"Why couldn't she get up the courage to just leave that awful Tom?" they ask. This moment is crushing for Gatsby, and some people who read the novel and end up disliking Daisy point to this moment as proof. "I did love him once-but I loved you too." (7.264)ĭuring the climactic confrontation in New York City, Daisy can't bring herself to admit she only loved Gatsby, because she did also love Tom at the beginning of their marriage. "I love you now-isn't that enough? I can't help what's past." She began to sob helplessly. "Oh, you want too much!" she cried to Gatsby. And indeed, the next day she marries Tom "without so much as a shiver," showing her reluctance to question the place in society dictated by her family and social status. However, despite this brief rebellion, she is quickly put back together by Jordan and her maid-the dress and the pearls represent Daisy fitting back into her prescribed social role. In fact, she seems to care about him enough that after receiving a letter from him, she threatens to call off her marriage to Tom. In this flashback, narrated by Jordan, we learn all about Daisy's past and how she came to marry Tom, despite still being in love with Jay Gatsby. Next day at five o'clock she married Tom Buchanan without so much as a shiver and started off on a three months' trip to the South Seas. We gave her spirits of ammonia and put ice on her forehead and hooked her back into her dress and half an hour later when we walked out of the room the pearls were around her neck and the incident was over. She took it into the tub with her and squeezed it up into a wet ball, and only let me leave it in the soap dish when she saw that it was coming to pieces like snow.īut she didn't say another word. I rushed out and found her mother's maid and we locked the door and got her into a cold bath. "Take 'em downstairs and give 'em back to whoever they belong to. "Here, dearis." She groped around in a waste-basket she had with her on the bed and pulled out the string of pearls. We will cover the characters in the following order, and also provide links to their character pages where you can check out their physical descriptions, backgrounds, action in the book, and common discussion topics.Ĭlick on each character's name to read a detailed analysis! To find a quotation we cite via chapter and paragraph in your book, you can either eyeball it (Paragraph 1-50: beginning of chapter 50-100: middle of chapter 100-on: end of chapter), or use the search function if you're using an online or eReader version of the text. We're using this system since there are many editions of Gatsby, so using page numbers would only work for students with our copy of the book. Our citation format in this guide is (chapter.paragraph). It may be that you disagree with some of our analysis! We do some initial analysis here for each quote to get you thinking, but remember to close-read and bring your own interpretations and ideas to the text. Or to put it more bluntly, don't just lift these for an essay without having read the book, or your essay won't be very strong! If you're going to use any of these quotes in an essay, you need to understand where each quote fits into the book, who's speaking, and why the line is important or significant. In turn, each of the Great Gatsby quotes is followed by some brief analysis and explanation of its significance.Īll of these are obviously presented outside of the full context of their chapters (if you're hazy on the plot, be sure to check out our chapter summaries!). We've rounded up a collection of important quotes by and about the main characters, quotes on the novel's major themes and symbols, and quotes from each of The Great Gatsby's chapters. Need to solidify your Great Gatsby essay with some evidence from the text? Want a refresher on the novel's style and sound? Curious how to go from a piece of text to a close reading and an analysis? Then check out this article featuring key Great Gatsby quotes!
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