Gatsby+Obituary

The true account of Gatz’s past is as follows: he was born in North Dakota to farmer Henry Gatz. James Gatz attended St. Olaf's in Minnesota only briefly and left the Midwest, and his identity as James Gatz at the age of seventeen. Young Gatz worked hard along the south shore of Lake Superior for a year until he worked for Dan Cody for five years. Upon Mr. Cody’s death, Gatz briefly attended Oxford. Afterwards, he served in the US Army’s First Division during the war. After the war, Mr. Gatz made a fortune, through his affiliation with Meyer Woflsheim, according to some sources. He settled in West Egg and lived a luxurious life, as many know, hosting numerous lavish parties at his mansion. The funeral will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday at Mr. Gatz’s home. The burial will be held at 5 p.m. at the West Egg Cemetery. Condolences may be directed to 89 Greene Lane, West Egg, NY 11020. ||
 * < James Gatz, known to many as Jay Gatsby of West Egg, died in September.

We decided to do an obituary because there is an important and interesting irony related to Gatsby’s death. Although numerous people came from afar to Gatsby’s costly parties, and took advantage of Gatsby’s hospitality, nobody cared enough to come to his funeral. This illustrates that even though Gatsby was Great, as his Platonic identity with all his riches, in the end he was only a “poor son of a bitch” who had no friend besides Nick. In the end, “no one else was interested… with that intense personal interest to which everyone has some vague right at the end.” This could be the society’s fault, the indifference of the “rotten crowd”. However, it could also be Gatsby’s fault. Even though Gatsby called everybody “old sport” and seemed friendly, he never made the effort to make any friends because his one goal in life was to win back Daisy; he had little interest in others. ~ Grace Oh