In chapter 7, everything is revealed. Gatsby makes the decision to end his annual parties because he no longer needs them to attract is dream girl, Daisy. He also decides to fire all of his servants because Daisy was paranoid that they might gossip about their secret relationship. Following this, Gatsby made the decision to hire new servants; "some people Wolfsheim wanted to do something for." This creates suspension because we still don't know what type of business Gatsby does with this man. By bringing Wolfsheim back into the story line, it foreshadows future events that may unravel Gatsby's true identity. One day during the summer, Daisy has a luncheon with Nick, Gatsby, her husband Tom, and Jordan. Although Daisy seemed uninterested in her daughter, Gatsby becomes uncomfortable when she walks into the room because she symbolizes a part of Daisy's past with Tom and not him. Later, after Daisy declares that she wishes for them to go into town, Tom witnesses a romantic exchange between Daisy and Gatsby, which he justifies as the two of them having an affair. Tom has now learned that he might not only lose his wife, he might lose his mistress as well (Wilson found out about his wife's affair and is planning on moving west with her). However, Tom knows that he cannot say much because he too is having an affair. This actually brings up a strategy Fitzgerald has been using throughout the book. We are presented with two different affairs; one between Tom and Myrtle and the other between Gatsby and Daisy. Ironically, Tom and Daisy are married to one another. Fitzgerald creates these affairs to show how personal desires and environmental factors create major similarities and differences between the two. We can conclude that Tom's affair is more spontaneous yet cynical. It appears that Tom uses her for his physical needs while being attracted to Daisy, which is why I believe he abuses Myrtle. With Gatsby's affair, he feels like he has accomplished his dream and therefore he has won. He will go through extravagant measures to hold onto it and ensure that his dream stays true because without it, Gatsby is unable to define himself (he corrupted himself to win her heart). When Tom threatens this, Gatsby attempts to save his dream by trying to get Daisy to admit she never loved Tom. At this point, Daisy's true character is shown. I think she used Gatsby has leverage to get back at Tom and to prove something to him (probably because of his affair with Myrtle) because she gave no intentions of leaving Tom. Following a fight between Gatsby and Tom, Myrtle is killed by a hit and run, which was foreshadowed when Nick said "so we drove on toward death through the cooling twilight."
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AuthorMorgann Granger |