Chapter 7

The Great Gatsby

The beginning of the end…

• When Gatsby’s popularity is highest

• Stops having parties

• Cars still arrive/leave disappointed

• Allusion: Trimalchio - Trimalchio is a character in the Roman novel The Satyricon by Petronius. He plays a part only in the section entitled Cena Trimalchionis (The Banquet of Trimalchio). Trimalchio is a freedman who through hard work and perseverance has attained power and wealth.

• Breaks contact (with Nick)

Shady Characters

• Servant staff replaced• According to “[my] Finn”: “Gatsby had dismissed every servant in the house a week ago and replaced them with half a dozen others who never went into West Egg Village to be bribed by the tradesmen, but ordered moderate supplies over the telephone” (120).• Rude• The general upkeep of the house fell into disarray• Suggests people aren’t servants at all• Later revealed to be associates of Wolfshiem• Insinuates criminal activity• Rouses suspicion of Gatsby (by association)

Daisy “drives” everything…

• Gatsby tells Nick that he “…wanted someone who wouldn’t gossip. Daisy comes over quite often – in the afternoons” (120).• Simile: Compares the servants’ (Caravansary) dismissal to

collapse, similar to a house of cards• Caravansary - A group of people traveling together; a

caravan.• Weakness in structure – suggests weakness in Gatsby’s

façade?

• Gatsby calls Nick and invites him “at Daisy’s request” (120) to lunch at the Buchannans’• Nick suggests a previous conversation, a “harrowing scene

that Gatsby had described in the garden” (120) that foreshadows a scene later in the chapter at the hotel.

“Hot, hot, hot…!”

• The Buchanans’ house:• Weather Motif•Recalls weather in chapter 5 (rain/sun as a reflection of Gatsby’s mood)•Nick comments that “[t]he next day was broiling, almost the last, certainly the warmest of the summer” (121).• Heat = passion/anger• Foreshadows hotel room

confrontation

Mirror, mirror on the wall…• Parallel to the events in the beginning of the novel,

particularly chapters 1 and 2• The only difference is the presence of Gatsby• Implication that his presence makes no difference as other

(previously established) characters act in the same manner as they did earlier in the novel without knowing the title character.• Irony/Parallelism• Jordan and Daisy lying on the couch doing nothing; hot (bored) – Ch. 1• Tom on the phone with George (Myrtle) – Ch. 1• Jordan: “Rumor is that that’s Tom’s girl on the telephone” (122).

• Tom leaves the room to fetch drinks (George leaves the room to get chairs) – Ch.2

• Gatsby and Daisy knowingly kiss in front of Nick and Jordan (Tom and Myrtle knowingly suggest intimacy in front of Nick) – Ch. 2• “As he left the room again she got up and went over to Gatsby, pulled

his face down kissing him on the mouth” (122).• Daisy asks, “What’ll we do with ourselves this afternoon?” (125) similar

to her comment about “the longest day of year” – Ch. 1

“You absolute dream…”• Pammy – Daisy and Tom’s daughter• Only appearance is in chapter 7• Typically in the care of a nanny/nurse – common practice

that a (rich) mother would often see their children on a social basis and rarely be involved in the child’s daily life/care• Daisy treats her daughter as a possession (doll)

• Color Motif – dressed in white

• Constantly calling her “Bles-sed Precious” (123) instead of her name

• Calls her an “absolute dream” as if to imply that she doesn’t really exist

• “[W]anted to show [her] off” to her friends (123).

• Gatsby is stunned at her existence• Cements Daisy’s relationship to Tom• “Afterward he kept looking at the child with surprise. I don’t think he

had ever really believed in its existence before” (123).

I betcha mine’s bigger than yours!

• Conversation over drinks•Men attempt to show one another up• Tom attempts to “show off” • Sun• Bragging about his house (again)• Stables/garage conversation

•Gatsby points out his house across the water.• “I’m right across from you” (124)

“You look so cool!” – aka – “I love you!”

• Daisy admits her “love” for Gatsby/revealed to Tom• “She had told him that she loved him, and Tom Buchanan

saw” (125).• Tom discovers relationship through conversation• “You always look so cool” (125).

• Restrains emotion

• Continuing, Daisy compares Gatsby to “the advertisement of the man…You know the advertisement of the man” (125).• Symbol• Billboard – represents something appealing to look at• Make viewer desire object• Object often presented in a way that hides flaws• Encourages consumer to buy into impulsively

• Reflection of Daisy’s “love” for Gatsby• Like the way he looks• Immediately attracted to him• Does not see flaws in his wealth or his desire

“The Voice”…no, Xtina though…

•Decision to go to town• Tom discovers the affair but says nothing• Gatsby reserves his “play” out of respect

for Tom (not mutual?)• “I can’t say anything in his house old sport”

(126)

• Daisy: characterized (by Gatsby) as having a voice “full of money”• Nick: “that was the inexhaustible charm that

rose and fell in it, the jingle of it…”• Implication of material desire/wealth• Emptiness?

