The Great Gatsby Chapter 7

  1. Trimalchio’s career is over—Trimalchio was the wealthy man in Petronius’s The Satyricon who held a sumptuous banquet for the people in Rome.
  2. What ominous signs are there at the beginning of the chapter?
  1. Find a quotation on page 114 to show that Gatsby’s dream is beginning to fall apart.
  1. At the Buchanan’s House

Look at the description of Daisy and Jordan on page 115 as they wait in a darkened room. Note the parallels between this scene and the scene in Chapter One when Nick goes to the Buchanan’s for the first time.

  1. Fill in the table below

Similarities to the scene in Ch. 1 / Differences from the scene in Ch. 1
Telephone call:
Couch: / Breeze:
Girls:
  1. Match the following symbols to their explanation. Be ready to disagree or add your own ideas.

Image / Explanation
  1. Jordan’s fingers, powdered white over their tan
/
  1. She represents the real bond that exists between Daisy and Tom. She cannot be undone and so she shatters Gatsby’s illusion and dream.

  1. Stood in the center of the crimson carpet
/
  1. This could represent intense passion or lust. It also adds to the feeling of tension and suggests something terrible is going to happen.

  1. Like silver idols
/
  1. This is symbolic of the deceptiveness of this character—the hiding of things under a veil of respectability.

  1. Daisy’s child—Pammy
/
  1. The stance taken by the character here foreshadows his death.

  1. The heat
/
  1. They are depicted as objects of worship.

  1. Daisy

Observe her interaction with her child. Is there any real affection between them? (117)

Why does she openly kiss Gatsby in front of Nick and Jordan (116). Is this genuine emotion or an act?

What does Gatsby mean when he says her voice is “full of money” (120).

  1. The gas stop at Wilson’s garage
  2. Why do you think there’s so many references to eyes? (122-125)

Eyes
“Doctor TJ Eckleburg’sfaded eyes came into sight down the road” and “the giant eyes of Doctor TJ Eckleburg kept their vigil…”
“He rested for a moment against the pump, shading his eyes.”
“That other eyes were regarding us with peculiar intensity from less than twenty feet away” and “her eyes, wide with jealous terror.”
Wilson emerges from the garage and “gazed hollow-eyed at the car.”
  1. Find a quotation on page 125 to show that as they head for New York, Tom feels in a state of panic. Explain why he feels this way.
  1. The parlor suite at the Plaza Hotel (125-128)
  2. Pick out all the references to heat in this section.
  1. Explain the symbolism of the falling telephone book (127).
  1. What effect does the sudden interruption into the room of the music—Mendelssohn’s Wedding March from the ballroom below—have on the characters?
  1. The argument between Tom and Gatsby (129-135). Re-read the extract carefully and then answer the questions below.

Part One

  1. What does the following statement reveal about Daisy: “Please have a little self-control!”?
  1. What is ironic about Tom’s defense of family and marriage: “people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions”?
  1. What does Gatsby’s declaration of love reveal about his dream: “She’s never loved you. She loves me”?
  1. Gatsby’s revelations do force Tom to defend himself. What does Tom own up to?

Part Two

This about the following statements connected to this scene and say whether you agree or disagree with them. If you disagree, say why.

  1. Daisy has difficulty capitulating to Gatsby’s wish.
  2. Daisy’s love for Gatsby is flawed in his eyes when she reveals that she also loved Tom.
  3. Gatsby represents the dreamer/romantic in American society.
  4. Gatsby realizes that the dream is dead.
  5. This scene shows how women were marginalized at this time.
  6. Jordan plays an active role in the scene.
  1. Nick’s Birthday

Page 135. Read the final three paragraphs on this page when Nick reveals it is his birthday. What view does he have of youth and getting older?

  1. The accident
  2. Michaelis—the main witness

What do we learn about the accident from this account?

  1. Find the appropriate quotations and explain them.

The description of Myrtle’s savage death.

Evidence to show Tom’s emotions at Myrtle’s death.

Tom taking control of the situation and lying to police.

  1. Back at the Buchanan’s house
  2. How can we see that Nick is disgusted by the night’s events?
  1. What is Gatsby doing? Why?
  1. How does the end of the chapter suggest that Gatsby is no longer relevant in their (Tom and Daisy’s) lives?