After Gatsby realized Daisy didn’t love him, he started doing heroin. His love for daisy and yearning for her was now a cavity that needed to be filled. The pain in his heart left by the woman he dreamed of for the past 5 years seemed like it could never be remedied. Gatsby had told Wolfshein about his troubles with Daisy and he offered him something: a pack of fresh needles and a pile of heroin. At first Gatsby thought about how it may be dangerous but he ultimately decided he had the money for it; he wasn’t gonna be spending on Daisy so what else would he do with it? Gatsby grabbed a needle and shot up for the first time and felt amazing. He didn’t need Daisy, he just needed heroin. This was the dust of salvation, that would bring him out of his depression. Compared to this feeling, Daisy was irrelevant, all he could ever want was more of the dust. He was hooked and bough a sizable amount from Wolfshein at once.
He went home to his mansion and started taking just a bit each day almost religiously. It became less effective so he started to take more and more. Months past and his infinite wealth started to show signs of mortality. Each day he would inject more and more multiple times everyday. It started to be the majority of what he would do every day. He lived for it and the thought of Daisy was absent from his mind. All he wanted was heroin.
Soon even his endless wealth couldn’t keep up; he needed more money. He needed more, and he needed it now. He drove his car in a haste down to the valley of ashes. He felt terrible, disgusting, sick, and was in absolute agony. The withdrawal symptoms tearing him apart. He found George and barked at him for money in exchange for his car. Without a second thought Gatsby ripped the money from George’s hands ignoring whatever he had to say. He met with Wolfshein and bought more and immediately used it. However, it wasn’t enough to satisfy Gatsby. It was not long before he had now sold his mansion and every last one of his possessions to feed his addiction. The self made man who earned millions crumbled into a nothing more than an addict. He had run out of money and needed more. The symptoms of the absence of his dust had been tearing him from the inside.
In desperation he crawled onto the doorstep of Tom Buchanan. It had been years since he’d seen him but he wanted to beg him for money; it was his last chance of getting just one more hit. Tom saw Gatsby in such a pitiful state and decided to show mercy to him. He brought the shell of a man inside and gave him a drink. Gatsby was in no mood for formalities; he wanted more money immediately. Daisy was in shock at seeing Gatsby’s state and locked eyes with him. Memories came rushing back to Gatsby and every ounce of love he felt for the woman turned to hatred. He blamed her for his current state, it was all her fault. Gatsby took the glass of liquor offered to him and drank it in a haste hoping that it could bring some form of consolation to the state of agony he was in. Gatsby locked eyes with Tom and begged for money promising he’d pay him back. Tom was firm that he would not feed his addiction further. Gatsby was enraged by this and began to yell at Daisy to give money instead. He claimed that it was all her fault and that she had ruined his life. Tom grabbed Gatsby and threw him out, he was light and easily thrown. As Gatsby hit the pavement outside he stared back at the doors shut on him and felt the rain pouring on him. It was cold and he was all alone in the worst state of his life. His aches worsened and he felt like his stomach was burning from the inside. He had never felt such a pain and soon it felt like it was enough for him to black out. Gatsby laid on the ground, barely able to breath, and took his final breaths. They were labored and he could feel his consciousness slipping away. All he could think in his final moments was about how Tom and Daisy had killed him. They had ruined his life, and now they had taken it. The last words he could utter were cursing out Tom and Daisy.
Holy Moly! This is crazy, Rameen. The plot of your story is so disturbingly good, like I would never picture my King Gatsby like that, but that's what makes your fiction stand out. Yet, Daisy is still as hateable as she has always been by not helping the man whose life she had destroyed, and incredible word choices "Dust of Salvation" I am borrowing that one lol. I would love a comeback of Gatsby though, so if Ms Valentino ever gives us another extra credit fan fiction blog assignment (which I hope he does) then I would love to see a sequel. Good Job Ramen!
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you used heroin as a representation of what chasing the American Dream would do to you. No matter how high you rise, it really shows that it only makes it so you can fall further. It truly is a disturbing look into the reflection, and it's almost as if the reflection had blinked back.
ReplyDeleteThis is quite a dark take for such a formal novel. It makes me believe that Wilson executing him would've actually been a better fate for Gatsby than this spiral of quick hits and the frying of his dopamine receptors. Yet, it effectively displays a way of coping after the loss of the greatest love of his life well enough for it to be a critique on the way we grief. This is an interesting and morbid interpretation on the way things could've unfolded for Gatsby.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting take Rameen on what would've happened if Gatsby didn't die. This is likely realistic to what would happen to a Gatsby in the modern day. It is interesting that Gatsby ends up dying in your fan fiction in the end anyway, and it truly shows that Gatsby's death was inevitable.
ReplyDeleteThis was a take that I did not expect, but it was nonetheless interesting. I really like that in the end of your version, Gatsby again died indirectly because of his love for Daisy. The fact that his love for Daisy is what started his heroin addiction parallels how his love for Daisy is what leads Tom to direct George Wilson into killing Gatsby.
ReplyDeleteThis is really disturbing Rameen. Good job! Like Nishitha, I liked the idea that Gatsby is doomed to die because of the effect Daisy that he let her have on him in every possibility. As for the story, I think it's pretty realistic, regardless of how grim it is. Maybe not heroin necessarily, but I agree that something would've always caused him to spiral after loosing her because he defined so much of himself around her.
ReplyDeleteRameen do you need to talk to someone. This is concerning. However the message is quite strong and well represented. This would probably be what would happen in modern times. Instead of guns we have drugs. The drugs are also a great metaphor for slowly killing the same way the American dream slowly killed and died.
ReplyDeletewhat a masterpiece
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