Car Trouble• Tom intentionally switches cars•= status symbol/wealth•Drug store comment – allusion to Gatsby’s criminal past•Refers to Gatsby’s car as a circus wagon• Insinuates gaudy/showy appearance• Lack of class/refinement• East Egg vs. West Egg sensibilities

• Tom’s car = Gatsby and Daisy• Gatsby’s car = Nick, Jordan, and Tom

Down in the Valley•  The Valley of Ashes

• Recurring Motif – (moral disapproval): “The giant eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg…”• Tom stops the car for Gas• Wilson’s station• Wilson – physically ill• Notices Gatsby’s car (driven by Tom)

• Informs Tom that he and Myrtle are moving west• Wilson has discovered Myrtle’s affair• “I got wised up to something funny the last two days” (130).

• Irony• Situational Irony – Tom and Wilson make parallel discovery of wives who are

cheating• Dramatic irony – Tom realizes that he is Myrtle’s lover; Wilson does not.• Dramatic Irony – Myrtle sees Jordan in the car and figures her to be Tom’s

wife.• Irony creates character foils• Tom and George = commonality = Myrtle• Tom (in sympathy) offer to sell and relocate

• Tom loses control• Used to getting what he wants:• “Tom was feeling the hot wisps of panic. His wife and his mistress, until an

hour ago secure and inviolate were slipping precipitously from his control” (131).• Precipitously – rapid, hastily or abrupt

Is it hot in here, or is it just me?

• Hotel Room Confrontation• Climax of novel?• Tom begins his attack on Gatsby as he defends her from Tom’s

“crabbing” comment followed by the discussion of ‘Blocks Biloxi’.• Dramatic Irony – as the argument rages upstairs, the sound of a

wedding reception can be heard coming from the floor directly below theirs. • Union (downstairs)• Breaking up (upstairs)

• Asks Gatsby if he attended Oxford.• “You must have gone there about the same time Biloxi went to New

Haven” (137).• Gatsby explains his attendance• Nick supports him over Tom• Why?• “I wanted to get up and slap him on the back. I had one of those complete

renewals in faith in him that I’d experienced before” 136)• Before – implication that Nick has been suspicious of Gatsby previously.

• Irony• Tom: “What kind of row are you trying to cause in my house anyhow?”

I agree, it’s pretty damn near sweltering...• Dramatic Irony: Myrtle• Tom is causing a “row” in his own house (with Myrtle)• He simply refuses to acknowledge this based on his own

superiority complex and his views of his wife and particularly Gatsby.

• Verbal/Dramatic Irony: Family Life• “Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family

institutions and next they’ll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between a black and a white” (137).• Tom’s family life is in shambles.• He and his wife are both having affairs• Their child is a possession to them• He abuses Daisy emotionally (and suggested that he does

so physically as well – Ch. 1)

• Nick notes the irony in Tom’s behavior when he mentions his change from “Libertine to Prig”• Libertine – someone who has a lack of moral restraint• Prig – concerned with the minute details (in this case of moral

and social behavior)

“She never loved you…”• Metaphor• “Flushed with impassioned gibberish he saw himself standing

alone on the last barrier of civilization” (137).• Tom is alone, and left alone to defend his honor!

• “I suppose you’ve got to make your house into a pigsty in order to have any friends – in the modern world” (137) – metaphor.• Separation of class• East Egg vs. West Egg

• Confrontation• Gatsby speaks for Daisy (confident)• “Your wife doesn’t love you. She’s never loved you. She loves

me…She never loved you, do you hear? She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved anyone except me” (137).

• Tom’s retaliation:• “Daisy loved me when she married me, and she loves me

now…and what’s more, I love Daisy too” (138).

• Gatsby’s challenge and the failure of his dream.• Forces Daisy to declare her position

The truth?• “Just tell him the truth – that you never loved him –

and it’s all wiped out forever” (139).•Daisy is reluctant to confront her husband• She fears the repercussions of her actions• Loss of wealth?• Loss of status?• Denying the truth vs. that of the ideal (appearances)?• “…she realized at last what she was doing – and as

though she had never, all along, intended doing anything at all. But it was done now. It was too late”

•Recognizes error of her statement/influence• “’I never loved him’ she said with perceptible

reluctance” (139).• Does not wish to follow through with Gatsby’s

intentions• Because she has her own?

