In the final chapter of the novel, the realization of Gatsby's death spreads across the county. Newspaper reporters, police officers, and paramedics swarm the scene at Gatsby's house, and Nick finds himself the only person who is truly saddened by Gatsby's death. Even Daisy sends no word of her condolences. Meyer Wolfshiem is the only friend to express sorrow over the tragedy, yet even he cannot bring himself to go to the funeral, claiming he doesn't want to get "mixed up in it." Finally, Nick receives a wire from Gatsby's father. Henry Gatz arrives from a small town in Minnesota. He is depicted as a "solemn old man, very helpless and dismayed" (175). Nick finds that despite a falling-out that Gatsby and his father had years ago, Henry is extraordinarily proud of his son, claiming that he rose up from poverty to become one of the men that would have "helped build up the country" (176).

The final funeral procession consists of only three cars. Surprised and shameful that no one has appeared at his son's funeral, Gatz blames the rain for deterring Gatsby's "friends" from the funeral. Of all the hundreds of people who attended his weekend parties, only one person, who is known simply as "Owl Eyes," attends the funeral. In this respect, Gatsby is seen as pitiful rather than carrying the power and prestige he once held.

After Gatsby's death, the East Coast life that once thrilled and excited Nick begins to lose its glitter for him. He compares the East, especially West Egg, to an El Greco night scene, "haunting and distorted." The memory of Gatsby and his death taints West Egg for Nick, and he makes the decision to move back to his home in the Midwest. Before he leaves, he finds Jordan Baker so he can end their relationship. Jordan responds coolly to his apologies by saying that she is already engaged to another man, but she admits, however, that their relationship indeed "meant something" to her, if only for a short while.

Finally, Nick runs into Tom Buchanan in New York, where he learns that it was Tom who told George Wilson that Gatsby owned the yellow car, causing Wilson to find and kill Gatsby. Nick cannot forgive Tom for what happened to Gatsby because in his mind, Tom and Daisy are "careless people [who] smashed up things and people" (187). At the close of the novel, Nick compares Gatsby's struggle to win Daisy to a universal race: "....tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther...And one fine morning- So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past" (189).

Meyer Wolfshiem: Tells Nick that he can't make it to the funeral, but sends a telegram to Nick expressing his sorrow over Gatsby's death. Wolfshiem is difficult to trace in New York City, and prefers not to attend the funeral because, being involved in illegal activities, he wants to keep a low profile.

Henry C. Gatz: Gatsby's father who arrives from Minnesota for the funeral of his son. Nostalgic and proud of his son, whom he calls "Jimmy," Gatz wistfully recalls the many accomplishments of his boy. Nick pities the elderly man, especially when the day of the funeral arrives and none of Gatsby's "friends" arrive to mourn him.

Owl Eyes: One of Gatsby's regulars at the weekend parties in West Egg. Nick met him once before at a shindig, when Owl Eyes was drunk. However, he is the only person to show up at Gatsby's funeral; none of the other party guests who claimed to be intimate with Gatsby bothered to attend the funeral.

Jordan Baker: Nick's old flame, as it were. Before leaving town, he stops in to say goodbye to her, and break off what fragments of a relationship they have. However, he is coolly informed that she is already engaged to another man, which, though doubtful, still hurts a half-in-love Nick.

Tom Buchanan: Daisy's husband, who Nick runs into in New York. Tom still blames Gatsby for killing Myrtle, and Nick doesn't know how to tell him that it was Daisy behind the wheel when Myrtle died.

*The telegram. Meyer Wolfshiem sends it to Nick upon hearing about Gatsby's death. While expressing his concern, it shows that he (and the rest of Gatsby's "friends") are too busy to even attend the funeral.

*The book, Hopalong Cassidy. It is a book that Gatsby owned as a boy, and is full of notes on certain tasks he needed to accomplish every day. Gatz shows this to Nick in an effort to show him how dedicated Gatsby was even as a boy.

*The rain. It has rained in a previous section of the book (when Gatsby finally meets with Daisy after many years). Although the entire world is not in mourning (evidence being the few people who come to his funeral), the rain casts a somber, downhearted mood, which is appropriate for the day of a funeral.

*The Midwest versus the East. Nick begins to reminisce about his boyhood growing up in the Midwest. In this chapter, the Midwest is associated with purity and innocence and youth. The East is portrayed as corrupt and filled with loneliness and isolation.

*Art. Nick describes the East, specifically West Egg, as a painting by El Greco. Such a painting would be filled with swirling, dramatic figures, and colored with blue-grays. Often, the figures are distorted and odd-colored (green skin tones were not uncommon in the time period of El Greco, which was Mannerist). The East is projected with the same distortion from this reference to the painting.

*The green light. At the very end of the novel, Nick talks about the future in reference to the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. The light is associated with hope and dreams. Nick describes Gatsby's ambitions, with Daisy and with the rest of life, when he mentions the green light, "the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us" (189).

*Yellow. Gatsby's car is described in an earlier chapter as bright yellow, and in this chapter, references are made to the "murky yellow" cars of Chicago. This occurs when Nick is reminiscing about his childhood in the Midwest.

*Green. The green light at the end of Daisy's dock is mentioned, as well as the "long green tickets" for the trains in Chicago. This is also mentioned during Nick's flashbacks of childhood memories.

*Blue. Nick describes the "blue smoke of brittle" that hangs over the East Coast, corrupting it for him, and causing him to want to return home to the Midwest.