The Great Gatsby

Gatsby: pages 157-169

I was struck by the symbolism in this passage of Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.  Gatsby was a man of great wealth, but that meant nothing to him because he was so emotionally impoverished.  He had told Carraway earlier that he had never swam in his pool to enjoy it for himself.  How ironic that he was doing just that when Mr. Wilson murdered him and committed suicide himself.  It showed that Gatsby's life was ended at the exact moment that he'd first started to try to make the most of it and make himself happy with what he had. 

His fantasy of a life with Daisy had kept him from living up until moments before he died.  He had "paid a high price for living too long with a single dream" (Fitzgerald, 161).  Where are Daisy and Tom?  They just packed up and left, and Daisy was too selfish and uncaring to telephone Gatsby or send him any message.  When he died, he probably had the smallest bit of hope left that she would come to him.  She just couldn't cut him loose.  And now it's too late and she's not even there for him.  She wasn't there for him in life though, so why would she be there for him in death?