In order to demonstrate your understanding of these themes and symbols, we have two questions for you:
1. Throughout the chapter, as mentioned, we see more emotional imbalances within the characters. Referring to the tensions we discussed in class (pink sheet), where do you see examples of these tensions, contributing to the imbalances?
2. How does the SUN and the heat of the sun relate to the abstract sense of time within the novel? What do you think that the heat represents?
Now it looks like we're all ready to talk about Chapter 7. Lots happens...
ReplyDeleteThe first of the tensions I am tracking in relation to emotional imbalances is that of cars vs. garden. The garden is an agrarian location, where alcohol and negative emotional outbursts are contained. As George commented previously, it is outside the garden that mishaps occur (notably with the first car crash). As such, it is a foreshadowing of events to come when, at the beginning of the chapter, "automobiles which turned expectantly into his drive stayed for just a minute and then drove sulkily away" (119). If those cars and their violence are not contained, it is out in the open. Not only that, but the cars enable their drivers to wreck more chaos than they ever could on their own. It is a product of industrialization that humanity has been enabled to kill of their own in massive quantities. This is shown with the “death car” (144). Whereas Daisy’s unease would have been tempered by the calming influence of the garden, the mechanized power of the car accelerated her decay. “God Damn coward! He didn’t even stop his car” (149). Daisy, though a ditz, would not have killed anyone earlier on. That was a judgment reserved for Gatsby. And yet, in the end, it is Daisy who does the killing, not Gatsby.
ReplyDeleteAnother instance of foreshadowing is when Gatsby fired all of his servants. The servants where the ones who kept his house running, enabling him to focus elsewhere. In their absence, Gatsby’s house tumbled into disorder. And yet, Gatsby found that isolation superior to the previous community feel of his parties. For, he “’wanted someone who wouldn't gossip. Daisy comes over quite often'" (120). Gatsby is drawn simultaneously to isolation and community. While he wants to keep prying eyes out, he at once desired to be close to Daisy, and this tug of war threatens to pull him apart.
I saw light vs. dark and the sun/heat as being connected topics, seeing at light = heat and dark = cool. Looking at it in this manner, I saw that it is the absence of light which first draws attention to Gatsby’s change. “It was when curiosity about Gatsby was at its highest that the lights in his house failed to go on one Saturday night" (119). Gatsby’s house was previously always lit up, a testament to the vivacity of his character. When those lights go out, it shows the obsessive nature his life has assumed. Whereas life is bright and warm, Gatsby’s house is “shadowed well with awnings…dark and cool" (121). The contrast between the common perception of liveliness and the almost cave-like conditions Gatsby has reverted to show the mounting instability in his character.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it is interesting how, while heat is essential to life, too much becomes harmful. In this chapter, the heat does appear to be in excess. “In this heat every extra gesture was an affront to the common store of life” (121). This shows the innate instability of the situation, that it was so out of control that it went against the very tendencies of life, which would be to remain “stagnant in the heat” (124). The intelligent, rational decision would be to fix the problem without letting it come to blows (literal or figurative). And yet, it is in this chapter that “they were out in the open at last” (136). Gatsby confronts Tom about Daisy while in New York, and though it is said that “it’s too hot to fuss” (126) and Nick says that “We were content to let all of their tragic arguments fade with the city lights behind” (143), the emotional imbalances of the story still manage to bubble up to the surface. “Her voice struggled on through the heat, beating against it, molding its senselessness into forms” (125). It is as if nature herself is in opposition to any of this happening, but the characters have already instigated events.
The events of this chapter were bound to happen, for, like a machine set in motion, there was no stopping them.
The biggest emotional imbalances in chapter 7 were undoubtedly seen in Tom, Gatsby, and Daisy.
ReplyDeleteI felt that Tom and Gatsby had a major shift in roles. Though at first Tom's lecturings of Gatsby are humorous due to his blatant hypocricsy, like when he says, "Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions," completely ignoring the fact that he's been committing adultery and has displayed clear neglect of his child, Tom soon shows a different, lighter side (Fitzgerald 137). When Tom starts to plead with Daisy as she tries to end their relationship, his tone is described as having a "husky tenderness," and Tom finally shows real signs of humanity (139). Then at the end of the chapter, as Tom watches them at the dinner table, he says that, "They weren't happy...and they weren't unhappy either," that there was an air of "natural intimacy" surrounding them, and that anyone would say that they were "conspiring" together (152-153). While this sudden change in Tom's character has made itself known, we see an opposite change in Gatsby. When Daisy asks Gatsby, "...how could I love him...?" Gatsby tells her, "You never loved him," suddenly displaying a controlling nature within himself (139). Then, one Daisy admits that she did feel love for Tom, Gatsby then says that he wants to speak with Daisy alone, and that, "She's all excited now," acting as if he's her master and must drag her away from the situation (140). When Nick realizes that Gatsby and Daisy had a hand in Myrtle's death, he states that he already disliked him so much "by this time," showing that he too has observed the change in Gatsby's character (151). Lastly, the closing sentence of the chapter reflects Gatsby's change. Nick says, "So I walked away and left him standing there in the moonlight - watching over nothing," alluding to the previous passage on page 60 in chapter 3, when Nick notices Gatsby bathed in moonlight, waving goodbye to his guests (153). While in that instance, Gatsby was watching over his guests, this time Gatsby is "watching over nothing" indicating the obvious change in him that's taken place.
