Monday, February 7, 2011

The Great Gatsby: Ch. 5, pages 81-96

In the beginning of the chapter, Nick comes back home from a date with Jordan Baker and sees Gatsby walking towards him. At first, Gatsby desperately tries to make Nick happy with offers such as inviting him to go to his pool, but then Nick easily finds out Gatsby's real motive is to get him to arrange a meeting with Daisy, which he does. When Daisy arrives, both Gatsby and Daisy are completely nervous and can't speak well, but after Nick leaves them for a little while, both of them begin to talk like old friends. Gatsby, filled with confidence, invites Nick and Daisy over to his house, showing off his wealth to Daisy. At some point, Gatsby and Daisy completely forget that Nick is also with them, so Nick quietly sneaks out and leaves.

Character: Daisy

"'I adore it,' exclaimed Daisy. 'The pompadour! You never told me you had a pompadour--or a yacht.'" (Fitzgerald 93)

Daisy is an innocent woman who seems to follow men around easily. In the previous chapters, when Tom cheats in front of her, Daisy pretends nothing happened. Tom has full control of her and she just follows everything he wants. This is similar in Gatsby's case. Daisy also follows Gatsby around. In this chapter, each time Gatsby shows her something, she praises the object like it was gold.

Daisy's role in the novel is to cause chaos in an indirect way. She is the missing piece that ties the whole story together. Gatsby has his life centered for her, and inevitably, Tom and Gatsby are going to clash at any moment. Gatsby and Daisy love each other, and at the moment, Tom does not know that. Tom treats all his "possessions" like objects, and Daisy is also one of those objects. For such an egoistical man, it is horrid if another person took Daisy from his possessions, so there will be tension between Tom and Gatsby.

Quote:
" 'I did, old sport,' he said automatically, 'but I lost most of it in the big panic - the panic of the war.' " (Fitzgerald 90)

The quote again brings up if Gatsby is making everything up about his background. It seems that he already has an answer prepared for every loophole, or else he would not answer "automatically". Gatsby always quickens his answers when talking about his own past, which means that he could be lying. His past is still a mystery to the readers, and what he says is not a reliable source of information.

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