After finishing reading the novel, I was left with a feeling of melancholy. The first time I read it I couldn't understand the Gatsby´s ordeal. You need to have lost a dream to merely begin to fathom Gatsby obsession with Daisy.
Yet, there was something sinister about him. He was a gangster after all. At the last chapters of the novel we learnt about Gatsby ventures with Wolfsheim. They set up a chain of drugstores, where they would sell grain alcohol over the counter in direct violation of Prohibition. But as Tom informs us, "that drug-store business was just small change". Gatsby was also peddling stolen bonds, a far more lucrative venture.
However, Nick states that "Gatsby turned out all right at the end". He considers that although his means were dubious, Gatsby's goal was noble. All he did was for love, and for love he died. He was made a scapegoat for Daisy's accident. Just as Owl-eyes was held responsible for an accident in Chapter 3!
I would like to ask to the author why he chose "the hottest day of the year" as the setting for the tragic climax. Maybe it was a homage to "Romeo and Juliet", I remember that Mercutio also died in a hot day.
Insightful reflection and personal comment. Very interesting question and hypothesis! I had never thought about it. Kudos!
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