Throughout the chapter, I think heat is emphasized to stress the way certain tensions cause and create emotional imbalances. Heat seems to be given a negative connotation, as it makes circumstances uncomfortable, and often unbearable. With the addition of heat, people often seem to be strained of energy and logic. “As my train emerged from the tunnel into sunlight, only the hot whistles of the National biscuit company broke the simmering hush at noon…the woman next to me perspired delicately for a while into her white shirtwaist and then, as her newspaper dampened under her fingers, lapsed despairingly into heat with a desolate cry” (Fitzgerald 121). Fitzgerald further explains the effect of heat on people’s decisions in the next paragraph. “That anyone should care in this heat whose flushed lips he kissed, whose head made damp the pajama pocket over his heart” (121).
ReplyDeleteThe portrayed effect of heat on people in this chapter reminded me of Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. If people are taken out of their comfort zone (or safety needs), all they are able to focus on logically is survival and safety needs. Therefore, they cannot logically consider or properly fulfill psychological needs, self actualization, and peak experiences. This withholds a person’s sense of logic. Although the characters in the novel are not literally in the presence of heat always, there is tension present, which I believe strips them of logic. Some of these tensions include time and perspective. Fitzgerald utilizes the sun and seasons to describe these two tensions. “‘I read somewhere the sun’s getting hotter every year…It seems that pretty soon the earth’s going to fall into the sun- or wait a minute-maybe it’s just the opposite-the sun’s getting colder every year’”. I’m not exactly sure what the meaning of this quote is but I knew it was significant because it is a contradictory statement, which most likely represents the tension of time and perspective. I think it has to do with the way time alters perspective or perspective alters time? If anyone has a better idea, feel free to add. Also, Fitzgerald seemed to characterize heat mortally. “‘Don’t be so morbid,’ Jordan said. ‘Life starts all over again in the fall’” (125). I thought this claimed that irrationality occurs periodically through one’s lifetime, and possibly people are reborn when they gain logic? Or maybe people learn to fulfill their lives once they gain logic, and not eternally strive to achieve something which will always be out of reach, like Gatsby.
Here are more quotes that support my idea:
ReplyDelete“He felt the hot, green leather of the seat. ‘I ought to have left in the shade’” (127).
“Tom was feeling hot whips of panic. His wife, and his mistress, until about an hour ago secure and inviolate, were slipping precipitately away from his control” (131).
“‘The thing to do is forget the heat’ said Tom impatiently. ‘You make it ten times worse by complaining about it’” (133).
“‘Imagine marrying anyone in this heat!’” (134).
“So we drove on toward death in the cooling twilight” (143).
I know this does not directly relate to the concept of heat, but I would just like to point out a quote that Ms Parrish has mentioned recently in class. "'Shes got an indescreet voice, I remarked. 'It's full of.... I hesitated. 'Her voice is full of money, he said suddenly. That was it. I'd never understood it before. It was full of money--that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbal's song of it... High in a which palace the king's daughter, the golden girl..." (127). This quote (referring to Daisy's voice) I feel reveals quite a lot about Gatsby's perception of Daisy and her character in general. it also connects to the activity we did in class today. I came from the group looking at music and rhythm, and I noticed many words that related to sound or music. Is Gatsby attracted to Daisy BECAUSE her voice sounds like money? What about Daisy makes Gatsby so determined to be with her? Does he even want to be with her, or does he prefer the idea of it better? Okay sorry I just really needed to bring that up, now onto the characters.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kaare that the biggest emotional imbalances exist between Gatsby and Tom and Daisy. I feel as though Daisy is indecisive in this chapter, the word 'love' is thrown around very loosely, and the fights between Tom and Gastby show how simply they interpret the situation. "Your wife doesn't love you. She never loved you. She loves me." (137) The scene that unfolds after this quote releases quite a bit of tension between characters, and figuratively represents heat in the ways of anger and disagreement between characters. Also, to go off of Taylor's idea, note that a byproduct of light is heat, and these two ideas go hand in hand, as seen in the quotes Nicole used. The argument in the scene is rather obnoxious, and I was not pleased with the actions and reactions with any of the characters, but I feel as though Fitzgerald made such a big point of elaborating and incorporating this scene shows the shallowness of the society and status of Tom Daisy and Gatsby
Wow... this was a long chapter. Anyways, since my topic in class was the effect of color and lighting in descriptions, and since nobody has yet actually commented on this (where is everyone?) I will proceed by citing instances of this technique and the way it affects the text.
