Gatsby Chapters 6 & 7

Identity Change:Who is Jay Gatsby?

“It was James Gatz who had been loafing along the beach that afternoon …but it was

already Jay Gatsby who borrowed a row boat…”

Symbolises his desire to forget lower class identity

recast himself as the wealthy man he envisions

James Gatz• James Gatz of North Dakota • son of poor farmers, whom he disowns• Dropped out of college at St. Olaf’s after

two weeks– didn’t think working as janitor was up to his standards

• Gatz was drawn to money and reinvented himself and altered his identity

• Becomes Jay, borrowing a boat to inform Dan Cody of treacherous winds. • reborn, fake, superficial to fit in

Power to Dream

“But his heart was in a constant, turbulent riot. The most grotesque

and fantastic conceits haunted him in his bed at night. A universe of

ineffable gaudiness spun itself out in his brain...Each night he added to the

pattern of his fancies. For a while these reveries provided an outlet for

his imagination; they were a satisfactory hint of unreality of

reality, a promise that the rock of the world was founded securely on a

fairy’s wing” (99).

Power to Dream• fantasies of wealth and splendor that

haunted his mind

• fantasies were a necessary part of his reality; an escape from his own dreary world.

• He founded his dreams on this unreality – dreams have to be based in reality to come true.

• He never had a chance when his foundation was constructed of “fairy wings,” not practical stone.

Dan Cody

• 50 years old

• Millionaire

• physically robust

• soft-minded

• entangled with a number of women that tried to separate him from his money

• the yacht represent “all the beauty and glamour in the world” (100)

Danger of Wealth

“Ella Kaye came on board one night in Boston and a week later Dan Cody

inhospitably died.”

• Text suggests Ella murdered Cody for his money, since it was she that inherited all of the money, even though it was meant to go to Gatsby.

• money is magnet for danger and dishonesty

• Dan Cody was a heavy drinker (perhaps his insobriety contributed to his downfall); it is because of Cody that Gatsby drank so little.

Gatsby’s New Behavior

• Having followed Cody in his exploits and observing his behavior, Gatsby’s education prepared him for lifestyles of the rich.

• The idea of a wealthy gentleman was no longer just a dream; now Gatsby knew how to behave and fit in

• He never got the $ that Cody meant for him, he made it himself – what does that tell us about Gatsby?

The Party

“I may be old-fashioned in my ideas, but women run around too much

these days to suit me. They meet all kinds of crazy fish.”

What does this tell us about Tom? His views on women?

The Party

• Unlike Gatsby’s other parties, it had aura of oppressiveness • with Tom’s vigilance, unpleasantness,

harshness.

• Tom’s brutality infuses the party atmosphere, alters dynamic

Daisy knows that he is separating himself from her to hit on women

Daisy“She was appalled by the West Egg, this unprecedented place that Broadway had

begotten upon a Long Island fishing village - appalled by its raw vigor that chafed under the old euphemisms and by the too obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along a short-cut from nothing to nothing. She saw something

awful in the very simplicity she failed to understand.”

What does this tell us about Daisy’s opinion of party?

Reliving the Past(110)

“I wouldn’t ask too much of her,” I ventured. “You can’t repeat the past.”

“Can’t repeat the past?” he cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!”

How do the quotes influence our feelings towards Gatsby?

Gatsby’s House

• “…The lights in his house failed to go on one Saturday night—” (113)

• Replaced his staff with people recommended by Wolfsheim; they can keep secrets

• No longer interested in throwing lavish parties because his goal has been accomplished

Pammy(117)

• Undeniable proof of Tom and Daisy’s physical relationship and past.

• In her presence, Gatsby cannot deny the love and attachment that existed between the married couple

• Shatters Gatsby’s dream of going back exactly to the way things were.

Tom Knows(119)

“You always look so cool,” she repeated.

She had told him she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw. He was astounded. His mouth

opened a little, and he looked at Gatsby, and then back at Daisy as if he had just recognized her as

some one he knew a long time ago.

• Tom notices the way that Daisy and Gatsby are looking at one another and realizes what has been going on between the two.

• Tom never imagined that Daisy would cheat on him - he thought that he had her under control.

George Wilson(123-125)

• Ill; run down

• He talks about saving money and moving West with his wife

“I just got wised up to something funny the last two days.”

• Locked Myrtle up in the apartment and is planning on moving (with the help of Tom and the car that Tom has promised to sell him).

Tom has lost control of Myrtle and Daisy

Setting the Scene

Hottest day of the summer; miserable and uncomfortable

“The room was large and stifling…” (126)

“…the compressed hear exploded into sound and we were listening to the portentous chords of Mendelssohn’s Wedding March from the ballroom

below” (127)

The confrontation

“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 any one except me!”(130)

• In Gatsby’s mind, his relationship with Daisy was true love and she couldn’t have possibly loved anyone else

• He needs to believe that Daisy never loved Tom in order for his dream to work.

• He wants to recover the past love they shared.

Tom and Daisy’s love?

“She does [love me], though. The trouble is that sometimes she gets foolish ideas in her head and

doesn’t know what she’s doing...And what’s more I love Daisy too. Once in a while I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I always come back, and in

my heart I love her all the time.” (131)

• Tom is willing take her back; also makes excuses for his own infidelity.

• It seems that Tom is actually willing to fight for her -- he realizes that neither one of them is perfect, that they both have faults, and he is willing to accept that if Daisy is.

• Theirs is a relationship based on realism, with both parties being aware of the other’s shortcomings.

Daisy’s decision“…she realized at last what she was doing - and as

though she had never, all along, intended doing anything at all” (132)

• She never meant to deny her past, she wanted to have it all - love, glamour, past, present, money, status.

• She initially says that she never loved Tom, but admits that she did love him, once.

“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.”

• She cannot live up to Gatsby’s expectations, he wants too much from her - no one can erase their past or deny their feelings.

• He loses her by asking for the impossible.

The Accident

“The ‘death car’ as the newspapers called it, didn’t stop; it came out of the gathering darkness, wavered tragically

for a moment, and then disappeared around the next bend…Myrtle Wilson, her life violently extinguished, knelt in

the road and mingled her thick dark blood with the dust” (137).

What really happened?

• Daisy was the one driving the car

• Myrtle ran out in the middle of the road to speak to them -- she had seen Tom in that car earlier and thought that it was him

• Gatsby willing to take the blame for the accident; will tell people that he was the one driving in order to save Daisy.

Nick’s Reaction…

• After experiencing the recklessness and tragic violence of the afternoon, Nick has had enough of the company of his friends

• He does not approve of their lack of morality and their dangerous lifestyles - they hurt themselves and others… lead a brutal existence that contains casualties.

Tom and Daisy are reckless together, understand and are willing to live with one another’s flaws. Gatsby wanted perfection and was left “watching over nothing” since nobody is perfect - everything and everyone is gone, even the illusions.