Due: Thursday, May 7, 2009
Read chapter 8. Then, find a creative way to respond to the events of this chapter. Perhaps you want to analyze a line of text. Or, perhaps you want to discuss the "accident." Was it truly an accident? Perhaps you want to discuss Tom's reaction to what occurred, or Gatsby's.
I was interested in the passage in the beginning of chapter 8 that says: "He stretched out his hand desperately as if to snatch only a wisp of air, to save a fragment of the spot that she had made lovely for him. But it was all going by too fast now for his blurred eyes and he knew that he had lost that part of it, the freshest and the best, forever." I think that this passage shows that Gatsby is finally admitting that you can't repeat the past, because, like Nick says, it is lost forever. He knows that Daisy has changed now and so has he, and they'll never be that same happy, young, and in love, couple that they once were. He also mentions that it was blurred and fast when he left, Louisville and maybe that also relates to how, now, his relationship with the old Daisy seems fast and blurred. I think this passage in the text relates to and helps explain two other passages; 1st.:"He talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy. His life had been confused and disordered since then, but if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what that thing was. . . . " I think that after reading the passage in chapter 8, this other passage makes a lot more sense, because we see that the starting place might be Louisville, and that the thing he was looking for was Daisy, since it also says in chapter 8 that Gatsby thought when he was in Louisville that if he searched hard enough he could find Daisy, even thought he knew that she wasn't really there. The second thing that this passage reminded me of is when we first meet Gatsby, and he has his arms stretched out in front of him towards the green light of Daisy's house, trying to reach out to her.
ReplyDeleteI used to think that it was an accident, but now I am starting to think that it might not. If Daisy was in fact driving and she was just upset because of what just happened at the Plaza AND she saw Myrtle walking by, she might have had the impulse of hitting her with the car, as Daisy might blame her for everything that has gone wrong in her marriage, and she is using Gatsby to get back at Tom and not really because she loved him. If she truly did love Gatsby, she might've had the courage to leave Tom and go with Gatsby.
ReplyDeleteIn this chapter, Nick calls out to Gatsby, “They’re a rotten crowd, you’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.” Nick then replies to himself, “I’ve always been glad I said that.” This foreshadows the future tragedy of Gatsby’s death because Fitzgerald makes their conversation and phrases seem like their last goodbyes. This is the first time Nick compliments on Gatsby. Even Nick admits he never approved of Gatsby from beginning to end. This compliment is very sudden. It shows how much Nick cares for Gatsby inside. He reminds Gatsby that he is worth much more than “rotten crowd,” perhaps Tom, Daisy, and Jordan. When Jordan calls Gatsby later on, he expresses how he is uninterested in her. On the other hand, just after they hang up, he calls Gatsby’s house four times. Nick's actions and comments in this scene prove that he has an unknown compassionate side.
ReplyDeleteI chose to look at the VERY begging of the chapter because I believe it does many things for the rest of the chapter including giving Nick's opinion about what happened, foreshadowing, and a lot of symbolism. The passage was:
ReplyDelete"I couldn't sleep all night; a fog-horn was groaning incesanly on the Sound, and I tossed half-sick between grotesque reality and savage, frightening dreams. Toward dawn I heard a taxi go up to Gatsby's drive, and immediately I jumped out of bed and began to dress- I felt that I had something to tell him, something to warn him about, and morning would be too late.
The very beginning of this is very symbolic of the fact that Daisy is across the Sound because it says the fog-horn was groaning all night and this shows that the images of what just happened are symbolic, keeping him up and the horn could symbolized the things that happened earlier that nigh. He was also saying how he thought of what just happened as a night mare because he keeps coming back from sleep and awake, and both are just as bad because in his dreams he is thinking of what happened and when he is awake. He also says that when he heard the taxi coming up Gatsby's lawn he jumped up and got ready quickly as if he had to warn Gatsby of something. This is major foreshadowing because he feels as if something is going to happened but somehow Nick is going to be too late, this is very symbolic the way it starts the whole chapter with these images of someone needing to tell someone else of something very important yet not getting there quick enough and not know what it was.
I was interested in the passage on the fourth page of chapter eight: "I can't describe how surprised I was to find out I loved her, old sport. I even hoped for a while that she'd throw me over, but she didn't, because she was in love with me too. She thought I knew a lot because I knew different things from her...Well, there I was, 'way off my ambitions, getting deeper in love every minute, and all of a sudden I didn't care. What was the use of doing great things if I could have a better time telling her what I was going to do?"
ReplyDeleteIn this passage I feel that Gatsby was trying to convinve himself to leave the past. But then again, he has established a flirty/misleading relationship with Daisy which instantly makes him think about 'what it could have been.' His need to depart from the past shows when he says, "I even hoped for a while that she'd throw me over, but she didn't, because she was in love with me too." The wants/needs of Gatsby are inconsistent throughout the story, especially what he craves from Daisy. He hopes the she'll love him, but then again he hopes that there is still a challenge in getting her.