ReplyDeleteAs Nicole mentioned before, lighting is used to show the harsh sunlight in the beginning of the chapter, "As my train emerged from the tunnel into the sunlight, only the hot whistles of the National Biscuit Company broke the simmering hush at noon" (120). I feel that this heat and bright light foreshadows the heated tension that is to follow in the group's trip to the city. It is a state of uncormortably bright light and extreme heat, which is symbolic the the discomfort that will eventually be experienced by the characters. Another quote that I found (which has also been mentioned already) was "So we drove on toward death through the cooling twilight" (143). The image of twilight is dark, yet somewhat light, as it immediately follows a sunset, and I feel that this ties into the notion of time in a way that compares the journey of life to the time in a day. It is asserting at how short life is, and uses twilight as a symbol for the last moments of a day, or in this case life.
One quote that really caught my eye took place when Gatsby walked out of the bushes at the end of the chapter. "I must have felt pretty weird by that time because I could think of nothing except the luminosity of his pink suit under the moon" (150). My opinion is that this image of a glowing pink suit in darkness is used to show how lonely Gatsby is at that very moment in the world and in love. Pink resebles love, and I think that the contrast of his suit to the darkness shows how alone his love is after the fiasco in New York.
One last thought. There was one quote that I think relates a lot to our discussion in class. "'Her voice is full of money,' he said suddenly" (127). I think that this really shows how materialistic Daisy is, as even her voice can be compared to a sound of money.
Nicole, your connection between the heat's effect on people and Maslow's hierchy of human needs is so good! In addition to what you were saying about how the heat effects the characters' logic, i think it is interesting how the characters cope with the heat: drinking excessively. Even though you were saying that the characters lose their rationality in the heat, their means of relief (from heat and tension within discussion) is getting drunk: "We drank in long greedy swallows."(124) "We had luncheon in the dining room, darkened, too, against the heat, and drank down nervous gayety with the cold ale." (125). Drnnking results in distorted perspective and a lack of rationality. I guess what i'm really trying to say is that these people are just generally irrational and ridiculous whether hot or cool, drunk or sobor. Between Tom's outlandish theory about the sun becoming cooler, Daisy's unbelievable behavior in the hotel room (we see how messed up her marriage is, Tom is openly having an affair, yet she still cannot say she doesn't and hasn't loved Tom) and her hit and run, this chapter works in excess to present the irrational behavior of these characters. Daisy is shown as the most emotionally imbalanced in this character by the fact that she is deciding between Gatsby and Tom and eventhough she drives away with Gatsby, as i mentioned before, she is indecisive about who she really wants to be with--she feels guilty about going with Gatsby. The most aparent symbol of Daisy's imbalance was the observation of the moon in the day time: "A silver curve of the moon hovered already in the western sky. Gatsby started to speak, changed his mind, but not before Tom wheeled and faced him expectantly." (126) (I know this quote does not directly involve Daisy but bare with me). I think this display of the moon has a lot to do with what Kaare was saying about Gatsby's change. Thus far we have seen Gatsby and the moon interact(?) at night but not during the day. While this sentence stands out, it is the following sentence about Tom wheeling around expectantly that involves Daisy. Tom's action demonstrates his understanding of the situation. It is the understanding of Daisy's affair with Gatsby that leads him to make the sudden, drastic accusations in the hotel room. Daisy is surprised by the accusations--denying them and trying to defuse the situation the best she can. However, even though she has the chance to just go with Gatsby (!) she chooses Tom because she is afraid. I think the quote i presented displays Daisy's imbalance because it illustrates a change in Gatsby by showing the moon, and shows Tom's awareness of the situaton which scares Daisy and causes her indecisiveness and emotional confusion. I hope that wasn't too farfetched.
ReplyDeleteBeat me to the punch Kara. And I agree that it also shows Gatsby's perception of her, and feel that maybe he is somewhat attracted to this notion of money in Daisy, as he can relate to it.
