Student Question
In The Great Gatsby, what is the significance of Mr.Gatz's arrival?
Quick answer:
Mr. Gatz's arrival in The Great Gatsby signifies Gatsby's humble origins and his inescapable past. He contrasts Gatsby's larger-than-life persona with his simple, unpretentious reality. Mr. Gatz's presence also highlights Gatsby's genuine ambition and the fact that, despite his grand life, few truly knew or cared for him, as evidenced by the sparse attendance at the funeral.
He represents Gatsby's reality. He is not fancy. He is simple. Although Gatsby presents himself as larger than life (and almost mythical), his father's arrival is something that reminds us that he is just as "average" as the rest of us.
He also represents Gatsby's past (which Gatsby tried to forget/hide) - and shows us that we will always be connected to our beginnings in some way.
I think it was on the the third day that a telegram signed Henry C. Gatz arrived from a town in Minnesota. It said only that the sender was leaving immediately and to postpone the funeral until he came.
This is the first that the reader learns of Jay Gatsby's parents. There is no mention of Mrs. Gatz, and when Gatsby's father arrives he is bundled in a great coat against what Nick describes as a "warm September day." His "eyes...
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leaked continuously with excitement" as Nick escorts him to the music room and seats him. After he has calmed down, he tells Nick that he read of his son's death in the Chicago papers. Then Nick shows him to the room where his son is; when Mr. Gatz steps out, he finally looks around and his grief changes to "an awed pride." Then, after telling Nick that Jay visited him two years ago, he pulls out a worn photograph of the house that Jay sent him; obviously, he has displayed this photograph many times. He proudly shows Nick a book in which the young Gatsby wrote his daily schedule, and Mr. Gatz reads it to Nick.
By the time the minister arrives, there are no other people. "Nobody came." Only Nick and Mr. Gatz and a couple of servants drive to the cemetery where Owl Eyes follows. It is only Mr. Gatz who has been impressed with Jay Gatsby's tremendous ambition, and he is the only family member there, the only one who loved Jay; it is only Owl Eyes who respects Gatsby as he remembers his genuine gestures, such as filling his library with real leather bound books.
In The Great Gatsby, why does Fitzgerald include the story of James Gatz?
The James Gatz story is important for at least two reasons. First, readers are trying to keep track of truth and lies in this story, and the James Gatz story is a guaranteed truth as it comes from our author, not a biased character.
Second, this story of his background gives merit to the idea that Gatsby is in pursuit of finding his identity. A name change suggests a complete and total change of a person, and we can see that as the James Gatz character was not too successful, while the Jay Gatsby character is extremely successful. At one point, Nick narrates,
"It was James Gatz who had been loafing along the beach that afternoon in a torn green jersey and a pair of canvas pants, but it was already Jay Gatsby who borrowed a rowboat, pulled out to the Tulomee, and informed Cody that a wind might catch him and break him up in half an hour."
James Gatz went from a 17-year-old who lacked confidence to a 17-year-old entrapaneur taking a risk to initiate conversation with an obvious wealthy man who had no concept of a potential upcoming gale.
Later Nick notices about the emerging Gatsby:
"But his heart was in a constant, turbulent riot. The most grotesque and fantastic conceits haunted him in his bed at night."
The new Gatsby character was taken with his imagination and believed in a glorious and fantastic possible future.
This entire section is important because Gatsby is an everyman in many ways. All mankind dreams about what more could come in their lives. The restless discontent of Americans with the status quo is ever present. This story of James Gatz demonstrates that in Gatsby's life, there was a defining moment which forever changed him from the sweet lakeside boy to the ambitious American dreamer.
In The Great Gatsby, why does Fitzgerald introduce Mr. Gatz?
First, concerning your question about Mr. Gatz in The Great Gatsby, we can't really speak for a writer. We can't read his mind and shouldn't pretend to. That would be sloppy scholarship if I pretended to you that I could do that.
I can, though, tell you what some of the effects are of Fitzgerald having done so.
Mr. Gatz's appearance and presence in the novel adds poignancy (a quality of specialness) to the closing events of the novel. Mr. Gatz is not greedy, and neither is Gatsby. Gatsby's wealth serves the purpose of getting Daisy back--look how he wastes so much money to throw his lavish parties, all in the hope that Daisy might happen to stop by one sometime. And Mr. Gatz's "awed pride" is the pride of a father for a son who has made good. His pride is the pride of a father for a son who has fulfilled the American Dream.
The father's disappointment at the sparse attendance at the funeral adds to Nick's disappointment, as well, and emphasizes the character, or lack of it, on the part of those who certainly do not fail to show up when Gatsby is throwing parties.
In addition to adding poignancy to the concluding events, Mr. Gatz serves other purposes as well. He doesn't reveal where Gatsby gets his greed from, as I've already mentioned, but he does reveal where Gatsby gets his naivete from. Mr. Gatz has clung to Gatsby's childhood list for years, believing it demonstrates a great deal about his character. In reality, the list is likely a typical list children and even early adolescents make--favorite songs, best friends, etc. Notice that nothing is mentioned about how rigidly Gatsby followed the list as a child. (Opinions do differ about the list, though, so I could be wrong about this part.)
In short, Mr. Gatz adds poignancy, reveals a little background while giving a glance at another Midwesterner, and, finally, by the way, gives readers a quote to talk about concerning the novel's title:
"If he'd of lived he'd of been a great man."
In my opinion, the author brings Gatsby's father into the novel so as to give us more of an insight into Gatsby's past and his motivations.
I think Gatz does a couple of things that help us understand Gatsby. First of all, he is very happy about how rich his son has gotten. This sort of helps us understand why Gatsby was so ambitious -- it seems to have started with his dad, perhaps.
To me, the other thing is that Gatz shows us the list of goals that Gatsby had made as a kid. It seems like Gatsby's goals had been purer at first. But then he met Dan Cody and started to be much greedier.