“I dreamt a dream tonight…and so did I...that dreamers often

lie…”• Death of the American Dream?• Daisy’s reluctance shatters Gatsby’s dream/confidence• “Oh you want too much! I love you now – isn’t that

enough? I can’t help what’s past. I did love him once – but I loved you too” (140).• “You loved me too?” (140)• Continues the decline in Gatsby’s perception of Daisy

(dream)• Romantic idealism – downfall of 5 years worth of

planning, desire, and accomplishment

• Tom wins the fight• “She’s not leaving me! Certainly not for a common swindler

like you!” (140).• Recognizes Gatsby’s disillusionment • Daisy does not feel the same way• Embarrassment in front of others• Dream shattered

Seriously, it’s all Wolfshiem’s fault!• Tom attempts to discredit him in front of Daisy• “Who are you anyhow? You’re one of that bunch that hangs out

with Meyer Wolfsheim – that much I happen to know!” (141).• Drug stores = grain alcohol (prohibition)• Walter Chase – Tom’s friend, wronged by Gatsby

• Illegal betting• “You’ve got something on now that Walter’s afraid to tell me

about” (141).• Bonds (forgery)

• Daisy retreats into her own thoughts• Gatsby loses her before leaving the hotel• “…with every word she was drawing further and further into

herself” (142)• Tom forces Daisy to ride with Gatsby• Confident in his victory• Recognizes Daisy’s apprehension • Revenge a success?

• Magnanimously scornful attitude• Magnanimous – generous in forgiving an insult or injury

Dude, it’s your birthday? Bummer.

• Nick’s birthday• Jordan, Nick and Tom remain in the hotel room following Gatsby and Daisy’s departure.• Nick recalls that it is his birthday• “…I just remembered that today is my

birthday…I was thirty. Before me stretched the portentous menacing road of a new decade” (142-143).• 30 years old – as opposed to 20s – indicative of

maturity and adulthood• “Thirty – the promise of a decade of loneliness, a

thinning list of single men to know, a thinning briefcase of enthusiasm, thinning hair” (143).

• Jordan and Nick return to East Egg with Tom

The Wreck!• Flashback to Michaelis and his observations of George and

Myrtle’s domestic dispute• Descriptions of George as sickly• Myrtle locked upstairs• “Beat me! Throw me down and beat me you dirty little coward!” (144).

• Myrtle was killed by the “death” car.• Car – symbol of status and wealth• Irony? – Myrtle trying to achieve; her pursuit of the unattainable killed her

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------• Tom arrives at the garage• Irony - dramatic• Excited for a Wreck – hoping Wilson will get business• 2nd time Tom is sympathetic to Wilson’s situation• Earlier, he agrees to sell him the car.

• Recognizes Myrtle – distraught• Dramatic Irony (again) – she is killed by Daisy, a woman who despised her but

didn’t know who she was• Also, Tom’s problem of infidelity to Daisy has been resolved.

Myrtle’s Messy End• Through the police and witnesses, Tom learns that Gatsby’s car struck and killed Myrtle• Assumes that Gatsby was driving• Another reason to hate the man?

• Myrtle ran out into the street believing the car was driven by Tom (when he stopped at the gas station earlier in the afternoon (irony).• Tom – inadvertently the cause of Myrtle’s death?• Who is more at fault, Tom or Gatsby?• Labels Gatsby as a coward (ironic?)

• Wilson believes Tom struck Myrtle based on the car he was driving earlier in the afternoon.• Tom denies this • Nick and another bystander confirm Tom’s innocence.

No, Thank You!

• Return to the Buchanan house• Tom offers Nick supper; he declines• Jordan also attempt to get Nick to come inside; he declines• “Won’t you come in Nick?”(149).

• Nick’s conscience will not allow him to go inside• Sick of them all• Moral depravity• Lack of respect

• Begins to see them (the rich) as they truly are• Turns 30• Maturity• Begins to (outwardly) pass judgment• “I’d be damned if I’d go in; I’d had enough of all of them for one

day and suddenly that included Jordan too” (150).• Jordan is offended and runs inside• Nick will never see her again

Gatsby be creepin…• Gatsby is at the Buchanans’!!!!

• While waiting for the cab, Nick sees Gatsby hiding in the bushes• Speaks of wreck with detachment similar to that of Tom and Jordan • “I disliked him so much by this time…” (151).

• Opinion of Gatsby seems equal to that of the others• Nick learns that Daisy drove and inadvertently killed Myrtle• Gatsby chivalrously declares that he will take the blame for the

accident (he has the car to prove it!) • Tells Nick that he is waiting to make sure that Tom doesn’t “abuse” Daisy

any further• Waiting at window for “signal”• Room is empty• Metaphorically states – dream is empty – he has lost Daisy although he

refuses to recognize his failure• “I want to be here till Daisy goes to bed” (153).• “So I walked away and left him standing there in the moonlight – watching over

nothing” (153).

• Nick confirms this when he sees Daisy and Tom sitting at the table inside. • “They weren’t happy…and yet they weren’t unhappy either” (152).