ReplyDeleteBut, just to be clear--the money quote is Nick talking about Daisy (which may connect to something else we talked about in class today... Nick somehow knowing Gatsby's inner-most thoughts and/or being in synch with Gatsby's doubts, dreams, secrets, etc.)
ReplyDeleteI second Eric's excitement for Nicole's idea!
ReplyDeleteSorry for posting so late, but seeing as how it is my birthday I think I should be allowed a little bit of leeway…just kidding. This being said, that is a ton of information in one chapter. Luckily, even though the setting ranges from a gas station to town, to Daisy’s house, one thing remains constant; friction. There are notions of friction throughout this entire chapter, from page 119 to page 153 friction is evident in almost every sentence.
ReplyDeleteEven when Steinbeck is discussing the weather, the heat that he describes is related to the friction between everyone in the lunch group. Almost every party in this chapter is in a scuffle with another one except for Jordan who (correct me if I’m wrong), remains a pretty innocent third party. These tensions between Gatsby and Tom are realized from the first page of the chapter when the reader realizes that they were going to be in such close proximity. “’I read somewhere that the sun’s getting hotter every year,’ said Tom genially” (Fitzgerald, 124). Not only the fact that this sentence talks about heat, but also the way that tom says it adds to the notions of friction in this chapter. Tom states more as an over whelming fact, then as a contribution to the conversation. It seems form the reader’s perspective that he is already trying to prove someone wrong, which is clearly causing friction between him and Gatsby. “’Open another window,’ commanded Diasy, without turning around. ‘There weren’t any more.’ ‘Well then we’d better telephone for an axe..’” (Fitzgerald, 133). Words like “commanded” and “axe” obviously imply and support the notions of friction and battles throughout this chapter.
Sorry if this is really poorly written, but I'm trying really hard to post before 1000. Also, sorry if I re-used quotes, I didn’t have time to check what had already been claimed.
My Bad.
whaddup 9:59 post!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to our own Lord Byron.
ReplyDeleteIM COMING!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteHaha, well that took me way longer to read than I expected…
ReplyDelete10:01 YES!
To add to Taylor's point about the heat and the "innate instability of the situation that it was so out of control that it went against the very tendencies of life", I think it's also important to note that the awful extremity of the heat is portrayed as inescapable in the chapter: "opening the windows admitted only a gust of hot shrubbery from the park" (133), Nicole's quote-“‘The thing to do is forget the heat’ said Tom impatiently. ‘You make it ten times worse by complaining about it’” (133), and also the fact that Daisy counters Jordan's remark of “‘Imagine marrying anyone in this heat!’” (134), with "I was married in the middle of June...somebody fainted", it's as if Daisy is saying she indeed did get married in this heat, or else she is trying to convey that her wedding provided an atmosphere hot enough for someone to faint in, and perhaps that she hasn't escaped the sensation of heat, or its followed her, ever since.
Going off of that, I think it is clear that the heat creates lots of tension in the chapter. If the heat is inescapable, then perhaps the tension is too, or as Taylor said, it was “bound to happen”. I agree with you Nicole, that the heat is emphasized to stress the way certain tensions cause and create emotional imbalances in characters and the mood of events. I think this chapter is just another example of how atmospheric descriptions/imagery create tension and contribute to greater meaning within a story. As several instances of heat creating tension have already been pointed out, there are also a couple of instances where the absence or the dwindling of the heat releases or begins to diminish tension. For example, as Kaare pointed out, we see the more human and lighter side of Tom in this chapter, and just after a “a change” comes over Tom and he begins speaking to Nick “gravely”, Nick and Tom walk across the “moonlit gravel” to the porch where the “situation” is “disposed of in a few brisk phrases” (149). Also, when Gatsby stands peering into Tom and Daisy’s home at the end of the chapter and the day, when the tension has seemingly calmed, Gatsby is described as “standing there in the moonlight-watching over nothing” (153). The atmosphere/ or the mood of the scene that we usually take from descriptions of “moonlight”, to me feels calmer and even peaceful in some ways, and is opposed to the tension that the “oppressive heat” (128) creates throughout the majority of the chapter.
This is very odd, it appears as if my previously posted response for whatever reason did not want to post...I guess I'll have to try again.
ReplyDeleteIn this chapter, I see a clear indication of the correlation between the tensions of heat vs. cold and love vs. suspicion/hate.
