In chapter 5 the reader gets a large insight into the true character of Gatsby and indeed Daisy. This change in character is evident when the two are with each other and is shown by their change in language. Daisy, before the meeting, uses her usual sardonic humour around Nick, ‘who is ‘Tom?’, whereas when she is with Gatsby she reveals her true self and her true feelings towards Gatsby resulting in the language she uses changing. She tells Gatsby she wants to ‘get one of those pink clouds and put you in it and push you around’ which shows she is becoming carried away with her love for Gatsby and now has a school-girl type excitement with the repetition of ‘the’ and the fascination with the ‘pink cloud’ showing her inexperience about love.
Gatsby also encounters a change in the language he uses, which reflects his change in attitude towards Daisy. For example, when Daisy, Nick and Gatsby are in Nick’s house Gatsby is so nervous that he is speechless, resulting in a pause that ‘endured horribly’ when Daisy tries to speak to him. As Gatsby becomes less tense his language improves. However his language is still broken when the party arrive at his house, he struggles to compile a sentence in excitement, ‘I can’t – When I try to - “. In spite of his initial nervousness and tension, as the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy increases, his language does the same and near the end of the chapter he is back to his usual self with his confidence and his friendly welcoming language, such as his “catchphrase” ‘old sport’ which he frequently addresses Nick as. Fitzgerald uses this method to tell the story because it reveals the extent of Gatsby’s love for Daisy and shows the reader that he will move out of his comfort zone completely just to please Daisy.
Another method Fitzgerald uses to tell the story is the use of Nick, the narrator. The reader is given the story by so what he sees, the reader sees. In chapter Five, Nick focuses mainly on Gatsby and how he acts around Daisy, first clumsily and then lovingly – as the chapter progresses. By the end of the chapter, Nick seems almost jealous of the relationship Gatsby and Daisy have. This is shown by the long sentence lengths used by Nick to describe Gatsby and Daisy in the final stages of the chapter where they have fallen for each other. Nick uses these long sentences such as ‘They had forgotten me but Daisy glanced up and held out her hand; Gatsby didn’t know me now at all’ to show his jealousy of Daisy and this sentence is broken down into three parts to show how each character is feeling. Nick feels forgotten, Daisy feels she needs someone by holding out her hand and Gatsby is shown to be madly in love by not acknowledging Nick, his best friend. This sentence structure helps tell the story because we already know that Nick thinks of Gatsby as ‘great’ from the title of the book, but Nick’s narration begins to rise the question’ is Nick obsessed with Gatsby? Already we have encountered Nick staring at Gatsby, watching him from outside his house in chapter one and his fixation with Gatsby increases from the more rumours he hears.
To conclude, Fitzgerald tells the story in chapter one by where it is set, the language used by the characters and Nick’s narration and sentence length. Chapter Five is used to show the reader Gatsby’s true personality and how Daisy longs for Gatsby. The chapter is also very mysterious, because something is said at Nick’s house between Gatsby and Daisy that completely changes the atmosphere and because Nick was not there, the reader does not know.
by
mitch123 (student)
