Chapter Six and Seven

English Literature Homework
Reading Journal - 'The Great Gatsby' Chapter Six and Seven

Chapter Six
We learn a lot about Gatsby's history at the start of the chapter, the true reason for Gatsby's wealth and past. The fact that Gatsby shares the truth to Nick suggests a bond of trust starting to form between the two of them. As the novel portrays lack of friendship, considering the events at the end, it might not have been full-proof but this could have been the start of Nick's, if not friendship, mutual respect with Gatsby. After Nick narrates Gatsby's true history, he says 'I've put it down here with the idea of exploding those first wild rumours about his antecedents, which weren't even faintly true'. Nick starts to get rid of the doubts and the confusion about this mysterious man. The language used like 'wild' and 'exploding' also suggests that now that Nick knows the truth, he thinks the rumours were absolutely preposterous. Gatsby's character is more clear to us at this point.

However, after not seeing Nick in several weeks, Gatsby comes across him again but this time, Tom Buchanan is present. Gatsby even invites him to his next party. He seems both aggressive towards him (p.109 'continued Gatsby, almost aggressively') and also interested to spend more time with him (p.109 'he wanted to see more of Tom'). This could be for self-assurance. He can't help but be a little aggressive because Tom is the reason why it's difficult for him to get Daisy back but he also wants to know what Daisy could possibly like about him and most likely, prove that there was nothing special about him. He wanted to be assured that he is a better person, a better character than Tom will ever be and therefore, a more worthy husband to Daisy.

Tom's arrogance comes through again at the party. The fact that people are illegally drinking at a huge party and that Gatsby is too polite to object to uninvited party crashers intrigue him (p.115 'I'd like to know who he is and what he does'). The ideology of classes comes through. The fact that they're doing something illegal at a huge venue and there are no authorities suggest that the higher class can get away with almost anything through the right contacts or through money and paying people off. Tom probably wants to prove to Daisy or whoever else who would care to listen, that Gatsby shouldn't be relied on. This could be out of jealousy or just out of sheer arrogance, wanting to prove himself a better man, which you could argue makes him and Gatsby alike in one way.

We also get a clear view of Gatsby's real affections toward Daisy. Gatsby tells Nick that he 'wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: "I never loved you"'. He is determined to 'fix everything just the way it was before'. He sounds so sure of himself that he can re-write the past through starting off with a new future with Daisy. This could be because he is blinded by love but he is clearly stuck in the heartbreak he felt in the past when Daisy couldn't wait for him so it could also be because he is blinded by pain. Maybe he wants to prove that he is good enough and he just came to her life at the wrong time.

He cannot bear the disappointment and the crumbling of his self-esteem when she married someone else that he spent the rest of his time building up to the time when he would meet Daisy and not hopefully but surely get her again. This could be perceived as selfish and naive at the same time. He is only thinking of himself. Tom isn't a great person himself and no woman deserves to be cheated on but in my opinion, Gatsby is just as bad to not care who he tramples on to get what he wants.

Chapter Seven
The series of events in this chapter are increasingly important in the novel. First of all, we get another insight to Nick and Gatsby's relationship. A stronger bond is again portrayed as Nick worries about Gatsby and checks on him when he stops seeing Gatsby for a while and when he also notices the abrupt halt of his weekly parties. We find out that Gatsby hires new servants and fires all his old once for the petty reason of Daisy's frequent visits to his home. He didn't want rumours spread. Again, this gives us a view of how the higher class can act, how they can get away with anything and how they can do anything without thinking of the consequences it may bring to other people, especially his servants as the lower class.

The theme of secrecy crops up in this chapter, secrecy that is lost. Tom Buchanan finally realises that Daisy loves Gatsby, and his usually poor temper begins to get the best of him. Tom decides they are all going to New York City, then declares he will drive Gatsby's yellow car. When Tom orders Daisy to come with him she refuses, going alone with Gatsby in Tom's blue coupe. This is very stupid of Daisy as it will just make Tom even angrier than he already is. She lets her feelings get the best of her without thinking of the consequences. Also, Wilson declares that he is moving west with his wife immediately as he has also found out of her unfaithfulness, just not with whom. Finally, Nick notices Myrtle watching them with 'jealous terror' from a window, as she mistakenly presumes Jordan Baker to be Tom's wife. Myrtle probably thinks that the secrecy about Tom's wife had, at that time, been revealed to her.

Also, the secrecy that surrounded Daisy and Tom's baby is finally revealed. 'I don't think he ever really believed about its existence before' Nick says, talking about Gatsby. The fact that the word 'its' was used suggests that the little girl wasn't shown enough to be of any importance. She's constantly hidden throughout the novel, as if the happenings and the events do not affect her and as if she isn't exposed. This is arguably unfair as her parents' relationship and the fact that she has to have a nanny because her parents don't look after her enough, surely affects her. Her lack of appearance in the novel suggests that she was purposely not exposed to Nick, and to everyone else by the looks of it. This again reflects upon Tom and Daisy's selfishness. They are so self-involved and wrapped up in their own lives that their kid is nothing more than abandoned. Their plans don't revolve around her but around each other and other people.

Tom, pride wounded by his wife's affair, makes several unsuccessful attempts to insult Gatsby when they are in New York. Gatsby responds by saying Daisy doesn't love Tom, and that she only married him because Gatsby was too poor. This again reflects on Gatsby's firm belief that wrong timing is the sheer reason as to why he couldn't have Daisy and now that his status is stable, he can have her for sure. He had no doubt about that. His certainty once again borders naivety.

Tom loses his temper and insists Daisy once loved him and still does. Gatsby is trying to get Daisy to say she never loved Tom and that she's leaving him, and Tom on the other side declaring Daisy's not leaving, leaving Daisy in the middle, acting helpless and wanting to escape the situation. Finally, Tom tells Daisy and Gatsby to drive back in Gatsby's car, taunting him that he must realize 'his presumptuous little flirtation is over'. Tom obviously does not think that Daisy would leave him for her, again his arrogance comes through. He is so sure of himself when it comes to Daisy. This concludes to the fact that when it comes to Daisy, Gatsby and Tom both have a lot in common following from the comments I made about chapter six.

That same night, George Wilson has Myrtle locked up in their room, where he plans to keep her until they move west. Myrtle escapes, however, but when she rushes out into the night she gets hit by a 'big yellow car' that doesn't stop. On their drive home, Tom, Jordan, and Nick come upon the crowd gathered outside Wilson's garage. When Tom discovers his mistress has been killed he quickly makes the connection that Gatsby's yellow car killed her. The readers instantly assume the same thing.

Back at the Buchanans', Nick finds Gatsby hiding in the bushes. Gatsby tells Nick that Daisy had been driving his car, that she has locked herself in her room, and that he intends to watch the Buchanan house to ensure Tom doesn't physically harm her. Nick goes to the house to look for any sign of commotion, only to find Tom and Daisy talking intimately at the kitchen table, holding hands. Nick goes home alone, leaving Gatsby to his vigil over the house as he watches 'over nothing'. This could be a clue as to what the next series of events are going to be like. The fact that Daisy and Tom look like they're having an intimate conversation suggests that Daisy had no intentions of leaving him at that point and Gatsby's watch just reflects his desperation and his love, which borders obsession, over Daisy. He was prepared to keep her act a secret, which could portray Gatsby as either selfless or extremely stupid, oblivious and naive to what the Buchanan couple could be capable of. He is so sure that Daisy's love is enough but the following events prove him and the readers wrong.