The Great Gatsby - This extract describes the first meeting of Nick Carraway and Tom Buchanan, and we learn about their history.

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Nikki Broadbent

The Great Gatsby

 

This extract describes the first meeting of Nick Carraway and Tom Buchanan, and we learn about their history.  It is also the first meeting of Nick and Daisy Buchanan, Tom’s wife.  This is a significant passage as it initiates the idea of something sinister about apparent pureness and a “good dream”.

We learn that Tom and Nick “scarcely knew” each other, and that they went to New Haven college together.  Tom and Daisy live in an “elaborate” and “cheerful” mansion on East Egg.  This shows that they have a stable home and money.  The house is described as “cheerful”, and we therefore assume Tom and Daisy will be cheerful also.  When Nick first sees Tom he is “standing with his legs apart on the front porch”.  This gives an air of arrogance as he standing in a dominant pose when Nick arrives.  It appears he wants to emerge in control from the first meeting with Nick.  It could also be interpreted as a protective pose, over his house and his wife.  The language from the rest of this passage supports with the interpretation that Tom wants to exercise control over Nick, and that he is arrogant and proud of what he has achieved.  He is described as having a “hard mouth” and “two arrogant eyes…established dominance over his face”.  Nick emphasises the physical.  He is “leaning aggressively” and the implied meaning of this language is that he dominating and we get a sense of the kind of person Tom is emotionally as well as physically.   His body is depicted as “cruel”, supported later in the novel when he hits Myrtle, physically showing his strength and dominance over other characters.  From the rest of the novel and descriptions of Gatsby, we can see difference in Tom and Gatsby in the way they are illustrated by Fitzgerald.  Tom is emphasised by the physical side and Gatsby’s emphasis is on the spiritual.  This can be interpreted that Tom has no spirituality left because his dream is gone.  Once a dream is achieved it cannot be regained and Tom’s dream has been achieved.  He has a wife, a beautiful mansion and money – his arrogance underlines the fact he has achieved this dream.  However, unlike Gatsby who still believes dreams can be recaptured, Tom readily accepts that he has no dream left to attain.  Therefore, he controls the situation with his “cruel body”.

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Tom exercises control over Nick, manipulating what he sees.  He says, “I’ve got a nice place here”.  It is normally the visitor that would comment on the house. However, not only does this underline Tom’s arrogance, it makes sure that Nick sees the house and notices how “nice” it is.  The language such as “turning me around by one arm”, “He turned me around again, politely and abruptly” show he is controlling what Nick sees by physically making sure he is positioned to see them.

We also meet Daisy, Tom’s wife, in this section.  The language used includes words such as “fragilely” ...

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