The Big Sad Apple: How Nick Carraway Went From Gatsby Fanboy to "Later, Suckers!" After the Funeral
Nick Carraway, our narrator in the ever-so-dramatic The Great Gatsby, arrived in New York with wide eyes and a heart full of Midwestern innocence. The city glittered with the promise of fabulous parties, dazzling flappers, and, of course, achieving the American Dream (whatever that actually meant). But after Gatsby's tragic demise, let's just say the city lights seemed a tad dimmer for Nick.
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| How Did New York City Feel To Carraway After The Funeral |
From Champagne Showers to Existential Dread: A Post-Funeral Tour of Nick's Emotions
Imagine this: you spend your summer hobnobbing with a millionaire who throws the wildest parties this side of the Mississippi. You even get tangled up in a love triangle that would make a soap opera blush. Then, BAM! Gatsby gets snuffed out, his dream of winning Daisy Buchanan evaporates faster than a bootleg gin fizz, and suddenly you're left holding the empty bottle (metaphor alert!).
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New York, once a playground of possibility, now felt like a giant ashtray overflowing with the burnt-out remnants of Gatsby's ambitions. The city's cacophony, once thrilling, now sounded like a funeral dirge. The flashing lights, instead of beckoning excitement, seemed to mock Gatsby's failed quest.
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The Fairweather Friends Who Skipped Out on the Farewell Fiesta
Remember all those "friends" Gatsby surrounded himself with? Yeah, about that... Turns out, fairweather friends are about as reliable as a bootlegger's promise. Tom and Daisy, the Buchanan power couple, peaced out faster than you can say "mistress drama." Gatsby's party pals vanished like smoke signals in a stiff breeze. The only ones who showed up for the funeral were a handful of confused servants, a nervous Owl Eyes (who mumbled a very fitting "poor son-of-a-bitch"), and Gatsby's heartbroken father, who probably felt more lost than a flapper at a library.
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Nick, surrounded by this emotional wasteland, realized that the East Coast elite were a bunch of shallow phonies who used people like Gatsby for their own amusement and then discarded them like yesterday's news.
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So Long, Suckers! Nick Packs His Bags and Heads Home (Maybe with a Flask Full of Regret)
By the time Nick decided to ditch the city, he was about as enthusiastic about New York as a flapper is about housework. He saw through the city's glittering facade and realized it was built on a foundation of moral decay and emptiness. New York, once a symbol of Gatsby's grand dream, now represented everything Nick wanted to escape.
So, with a suitcase full of disillusionment and a heart full of "what-ifs," Nick headed back to the Midwest, probably muttering "good riddance" under his breath.
How to Survive a Post-Gatsby Existential Crisis (According to Nick Carraway, Unlicensed Therapist)
- How to Ditch the Fairweather Friends: Simple! Block their numbers, unfriend them on Facebook (or whatever the social media equivalent was in the 1920s), and never look back.
- How to Deal with a City That Feels Like a Dumpster Fire: Take a long walk in nature (preferably somewhere with clean air and no roving gangs of gangsters).
- How to Avoid Getting Caught Up in Someone Else's Obsession: Golden rule: Don't get tangled up in love triangles, especially ones involving millionaires with shady pasts.
- How to Reclaim Your Midwestern Innocence: Move back to the Midwest. Seriously, fresh air and cornfields do wonders for the soul.
- How to Throw a Killer Party (Without Ending Up Dead): Key ingredient: Don't invite anyone who knew Gatsby.
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