The Great Gatsby (Blog 9)

By: F. Scott Fitzgerald

In the second half of chapter 5, Gatsby takes Daisy and Nick to his estate to give Daisy a tour.  I don't think that he necessarily was showing off for her.  Daisy is extremely impressed by Gatsby's belongings.  I thought it was sweet how glad Gatsby was to see Daisy again.  "He hadn't once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes.  Sometimes, too, he stared around at his possessions in a dazed way, as though in her actual and astounding presence none of it was any longer real" (Fitzgerald, 91).  I liked this part because Gatsby was so intrigued by Daisy's reactions to his belongings that he even started to admire all of his possessions.  Seeing Daisy interested in all of his belongings must have given Gatsby great satisfaction.  Gatsby eventually brings his friends to his bedroom, where he shows them all of his beautiful clothes.  "Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily" (Fitzgerald, 92).  She tells Gatsby that she has never seen shirts so beautiful.  I believe that Daisy was overwhelmed with emotions already.  She was experiencing great joy to see Gatsby again, and she was now trying to take in all that he was showing her in his mansion.  Later, Gatsby takes them downstairs to have Mr. Klipspringer play them a song on the piano.  Soon, Gatsby realizes that his presence is no longer recognized; he decides to head back over to his house for the night.  Overall, Gatsby and Daisy clearly had a successful reunion.

The green light on Daisy Buchanan's dock represented
the distance that once separated them.  However, Gatsby cannot
see it through the rain the night they are together again.  This
is because there is no longer any distance between them.

One element of this chapter that I really liked was when Nick explained the symbolism of the green light at the end of the Buchanan's dock.  I honestly probably would have never even thought of this if Nick hadn't explained it to the readers.  "Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever.  Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her" (Fitzgerald, 93).  Before he reunited with Daisy, Gatsby could always see the green light on the dock.  It represented the distance between them.  The night that they are together, it is raining heavily when Gatsby looks out towards the dock.  Because of the rain, he is unable to see the green light.  This is symbolic of how no distance separates the two anymore.  Daisy is with Gatsby now.