As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
- Maybe not on a first reading, but definitely on a second reading or when you watch one of the adaptations when you realize that everything Gatsby did for Daisy was for naught.
- When we see why Daisy didn't wait for Gatsby: Literally hours before Daisy's wedding to Tom, which she agreed to because she thought Jay was dead or abandoned her, she got a letter from him, reaffirming his love for her and asking her to wait for him until he became wealthy. She immediately has an emotional breakdown, ripping off her necklace (an engagement gift from Tom) and screaming at her family to "tell them Daisy changed her mind!". Next we see of her, she's sitting in the bath, having a huge bout of Heroic BSoD, and breaking up the pieces of the letter into the water while her family tries to stall for time. She then marries Tom, and you can just imagine how fake her smile is.
- When Myrtle dies. She seemed to genuinely believe that Tom would be able to save her from her situation, especially as we see Wilson shouting at her in the upstairs bedroom, with her staring desperately outside with teary eyes and a cut on her forehead.
- The deleted scene from the 2013 movie, with Gatsby's father going to his funeral. You can just see how heartbroken the man is over his son's death.
- If you've read the book before seeing the movie adaptations, it's likely even the happy scenes will make you cry. It's the knowledge that, as happy as Jay and Daisy seem, it won't last.
- Nick breaking up with Jordan. He and the reader both know it’s the right thing to do, but the way Nick puts it, you can’t help but feel a little bad for them.Angry, and half in love with her, and tremendously sorry, I turned away.
- The game, of all things, adds a particularly poignant scene. In the book, Nick returns to Gatsby's home one last time to gaze at that mythologized green light, just as Gatsby did. In the game, however, Nick, without explaining himself, actually goes out to the dock to see the green light up close - and indeed, it's just that. That sacred symbol of everything Gatsby ever wanted and cared about is laid bare as Nick gazes at something that has become mythical in its place: Gatsby's home, just as it crumbles to the ground like Rebecca's Manderley.
