The Great Gatsby: Chapter 7 Analysis
The communication of this invitation through Gatsby suggests initially to Nick that 'something was up'. The air tension is increased by Fitzgerald's use of pathetic fallacy: the weather is "Hot!...Hot!...Hot!" so that it, like the atmosphere in the chapter 'hovered on the edge of combustion'.
It is almost the last day of summer, appropriately. There is a feeling that the last chance for Gatsby; that the darker days of autumn and winter are on their way; that things are drawing to a close with the demise of the summer.
The telephone call received by Tom at luncheon (from Mrs.Wilson) adds to the air of expectancy and tension. It is also the first time the reader has seen all of the main characters of the play gathered together, adding to the idea that the climax is due soon. Daisy and
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Jordan's skin is powdered over, suggesting a papering over of cracks, and the falsity of the situation.
Nick contemplates 'the scalloped ocean and the abounding blessed isles', almost palpably desiring an escape.
Daisy's public kissing of Gatsby, suggests that she is ready to make the relationship public, but her 'clogging' on the fireplace suggests an almost hysterical desperation. Tom notes the change in the footing of their relationship, as Daisy exchanges apparently trivial comments that betray their intimacy : "you always look so cool". His response to this is an attempt to shield Daisy from Gatsby, by trying to have her travel in his car to New York. He clearly recognises that 'she had told him that she loved him'.
Daisy's 'presentation' of her child, Pammy, to Gatsby and the assembled company has striking effect upon Gatsby; she is concrete proof of the marriage between Tom and Daisy, inescapable evidence that Daisy has shared the last 5 years of her life with someone else.
Tom agrees to Daisy's suggestion that they go to town as a welcome distraction from the almost surreal scene that appears to be brewing at the house. As the girls prepare for the outing, Nick notes 'the moon hovered already in the Western sky', suggesting that time is again running out.
As Tom gets whiskey, Fitzgerald has Gatsby explain the irresistible allure of Daisy's voice: "her voice is full of money", This clarifies the whole moral stance of the characters in the text: drawn to the money in her siren's song. Nick thinks of her at this moment as " high in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl" in a vision that simultaneously draws together the multiple images of silver, gold and white that Fitzgerald has used throughout the text to suggest money and wealth.
The drive to town provides another opportunity for Gatsby and Daisy to be alone together as Daisy evades Tom's suggestion that he drive her 'in this circus wagon' - Gatsby's car. This description clearly demonstrates the contempt of the patrician for the vulgar display of wealth by Gatsby, the parvenu.
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