Monday, January 10, 2011

What indications are there at the end of chapter 7 that Tom and Daisy are going to stay together despite his affair and her love for Gatsby?Chapter...

Gatsby has lost Daisy by the end of chapter seven in
The Great Gatsby.  The issue is decided by
then.


It's actually decided earlier in the chapter, when
Daisy says to Gatsby:  "...you want too much!"   She
continues:



"I
love you now--isn't that enough?  I can't help what's past."  She began to sob
helplessly.  "I did love him once--but I loved you
too."



But that
isn't enough.  Gatsby's illusion is that he and Daisy have a
special love, a love that transcends the norm.  For Gatsby's illusion to be complete, he
needs Daisy to have always loved him (since their relationship five years earlier).  He
needs her to have married Tom only for money, rather than for love.  And Daisy won't lie
and say this is so. 


Interestingly, even if Daisy were to
later change her mind and choose Gatsby, Gatsby's dream would remain shattered.  For the
relationship to be equal to his illusion of it, Daisy has to have always loved him and
him only.  And that, Daisy insists, was not the case. 


Tom
knows he's won when he tells Daisy to go ahead and ride home with Gatsby, because, he
says,



He
[Gatsby] won't annoy you.  I think he realizes that his presumptuous little flirtation
is over." 



Nick knows, and
Daisy knows, too.  Gatsby probably knows, also, although he still refuses to give
up. 


It's important to note that Daisy's choice is not
about money--Gatsby has plenty of money, and he certainly leads a more exciting life
than Tom.  He has the nicer shirts, remember, and he's the one who throws the great
parties. 

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