For example, the scene in the train to Tom's where a woman drops her handbag and Tom swoops down to retrieve it - but makes completely sure to hold the bag by the least amount of skin possible in order to "indicate that I had no designs upon it - but everyone near by, including the woman, suspected me just the same," (Fitzgerald, 121). In this example, we see the clear effect that the Fitzgerald appears to be painting of the heat. This aura of suspicion and hate, of course, later transfers to Tom when he first realizes, and then accuses Daisy of infidelity.
Similarly, we clearly see the effect of heat on people's perception of love and hate as Daisy is constantly panicking, hoping to get out of the room whenever the subject of "love" is talked about. "I glanced at Daisy who was staring terrified between Gatsby and her husband...'Please, Tom! I can't stand this any more,'" (141). This, in turn, lead to the idea of the heat affecting Daisy's panicky reaction when she hit Mrs. Wilson ("Daisy stepped on it," (151)).
But what this amounts to is the question that has bothered me for a little while now - why is it that Fitzgerald associates negative terms (hate, suspicion) with the bright, beautiful sun, yet associates well-being ("'She'll be all right tomorrow,'" (151)) with the dark, mysterious night?
In my opinion, I believe that Fitzgerald does this in order to show that the characters are generally more preoccupied with the intangible and the idyllic rather than the present. In other words, many of the characters prefer the night because it hides the imperfections that the day might bring and allows them to dream of what could be and what may be. On the other hand, the day brings into harsh light (and heat) the significance of what does not want to be believed - whether this be that Daisy is having an affair or that Daisy does in fact love Tom or even that Gatsby was not really an "Oxford man".
In reading Eric's response including Nicole's ideas, my perspective of the chapter, is entirely supportive. I absolutely agree on the importance of the heat to show the imbalance of these characters, which makes them drink more, as Eric says. "Even though you were saying that the characters lose their rationality in the heat, their means of relief (from heat and tension within discussion) is getting drunk" (Eric).
ReplyDeleteTo move in a slightly different direction than the colors as a reference of imbalance, i was looking a lot at which characters I considered balanced/stabled, and those characters who I considered unstable. For example, I agree with Kaare's idea that Tom, Daisy and Gatsby are the three most unbalanced characters, due to their constant shift in personalities, and so-called-facts about the past which they have lived. On the opposite side from that idea, I believe that Jordan is the most stable character in the book, followed by Nick. However, I am uncertain whether I can consider Nick to be a stable character, because this novel is narrated by Nick, therefore it is his perception of himself, meaning that he may not be as stable of a character as he seems.
Jordan on the other hand, is often looked upon by Daisy in order to find support, guidance and comfort during this uneasy chapter between the two men and Daisy. In this chapter, Fitzgerald writes, "I glanced at Daisy who was staring terrified between Gatsby and her husband, and and at Jordan, who had begun to balance [the] invisible" (Fitzgerald 134)
Also, to comment on the blogs themselves, Nicole and Kaare used some really great quotes in their blog tonight that I believe truly represented the chapter and helped support their opinion of the main question.
This question is not just to Brooke but to everyone: what exactly do you mean by imbalance?
ReplyDeleteYou are all prolific posters!
ReplyDeleteImpressive dialogue. I can’t help myself…
Chapter six closes with the passage we worked on in class today. Much of the final three paragraphs are enveloped by images of coolness – autumn, evening, solitude, etc. Chapter 7, by stark contrast, is “broiling.” Perhaps this tension reflects Fitzgerald’s attitudes towards the past and the present. At the very least it is reflective of the true nature of Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship. Their relationship is based on consumption – they are not “in love” with each other per se – they cannot be because they consume all they come in contact with. They are like locusts.
Consider the end of chapter six where Nick tells us of Gatsby, “[he] could suck on the pap of life, gulp down the incomparable milk of wonder.” Further, when he kisses Daisy, he “forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath.” Physical love between Gatsby and Daisy is limiting. When Gatsby kisses her, “[his] mind would never romp again like the mind of God.” Therefore, Gatsby needs to own Daisy – he cannot love her.
For her own part, Daisy knows not how to love either. She knows that she is merely a commodity to be possessed and abused. If not, why else would she be with Tom?
It is the searing heat of chapter seven that the exposes this. As many of you have noted, it is the heat that exposes the tension in the characters and fuels their recklessness.
Love - lacking physical love - based in consumption and ownership is unbalanced.
Ms. Parrish... I sort of just got home. Wow. I feel like I've said that a lot in the past few days but I'm like dead so can I just post tomorrow? or... today?
ReplyDeleteWhat about these lines:
ReplyDelete"The master's body!" roared the butler into the mouthpiece. "I'm sorry Madame but we can't furnish it--it's far too hto to touch this noon"
What he really said was "Yes.... Yes.... I'll see."