The interesting point in Gatsby's character is that he is incredibly calm even after he accidently killed Myrtle. However, I would say he was pretending to be calm at that moment just to keep his cold gentleman personality. The "real" tranquilty comes to him on Chapter 8 but not 7.
ReplyDeleteI agreed with Gabby that Gatsby finally decided to let Daisy go. I was interested in relating Gasby's status to his own house. "His house had never seemed so enormous to me as it did that night when we hunted through the great rooms for cigarettes." (pg.147) When we hold (or squeeze) something really tightly, it also means that we stifle that "something." Gatsby was being obsessive to Daisy and did not tend to let her go. Therefore, at that moment, his house looked stifling. (With an assumption that the author was relating his status to his house.) However, by saying "his house had never seemed so enormous," it infers that now his obsession decreased and became "really" stable.
"We pushed aside curtains that were like pavilions." (pt.147) I re-write this sentence into "We got rid of his fakeness or dreams (curtains) and then we saw the real world (the sky)." If we keep the curtains down, we'll not see the sky. And since the time setting of this scene is midnight, the sky (reality) might be dark and gloomy and not as wonderful as his curtains (dream feature) does. However, by pushing aside the fakeness, he could see the sun rise that will come in a close future. (Even though the "sun rise" might be something really tragic, he can at least move forward but not stuck on one place forever.)
"The rooms were musty, as though they hadn't been aired for many days." When you find out this dusty area in your house, it is not really a wonderful moment. However, if you keep it in dark, more dusts will be accumulated in that place. It infers that even though Gatsby look not wonderful now because of the spoiler Tom, this is the answer that he should have, and then he would get a chance to make the situation better.
"God knows what you've been doing, everything you've been doing. You may fool me, but you can't fool God!" I found it intriguing that the eyse of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg were brought back towards the end here. And how Wilson refers to the advertisments eyes as Gods. It also foreshadows the horrific ending of Gatsby and how wilson assumes he is Myrtles lover. Following up from my post yesterday, it doesn't surprise me in the least that Daisy never called Gatsby. When she gets scared she hides behind her money and this is no exception. She was the one driving the car too...yet gatsby is the one that ends up dead. what does that say about Daisy? And i wonder if Gatsby didn't care to die. His "American Dream" was crushed whats left for him?
ReplyDeleteI think that the scene where Gatsby and the gardener talk about emptying the pool is very symbolic and relates to the situation he is in with Daisy. In the passage before the gardener comes into the scene, Nick is describing the change of seasons, going into Autumn. This is describing all of the changes with Daisy recently and how the situation is coming to an end. When the gardener says that "the leaves will start falling soon, and then there's always trouble with the pipes," it reminded me of Tom. Tom being the leaves falling and getting in the way of Gatsby and Daisy.
ReplyDeleteAlso the line where Gatsby says, "You know...I've never used that pool all summer." (Page 153). This is him reflecting on the fact that he could have "made a move" on Daisy a long time ago, but instead he just sat back and did not worry about getting involved, even though it was right there and that is what he really wanted.
I was interested in the passage where Nick gives Gatsby a compliment and admits that he disapproved of Gastby from begining to the end. I think that Gatsby has inspired Nick and also changed his point of view towards the people from West egg. Nick did not regret what he said and was actually happy. Gatsby seems to be the one who lives in a dream, but he has a living soul that the "rotten crowd" do not have. He is someone who works hard to change his life and is much better than the people that spend all the money they inherited. Futhermore their life is empty and paralyzed.
ReplyDelete"'Nothing happened' he said wanly. 'I waited, and about four o'clock she came to the window and stood there for a minute and then turned out the light"
ReplyDeleteI think even though Gatsby may still be somewhat of a mystery to us we can tell one thing, that he is deeply in love with Daisy. He waits outside her house until four in the morning just to make sure that Tom doesnt hurt her. I also think this is one of the reasons why Daisy is leaning more towards Gatsby instead of Tom, because Gatsby does things like this when Tom only looks out for himself
I am confused by Gatsby. To question James' statement, we don't really get much of Daisy and jay's history. All we know is that Jay thinks Daisy is 'a nice girl.' Maybe he's was attracted by her riches, her beauty, her 'societal value', but I'm not sure those things are there anymore. Maybe he says at her window because he is thinking. He is just as rich as her now, just as desirable, and she is clearly troubled. I'm not sure he can tell between the real Daisy and his vision of her, or if Daisy can tell what she wants in life.
ReplyDeleteIn conclusion, I can only leave ellipses...
I am sort of leaning towards what Jorge said. That it could have been on purpose. But on the other hand, I'm not sure if she would have wanted to put everyone in that situation. But when you're upset and frustrated you don't really think about the consequences.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised by the reaction of Gatsby through the whole chapter or even before chapter 8. He left the hotel extremely upset with everything then he and Daisy kill Myrtle on the way, and he appears in front of Nick watching the lights of Daisy's house so calmly and he decides to swim in the pool. These strange behaviors and reactions of Gatsby is a mystery to the reader even though his background and his history is all mentioned by Nick. The readers know his past but nobody knows his present minds. But he is killed now. He leaves as a mystery to everyone.
ReplyDelete