Read this quote:
"The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang form his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that—and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty." (Look up any unfamiliar words.)
Explain the following:
1. the Platonic conception
2. the effect of the Biblical allusion
3. the point about the nature of service
After interpreting this comment, connect it to this quote from the introduction:
"What foul dust floated in the wake of his dream."

Death

In the poem the speaker says, "The Carriage held but just Ourselves – " At the very beginning of the poem the speaker personifies Death. When she says, "Because I could not stop for Death - He kindly stopped for me". This idea that Death stops for the speaker, personifies Death and makes him a character in the poem. This means that "Ourselves" refers to the speaker and Death.

Some people have argued that since Death is personified, so is Immortality and therefore Immortality is also riding in the Carriage with the speaker and Death. However, this is not a widely accepted interpretation.