. Unlike New York, these 3 places are each representative of a certain social class.  From the small bit of time that I have so far spent in each of the 3 communities, I think that I have determined what these classes are. When I first visited the 2 egg communities I saw the enormous and glamorous homes that resided within them, and it was immediately evident to me that these communities were wealthy and of upper class. Only when speaking to some of the residents on each egg did I determine whether they were communities based on old money or new money. The residents that I spoke to on East Egg had come from wealthy families and had had money passed down to them, so I consider the people of East Egg as upper upper. West Egg, on the other hand, is lower upper. In West Egg, one middle-aged couple that I spoke to warmly invited me in to their home for tea where we had a lengthy discussion. This couple told me that they hadn’t come from wealthy families, but rather came from down to earth and hardworking ones. The husband had been a factory worker for twenty years and during these years he invented some sort of innovative piece of automobile technology (I really didn’t have the brain capacity to understand the complicated and technical terms the man was using). Regardless of what this piece of technology was, the man had created it and it had brought them much fortune. Since all the people that I spoke to on West Egg didn’t come from wealthy families but rather created their own wealth through their own blood and sweat, I considered them of lower upper class. Personally, I much rather prefer the people of West Egg. The people of West Egg are much more modest than those of East Egg most likely because the people in West Egg didn’t come from overly privileged backgrounds, and have earned their wealth. I suppose that I am making some stereotypes about the two eggs, so please pardon me; my intention is not to be insulting but rather to provide the reader - yourselves - with a general idea of the type of people that reside on each egg. There are definitely people on each of the eggs that do not fit under the generalizations that I have made. One example is a friendly chap named Nick Carraway who I met on West Egg. Though Nick’s family was of wealthy background, he has chosen to live in a small, humble home (quite frankly, it’s a dump) in West Egg. He is learning the bond business and is working hard so I consider him of upper middle class.

         Now, about the valley of ashes, - I think that its name suits it just well. It’s a gloomy and desolate land that’s for sure; and this is definitely reflected on the social class of its inhabitants. I think everyone in the valley of ashes must be of lower class, otherwise why would they be there? I noticed very few buildings within the dust and smoke of the valley of ashes, but I did notice a small decaying garage on the edge of the waste land. When I first drove through the valley of ashes I was in need of an oil change, and I wanted to meet some of the land’s inhabitants. Thus, I decided to pull into the garage. The owner of the garage, George Wilson, seemed glum and sad, but he was pleasantly surprised to hear of my need for his services. While Wilson was getting my car’s oil changed I noticed a woman also helping out in the garage. She wasn’t very attractive but she was radiating vigour; I could only assume that she was Wilson’s wife because of his constant loving gaze over her, although the woman gave no acknowledgement of Wilson’s presence.

          My first visits to the eggs and the valley of ashes proved enlightening, and have definitely revealed some interesting characters living within each one. I look forward to spending further time in these communities, meeting more people, and observing any strange happenings that may occur in the future. I definitely chose the perfect place to witness individual social classes first hand, and I hope that you will continue to find my blog entries interesting and inquisitive.