Chapters 7-8
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Characterization
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Note throughout the story that
Daisy’s voice is her most
seductive and distinctive trait:
“an arrangement of notes that
will never be played again.”
In this chapter, her voice
symbolizes the American
Dream, in which wealth is the
greatest lure and the key to
happiness. Gatsby says, “It’s full
of money.”
Her voice is full of promises
and memories but has no
substance, just like Daisy.
Chapters 7-8
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Plot
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Jay insists that Daisy say not only
that she does not love Tom but that
she never has loved him.
Nick: “I glanced at Daisy, who was
staring terrified … (the)
presumptuous little flirtation over.”
This is the turning point in the plot.
Daisy decides to stay with Tom,
who cockily insists that Daisy and
Gatsby drive home together.
However, Gatsby clings stubbornly
to the now-dead dream that Daisy
will leave Tom.
Chapters 7-8
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Self discovery
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Nick turns 30: His growing
awareness of getting older
joins his sobering thought
that dreams cannot always
be preserved year after
year.
But his self-awareness is
still limited. If Nick is so
honest, will he reveal what
he knows about Daisy
driving the car?
Chapters 7-8
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Tragic force
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The tragic force in literature is
the event or force that starts
the falling action of a tragedy.
The “death car” took the
“tremendous vitality (Myrtle)
had stored so long.”
The falling action is set in
motion by Myrtle’s death,
which acts as the tragic force.
Her death propels Tom into
seeking revenge against Gatsby,
just as his affair with Myrtle
was the exciting force that
signaled the start of the conflict
in the rising action.
Chapters 7-8
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Characterization
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In chapter 8, we see the
roots of Gatsby’s
obsession with gaining
possession of Daisy.
He wants Daisy for her,
but she also personifies
the luxurious world he
longs to belong to.
Chapters 7-8
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“It amazed him – he had never been such a beautiful house before. But
what gave it an air of breathless intensity was that Daisy lived there – it
was as casual a thing to her as his tent out at camp was to him. There was
a ripe mystery about it, a hint of bedrooms, of gay and radiant activities
taking place through its corridors and of romances that were not musty and
laid away already in lavender but fresh and breathing and redolent of this
year’s shining motor cars and of dances whose flowers were scarcely
withered.” Jay’s reaction to Daisy’s house.
“The dark street lightened, the dwellings of the rich loomed up around
them, he stopped his coupe in front of the great white bulk of the Mortimer
Joneses’ house, somnolent, gorgeous, drenched with the splendor of the
damp moonlight. Its solidity startled him. The strong walls, the steel of the
girders, the breadth and beam and pomp of it were there only to bring out
the contrast with the young beauty beside him. It was sturdy to accentuate
her slightness – as if to show what a breeze could be generated by a
butterfly’s wing.” Dexter’s reaction to Judy’s house.
Chapters 7-8
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“They’re a rotten crowd…from
beginning to end” (162). Nick has
matured to the point where he no
longer holds back judgment in
deference to his father.
Nick can approve of Gatsby’s
fidelity to Gatsby’s dream of Daisy,
even though he disapproves of
everything Gatsby stands for.
Paradox: Nick’s ability to recognize
the complexity of human character
lets him recognize good and bad
aspects of Gatsby’s character.
Chapters 7-8
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Read the passage on p. 158:
“For Daisy was young …blown
by the sad horns around the
floor.”
This is Fitzgerald at his stylistic
best, creating a mood through
sensory details: “redolent of
orchids,” “the saxophones
wailed,” “a hundred pairs of
golden and silver slippers.”
Simile: “fresh faces drifted
here and there like rose
petals.”
Chapters 7-8
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Self discovery
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“I have an idea that Gatsby
himself didn’t believe …
fantastic figure gliding toward
him through the amorphous
trees.” (169)
Gatsby makes his strongest
case for the idea that some
illusions or hopes are
necessary to sustain the
human spirit.
Roses and sunlight are
grotesque in reality. Gatsby
has little reason to live if he
has given up hopes of
recapturing Daisy’s love.
Chapters 7-8
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The “ashen, fantastic
figure” in the trees?
The clue Fitzgerald
gives the reader is
“ashen.”
George Wilson, who
lives and works in the
valley of ashes, is on
his way – and then the
holocaust is complete.