Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Chapter 7 Reader Response

I think that all is revealed in Chapter 7: Gatsby and Daisy's affair, Daisy's ultimate intentions, and Gatsby's desperate attempt to hold on to his "American Dream". All of these events quickly surface one after another, making this chapter fast paced and hard to keep up. When Nick, Jordan and Gatsby are invited to Tom and Daisy's house, it is quite obvious that Gatsby feels out of place and awkward. When Gatsby and Daisy make eye contact, Tom immediately recognizes that there is something going on between them and gets upset. I think that this is highly hypocritical of Tom to this think because he has a mistress and has been cheating on Daisy ever since their marriage. Nick observes that "[Tom's] wife and his mistress, until an hour ago secure and inviolate, were slipping precipitately from his control" (125). Tom is extremely possessive and likes to have everything under control.

Gatsby even admits to nick that Daisy's "voice is full of money" (120). Not only does Gatsby realize that Daisy's only interest is in his wealth, he also realizes that his "American Dream" (the dream of obtaining Daisy) is slowly slipping away. Gatsby has always deamt of reunitig ith Daisy as a passionate and dramative moment and this clearly did not happen.

Also in this chapter, Gatsby desperately tries to hold on to his dream of being with Daisy. Tom begins to interrogate Gatsby, demanding answers from him. When Tom asks Gatsby what kind of trouble he's trying to cause, Gatsby begins declaring Daisy's love for him and puts it all in the open. Gatsby, replying to Tom's question, cries "'Your wife doesn't love you. She's never loes you. She loves me'" (130). Gatsby is stuck in the past and still strongly believes that he can fix everything. Taking a step further, he also claims that Daisy is going to leave Tom for him. When Daisy interjects the screaming fight between Tom and Gatsby, she reveals that she loves both of them. When Daisy claims this, Gatsby's dream is ultimately crushed.

1 comment:

  1. I think it is interesting that many readers point out the hypocrisy of Tom for criticizing Daisy's affair, but not the hypocrisy of Daisy for having an affair. The way in which the book (and you) describe Tom as seeing both of his relationships slipping out of his control also applies to Daisy. Daisy sees that she can not continue to be with two men and breaks down. Whereas Tom seems to have remained loyal to Daisy in the end, and even to Myrtle by offering to sell his car to Mr. Wilson upon their decision to move, Daisy may not have the integrity to take care of both Tom and Gatsby. Personally, I think it more likely that she may turn on Gatsby, as Nick describes her as conspiring with Tom at the end of the chapter.

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