The Great Gatsby Hearse Analysis

The passage starts with a description of the city, as F. Scott Fitzgerald makes it seem overly beautiful. Nick says, “white heaps and sugar lumps,” which makes the reader think of wealth and other luxuries (68). However, the fact that it was “built with a wish out of non-olfactory money,” suggests that maybe the people didn’t live as rich a life as we thought, aside from the city looking so beautiful (68). Then Nick explains how the city “is always seen for the first time,” that every time Nick sees the city, it always feels like it’s his first time because he never gets to truly know it, very similar to Nick views on Gatsby (68). Fitzgerald’s next comparison of the hearse and Gatsby’s car shows two circumstances of life. Nick and Gatsby are
reminded of the fact that life can change and end at any given moment when they see the dead man passing. In addition, the idea of passing the dead man is ironic because Nick and Gatsby are so bright and energetic while passing a grieving family. It seems as though they are celebrating death why the other two are celebrating life. In the next sentence, when Nick says, “As we crossed Blackwell’s Island a limousine passed us, driven by a white chauffeur, in which sat three modish negroes, two bucks and a girl,” it appears that he is surprised that there are three negroes in the limousine (69). Nick continues on saying, “Anything can happen now…Even Gatsby could happen” to reveal the negroes are as wealthy as Gatsby. Nick also seems unsafe because he is either the next Gatsby or the next dead man in the hearse.