When Nick returns to Gatsby’s, he finds Mr. Gatz going through his son’s house, growing more proud as he takes in the possessions around him. Pulling out a copy of Hopalong Cassidy, once owned by the young Jimmy Gatz, Gatsby’s father points out his young son’s drive toward self-improvement by calling Nick’s attention to the daily schedule penciled in the back. Shortly after, the men adjourn to the funeral. At the graveside are a few servants, the mail carrier, the minister, Nick, and Mr. Gatz. Nick is struck by the bitter injustice of Gatsby’s solitary death. Despite all the people who found their way to Gatsby’s parties, not one, with the exception of a man known only as “Owl-eyes,” bothered to make an appearance at his funeral (and he only made it to the gate after the services ended).
Nick then moves to memories of traveling West when he came home from college. As the train moved further and further West he became more and more comfortable, as if he were returning to a special place just his own. Remembering this memory launches Nick into a discussion of the merits of the Midwest versus the vices of the East. The story is brought to a close when Nick interacts with two people from his past. First, he speaks with Jordan and, although he still feels fondly toward her, he once again coolly dismisses her. Finally, one autumn day, Nick meets Tom along Fifth Avenue. Tom, seeing Nick, makes the first move to speak. Initially Nick refuses to shake Tom’s hand, upset with what Tom has come to represent. In the course of their short discussion, Nick learns Tom had a role in Gatsby’s death — George Wilson worked his way to the Buchannan house in East Egg and Tom told him who owned the car that struck Myrtle. When Nick leaves, he shakes Tom’s hand because he “felt suddenly as though [he] were talking to a child.”
The time comes for Nick to leave West Egg and return West. On the last night, he wanders over to Gatsby’s for one last visit. Strolling down to the water he is called to remember the way Gatsby’s house used to be, filled with people and lavish parties. He considers Gatsby’s wonder at picking out Daisy’s dock in the darkness, how far Gatsby had traveled in his life, and how he always had hope in the future. In his final thought, Nick links society to the boats eternally moving against the current on the Sound.
