The Great Gatsby - Chapter 5 Analysis

The Great Gatsby                           Chapter V                      Summary and Analysis  

Summary

·        PIVOTAL POINT in the Novel – where everything changes from this point on

·        Nick helps to arrange Gatsby and Daisy’s meeting – For the first time the narrator is involved in the actions of the novel and his previous role as an omniscient narrator and observer has been reversed.

·        Gatsby’s character is seen in a new light – nervous and love sick approach takes over his previous calm and confident exterior.

·        Nick leaves Daisy and Gatsby to become re-acquainted.

·        Gatsby takes Daisy/Nick to his mansion for a tour – showing off his wealth in shape of his clothing and possessions to impress Daisy, playing on her hedonistic and materialistic character.

·        Gatsby’s love and awe for Daisy is exposed through Nick’s recollection of speech and reactions of the character – his re-evaluation of his possessions, the green light and the paper cuttings.

·        Klipspringer plays music to entertain Gatsby’s treasured guest(s)

-       ‘The Love Nest’

-       ‘Ain’t we got fun’

Analysis

Changing of Gatsby’s character

·      Implications that Gatsby adopts a superficial stance in order to impress Daisy and gain her affections through his wealth, a change to the non-drinking observer at his own parties…

-       ‘I want to get the grass cut’ – portraying how Gatsby wishes to create a perfect appearance of what he owns for Daisy’s instant gratification and hedonistic pleasures.

·      Use of oxymoron to present Gatsby’s confusion and mix of emotions towards seeing Daisy again after ‘five years’, showing how the present mind-set of the character has been affected by his past love for Daisy…

-       ‘supressed eagerness’ – showing how the Character is desperately trying to hide his direct feelings of excitement and worry from Nick, affecting the reader’s view of Gatsby and seeing him as a lovesick character; resulting with sympathy and empathy.

·      Use of adverbs enhances the change of the protagonist’s character in the chapter too…

-       ‘Immediately … reluctantly … uncertainly’ – contrast to his previous polite, certain and gentlemanly manner.

·      The use of contrast though the combination of materialistic appearance with physical appearance also adds to the implication that Gatsby is determined to impress Daisy by presenting a wealthy facade and hiding his love sick worry...

-  ‘White flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-coloured tie’ – using   ‘rich’ colours and extravagant dress to show wealth.

-    ‘he was pale... dark signs of sleeplessness beneath his eyes’ –   using imagery associated with worry.

·      When asked about how he accumulated his wealth, Gatsby’s reply was blunt with ‘That’s my affair’ implying his reluctance to reveal the information, also backing up the secretive nature of his business in Chapter 4 when Meyer Wolfsheim is introduced, a new uneasy side to the character – however he mends it with respectable business i.e. ‘drug....and oil business’ .

·      Gatsby’s love and awe for Daisy is enhanced through his reaction towards the character’s response, backing up all previous evidence that he tries to impress Daisy for recognition and love...

- ‘he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes’ – An idea backed up in Chapter 7 when he stops holding parties because she disapproves.

·      Gatsby’s laid back approach witnessed in previous chapter’s is dismissed by Nick’s introduction of Gatsby’s possessive hold over Daisy portrayed through Gatsby’s speech...

- ‘You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock’ – obsessive nature – ‘always’

                      –  ‘green’ – colour symbolises his envy/jealousy of Tom

                          Buchanan.

- ‘Here’s a lot of clippings – about you’ – obsessive – shows how despite they haven’t seen each other for 5 years he still persisted to know everything about her, the parenthesis of ‘-about you’ also shows Gatsby’s need for Daisy to realise this admiration of her.

Language Analysis

·      Pathetic Fallacy used in structure with the transition from ‘pouring rain’ to ‘stopped raining’ and finally ‘twinkle-bells of sunshine’ - weather is presented as parallel to the character’s change of mood, and provides a sense of hope to the chapter.

-  The rain symbolises the worry Gatsby and the tears of Daisy at the start of the chapter, whereas the sun presents the newly found confidence of Gatsby and re-kindled love between the two focused characters.

-  Pathetic Fallacy also mirrors Gatsby’s change of emotions through the chapter – ‘embarrassment’ – ‘unreasoning joy’ – ‘wonder’.

·      The use of Verisimilitude throughout the chapter to reveal that not everything is not as it seems ...

- ‘brass buttons...gleamed in the sunlight’ – using brass which is dull and cheap but disguising them as something bright and falsely shining like gold in the sun – metaphor that the love between Daisy and Gatsby isn’t as it first appears in the chapter, foreshadowing the inevitable complications later on in the novel (chapter 7).

- ‘pure dull gold’ – juxtaposition of the description ‘dull’ with the valuable, precious metal ‘gold’ enhances the idea that Gatsby’s wealth isn’t as it seems; linking to his reluctance to reveal his business and his secret friendship with Wolfsheim.